Detachment from this world

Ya Allah, detach me from this worldly life.

We always hear this prayer, but what does this actually mean? Does it mean we cannot love our worldly life (duniya)?

I learnt a beautiful and easy to understand concept and it has been on my mind for awhile.

But first, what is considered our duniya?

Joys of the world

The following verse lists down the enjoyment of worldly desires for men.

The enjoyment of ˹worldly˺ desires—women, children, treasures of gold and silver, fine horses, cattle, and fertile land—has been made appealing to people. These are the pleasures of this worldly life, but with Allah is the finest destination. [3:14]

Women

Allah starts with women because it is the most tempting, in so many ways. Love, companionship, sexual desires and many more.

Honestly, I believe that if we can make an effort to understand this better, a lot of fiqh rulings will make more sense to us.

Children

Aah we know how much love and joy they bring to our lives. They take up most of our time, energy and even mental space.

Your wealth and children are only a test, but Allah ˹alone˺ has a great reward. [64:15]

However, we often forget that they are apart of the trials of the duniya. Yes, they are our assets for the hereafter. Yes, they can be our reason to enter paradise.

Unfortunately, they can also be the reason for us to end up down under (We seek refuge with Allah from that).

Your possessions and your children are only a trial, for you, distracting [you] from the concerns of the Hereafter, and God -- with Him is a great reward, so do not forfeit it by preoccupying yourselves with possessions and children. [Tafsir Jalalayn]

Treasures of gold and Silver

Represent wealth.

Fine horses

Everytime I hear a man talking about cars, motorcycles or bicycles passionately, I am always reminded of this verse. Always put a smile on my face, Allah is indeed All-Knowing.

Sometimes, owners of horses collect them to be used in the cause of Allah, and when warranted, they use their horses in battle. This type of owner shall be rewarded for this good action. 

Another type collects horses to boast, and out of enmity to the people of Islam, and this type earns a burden for his behavior. 

Another type collects horses to fulfill their needs and to collect their offspring, and they do not forget Allah's right due on their horses. 
[Tafsir Ibn Kathir]

Cattle and fertile land

Represent career and assets.

So many of us have this as THE purpose of life. It consume us everyday, occupying our mind like nothing else matters.

Keep it in our hands

Now, open up the palm in front of us and imagine our duniya on that palm. Everything that matters so much for us.

These things are in front of us everyday. We give them a lot of attention and care, spend a lot of time with them. We build them, expand them, improve them, safeguard them. We love them.

However, it is important for us to constantly remind ourselves that they are just on our hands. We can easily lose them, drop them. Allah can easily take them away from us.

Ultimately, no matter how much effort we put in to build and protect them, they are NOT ours. They are blessings that are granted to us. Lent to us.

That is why they should remain in our hands, not in our hearts.

If we put them in our hearts, imagine the amount of pain we have to go through when it’s taken away from us. There is a possibility that we cannot even function as a person anymore, we cannot serve our purpose anymore.

I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me [51:56]

Sometimes we see people that deviate further from Allah after a loss, but there are some that somehow can grow closer to Allah.

Without us noticing, losing it can make our hands lighter to worship Allah.

Imagine hiking with just the right amount and quality of tools, not 8 types of ropes and 4 extra pairs of shoes. We want them to help us to reach the top of the mountain, not to drag us down and fall flat to the base.

Try to keep in mind that what we have in this duniya are our tools, our assets. They should not be a burden to reach our destination (paradise).

We can love our duniya and cherish them, give our attention to them. However if we ever lose them, have faith that Allah knows that’s the best for us. We may not know it, but He knows.

All these worldly joy are temporary. The ultimate joy is to be with Him.

To learn more about this concept, I suggest watching this short video by Nouman Ali Khan.

May Allah make it easy for us and bless us with contentment of the heart.

Love,