Ibn Daud - A Handbook of Spiritual Medicine

Love of the World
Academic Treatment
Seeking the Hereafter
Qur’ānic, Prophetic
& Scholarly Evidence
You remind yourself that this worldly
life is mere play and amusement, which
spawns most of the evil spiritual traits and
characteristics (pride, hatred, jealousy,
boasting, greed, etc.) and that your true
objective of this life is to make sufficient
arrangements for your travels to the Hereafter
You remind yourself that you will most
certainly be questioned about your
expenditure on the Day of Qiyāmah
You remember death often and do not involve
yourself in far-fetched hopes, avoiding making
lengthly plans and preparations
Allāh
o
o
o
says,
“Do not let your eyes crave what
We have allowed some of the
disbelievers to enjoy; the (fleeting)
splendour of this worldly life, which
We test them with. But your Lord’s
provision (in the Hereafter) is far
better and more lasting” [^āhā 20:131]
“Whatever (pleasure) you have
been given is (no more than a
fleeting) enjoyment of this worldly
life. But what is with Allāh is far
better and more lasting for those
who believe and put their trust in
their Lord” [Ash-Shūrā 42:36]
“This worldly life is no more than
play and amusement. But the
Hereafter is indeed the real life, if
only they knew” [Al-’Ankabūt 29:64]
LOVE OF THE WORLD
You love the things of the world that help you
achieve felicity in the Hereafter, such as love
of the Qur’ān, of the Ka’bah, of the Prophet
, of parents, of godly people, of books of
knowledge, of children, and of brothers and
sisters who help you in religious affairs, as well
as love of wealth (hubb al-māl) in order to
give to the needy
The Prophet described the world in
the following similitude: “What relationship
with the world have I? My likeness is as a
traveller on a mount, halting in the shade
of a tree (for a short) while, only to leave it
again and proceed along the way.”
[At-Tirmidhī 2377, Musnad A#mad 2744]
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