Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir- Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Opening
Friends who are blessed by Allah, In navigating this life, having wealth, a stable job, and financial success is not a sin. However, the main distinction between a wise believer and a lost person lies in where he places that world. Let us be honest with ourselves: where is the world positioned for us right now? In the hand or in the heart? There are two very clear benchmarks to assess it: World in the Hand : This occurs when the world is made purely a means or tool to purchase the happiness of the Hereafter. A person works hard and succeeds, yet when that world comes or leaves his life, his mental state does not waver at all. For him, gold and dust hold the same value if the matter involves the unlawful or doubtful. World in the Heart : This occurs when the busyness of chasing wealth, careers, and worldly pleasures begins to tempt a person to neglect religious obligations. When we start daring to neglect prayer, stop seeking knowledge, or even recklessly cross the line into disobedience for the sake of material gain, that is the sign the world has come to rule our hearts.[Commendable][Blameworthy]
Psychologically and spiritually, placing the world in the hand produces emotional resilience. A person whose world is only in his hand will not suffer excessive stress when experiencing loss, because he knows the true Owner of that wealth is Allah. Conversely, placing the world in the heart damages our spiritual immune system, making us slaves to fleeting material things and causing us to forget the purpose of our creation.
Allah SWT sternly reminds us in the Qur’an not to place the world in our hearts to the point of neglecting the Hereafter:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
“O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that—then those are the losers.”[QS. Al-Munāfiqūn: 9]
When the world is successfully placed only in the hand, true nobility emerges. Rasulullah ﷺ gave a golden counsel so we may be safe from worldly snares through his saying:
ازْهَدْ فِي الدُّنْيَا يُحِبَّكَ اللَّهُ
“Be detached from the world, and Allah will love you.”[HR. Ibn Mājah]
2. Lessons and Message
Let us recall a moving story from the lives of the Prophet’s Companions. Once, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf—one of the wealthiest tycoons in Medina—had just earned a huge profit from his trade caravan. Hundreds of camels carrying luxury goods entered the city. Yet, upon hearing a hadith about the heavy accountability of the rich in the Hereafter, he immediately wept profusely before his dinner. With tears falling, he said in a trembling voice, “I fear this wealth of mine will slow my steps into Allah’s Paradise.” That very day, he gave away all his merchandise along with the camels entirely for the Muslims of Medina, leaving nothing behind. For ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, that abundant pile of gold was worth the same as roadside dust if it blocked his path to Allah’s pleasure. Truly a sincerity of soul that deeply touches the heart.
Now, so we can assess ourselves in a thought-provoking way, let us use a simple analogy about the function of an object. Have you ever paid attention to the function of flip-flops? Flip-flops have a very noble task: to protect our feet from thorns, dirt, or the heat of the asphalt. Where do we place flip-flops? Below, on the soles of our feet! We use them to walk everywhere, but we never fall madly in love with flip-flops
.Imagine if someone placed those flip-flops on top of his head, hugged them, kissed them all along the way, and if one flip-flop went missing, he immediately cried hysterically as if the world were ending. Funny and strange, right? That is exactly what someone who places the world in his heart is like! This world—wealth, position, vehicles—is essentially just the “flip-flops” of life to carry us toward the mosque, toward gatherings of knowledge, and toward the Hereafter. Why is it that when the “flip-flops” of the world are lost or reduced, we get stressed as if we have lost our minds, even daring to abandon prayer to safeguard those flip-flops? That is a sign the position is reversed: the flip-flops that should be under our feet have instead been placed to reign inside our hearts!
3. Conclusion & Closing
Friends, the profound moral message from this benchmark is an invitation to reorganize the interior of our hearts. Be successful, be a wealthy entrepreneur, be a great professional in your field. Grasp the world as tightly as you can in the palm of your hand.But make sure that inside the room of your heart, there is only Allah and His Messenger. When the world is in the hand, you control it to give charity and worship. When that world is taken back by Allah, your heart will not crack, because you know gold and dust have the same value in the face of the eternity of the Hereafter.
May Allah SWT guard our hearts from being blinded by the glitter of the world, and make us His wise servants.
. والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Abu Sultan Al-Qadrie
