Hereafter- Real and eternal happiness is the happiness of the hereafter

 

Those people who prefer this world to the hereafter are like a fetus considering the womb of the mother to be better than this world and the sustenance of the womb to the best food.  Similarly those people who take this ephemeral world to be their home and fall into its pleasures and think the wealth of this world to be eternal and consequently forget the hereafter and don’t change their habits and check their desires, they have not tasted the hereafter at all.

 

Son!  Indulging in the affairs of this world is not bad, but preferring them to the hereafter is bad.  We consider theft, adultery, wine, usury, etc. to be sins, but we never consider preferring this world to the hereafter to be a sin.  Instead we say things like:  Brother!  We are worldly folk.  We cannot relinquish this world.  That is only for those who don’t have wife, children, etc.

 

Those who harbor these thoughts are terribly misguided and are liable of severe punishment.  The reason is that a Muslim cannot be worldly at all.  This is the quality of non-Muslims.  All their affairs and decisions are for this world only.  On the contrary, all the decisions of Muslims are for the hereafter.  A Muslim indulges in this world but with a care for the hereafter.  The indulgence in the world with regard to the hereafter is not indulgence in this world but comes under the hereafter only.

 

We have belief in the hereafter and we also consider the hereafter to be better than this world, but what is the use if our deeds are not as per our beliefs.  Wherever this world and the hereafter clash, we prefer this world to the hereafter.  If some engagement crops up at the time of Salaat, we prefer that to Salaat.  We prefer this world to the hereafter because this world is near and we get it immediately.  The hereafter is far more beneficial than this world even though it might seem far…..

 

The standard for Allah’s Mercy or Wrath is obedience and disobedience.  Allah’s Mercy is for the obedient ones and Wrath is for the disobedient ones.  It is a characteristic of money and wealth that people start acting high and mighty and following the commands of Almighty Allah seems burdensome.  Their acting high and mighty is of no use at all.  The life and luxury of this world is nothing when compared to the hereafter.  It is the benefit of a single moment, like dreams or thoughts.

 

Consider this world to be temporary.  And worldly life is nothing but illusory wealth.  (3:185)

 

If you indulge in this world with a care for the hereafter and with efforts to please Almighty Allah and will not take pride in this world, then you will remember the hereafter at all times.

 

Real and eternal happiness is of the hereafter.  Along with following the Shariah of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), be regular in the Dhikr which I have taught you and Almighty Allah will grant you that happiness as well.

 

Indulging in the affairs of the world is not bad, but getting seeped into the world is bad.  Being drowned in the world is to indulge in this world in such a way that one ends up abandoning the hereafter or one’s interests of the hereafter are harmed.  Such indulgence is very bad and one should always avoid it.  Be just a little bit stronger and handle the affairs of the world in such a manner that the hereafter is not spoilt.  When the interests of the world and the hereafter clash, always prefer the hereafter to this world.

 

[Excerpted from Mawaaiz-e-Hasana, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 41]