Narrated Mujahid: ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar said, “Allah’s Apostle took hold of my shoulder and said, ‘Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveller.” The sub-narrator added: Ibn ‘Umar used to say, “If you survive till the evening, do not expect to be alive in the morning, and if you survive till the morning, do not expect to be alive in the evening, and take from your health for your sickness, and (take) from your life for your death.” [Bukhari]
This is a beautiful hadith that illustrates just how a Muslim should live their life. There is no gurantee that anyone will have 60, 70 or 80 years to live in order to turn to Deen later on in life. A stranger or a traveller only carries those provisions that he needs for his journey. Similarly, this life is only a journey. The destination is the Aakhirah. Why burden ourselves with things that will make this journey harder? A better career, a bigger house, a flashy car, a beautiful wife, a settled home, kids…there will always be an excuse not to turn to Deen and to delay it. Just remember, death does not take into account what your future intentions are and will not wait for you to turn to Allah when your time is up. Turn to Allah now and seek His Mercy, His Forgiveness and His Guidance to the Straight Path on this journey.
Filed under: Hadith
