“He who forsakes the hereafter for the world and the world for the hereafter is not a good one of you. Do not be a burden to people.” Is this a hadith?
- If it is a hadith, how should it be understood?
Dear Brother / Sister,
“Neither he who forsakes the hereafter for the world nor he who forsakes the world for the hereafter - he who does not receive his share of both - is not a good one of you because the place of access to and preparation for the hereafter is the world. Do not be a burden to people.” (For this hadith narrated by Ibn Asakir from Anas, see Kanzul-Ummal, h. No: 6334)
We think that the message of the hadith is not ambiguous. There is no spirituality in the sense of withdrawal from the world in Islam. It is a necessity of the wisdom of creation to balance the world and the hereafter and to aim for both.
In Islam, the religion and the world are intertwined. A worldly life indexed to the hereafter is like a field that will always grow the hereafter crops.
The world has three faces:
a. It is a letter from Allah and a book of the universe.
b. It is a field that grows the crops of the hereafter.
c. It is an obstacle to the hereafter, a follower of the desires of the nafs (soul) and an entertainment for the heedless.
Thus, the world, with its first two faces, is necessarily in close relationship with the hereafter. It is wrong in principle to try to gain the hereafter by abandoning the world without considering those two aspects. It is also wrong from another viewpoint to forget the hereafter because of the third face of the world.
The Quran balances the world and the hereafter:
“But seek, with the (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world.” (al-Qasas, 28/77)
Along with the advice above, the Quran points to that balanced life with the following prayer: “Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter” (al-Baqara, 2/201).
Furthermore, the hadith explicitly criticizes those who abandon the worldly affairs, stop working, do not provide for their children, and become a burden to people even though they can work just for the sake of doing a little more worship and dhikr.
Questions on Islam
- There is a hadith that is narrated as follows: "An illegitimate child is the evilest of the three evils." How should this narration be interpreted under the light of the verse, "No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another"?
- How should we understand the hadith, “If this world were worth a wing of a mosquito in the eye of Allah, He would not give the disbeliever a drink of water thereof”?
- Does denying hadiths harm a person’s belief?
- Is the statement "Work for this world as if you will never die, and work for the hereafter as if you will die tomorrow" a hadith? If it is a hadith, how should it be understood?
- How should we understand the hadith, Mankind is in sleep, they wake up when they die?
- Is the saying “The one who remains silent against injustice is a speechless Satan” a hadith? If so, can you give the reference?
- What should we do when we read a hadith?
- How should we consider the hadith, which says, There is no comfort on earth?
- Is there a hadith about saying salawat for the Prophet after fard prayers?
- The following is stated in a hadith: "Neither Mizan (Scales) nor reckoning is set for those who suffered from illnesses and misfortunes. Thawabs will be given to them like pouring of rain."
