Life & It’s Deception

By AbdulBary Yahya | 2026-01-15T10:59:03.273151+00:00 | Topic: Iman

Life & Its Deception - Sheikh AbdulBary Yahya

Opening Supplications

وَٱلْدَّارُ ٱلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

"And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah, so will you not reason?" (Quran 6:32)

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِۦ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

(Quran 3:102)

"O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die unless you are Muslims."

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَٰحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَآءً ۚ

(Quran 4:1)

"O people, fear your Lord who created you from one soul, and created from it its mate, and dispersed from both of them many men and women."

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَقُولُواْ قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا * يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَٰلَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا

(Quran 33:70-71)

"O you who believe, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will then amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment."

Amma ba'dah.

The Most Difficult Hadith to Practice

A student raised his hand and asked the teacher—this was in Medina—he asked his Shaykh a very profound question that caught everybody's attention. And he said, "Shaykh, what is the most difficult hadith to follow? What is the most difficult hadith to put to practice?"

And everyone is thinking, what is the answer going to be? What is the most difficult hadith to put to practice? I want to ask you that question right now, so that way we don't just make it me, myself just speaking, and all of you just listening. But I'm going to start this session inshaAllah with this: What is the most difficult hadith for you personally to put to practice?

Raise your hand, can anybody give me any hadith? Think about it, for you to practice, to put to practice.

Response from the audience: Niyat (intention), very good, inshaAllah. Yes, in all aspects of our daily lives, for any deed to be accepted, definitely, to correct our intentions. To see, and to always correct it, to make sure that it is for the sake of Allah. For indeed, no deeds will be accepted except if it is sincere.

And of course, JazakumAllah khair for reminding us of this hadith. Because any time we're sitting down to do anything, the first thing that we have to check before we begin, while we're in the act of doing that deed, and even afterwards we have to check our sincerity. And sometimes it changes on us, just like you mentioned, it's difficult, right? Okay, inshaAllah, very good, good answer.

Anybody else have anything? Any hadith, brothers or sisters? So the brother mentioned:

إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1, Sahih Muslim 1907)

"Actions are judged by intentions."

Anyone else? Nobody else? InshaAllah, I know it's early, I don't know if it's early in the morning or not here, but maybe for Singaporeans on Sunday morning, it's early, right? It's not too early, so give me a hadith, give me something. Give me something, inshaAllah. Think of something. InshaAllah you can raise your hand.

Shyness is all good, right? When it comes to seeking knowledge, inshaAllah, shyness should not prevent you from participating or knowing the truth. And so, it's okay, you can raise your hands, inshaAllah.

The Hadith About Balance

If not, I'll just give you the answer what the teacher said. He said personally, one of the most difficult hadith for me to apply are the words of the Prophet ﷺ in which he said:

إِنَّ لِرَبِّكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَإِنَّ لِنَفْسِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَإِنَّ لِأَهْلِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا

(Sahih al-Bukhari 5199)

"Surely, your Lord has a right upon you, and surely, you yourself also have a right upon yourself, and also your family, they also have a right upon you."

And so, it's the totality of our connection between us and Allah, and also realizing that, understanding ourselves also, and also our families. And all of these things are also related to what? Related to our daily lives in this world. And it is about balancing between ad-deen, the religion, the hereafter and the dunya.

The hereafter and the dunya. If you can balance that, you know, there is no extreme on one side or the other. You can balance it. And when you follow the sunnah, the sunnah always leads you to moderation, always leads you to the middle path. The stronger you hold on to the sunnah in totality, then the closer you are to the straight path. And that of course leads to moderation.

The Reality of This Worldly Life

So, it's the balance in this dunya. But the dunya itself has stages and is a test for us. Every single stage is a little bit different. And so Allah tells us the reality of this dunya in Surah Al-Hadeed. And He says, after we seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan:

Surah Al-Hadeed, Allah mentions at the beginning of this verse, and I'll read the end also. He says:

ٱعْلَمُوا

Anytime Allah says اعْلَمُوا it means to know. His ordering is to know. It means to reflect and to think. This is reality. This is not fairy tale. This is the reality of what I'm going to tell you. اعْلَمُوا So anytime Allah says "know," then think about every single word that's going to be mentioned, because Allah is going to give you علم-knowledge, truth, reality here. We're not talking about reality TV here. We're talking about real life. We're talking about real life. We're talking about the truth.

And so Allah says:

ٱعْلَمُوٓاْ أَنَّمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِى ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَوْلَٰدِ ۖ

(Quran 57:20)

"Know that the life of this world is but play and amusement, adornment and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children."

Surely the dunya is—so He's going to give you now what this dunya is all about. What is this dunya all about?

The Five Stages of Worldly Life

So He's giving you and also you have to look at the order, because every single word that is used, the order in which each word is placed, is of the utmost importance. And Allah says: Know that this dunya is la'ib (play).

Stage 1: La'ib (Play)

Meaning it starts off from the beginning. Allah calls it play. Allah calls it play. Why? Because when you grow up as a child, what are you concerned about? What is your whole life revolve around? A child just wants to play. A child just wants to play. And some people, they never grow out of this stage. They never mature at all.

So the first stage: la'ib. And that's everything for that child. It's all about toys. You buy them toys and they play with it. Even if they don't have toys, they will make things—regular tools that we use at home-as toys. Right? La'ib. And then they will play. And it's everything for them.

And if you were to take that away from them, if they're playing with a doll house or a kitchen set or some die cast cars, when they play with these things, as soon as you take it away, how do they react? Immediately they try their very best to take it back. And when they know that it is out of their control, then they use a tool, the most powerful thing that they have. Because they're not strong. What do they use? They cry. They break down and cry to try to make you feel sorry for them.

And by the way, they're very smart. You know, if you let them use that as a tool, they will always use it as a tool against you. So you have to teach your children also: that's not going to work with me.

And so the same way, why does a person cry? A person cries when they know that they have no other alternative. They have no other—everything is out of their own power. And so they cry. And that's why sometimes a woman cries because she wants something. Maybe she wants her husband to buy her a new car. If she were to be able to buy a new car herself and she had the money to do so, if she really wanted it she would buy it herself. But because she can't afford it, and she's asking her husband to get a new car because everyone else has a new car except for us, and then when that doesn't work, she breaks down and cries. And what happens to the heart of the husband? It melts and he says, "Okay, okay," even though we just bought one five years ago. Well five years is a lot here in Singapore, because you can't use your car for that long, right? La ilaha illallah!

But she breaks down and cries. So you break down and cry when you have no other alternative. And that is why when you break down and cry, it is the highest level of humility. Because it's as if you're saying, "Ya Allah," especially when you're by yourself. It's as if you're saying, "Ya Allah, I have no one else except You, O Allah." And so you turn to Allah. And that's why crying does not nullify patience. Crying does not nullify beautiful patience. Why? Because you're patient, but when you're crying, it is a sign of humbleness and humility. And it is a sign that you need Allah. You're telling Allah that you have no one else except for Him.

And so in the beginning, children, when you take a toy away, that's their whole life. But then some people never outgrow it. The toys just become bigger now. Instead of little fake toys that you push around, now it actually moves by itself. You just press the gas pedal and it moves.

And so sometimes when you take something from a child, or when a child loses something, whether it be a toy or just a crayon or even something breaks, a small toy breaks, they cry as if it's the end of the world. They cry as if it's the end of the world. And then we look down and we say to them, and we say, you know what? It's just a crayon. Or it's just a hot wheel. Or it's just a kitchen set. We can get another one. You don't have to cry as if it's the end of the world.

But then when we grow up, the same thing happens. And we break down as if it's the end of the world when something happens. And maybe Allah looks down and He says, "It's just a Toyota. It's just a car," whatever it is that you may have.

The Real Problem

The thing is, most of the time in this world, the problem often isn't the problem. The bigger problem is us thinking the problem is bigger than what it really is. It's not a big problem, but we make it bigger than what it really is. So that is actually the problem. The problem isn't the problem. The problem is our perception of the problem is a problem in itself.

And so Allah says:

ٱعْلَمُوٓاْ أَنَّمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ

Stage 2: Lahw (Amusement)

Lahwun is sort of like amusement, entertainment. So you get to the next stage. When you get to the next stage-and you know, especially with the internet generation, with the iPad and all these gadgets that we have—those who have children, I know some of our children are addicted to electronic gadgets, right? Addicted to videos and this and that. At the beginning they play with toys. And if they don't play with toys, believe it or not, they don't just—they watch people play with toys. Who has kids that watch videos of others playing with toys? You seen people do that? Children.

And you look at some of these videos. They're like, I'm looking at some of these videos like, really? Is this really interesting? Like a woman popping out like little—what do you call—egg surprise things. And she has a couple of million viewers. Or views. I say, SubhanAllah, who's watching her taking these things out? And speaking about toys, if they're not playing with toys, they're watching people play with toys.

And then when they get to the next level, it's amusement, entertainment: movies, cartoons. Laibu wa lahbu. Sports and the likes. And so now, you go past the age of playing with little toys and you're looking for things to distract you, amuse you, make you laugh, smile and cry.

And so the next stage Allah says of the hayat al-dunya of this life is lahwan. So that's where you have all those movies, entertainment with sports and so forth and the likes.

Stage 3: Zeenah (Adornment)

And then you outgrow that. Then you outgrow that. When they're a kid, when they're young, does a child care about what kind of clothes they wear? It doesn't matter what you put on him or her. She'll just say Alhamdulillah. Whether it's brand name or no brand name, it doesn't matter, right? On sale or not on sale. Cheap or expensive. They just want a pair of shoes, and that's it. They don't care what

The Reality of This World

So what is the reality of this world? Allah is telling us that this world is nothing but a deception. It's nothing but a game. It's nothing but amusement. It's nothing but adornment. It's nothing but boasting. It's nothing but competition. And then after that, death comes.

Allah says in the Quran:

اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ ۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا ۖ وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ ۚ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ

(Quran 57:20)

"Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children - like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow, then it becomes [scattered] debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion."

So Allah is telling us that this world is nothing but a deception. It's nothing but a game. It's nothing but amusement. It's nothing but adornment. It's nothing but boasting. It's nothing but competition. And then after that, death comes.

Stage 1: La'ib (Amusement)

So the first stage is la'ib. La'ib is amusement. When you're a child, what do you do? You play. You're amused. You're not worried about anything. You're just playing. You're just having fun. You're not worried about your future. You're not worried about your past. You're not worried about anything. You're just playing. You're just having fun. You're just amused. You're just a child. You're just playing. That's it. That's the first stage of life.

Stage 2: Lahw (Diversion)

And then you get to the next stage, lahw. Lahw is diversion. Now you're a teenager. Now you're diverted. Now you're diverted by your friends. Now you're diverted by your phone. Now you're diverted by your video games. Now you're diverted by your social media. Now you're diverted by everything. You're not worried about your future. You're not worried about your past. You're not worried about anything. You're just diverted. You're just a teenager. You're just diverted. That's it. That's the second stage of life.

Stage 3: Zeenah (Adornment)

And then you get to the next stage, zeenah. Zeenah is adornment. Now you're an adult. Now you're worried about how you look. Now you're worried about your clothes. Now you're worried about your hair. Now you're worried about your makeup. Now you're worried about your car. Now you're worried about your house. Now you're worried about everything. You're not worried about your future. You're not worried about your past. You're not worried about anything. You're just worried about how you look. You're just an adult. You're just worried about how you look. That's it. That's the third stage of life.

So now you're worried about your clothes. Now you're worried about your shoes. Now you're worried about your hair. Now you're worried about your makeup. Now you're worried about your car. Now you're worried about your house. Now you're worried about everything. You're not worried about your future. You're not worried about your past. You're not worried about anything. You're just worried about how you look. You're just an adult. You're just worried about how you look. That's it. That's the third stage of life.

And so now you're worried about your clothes. Now you're worried about your shoes. Now you're worried about your hair. Now you're worried about your makeup. Now you're worried about your car. Now you're worried about your house. Now you're worried about everything. You're not worried about your future. You're not worried about your past. You're not worried about anything. You're just worried about how you look. You're just an adult. You're just worried about how you look. That's it. That's the third stage of life.

"Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life." (Quran 18:46)

Wealth and children are but again are but the adornments of this life.

وَٱلْبَٰقِيَٰتُ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتُ

But that which will remain for you are the righteous deeds with Allah.

خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا

This will be the best in rewards and also the best in terms of what you can hope for. (Quran 18:46)

And so Allah describes it for us. And these are just two quick verses of the Qur'an. And there are so many other verses in the Qur'an that gives us other parables and examples.

The Prophet's Emphasis on Truth

But the Prophet ﷺ also, he says he says (وَاللَّهِ - wallah) in this hadith in Sahih Muslim. (وَاللَّهِ - wallah). Does the Prophet have to say (وَاللَّهِ - wallah)? Does he have to? He is (الصَّادِقُ الْمَصْدُوقُ - as-sadiq al-masduq). He is the most truthful. He is the most honest and most truthful and trustworthy of all people. He does not have to say (وَاللَّهِ - wallah). He does not have to say it.

You know, for us we might say (وَاللَّهِ - wallah) yes, because maybe we are not truthful all the time. But the Messenger of Allah never lies. Whatever he says, he doesn't need to say (وَاللَّهِ - wallah) to say that he is telling the truth or he is being serious. But he says (وَاللَّهِ - wallah) to let us know the gravity of the situation and the truthfulness, and to emphasize the importance of what he is going to say. That even though he does not have to say (وَاللَّهِ - wallah) he says (وَاللَّهِ - wallah).

The Example of the Dunya Compared to the Hereafter

He says:

وَاللَّهِ مَا الدُّنْيَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ

"In another narration, the example of this dunya, the value of this dunya in comparison to the hereafter, is like one of you putting a finger in the ocean and taking your finger out and comparing the amount of water that's on your finger to the vast oceans of the world." (Sahih Muslim 2858)

What's the difference? There is no comparison. There is no comparison whatsoever. He says that's the example of the hereafter with the dunya, with this worldly life.

The Dunya is Sweet and Green

And the Messenger of Allah also mentioned, he said:

إِنَّ الدُّنْيَا حُلْوَةٌ خَضِرَةٌ

"Indeed, this dunya is sweet and green." (Sahih Muslim 2742)

(حُلْوَةٌ خَضِرَةٌ - hulwatun khadirah) this dunya is green, luscious and green.

وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مُسْتَخْلِفُكُمْ فِيهَا فَيَنْظُرُ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ

"And Allah has made you successors in it, so He will see how you will act." (Sahih Muslim 2742)

Allah put us in it to test us. This is a test. And then he says:

فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا

When he says (فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا - fattaqud-dunya) when we say (اتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا - ittaqud-dunya) it means most people translate as "fear the dunya"-but here it means also be careful of the dunya. And give it and prioritize everything correctly. (فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا - fattaqud-dunya) means be careful of the dunya.

وَاتَّقُوا النِّسَاءَ

"And be careful concerning the women." (Sahih Muslim 2742)

He didn't say fear the woman. The woman is not scary. But when he says (فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا - fattaqud-dunya) then you realize also what he says next. Then you realize what he means by it.

Some people when they mention this(فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا وَاتَّقُوا النِّسَاءَ - fattaqud-dunya wattaqun-nisaa) you better be careful of the woman. But what kind of being careful here? It means take care of them properly. Why?

فَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ فِتْنَةِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَانَتْ فِي النِّسَاءِ

"Because the first test and trial of Bani Israel was in the woman, from the woman." (Sahih Muslim 2742)

Which means that what? That you have to make sure, you have to make sure that if you're learning your deen, make sure your woman also learn it. Make sure also you teach them. Why? Because if you don't let's say if you teach yourself, mashallah, are very knowledgeable maybe, and you go and you listen to the talks and lectures, but then when you go home, you never go and teach your children, your wives and your daughters—and how do you expect them to have their iman be raised? How can their iman be high if whatever you hear you just keep to yourself?

And then when your wife asks you, "Honey, what did the khatib speak about today?" Then you say, "Oh, he spoke about the dunya. And he spoke about the dangers of dunya. And he spoke about be careful of a woman." Right? And then that's, "Oh yeah, that's how he spoke about." "Oh really? So his khutbah was 30 seconds long?" Right? Was it 30 seconds long? But that's all you told your wife when she wanted to know what the khatib said.

Teaching Women and Children

And so that's why when it comes to programs, programs and so forth, I mean, if women are half of the ummah, if they are half of the community, then we should give them at least half of the programs also that's geared towards them. Because most of the programs in the masajid are geared towards whom? Towards men who are over 45. Right? And forget about the children. They don't have any programs for them. So it's not proportionate. And if that is the case, the men are not doing their job also. And they are not doing their job of being, you know, teaching the woman and their family.

Unlike the companions and the great scholars of before, whatever they learned, they would go home and teach their family members.

Interactive Breathing Exercise

I want everyone inshaAllah to stand up for a little bit. Everyone stand up inshaAllah. What we are going to do inshaAllah, I want you to—we are going to do a breathing exercise just so that we can have a just a freshen up a little bit and also be a little bit more motivated and energized.

What we are going to do is we are going to breathe in and breathe out. And you know when you— when you want to breathe, actually your lungs are what captures the oxygen and transfer to the blood, right? So you want to open up your lungs as much as possible. And that's why a marathon runner or someone who has just finished a race, they put their hands on top of their head. It's not about the head, it's about the chest. They are opening up their lungs so that they can replenish the oxygen in their blood quicker.

And so that's what I want you guys to do inshaAllah. And we are going to breathe of course with our stomachs, because you don't really collapse your lungs. You want to keep it open. So you know when a baby sleeps, you see the stomach move when the baby breathes. It goes up and down.

So what we are going to do is we are going to have our elbows out. Because you know in Singapore you guys are just awesome, so you got to put both thumbs up. Thumbs up. And I want you guys to breathe in and breathe out. And at the end, after the third time, I want you to say "Yeah!" as loud as you can. I don't want anyone coming to me at the end of this session and say that you did that.

Everyone get your elbows out. Thumbs up. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. This is it. Breathe out. Breathe in. Say yeah right here!

That was really weak. We got to do it over. The third time, I lost track. I forgot how much it was. But I want you to breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, and then third one, just say "Yeah!" as loud as you can. I want all of you to blow the roof off this place. Wait, Muslims, we should be saying stuff like that. Not literally, okay? You got to be careful with your words nowadays. You know, I mean

to say really loud, okay? Not literally blow anything off, okay? You know, in these times we are sensitive. You know, we got to be careful with the words. I just want you to say really loud. Really loud, okay?

Everybody elbows out. Thumbs up. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. This is it right here. Breathe in. Yeah!

Come on, I know you guys can do better. I want you to say it as loud as you can. Come on. All you guys can do better, Singapore. Come on. I know there is a lot of haze out there. It's causing like some of us to have a hard time breathing maybe. But we can do it inshaAllah. We can do it. I want you to at least say it as loud—loud enough so that at least people outside, if they are like outside, they can hear us at least.

Ready? Elbows out. Thumbs up, this time please. Really loud inshaAllah you guys can do it. Ready? Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. This is it. Yeah!

Mashallah. That's better, alhamdulillah.

The Value of This Dunya

So what is what is the value of this dunya in the sight of Allah? What is the value of it?

The Messenger of Allah said, he said in a hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi-hadith is authentic—he said:

"If this dunya were to be equivalent to just a wing of a mosquito, disbelievers would not even be able to-were not—disbelievers would not even be given a sip of water." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2320)

If this dunya were equivalent—we are talking about equivalent to the—to a wing, a mosquito wing. What's the value of a mosquito wing? If I had a bag of mosquito wings, who would buy it for me? Nobody. Nobody would buy anything. Nobody would buy mosquito wings from you. They don't have any value. Just a mosquito wing.

This dunya in the sight of Allah is less in value than a mosquito wing. And that's why when Allah loves His servant, it doesn't necessary—just because someone—just because someone is rich and they've been given a lot of wealth is not an indication that Allah loves that person. That's not the indication that Allah loves that person.

The Sign of Allah's Love

What's the indication that Allah wants goodness for a person? That indication is if that person understands his deen. When Allah gives him the knowledge of this deen. Why? Because that will benefit him in this life and the hereafter. And even after he passes away, when he has knowledge, he spreads it, then it will continue to benefit him. That is something of great value. When Allah loves

someone, He gives them something of great value, not something that is less in value than a mosquito wing. No.

And so that is why when Allah loves someone, when Allah wants goodness for someone, the Messenger of Allah said:

مَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُفَقِّهْهُ فِي الدِّينِ

"Whomsoever Allah wants goodness for him, He makes him understand this deen." (Sahih al-Bukhari 71, Sahih Muslim 1037)

So do you see how small a mosquito wing is and how much it's valued?

The Higher Your Iman, the Smaller the Dunya

The more your iman rises, the smaller this dunya becomes. It's like you are riding on an airplane. You know when the airplane gets up, the airplane takes off, the higher you go, the smaller the houses become. And then the smaller the cars become. The higher you go, because now you can see everything in perspective.

So when the higher your iman is, the same way you see the real value of this dunya. You see the real value of this dunya. You keep on going higher and higher and higher until that car becomes—and that house, that hotel becomes like a mosquito wing. It becomes so small because you keep on—the higher your iman is, the smaller this dunya becomes.

What is Beneficial in This Dunya?

And so what are some of the things that are beneficial in this dunya? The Messenger of Allah in another hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, he said:

الدُّنْيَا مَلْعُونَةٌ مَلْعُونَ مَا فِيهَا إِلَّا ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ وَمَا وَالَاهُ وَعَالِمًا أَوْ مُتَعَلِّمًا

"This worldly life is mal'una (cursed)—mal'una is curse, means it would distance you from the mercy of Allah-mal'una, and in it also is curse, except for dhikr Allah, the remembrance of Allah, dhikr Allah ta'ala, wa ma walahu—and anything associated with the remembrance of Allah-prayer, acts of worship, these are the things of this dunya—wa aliman wa muta'alima—and a scholar or a student of knowledge." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2322)

You're either learning or you're teaching. And if you're not one of the two, then you're just distancing yourself from the mercy of Allah at all times. And that's the importance of this world.

Understanding True Success

And the thing is, the success—you also have to understand, what is true success? True success in this

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life? There's no such thing as true success except for that which is related to the hereafter. Because true success is permanent success, not something that's temporary.

And that's why success and failure in this world is never permanent. So never be overly disheartened by a failure, nor overly joyous by a success. Why? Let's say you're successful in one aspect. Don't get too happy about it because it's not permanent. And if it's something that happens to you and you're very sad, don't be overly distressed over it because it's temporary also.

And that is why every time you think about death, every time you think about death, then you start to realize, if you are going through difficulties, then you realize, well you know what? This will end. And the hereafter is more important. And so it will alleviate the stress.

And if you are indulged in the dunya, when you think about death, then everything else becomes serious also.

The Story of the Man in the Masjid

So how can we—how can we as Muslims see the reality of this world? What are some of the things that we can do? Of course, we're going to mention a little bit more about seeking knowledge. But think about the hereafter by thinking about death and the hereafter. Then you realize the reality of everything around us. And everything that happens to you, you put it in perspective.

I'm going to give you an example, and I want you guys to listen carefully.

Imagine yourself, imagine you walking into the masjid, and you sit down to recite the Qur'an. And then a man comes in to the masjid with two of his sons, two young sons, two young boys. He goes to the back of the masjid and he sits reclining or he sits leaning on to the wall of the masjid. And as if he's in a dazed state, he's just sitting there.

And his children start to run around the masjid and they are playing chase. They're chasing each other. But not only that, people are standing up in salah and they're making tawaf around people. And not only that, there are people who are reciting Qur'an, and they hit that person in the head. And then now the children have run around you. And then you look around and you see the father doing nothing.

How do you feel at that moment? How do you feel? If this were to happen to you, imagine how you would be feeling. Give me a word for how you're feeling. Give me a word.

Audience: Angry.

What else? Angry at who? The father, because the father is not doing anything. Like he's just sitting there as if nothing is happening. Right? Does that happen somewhere in masjid? Sometimes it happens, right?

And you're thinking, you're thinking about, "My son would never do—if my son ever did something like that, if my children did something like that, oh my gosh!" Right? "What's wrong with this man? Why can't he teach his children some manners? And if they are like this, why bring them to the masjid? Because they're bothering everyone."

Maybe some of us become furious and we might even go back and yell at him. But you know what? You're in control. So you go back to him. You had enough, right? So you just go. You don't want to yell at him. You don't want to make a scene. So you go to that man and you say, "Brother, please, take care of your children."

So then he like shakes off this daze off his face and he looks at you and he says, "I'm really sorry. I apologize. I'm just not in it today. We just came from the hospital. My wife just passed away."

How do you feel? Are you mad at him? Are you mad at the children? Did the children stop running? No. Everything is still happening. Nothing has changed. But what is it that made you, instead of being angry at him, you love him and you're compassionate towards him and you feel sorry for him? What is it? What are you thinking about?

Because now there's a death in the picture. And when death comes into the picture, then it gives you the reality of everything. It tells you what is important and what isn't important.

The Power of Thinking About Death

So when you think about the hereafter, all the little things that bother everyone else no longer bother you. When you think about the hellfire, when you think about paradise, and when you think about the realities of the hereafter, then all of the distractions, all the annoyances, all the annoyances and all the things that bother you no longer bother you. Even though they're still there, but they don't affect you the same way.

And that's why a true believer, one whose heart is connected to the hereafter, is the strongest person on the face of this earth. Because one who bows down to Allah can stand up to anything. When you have Allah, Allah is all that you need. And when you realize that, then you become the strongest person on earth.

All the little distractions—that little accident? We can replace the car inshaAllah. It's nothing. It doesn't faze you anymore. Because you're thinking about, why am I being fazed and bothered by this? Because the hereafter, that's what's serious. This is just a crayon, just like how you looked at your children. It's only a toy kitchen. Right?

So now you have matured. So the more you're connected to the hereafter, the more mature you become. And maturity is what we're talking about-spiritual maturity. When you're mature, you start

to see things properly. And you start to realize also, this worldly life is not permanent.

Comparing the Dunya to Eternity

And if you compare to the hereafter, when you compare something to the hereafter, when you compare this world to the hereafter, what is the value of this world in comparison to eternity?

Do you know the symbol for eternity, the symbol for infinite? What does it look like? A little loop. A little loop. Like halfway 8 or something, right? Like a sideways 8.

If you compare—for all those mathematicians out there—any number, any number to eternity, what is that number equal to? When you compare anything to infinite, let's say a hundred billion, or whatever that number may be, what is it equal to? What's that number in comparison to infinity?

Zero. Right? Zero. Worthless. Nothing.

Even mathematicians know that. Mathematicians know that anything compared to infinity, eternity, it equals zero. So even in mathematics, this worldly life equals zero.

Using the Dunya for the Akhirah

But does it really equal zero? Well, in terms of the value, if you take this only without this, with disregard to the hereafter, then it's worthless. It's going—it's not going to benefit you. But if you use it properly, instead of taking this, instead of taking this as something that's permanent, you can use that to help you get to that which is valuable.

So it's like, this worldly life is like a king—example, Ibn Qayyim, rahimahullah, he mentioned, he said, it's like a person, it's like a person, or like a king, who's built—he built huge palaces, huge palaces. And a lot, but along the way, along the way there's a beautiful woman. He who passes this woman without being distracted by her, without going to her, but she's very beautiful. And you know that the palace is ahead, but if you stop here, you're not going to be allowed to enter.

You stop here and you take her, you won't be allowed to enter. The palace and the palace has everything that you can want. And that woman is very beautiful, but she is there as a test. So the king has put her as a test. And if you fall for it, then you won't be able to, you won't be given the palaces.

And so this dunya and this worldly life is just a test for us. That Allah wants to see who is best indeed. And if we pass it, if we pass it, then Allah will give us everything that our heart desires.

Jannah is Beyond Imagination

So all of that which you want in this world, by the way, whatever you want in this world, and I'll end inshaAllah-let's talk about this. Whatever you want in this world, in the hereafter, will be so much

better.

This worldly life, anything that you hear in the Qur'an, in the sunnah, about specifics of this, of the hereafter, the only thing that is the same is what? The only thing, as Ibn Abbas said, is the name. So when you hear about fruits in paradise, it won't be the same fruits. But the only thing that's the same is the name. Rivers in paradise-you can imagine a river, but the rivers in paradise will be nothing like what you imagine. It will be so much better.

Then you might say, how can that be? Well, let me give you an example. Let me give you an example. Maybe we can understand it a little bit better.

The Example of Calling

Right now, if we want to call someone, what do we do? We take out our cell phones, and we just call. Anywhere in the world. Anywhere in the world, you can call and speak to someone halfway around the world. You can speak to anyone.

And by the way, you know when phones first came out? One of my teachers in Medina, he was talking about it. He said in his village, he said, when the phone first came out, the sheikh in his village said, it is shirk to use a phone. I'm not joking. Haram, kufr, mukhrijun minal milla. To use a phone is haram and you are considered a non-Muslim. No, I'm not joking.

You might say, wow. What was his reasoning? What was his reasoning? His reasoning was, how can a person in Saudi Arabia speak to someone in America? It can't happen, unless that person has used magic. And magic is one of the major sins that takes a person outside the state of Islam. Right?

Remember, you have to understand, this is new, right? And he couldn't imagine someone speaking, you know, let's say, I'm talking to someone behind you, or over there, and I'm talking here, I'm whispering, and it goes through you, okay? Yet you do not hear me. If that person over there hears me, isn't that amazing?

But do you ever think about how that happens? That in itself is amazing. The knowledge that Allah has given to mankind.

But, what do we call that? We say, I'm going to call my mother. A hundred years ago, or two hundred years ago maybe, you go to a person and you say, "Brother," two hundred years ago, you say, "Call your mother. Go call your mother in Malaysia. Call your mother in Malaysia." In Kuala Lunmput. Say, "Your mother lives in Kuala Lumpur. How do you call your mother?"

Two hundred years ago, what would you have to do to call your mother? You'd have to get on a horse, or a cow, or a water buffalo, whatever you may have. There's something, any means, but you're going to have to take a long time to go and speak to your mother, right?

What word did I use? What word did I use? Call. What word do I use now? Is it the same call? We use the same word, but it's anything but call, two hundred years ago. Right? The same word is there, it's used.

So whatever you may be thinking about in your mind that Jannah is going to be like this and that, it's going to be so much better. And however you may think the hellfire, how bad and how terrible and how painful it may be, it will be greater than what you will ever imagine. And that's scary.

Making Dua for Jannah

And so that is why, when you make a dua to Allah, don't—you do not need to be specific. You don't need to say, "Ya Allah, I want a Ferrari in Jannah, a red one. No, no, no, everyone has a red one. I want a blue one." Right?

Instead, you don't have to ask for anything of this world. Do you know why? Because, when you get to Jannah, that Ferrari is something you wouldn't even want.

Just like, I remember when I was a kid, I used to make dua to Allah in tahajjud for the Atari 2600. I don't know if you guys know the Atari 2600 or not. It was like two poles that bent back and forth. And they called that tennis, football, basketball, everything. It was just—it was just—I used to make dua for that Atari 2600. And I said, "Ya Allah, when I go to Paradise, inshaAllah, ya Allah, enter me Paradise, and I want the Atari 2600 with every game that's ever made for it." That was my dream. Right? That's what I wanted.

Now, if you were to give me the Atari 2600, I'm going, what am I going to do with this? Do you want it? You don't want it anymore.

And that's why when you ask Allah for Jannah, you don't ask about specific things in this life. Because whatever you're going to get, it's going to be so much better.

Conclusion: The Reality of This World

So this dunya, whatever you have here, it is what?

اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرُ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ

Play, amusement, adornments وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ . And it's just competing with each other, and also الْأَمْوَالِ You know, boasting about each other, boasting to each other about status and wealth and children.

And then in the end, if you get caught up in it, and you do not realize the reality and the value of it, then in the Akhirah, it will be

عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ

And that's why it's very important for us to realize the reality of this world. And that's why we're speaking about that right now, in these talks, about the distractions of this world. And now inshaAllah, we're going to be speaking about also how to deal with some of the distractions. And also how to strengthen our iman. Because if we strengthen our iman, then we will realize the reality of this dunya. And so that's what we need to do inshaAllah.

Right now we're going to break. And inshaAllah, if you have, of course we'll have questions at the end. So if you have any questions and so forth, make sure you write it, keep it, write it down somewhere so you don't forget inshaAllah. Right now we'll break inshaAllah for ten minutes and then inshaAllah we'll come back.