Whoever makes the akhirah his concern, Allah (swt) will gather together his affairs, place contentment in his heart and the world will come to him despite his reluctance. And whoever makes the dunya his concern, Allah (swt) will scatter his affairs, put poverty before him and nothing of the world will come to him except what Allah (swt) has written for him.”
Source: At-Tirmidhi
Contentment in the heart. That’s something we all want. We all want to be at peace. Our lives are so short. What in fact does contentment mean exactly? Simply speaking you can chase two types of wealth. The difference between the two is very big so this is where we can evaluate our hearts condition. Wealth of this dunya, or wealth of the akhirah. The hard heart will always choose the wealth of this dunya, and the soft heart will always choose the wealth of the akhirah.
How many times do we open our phones to find out that a certain movie star or singer committed suicide? It happens very often and it really makes you wonder. They had all that money and fame. They had everything that they could possibly desire in this world. Why did they kill themselves? They were so wealthy. The reality is they didn’t even get the chance to see their families. They didn’t even get the chance to eat a meal. So, what lead them to this miserable end? The answer to that question will lead you back to this hadith narrated in At-Tirmidhi. Poverty in this sense is poverty of the heart. Their hearts were broke and didn’t have the required balance of happiness and peace.
So if we were to compare the hearts of a person who chased the dunya versus the person who chased the akhirah, we would see that the person who chased the akhirah was the one at peace obviously. This person had mastered the truth of this dunya and realized that its true essence is amusement and delusion. This is the truth of this dunya. Unfortunately, most of us strive for this dunya. This doesn’t mean we should denounce this world and live in a cave however. Allah (swt) mentions in Surah Qasas, that we as humans have a portion of this world as well. We can benefit here in this life too. The problem arises when we end up making this dunya our main goal in life. Whatever we have in this dunya should be a means for us to achieve Jannah. If we have abilities to spread the truth of Islam, we need to make sure we maximize our abilities to spread Islam. If we have the monetary means to benefit people, we need to put that money to use and make sure it’s a source of sadaqah jaariyah. The one who remembers Allah (swt) and engages in dhikr will alleviate the pain and soften the heart. The poverty in the heart will disappear if the person makes an effort to reach out to Allah (swt). These are the ways we can link our dunya and akhirah together. Another aspect is that if a person focuses on the akhirah, Allah (swt) will put that persons affairs in their control. Blessings will follow and Allah (swt) will give that individual a special spot in his rankings. This is the true wealth of the heart.
Wealth of the heart is happiness and contentment. All the money of the world wont ever make your heart rich. You will be at the top of things.
My Daily Deen 