Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Hazrat Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Daamat Barakaatuhu) mentioned:
It appears in a maxim: “Live your life for deen as if you will die tomorrow, and live your life for the world as if you will live forever.”
What this actually means is that when it comes to matters of sharee‘ah, there should be no delay in discharging our duties. What needs to be done should be accomplished immediately, as though you feel that you will die tomorrow. Normally, when a person knows that he is about to die, he will make up for whatever is incomplete. So whatever outstanding duties to Allah Ta‘ala one has, monies owed to people etc. should be discharged without any delay. These are things for which we will be taken to task and questioned by Allah Ta‘ala.
‘Live your life for the world as if you will live forever’ does not mean that one should project his life for so many years and strive to accumulate wealth for that period of time. Rather, it means that there is no need to be concerned about fulfilling a material need immediately. You have plenty of time to fulfil it. If it is not completed today, it could always be completed tomorrow or the following day. It is not a major problem if the shop is opened two hours late.
In essence, one should not be consumed by the love of the world. What is meant by being ‘consumed by the love of the world’? The answer is in the Quraan Majeed where Allah Ta‘ala says:
کَلَّا بَلْ تُحِبُّونَ الْعَاجِلَة ﴿۲۰﴾ وَ تَذَرُونَ الْاٰخِرَۃَ
“You give preference to the fleeting world and abandon the hereafter.”
Deen and matters of the hereafter should always be given preference over worldly and material matters.
