Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
The Twelve Qualities of the True Ulama – First Quality
Imaam Ghazaali (rahimahullah) writes:
The Aalim who loves the world (and gives preference to it over deen) is worse and lower in rank than an ignorant person, and he will be punished most severely in the Hereafter. Successful indeed are the Ulama who are close to Allah Ta‘ala and who are always concerned about the Aakhirah.
There are certain distinguishing signs of the true Ulama which will next be mentioned:
1. Not Earning the Dunya through his Deeni knowledge
The first sign of a true Aalim is that he does not try to acquire wealth through his deeni knowledge. Even the lowest of the Ulama know that this dunya is despicable, wretched, filthy and temporary, and that the Aakhirah is glorious and eternal, and its bounties are most magnificent.
Furthermore, the true Aalim fully understands that this world and the Hereafter are opposed to each other. They are like two wives married to one husband – when he pleases one wife, the other naturally becomes displeased with him.
To give another example, this world and the Hereafter are like two sides of a scale – when one goes down, the other automatically goes up. Indeed, this world and the Hereafter are opposites like the East and the West – the closer you go towards one, the further you become from the other.
He who does not realise that this world has no value and is impure is really mistaken. It is a common experience that all worldly joys involve undergoing hardship in this world – apart from the inevitable difficulties that will be faced in the Hereafter. Therefore, how can a person who lacks even the basic intelligence to realize this ever be regarded as an Aalim?
Rather, the person who does not know about the greatness of the Hereafter and its everlastingness is not a true believer. Hence, how can such a person ever be regarded as an Aalim who have does not have faith and conviction in this?
If a person does not realise that this world and the Hereafter are opposites to one another and wishes to combine between both, then he is trying to do something which is disliked, and such a person has not understood the way of life of all the Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam) of Allah Ta‘ala.
If a person knows all these facts, and still chooses this world (over the Hereafter), then he is a slave of Shaitaan. He has been destroyed by his carnal desires and he has been overpowered by his evil self. Obviously, a person whose condition is such cannot be counted among the Ulama.
Nabi Dawood (‘alaihis salaam) relates that Allah Ta‘ala says:
“If an Aalim chooses worldly desires (the world) over My love, the least I do to him is that I deprive him of the bliss of communicating with Me (i.e. he does not find any enjoyment in the zikr (remembrance) of Allah Ta‘ala and in turning to Him in dua).
“O Dawood, have no respect for an Aalim who has been intoxicated and is madly in love with the pleasures of this world, as he will lead you astray from My love. Such people are, in reality, (deceitful) robbers. O Dawood, when you find someone who really looks for Me (and seeks My love), then you become his servant. O Dawood, if anyone comes to Me running, I record his name as a “Jahbaz (an extremely intelligent and wise person), and I do not punish the one who has been recorded as a Jahbaz.”
Hazrat Yahya bin Mu’aaz (rahimahullah) says, “When the knowledge of deen and wisdom are used for earning this world, then this ilm (knowledge) has no noor and light.”
Hazrat Sa’eed bin Musayyib (rahimahullah) would say, “When you find an Aalim always mixing and associating with the wealthy class, then you should regard him to be a thief.”
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) mentioned, “If you find an Aalim who loves this world, then treat him as a suspect in regard to his deen. The reason is that every person will engage himself with that which is beloved to him.”
Once, a person asked a pious saint, “Can a person who finds pleasure in committing sins be an Aarif of Allah Ta‘ala (i.e. a person who has true recognition of Allah Ta‘ala)?” The pious saint replied, “I can say, without any hesitation, that the one who chooses this world over the Hereafter can never be an Aarif – and finding pleasure in committing sins is far worse than that (i.e. far worse than merely choosing this world over the Hereafter)!”
Remember also that an Aalim cannot be regarded as pious only because he does not chase after money. He also has to be such that no hubb-e-jaah (love for worldly recognition and position) hides in his heart, as love for worldly recognition is even worse and more destructive than the love for wealth.
In other words, all the warnings which are mentioned in the Ahaadith in regard to choosing this world over the Hereafter – these warnings do not only refer to one chasing after wealth. Rather, they pertain to a higher extent to chasing after worldly recognition, as the harms and dangers of chasing after worldly recognition are worse than the harms and dangers of chasing after wealth.
(Fazaa’il-e-Sadaqaat [English] pg. 431-433, [Urdu] pg. 476)
