It is not Dunya, but the love of Dunya, which is reprehensible

(Part 1)

Taken from ‘Islahi Majalis’ (Vol 4), by Hadhrat Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani (dāmat barakātuhum). Translated by Syed Ahmer and edited by Albalagh editorial team.

With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful. Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his family, and his companions.

Hadhrat Thanavi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
“It is not prohibited to earn material wealth. It is love of Dunya (material world) and giving it too much importance in one’s heart which has been prohibited, even if it involves condemning Dunya excessively. It is because a person does not mention too much, even by way of criticism or condemnation, something which holds no value or importance for him.”
It means that it is not prohibited to earn a Halal income and earn a living. What is prohibited are two things, the first of these is harbouring the love of material wealth in one’s heart. Human beings have an inherent liking for material wealth in their hearts involuntarily. That is not prohibited. What is prohibited is that a person falls so much in love with Dunya that it leads to him committing sins, or becoming so preoccupied with it that he starts neglecting Deen.

The prayer of Hadhrat Farooq-e-Azam (may Allah be pleased with him)
During the Khilafat of Hadhrat Farooq-e-Azam رضي الله تعالى عنه, when Persia was conquered, Kisra’s (Khosrow) treasures were brought to Madinah Munawwarah, and mounds of gold and silver were piled up in Masjid-e-Nabawi. At that time, Hadhrat Farooq-e-Azam رضي الله تعالى عنه prayed to Allah Ta’ala that “O’ Allah! We do not pray to You that You completely eliminate the love of material wealth from our hearts because You have Yourself said in the Holy Qur’an,
It has been made attractive for people to love the desired things; that is, women, children, hoarded heaps of gold and silver, branded horses, cattle and tillage. That is an enjoyment of the worldly life; but with Allah lies the beauty of the final resort. (3:14)
But we do pray that O’ Allah! This love of Dunya does not become a barrier for us in carrying out our religious duties, and this love does not lead us to committing any sins.” Aameen
Becoming totally preoccupied with Dunya is prohibited
Anyway, the extent to which the love of Dunya is naturally ingrained in a person’s heart and is involuntary, is not deplorable. But breeding this love in one’s heart actively, to the extent that a person is totally occupied all the time about how to increase his material wealth and physical comforts, and has no goals and aspirations beyond increasing his bank balance and financial assets, is prohibited.
Remove the importance of Dunya from your heart
The second thing that has been prohibited is giving undue importance to Dunya. Undue importance means that a person starts believing that this material world and wealth are of great significance, and starts measuring success and failure in life in terms of how much wealth a person has accumulated. An example of this would be the people who said upon seeing the treasures of Qarun,
Said those who are desirous of the worldly life, “Would that we had the like of what Qarun has been given! He is a man of great fortune indeed.” (28:79)
These people were envious and desirous of what Qarun had been given. They did not gain any Dunya by holding and expressing these desires, but they ruined their Aakhirat by wanting to be like someone who was subsequently punished by Allah Ta’ala. They attached such great importance to material wealth that they believed that having wealth was a sure sign of being fortunate and lucky.
The truly unfortunate person
If a person managed to accumulate material wealth, and he benefitted from it and enjoyed worldly pleasures, at least he got some benefit from it, even though it was through committing sins. But the truly unfortunate person is the one who did not manage to earn any material wealth but kept yearning for and lusting after it, and he became envious of other people’s wealth to the point that he developed great reverence for material wealth in his heart. Having this degree of reverence and admiration for Dunya in one’s heart is a very dangerous trait.
Who is not a good Faqir?
There is a saying in Arabic بئس الفقیر علی باب الأمیر which means that that he is not a good Faqir (in this saying the word Faqir refers to a Sufi) who is standing at the door of a rich person. Why is he not a good Faqir? Because he is the kind of person about whom Allah Ta’ala has said in the Holy Qur’an خسر الدنیا و الآخرة,
…He loses both this world and the Hereafter… (22:11)
Meaning he did not get a good share in this world and remained dependent on other people. And because he stands at the door of rich people, which means that he values material wealth and believes that being rich is a great value in itself, therefore, he will not get a share in Aakhirat as well.
The curse of being impressed with wealth and status
It would be a very unfortunate person who would commit a sin just for the love of money. Alhamdulillah, most Muslims are safe from that curse. May Allah Ta’ala protect us all. Aameen. However, being impressed with someone’s wealth is a common mistake which afflicts many otherwise pious Muslims as well. For example, they have awe and respect in their hearts for someone just because he has a lot of money, or has a high social status, and try to develop closer relationships with him, and feel proud that such rich, influential people, people of a high societal status, are amongst my acquaintances and come to me for guidance. This awe and love of status is such a common error that even religious people get afflicted by it.
Feeling proud of knowing rich people
These days, many of our religious scholars are afflicted by this weakness. They very proudly tell people that I am friends with this rich person, I know this influential person well. Why feel proud about knowing someone? It is because of that rich person’s wealth or status. When he says that I know this person well, I visit him often, or he visits me often, the idea behind is that other people will think that if he knows that important person, he must be important too because of his relations with all these important people. This all shows that there is a love of wealth and status in that person’s heart. If someone knows a very pious person who is poor, then no one talks about knowing him in front of everyone that I know so and so well, he is a very pious person, he and I visit each other often. Why do we boast about knowing rich people, but not poor pious people? It is because we value wealth, but do not place the same value on Deen.
When was Surah Abasa revealed?
In Surah Abasa, Allah Ta’ala says,
He (the Prophet) frowned and turned his face, because the blind man came to him! (80:1-2)
The context of revelation of this Surah is that once the leaders of non-Muslims were sitting in the presence of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and he was inviting them to Islam. At the same time, Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Umme-Maktoum (may Allah be pleased with him) came to ask a question related to Deen. The Holy Prophet ﷺ probably thought that he was one of his own people, and he could talk to him any time, while the other attendees were leaders of non-Muslims and had come from afar. If they embraced Islam, they would be very effective in spreading Islam in their own communities. That is why he continued to attend to these leaders and did not give due attention to Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Umme-Maktoum رضي الله تعالى عنه. At this, Allah Ta’ala expressed His displeasure, and this verse was revealed.
Even though on the surface it seemed fair that Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Umme-Maktoum (رضي الله تعالى عنه) was one of the Sahabah with easy access to the Holy Prophet ﷺ. He could have asked his question any time. On the other hand, there were these non-believers who were leaders of their tribes, and there was a possibility that they might give up their Kufr because of receiving advice from the Holy Prophet ﷺ. But because it gave the appearance of non-Muslim rich community leaders being given preference over a poor Muslim, Allah Ta’ala expressed His displeasure over it, even though there wasn’t even the remotest possibility that the Holy Prophet ﷺ would give any importance or consideration to worldly wealth or status. So, one can imagine how grave a matter it would be if today we knowingly and consciously prefer some people over others because of their wealth or status. May Allah Ta’ala protect us all from doing so. Aameen
The luckiest person in the world
Imam Ghazali (may Allah have mercy on him) said that there are different stages and statuses that people reach. The luckiest person amongst all human beings is the person who is blessed with plenty of Dunya, but does not have love of Dunya in his heart. Allah Ta’ala has granted him plenty of material wealth, but he does not love it. He is very mindful that this life and world are a temporary abode, and that regardless of how much wealth he has, it is unreliable and Allah Ta’ala can take it away at any time. He is the luckiest person.
The person of the second degree
The person who is in the second degree is who Allah Ta’ala has not granted a lot of material wealth, and he also does not have love of Dunya in his heart. He is living within his limited means, and does not crave or lust after any more Dunya.
The third type of person
The third type of person is one who received both Dunya, and love for Dunya. Even though he got involved in impermissible and sinful activities because of his love for Dunya, but at least he obtained some pleasures in this world. He managed to gain Dunya, though not Aakhirat.