By Rose Of Madinah 

مَّا جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍۢ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِى جَوْفِهِۦ ۚ

Allah has not put two hearts within one person’s body…

Quran 33:4

Having one heart but trying to love two or many things at the same time time is oppression to oneself. Pity the heart for it is always in constant battles between many entities trying to occupy it and subject it to its rule. The Ego (Nafs), Satan, The World, Desires etc collectively contend to establish their rule in the human hearts in order to control and humiliate the human to live a lowly life when the human was created for something higher and noble. Successful is the one who perseveres and overcomes these battles with Divine Help, intelligence, valor & consistency. The battles are not easy and one needs to understand the enemies within in order to win and survive. Among the greatest obstacle to achieve independence sovereignty of our hearts is the love for this transitory world which most of us are entangled. It is time that we reclaimed what truthfully belonged to Allah and hand it over to Him: Our Hearts.

حب الدنيا رأس كل خطيئة

“Love of this world is the root of all evil”

Bayhaqi’s Shuʿab al-Iman

The Love of The Akhirah (Hereafter) vs the love of this dunya (world). We have to beseech Allah to fill our hearts with overflowing love for the Hereafter so that we may truly understand this reality of this world which was meant to truly seek provisions for the Hereafter. This world is the temporary realm where Humans have been placed to accomplish our eternal purpose and task. To prove our worth and covenant to our Lord: To Know, To Serve & Attain Allah (51:56). Our Lord, to facilitate our mission, has decreed to provide us with means for the world so that we may focus on proving our true worth for the eternal. But as this world is meant to be a testing ground and a place of toil for men, the worldly provisions were to be attained through worldly means i.e. work, career, business etc. At the end of the day if one were to think about it, work is just the means to buy groceries for the household and other worldly essentials which are all transitory in nature.

A test becomes easy to score only when one attains relevant knowledge and exerts efforts to revise for it. As such, the world disguises itself with very tricky questions where the ignorant will not be able to navigate with ease and eventually drown in its scheme as they make the world their end goal in life. On the other hand, the one who seeks to understand the reality of things through knowledge and faith, will be given insight and attain felicity by steering the world to his will tactfully and keep it at bay as a mere means.

Abu Humayd al-Sa’idi reported: The Messenger of Allah,ﷺ said, “Be moderate in seeking from the world, for everyone will be facilitated towards what has been decreed for him in it.”

al-Sunan al-Kubrá lil-Bayhaqī 

Most of us have been accustomed to fulfill the demands of this world and many aspire to excel in it. We wake up punctually for work, spend at least 8 hours & 5 days a week to seek a livelihood. Sometimes we are willing to sacrifice even our weekends for our careers and even spend over the stipulated 8 hours doing overtime. Because we spend almost all of our day seeking the worldly provisions believing in the glamourous lie that, that is all this world has to offer, we have subtly conceded and allowed ourselves to be imprisoned by this open lie. At the end of the day, one has to realize that this route only provides exhaustion and oppression of our time and lives. Seeking the means to lead a comfortable life is virtuous when done with divine intentions, but to blindly accept a system which were designed for machines without hearts and emotional quotients is unjust upon the human being. The human is not only the body. We have hearts to feel and a soul to feed too. The work life only offers provisions for the body and at an usurious rate. We also have to be responsible for the well being of these components which are necessary for us to achieve a complete holistic life.

How are we supposed to balance the demands of the world and to nurture our spiritual quotients then? We have to strive to change that 8 hours daily, 5 times a week at work into a divine activity at the same time. With deeper divine intentions, consciousness & Zikr (remembrance), one will be able to earn for both the worlds simultaneously. For this to happen, we have to analyse our relationship with Allah & this world. The struggle here is attention. Allah is The One truly deserving of all our attention. The world also demands attention though it is not deserving of it.

The more we try to work for the pleasure of Allah, the dunya gets frustrated and tries to lure us back to its attention at its level best. It will give its all to cling on to us with all of its lies and deception . Thus, many fall prey to the dunya ending up as slaves and robots attending to every minute details that the dunya demands. Many are falsely led to the notion of achieving financial freedom will grant them peace when actually they become indebted to various worldly commitments to fill the void in their hearts. And the emptiness only grows. The only solution to safeguard oneself from this vicious cycle is to pursue the Real and to put Him as the center piece behind everything one does in this life. Including our work lives.

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported: The Messenger of Allahﷺ said,

“Whoever would be independent, Allah Almighty will make him independent. Whoever would abstain from asking people, Allah Almighty will make him abstinent. Whoever is content with sufficiency, Allah Almighty will suffice him.”

al-Nasā’ī

Earning a livelihood to become independent is virtuous. But one should not become absolutely dependent on the livelihood either forgetting Allah. Earning a livelihood can easily become divine provided we maintain a divine intention to please & remember God while engaging in our daily work. Thus, Dunya may be referred to all worldly affairs without the Remembrance and Connection to Allah. And everything becomes Akhirah when Allah is remembered. Even a Prayer (solat) may become worldly if it is not accompanied with a divine intention and consciousness. And a work email may become divine if it is accompanied with God Consciousness and Gratitude. For the true believers & lovers of Allah, The Love of Allah lures them away and protects them from the snares of the deceptive love of this Dunya. Their hearts stay away from the Dunya and truthfully cherish every moment to be with Allah. This will result in our Faith and Love in Allah to flourish to a level when eventually even the Dunya admits defeat and falls humiliated before the True Lover of Allah. We should cease pursuing the Dunya & the Dunya will give up seducing us.

The true believers are also those who are independent of people but whose hearts are connected to Allah even while going about their worldly affairs. They may in the marketplace or with their children but the love of Allah strongly resides & burns in their hearts. Their flame of Allah’s love becomes a fire whenever Allah is mentioned. They are the people who are referred to as “in this world but not of this world”. May Allah make us among them. Referring to the worldly life, a scholar stated the following:

It was narrated that Isa saw a very old and ugly woman who was full of makeup and jewelry.  He asked her: ‘How many times were you married?’ She replied ‘So many times that I can’t even remember.’  Isa said ‘What happened to your husbands, did they die or were you divorced?’  She replied ‘No, I killed them all.’  Isa stated ‘How unfortunate your current husband is, for he lives with you and is not cautious that you will do the same to him.’

Ibn Qudama

As stated above, the reality of this world is like a veiled frail sunken old woman who is dressed in a beautiful glittery wedding gown about to pass away anytime. It looks glittery and glamorous on the outside only to disappoint behind the veil and about to desert us shortly unannounced. Will we marry a spouse whom we know is going to desert us shortly, falling in love with the beautiful wedding gown which glitters on the surface? No intelligent one would cling on the transitory otherwise only separation and heartbreak will prevail.

And imagine the reality of the Hereafter to a veiled young lady dressed in plain dull clothes but with stunning beauty, excellent qualities and character. A young man looking for a suitor will mostly likely choose this fine young lady with good character to be his companion in life overlooking the dullness of the clothes that she may be wearing, for clothes can be enhanced. Similarly, though seeking knowledge and acts of obedience might look dull on the initial, when its inner truth starts to sink into the soul, one realises the everlasting beauty of the Akhirah and the Love of Allah. But unless we make the efforts (with knowledge & ibadah) to remove the veil, we would never realise the real states between this world and the Hereafter. Let us roll up our sleeves and reclaim back our hearts and hand it over to its truest Owner: Allah. Let us seek out the lovers of Allah and find strength in their companionship. Let us remain truthful and steadfastness in accomplishing our mission before we return back home to Him.

May Allah grant us the Everlasting Love for Him and His Pleasure and grant us the strength to distinguish the Truth from falsehood and allow us to to enjoy the companionship His Beloved Prophet and His Lovers. Ameen.

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