What is the reality of zuhd in the view of Islam? And how do we live zuhd while avoiding extremism?
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The questioner : What is the reality of zuhd in the view of Islam? And how can I live a life of zuhd such that I am far from extremism?
The Shaykh : The scholars said: Zuhd is leaving what does not benefit in the Hereafter, such that a person leaves permissible things if they do not benefit him in the Hereafter.
And among the things that help in zuhd is for a person to reflect on this worldly life, that it is a place of passage and not a place of abode, and that it did not remain for anyone before you, and what did not remain for anyone before you will not remain for you. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Anbya 21:34] meaning that no one will be immortal in this world.
And likewise, he knows that this world is a place of bitterness and distress, so a person does not spend a day in it but the matter becomes bad for him the next day.
So if he knows the reality of the world, then with his intellect and his faith he will have zuhd in it and not prefer it over the Hereafter. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-A'la 87:16-19].
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : The scholars said: Zuhd is leaving what does not benefit in the Hereafter, such that a person leaves permissible things if they do not benefit him in the Hereafter.
And among the things that help in zuhd is for a person to reflect on this worldly life, that it is a place of passage and not a place of abode, and that it did not remain for anyone before you, and what did not remain for anyone before you will not remain for you. Allah the Exalted said:
And We did not grant to any man before you eternity [on earth]; so if you die - would they be eternal?
وَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ أَفَإِينْ مِتَّ فَهُمُ الْخَالِدُونَAnd likewise, he knows that this world is a place of bitterness and distress, so a person does not spend a day in it but the matter becomes bad for him the next day.
So if he knows the reality of the world, then with his intellect and his faith he will have zuhd in it and not prefer it over the Hereafter. Allah the Exalted said:
(16) But you prefer the worldly life, (17) While the Hereafter is better and more enduring. (18) Indeed, this is in the former scriptures, (19) The scriptures of Abraham and Moses.
بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا * وَالآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى * إِنَّ هَذَا لَفِي الصُّحُفِ الأُولَى * صُحُفِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَىThe questioner : May Allah bless you.