Ali Hammuda – Dunya (Life)
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the use of dams and their impact on the world, including the use of a candlestick to check wealth and the use of dumpl to help people live in this world. They also share stories about dams and their use in various settings, including social media, religion, and marriage. The speakers emphasize the importance of avoiding negative emotions and finding one's true value. The use of dams in a safe and unharmed way is key to achieving goals.
AI: Summary ©
I read a
narration that is from the Israeli yard. Do you know what the Israelite liat? Ah, have you heard of that word before? What is it? You're nodding your head? Yeah, correct. So it's a Judeo Christian tradition correct. And our approach to these narrations from the Bible or the Torah or their likes, is that it's a bit of skepticism is caution, whereby we don't reject them, but we don't accept them so long as they don't contradict something clear in our religion, but we can benefit from them on those conditions.
So this Judeo Christian tradition, and by the way, we have the likes of this story, in theory
of imminent attack here at Imam Abdullah Jerry robberies. tafsir he or they narrate similar narrations
that ASA Jesus, the son of Mary Alayhi Salatu was Salam
was traveling once with a companion of his who wanted to accompany him on the way.
And during their journey when they reached out for their lunch, which was three loaves of bread, they noticed that one of the three was mysteriously missing.
And so Prophet ASA Allah He said, um, he asks, Where is the third loaf of bread, and the man denies any theft? And he says, I swear by Allah, they were only ever two loaves of bread.
So Prophet days, chose not to investigate this any further.
And they continued traveling until they came across a blind man.
And Prophet sallallahu Sallam passed his hand over his face.
And Allah agenda, Giuliano who restored his vision, and this was one of the miracles that we know as Muslims, Allah has given Prophet and you say, Allah says in surah, two nakida, we're opening will cure the blind. And Ill ACMA, who, by the way, is not just somebody who is of average type of blindness. It's someone who's born blind, Steve, most difficult type of issue or a problem to cure.
So the man was amazed to see the vision of this person restored. So he said earlier, he said, I'm said to him, I asked you in the name of the one Allah who restored to the vision of this man, where is the third loaf of bread?
The man said there was there were only ever two loaves of bread.
So he didn't investigate further, they continued their journey until they came to the edge of the river. And he said, and he said, I was about to cross the man enquired, this is a strange feat. How are we going to do this? He said, say Bismillah in the Name of Allah, and follow me. And lo and behold, they were walking on the surface of the water.
And of course, this again, is not something that particularly amazes us, because we know of companions who walked on water in authentic chains of transmission that were Muslim on how they are any Muslim, by the way, is not even a companion he said today.
But with Abu Huraira, and others during the apostate was buried there was they did run on water when they were chasing the apostates in the direction of Bahrain. That's a fact.
So this is the Kurama, the honor of Allah to this ummah, that our men and our women who are not even prophets, and messengers, enjoy certain miracles that prophets of the past enjoy.
So they cross over the river, and the man is amazed. So Prophet ASA, and he said, lamb says to him, I asked you in the name of the one who allowed us to walk on the water, what happened to the third loaf of bread?
And the man goes, I swear, they were only ever two loaves of bread, there's no use with this individual.
They get to the other side of the river.
And he said, he said, he creates three heaps of soil. And he prays to Allah subhanaw taala, to convert them into piles of gold, and Allah converted them into gold.
And the man is amazed and he says, Who does this gold belong to? He said to him, the first pile belongs to me, second pile is yours. The third pile belongs to who?
The man way the bread.
So he said, I ate the last loaf of bread.
So Prophet sallallahu Sallam says to him, all of this gold is yours. This is the end of our communication. It's become clear to him that this is not the type of integrity that you should be walking with.
So as Ali has said, I'm disassociated from this man. And he left him with the golden here he is now kind of rubbing his hands together thinking lucky later in the law. That's the end of my financial problems. But no sooner than he had these thoughts when three horsemen pass by, and they see this man guarding all of this gold
and they kill him. And that's the end of his ambitions. These three men they sit with one another now to distribute this fortune
between themselves and shaytani. He's never too far behind when dunya comes between people.
And each is now thinking to himself, how can I keep all of this money to myself?
And so two of them, they whisper, they say, why don't we send off our friend to bring us some food? When he comes back? We ended his life. He said, good idea. Can you fetch us some food and he makes his way to go and fetch the food now shaitan comes to him when he was bringing food and he says, wouldn't it be great if I had all of that money to myself, so he poisons the food.
So he comes back thinking he has the perfect plan in place and he hands over the food to them, they meet him
with successive stabs with their daggers and they kill him.
They now celebrate this Triumph by eating the food. They then kneel over in pain, and they die.
Then not soon after this profit, are you Sally he Salam comes to the same scene. And he sees four men dead on the ground, his ex companion, his ex friend, and the three horsemen.
And what was interesting is that they are all dead. And the three piles of gold are what? Untouched. And then he said, how Canada, their family dunya.
This is what dunya does to its people.
In a similar narration, but this is not a Judeo Christian narration per se. This is something I read in the London Chronicle. In 1762, there was a French miser by the name was by the name of months your false Q.
And he was a French farmer. And he was very rich, but he was known to be a miser, he was stingy, he did not distribute his wealth amongst those who needed it. And he'd stashed all of his cash in an underground cellar beneath his mansion.
And on one evening, he came down into the cellar with his candlestick and candle to check up on his wealth as rich people usually do.
Whether it's checking the cash plus or the revolute, vault or whatever it may be or your coins, he goes down into his center just to check up on his gold. But the type of door that he had that led to the vault was one that snaps shut after you. So if you don't prop it open your truck, you can only open it from outside. There's a real story.
And he comes into the cellar.
And Allah decreed that that seller would be his grave.
He forgets to prop the door open, and so it snaps shut.
And so he's screaming, he's shouting, he's kicking the door, it's no use.
Now, meanwhile, on the ground, Mr. months, you're forced to use absence was noticed.
It's been weeks, months, perhaps years, and he's disappeared, not to be spotted in any one of these circles of public life. And so his mansion was repossessed, it was purchased by another individual.
And as he was investigating his new mansion, he noticed that there was an underground vault, there was a there was a cellar, and he comes into the cellar, and he sees a man who had become skeleton like he died many years ago, due to starvation and thirst.
And what they found
was that the they found the candlestick, but there was no candle in it. He'd eaten the candle in a bit to stay alive. And he'd even know that his arm he tried to eat himself again in a bit to survive, but it was no use. And that image was the irony.
This was the contradiction of it all. The paradox, that here you have a man who has died from starvation from hunger
in the middle of a huge heap of gold and silver.
However, there for dunya behavior, this is what dunya does to its people.
Genuinely speaking, we should never tire of speaking about this topic of dunya life and how to understand it, how to approach it how to navigate it, don't tire of this topic. Don't see it as a cliche of a subject ever. Because the Quran has given it a huge amount of attention. almost on every page of the Quran, you will find some explicit or implicit reference about Oh Muslims I Allah I am helping you navigate your way through dunya detach your hearts from it.
How many families have broken up hearts because of a pursuit of dunya and how many reputations were shattered because of dunya
How many cousins are no longer speaking to another employer, employer employee are no longer speaking with one another. How many countries were invaded in pursuit of dunya how many scholars were killed, and reformers locked up
and tortured all in pursuit of dunya and principles that were changed religion that was lost and homes in the hereafter that were demolished all in pursuit of a cheap gain in the life of this world, chasing of dunya is is not a reality.
So never tire of discussing it. And today I want to do or share with you two batches of evidences that seem from the outset contradictory, but we will reconcile them. I want to share with you some narrations from the Quran from the Sunnah, how our Lord Subhana wa Taala helps us navigate our journey through dunya.
How he helps us detach ourselves from this very attractive vehicle called dunya. And it is attractive. So we need help.
We need to understand analogies examples. And Allah Almighty is Quran does not fall short in giving us just that Allah condemns dunya
Allah agenda Julian who at times he will use
a prohibition from becoming obsessed from in dunya he will forbid us from being deceived by the pomp of dunya and Allah will say to us Yeah, you have nurse Oh, humanity
in no Adela, he has the Promise of Allah is true. Furlanetto Rhonda Komal higher to dunya so do not be deceived by the life of this world. Whenever you have run Billa Hilah ruler and do not be deceived by the chief deceiver himself. shaytaan
Do not be deceived by dunya Allah, the maker of dunya, who says and notice how he warns us of dunya before he warns us of shape on
and the reason behind this, as the scholars they say is that the main apparatus used by Satan to deceive us is the apparatus of dunya.
And that is why when he came to our father Adam to deceive him to try to misguide him. What did he say to him? How do look Allah Shujaat in Hindi? Shall I not guide you to the tree of immortality? When will you kill bla bla and a kingdom that shall never perish?
Knowing that if I was to say to Adam, Elise was to say to Prophet Adam, Hey, would you like to disobey your Lord? You would say to him, no, so he goes through the vehicle of dunya. So he says, Fernanda for Rhonda, como HYAH to dunya subhanaw taala don't allow the life of this world to deceive you and do not allow the chief deceiver Shavon to deceive you.
So that's one method used in our texts to help our hearts evict the dunya from it and to put it in our hands and beneath our feet.
Another method is that at times the Quran will use rain. As an analogy, as an example,
Allah subhanaw taala who said what would it be nothing that higher it dunya give people the example of the life of this world cannot, it's like rain, and the now holiness center which we bring down from the sky, the hula tobyhanna About an art which then mixes with the vegetation of the earth for us Maha Shiva and the rover Rhea, and then it becomes dry, broken into pieces scattered by the wind. What can Allahu Allah aqualisa invoke that era and Allah he's able to do all things. This is an example of dunya Allah is giving us an example to help us evicted from our hearts and to live in this world unscathed, unharmed by its fitna.
Its mercy from Allah De La Jolla. And when you think about it, that He speaks to us like this.
So it's like rain, Allah refers to dunya as rain and, and then you see vegetation and the farmers become so happy and then all of a sudden it changes and it's out of their control. You've come across plots of land that's green and lush, vibrant, filled with vitality, and then you visit the very same grand later on in life. And lo and behold, it's parched. It's dry, it's desolate, it's gone. And this is the life of dunya, all of those stashes of cash and all of that all of that theme and all of that praise and those high rise towers, and the spacious homes and those fancy cars. The end of it is going to be a farewell either you bid it farewell through sadaqa or it will bid you
farewell through death.
This is how dunya is alive.
It doesn't remain.
So that's method number one. Number two at times our Tech's will use the oceans as an analogy. See the runoff. Allah has
Mercy, really helping us use, giving us a variety of different methods and techniques to help us overcome the challenges of being in this world that is inherently difficult.
Allah said, in fact, the prophet of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
in the Hadith which Muslim narrates, on the authority of almost every evolution that he said
Madonia feel clarity in the Muslim area, hello, hello, hello are who feel young for young larvae my object? What is the life of this world, but like a person who dips his finger into a notion that him then raise his finger and see what he brings back
SubhanAllah. So that dam that you have on your fingers, two or three droplets after you've raised your finger from the sea, this is the dunya those are my in your career aspirations. And those are our savings. And those are our investments. And that's the men and women all within that bit of water.
And those towels in your Americas and your your east and your West, it's all there. And as for the ocean, that is the Africa.
That is the asker and so it's an evil trade off for someone who prefers to drops over the ocean.
That's number three. At times, our texts will use food as an example as an analogy in a hadith which I think some of you will hear for the first time
which Ackman narrates, on your authority of obey. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, in ama conda. Beneath the majority, the metal and the dunya were in Kazaa, who were among the whole from Volvo Ilan is here. He said, the food which people consume is a good analogy for the life of this world. He said, no matter how
good you prepare this food, and how much you may season it, look at the outcome of that food.
Food today is a multi billion pound industry. One of my friends recently said something I said to him Subhanallah, I never thought about it like this. He said, Look at the billions invested in food worldwide and the hours we spend in our kitchens and other people's kitchens preparing to please a part of our body, our throats, which is about one and a half to two inches long here. And then when it passes, this area is just a bolus of food that has no taste, no nothing. So all of that money and all of those billions. It's just for this area here.
So he said that Dunya is a good example. In comparison to food, no matter how beautiful the food may appear at face value, give it a few hours. And the outcome is going to be what is going to be excuse me so and so can you tell me where the bathroom is in this place? Isn't it Subhanallah and that is the dunya no matter how attractive and how pulling it may seem and it is the outcome of it is going to be want a separation the outcome will be will be a death and SubhanAllah. What is interesting in this hadith is examples profound.
The more rich Emile is, the more dense it is, the more exquisite that food is, usually pardon me for saying this, the more grotesque the outcome will be.
And subhanAllah it's the same with the life of this world. The more haram a person engages in the life of this world. The more grotesque the more bitter, the more painful the outcome will be. When that body soul separation process begins. You will feel it then, during death.
You see how Allah Jalla Jalla who is really helping us navigate our way through this difficult terrain, this arena called dunya is from his mercy.
Now, how do we make sense of all of this?
How do we live in a world that seems to be so disliked by our Maker Allah who we love so much?
Am I supposed to not aspire for expensive clothes? Am I not supposed to be working towards a killer income?
Am I not allowed to work my way up the career ladder?
What's the point? Should I not have worldly objectives? Marriage? Should I just live in the masjid?
How am I supposed to enjoy my time here in dunya? One I know that my lord who I love the most dislikes it so much and has condemned it on numerous occasions condemned it and it's so blameworthy. So what's the point of us being here? Why does Allah dislike it so much? What's wrong with dunya? What has it done to anyone?
So now I want to share with you the other side of the narrations that I
I promised I would share with you.
And I want to say to here it's not as simple as that it's not as black and white as it may appear.
Before I tell you how we understand this blame this condemnation level that dunya I share with you some other more positive narrations you can say, although it is all positive in the grand scheme of things,
is it not that our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would say in his dua, Allah Houma us, the lady lady who asked me to Amory, Oh Allah, correct for me my religion, which is the Guardian, The Guardian of my affairs, and then he would say what? Read it out, it's in front of you. While I was literally doing UI allottee for you, ha Mashi an O Allah, correct for me my worldly affairs, which is my livelihood, he's making dua for his Dunya doesn't seem to be that bad.
And then he said, What else Natalie are here at Isla de la ha, na de and correct for me the affairs of my hereafter, which is my eventual return.
And then he said, What do I need higher to zero that and if he could be higher and make the life of this world and abundance in all of the things that are good? What I did motera had a Lehman condition and make death a means of peace for me from every evil.
So he's making dua for his masters of dunya he's not cursing it.
Ah, so So what's going on here? Before we answer it again, move on. There's another dua I want to share with you.
Is it not that the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would say, Allah homophily them be Oh ALLAH forgive my sins? Well, what's the I the fee, daddy and create space in my home? That applies to the grave. That's our home applies to Jana, that's our home but it applies to dunya as well make space in my home.
And then he said what radically female
was Anthony and bless me in what you have given me. So how can dunya be that bad if he's making dua for space and more of it?
And the prophets Allah Allahu Allah who sent them he said in another profound Hadith he said either climate in Kiama to if the Day of Judgment happens,
will be and he had he confessed sila and one of you is carrying with him or her a plant shoot for any snuba Allah Kuma
probably Risa half a year fine if you're able to plan to that shoot before you're overcome by the hour implanted,
put it into the soil, then die.
And you're thinking who's going to eat from that tree? When will it grow? There's no more sun. There's no more rain. There's no more people. It's the day of judgment. The idea of the hadith is what is to foster a positive attitude towards dunya so dunya can't be that bad. What's going on here? Is this a contradiction narrations that seem to condemn dunya and other narration that seemed to speak well of dunya putting it all in the balance I share with you some words of Imam knowledgeable Henry
ignore Raja he gives you the answer.
And he said that laser them Mo and worried often Quran he was soon Nettie lead Dune, dunya Raja and Eliza nanny Hawala Ilana Kenny, Hawala, Illa. Allah houfy Her midnight in your heart, what do you Danika Kulu home in bed, it's in front of you. He says that the condemnation that you find in the Quran and the Sunnah against dunya is not leveled at its time, meaning the night or the day is not leveled at its place, meaning the planet Earth has nothing wrong with these things is not leveled at the trees, the sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers, the resources, the minerals is not level that any of that. He said, rather all of these things are from the favor of Allah upon us.
So clearly, when Allah condemns dunya, he's not speaking about these things. He's speaking about something else.
When Allah speaks about the night, Allah praises the night, he calls it an idea, to sign of his oneness. We're here to let him lay on the heart for either homopolymer Allah said, one of the signs of my oneness, Allah says is the night we withdraw from it the day and lo and behold, they are in darkness. It's one of the signs of Allah there's nothing wrong with the night.
And when Allah speaks about the land, he calls it a sign. He said what I had to learn on Audible later to assign for them is the dead Earth. We give it life again.
It's a sign from Allah Jana Generico. And they share with you a beautiful statement of Ali on the Allahu Taala and he said, praising dunya
he said dunya dar or something Lehmann salah. kaha Dunya is a place of sincerity. It's a place of truthfulness for those who are true to her
word Davina and the mantra
over them in her and it's a place of abundance for those who take from it without judging him and for him and her and it's a place of safety for those who understand it. He said after all he had been working in that dunya is where revelation came down to one masala and BIA in that this is where prophets prayed he said, we're not gentle Alia Illa This is where the friends of Allah traded. Robbie Hovi harana Work Tessa Buffy * Jana the earn the mercy and mercy and Paradise from dunya. You can't enter paradise only through the avenue of dunya.
This is the place that saw revelation this is the place where Prophets and Messengers prayed and this is the place where Angel Jibreel came down on numerous occasions dunya dunya, it can't be that bad. So how do we therefore understand?
How do we understand these narrations ignore our job humbly he says
that whenever there is a condemnation in the Quran and Sunnah dunya it is speaking exclusively about those sins that take place on its soil. Because most of the actions of human beings are sinful, this is what he says.
So all of this that you are reading, is not saying to you that dunya is inherently evil. It's not the target of Allah as blame
the target of Allah's blame, or those aspects of dunya that are used by people to disobey Elijah. And
that's how to understand whether your life falls under the category of blameworthy or praiseworthy dunya.
So let's use it as a touchstone. I'll give you an example of how to use this touch to in your day to day life. Take your social media, for example.
If your social media is causing you, for example, to grow as a Muslim, a Muslim, it's causing you to learn new knowledge. It's causing you to use your time wisely, effectively. It's a platform for you to give Dawa and to speak about your religion and to forbid what is evil and to promote what is good guess what your social media is part of the dunya that Allah has spoken Hi, in your
if, in your particular circumstance, your social media is being used for other things. It's, it's it's detracted from your Salah, it's made your attention span very short, you're unable to lower your gaze, you're responding to every DM that's coming your way, and so on and so forth, then in that scenario, your social media is part of the dunya that Allah has condemned.
Do you see?
Again, I take your wealth as an example. If your money is coming from the halal, you're spending it on the halal, you're paying your account on time and you're giving out your sadaqa Alhamdulillah your money is part of the dunya that Allah has praised. If your wealth is coming from the Haram, and you're spending it on the Haram, and it's distracting you from salah, and it's caused you to break up from family. This is from the dunya that Allah has condemned.
That's how to understand it.
And then apply that Touchstone on your marriage. Has it caused you to grow? Or has it caused you to become lazy and ineffective?
Apply that on your mirror reflection, has it caused you to become a better Muslim, or has it caused you to be distracted. Play that to your property, apply that to everything under your disposal, then with this exercise, you will see where there what you have is from the praiseworthy aspect of dunya. Therefore you thank Allah for it, and you do more, or it's the condemned aspect of dunya. And you will do course adjustment, course correct.
Brothers and sisters, I just want to conclude really by saying to you
that
one of our objectives as Muslims in the life of this world is to try to evict it from the heart. And once you've evicted it from the heart, you don't throw it away.
Our religion takes a very unique look and take on the life of this world. We're not like other religions, that makes success in this world, the enemy of the success in the Hereafter, and the happiness in this world, the enemy of the happiness in the hereafter.
And that if you are a successful entrepreneur, then it means you can never be a saint. We don't have that. And our history is proof of that.
We don't have that contradiction we don't have that fights between dunya and the X era. What we do that makes us different to others is that we play a role in taking it out of our heart and then we place it in our hands and beneath our feet so that we manipulate our dunya to serve us. It does not manipulate us to serve each course.
Is this clear? The moment that happens, we leave this world with nothing, nothing from doing your akhira we lose wealth.
And that's why one of the poet's he says
As
he says, with your cup decaf with polyphony and emila D then you don't either have seen Murakami Phil. Hi. We're fi buslee Hema, Hindi and Marathi ishara tuna fish, Hulu and the courage to be national.
He says that the newborn when he comes out of the womb of his mother, he's clasping his fists tightly,
as if to indicate the inherent greed that is found in men.
But when he dies later on in his life, he's spreading out his hand like this as if to say, their testimony that I've left this world with nothing.
This is dunya
you in the life of this world, you are on a journey.
This journey has nine steps, nine stations. How many of those nine stations according to the Quran, have you completed you've completed a staggering seven of them.
Seven of those steps are now behind you. And there's only two more steps remaining before you reach your destination and you stand before an Melek the king the sovereign Elijah and
what are these nine stations? You'll see them now in front of you.
Allah subhana wa kila he said what occurred hola and then inside I mean Sula, let in between, we have created mankind from an extract from clay. Who is that in reference to?
Prophet Adam Alayhis Salam, Have we finished with the station? We're done with that station. Station Number Two from Madonna who not to attend fee Coloradan McKean. Then we made people a drop of * within a safe place, meaning the womb. That's how the rest of us are produced. Are we done with this? I think most of us are.
That's station number two. Then you have station number three. From a helicopter not fighter pilot. Then we made that sperm into a cleaning cloth for Holika Holika motiva and then we made that cleaning cloth into a lump. For collagen and mudita Ilan and then we made that lump into bones. Focus on a llama Lackner. Then we covered those bones which flesh that station number what
station number six. And then now read number seven from that and now who have gone Ah, sorry, then we made them into a new creation meaning we gave them the soul that seven stations for the Baroque Allah Who asked him Harlequin, so Glory be to Allah, the best of all creators.
All of that is behind you.
So there's only two more stations left. What are those two stations, the verse from Surah, two McMinnville continues, it says from in Nakhon Licona you to then after this you shall die
from in a communal multi Amati two bathroom, then on the day of judgment, you shall rise again.
So the intelligent Muslim and that person is you inshallah realize is that what remains of the life of this world is far less
than what has passed,
and realizes that those who have drowned in the oceans of dunya
are far more than those who were saved.
And realize is that those who are let down by the false promises of dunya for a long life, far fewer than those whom dunya was faithful to.
So with all of this in mind, what do we do? It's very simple, the blueprint is clear. We see dunya for what it is. It's a vehicle. It's a very useful vehicle. It's an attractive vehicle that we're supposed to make use of not disregard, and enjoy.
But when all is said and done, you remember is just a vehicle that's supposed to get you to a destination. And it's only as useful as it serves that purpose in getting you to the destination. The moment sins are involved. The vehicle is no longer working so we don't need the vehicle anymore.
So the intentional, conscious, intelligent, wise, Muslim and Muslim uses the vehicle
and is not attached to it,
but yearns in obsession with the destination and that is Allah the home of the Hereafter we ask Allah to allow us to reach our Lord in a safe and unharmed way.
Awesome Ilana and they've you know, Muhammad would