10 Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad about the Love of Worldly

Love of the World

Life in this world is like a transit station to the Hereafter. Many people become preoccupied with the world and its pleasures, forgetting the abode of the Hereafter and what Allah - the Most High - has prepared of gardens of bliss for the obedient and the virtuous, despite the fact that the bliss of Paradise is far superior to the joys of this world by many folds.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "There is nothing in Paradise similar to what is in this world except for the names; as for the objects, they are different". The remedy for the love of the world and indulging in its desires is for a person to remember Paradise and its bliss and to take from this world provisions for their Hereafter. 

Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad about the Love of Worldly

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said a set of Prophetic hadiths about the world. Here are some of them:

1. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever makes the Hereafter his goal, Allah will fill his heart with richness and gather his affairs, and the world will come to him submissive. And whoever makes the world his goal, Allah will place poverty between his eyes and disperse his affairs, and he will only get from the world what has been decreed for him".
2. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "If you love the adornment of Paradise and its silk, then do not wear them in the world".
3. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah, the world in the Hereafter is not worth the wing of a mosquito to Allah. If it were, He would not have given a disbeliever a sip of water from it".
4. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah, the world in the Hereafter is like what one of you dips his finger into the sea". Then he pointed with his index finger, illustrating. "Let him see what he brings back".

Hadiths about the Love of the World

Many noble prophetic Hadiths have been narrated that emphasize asceticism in this world and encourage seeking the Hereafter. Among these Hadiths:

1. Narrated by Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him): "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) left this world without being satisfied with barley bread".
2. Narrated by Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): "The Prophet (peace be upon him) never ate his fill of wheat bread until he died, nor did he eat barley bread until he died".
3. Narrated by Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him): "I saw your Prophet (peace be upon him) and he could not find enough from barley dough to fill his stomach".
4. Narrated by Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him): "By Allah, I am the first man among the Arabs. I threw an arrow in the cause of Allah. We used to fight alongside the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and we had no food to eat except the leaves of the thorny trees and the stems of the Samur tree, until one of us would put something in his mouth like a ewe".

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever intends the Hereafter, Allah will put richness in his heart, and gather his affairs, and the world will come to him subdued. And whoever intends the world, Allah will make poverty appear before his eyes and scatter his affairs, and he will not get anything from the world except what has been decreed for him".

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Gold, silver, silk, and Dibaj (a high-quality garment), are for them in this world, and for you in the Hereafter".

Love of the World in the Quran

The Quran warns against the love of this world and immersion in its desires. Among the Quranic verses:

1. Allah, the Most High, says: "Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your full compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion". (Quran 3:185)
2. Allah, the Most High, says: "And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion". (Quran 3:185)
3. Allah, the Most High, says: "Those who prefer the worldly life over the Hereafter and avert [people] from the way of Allah, seeking to make it (seem) deviant. Those are in extreme error". (Quran 14:3)
4. Allah, the Most High, says: "So turn away from whoever turns his back on Our message and desires not except the worldly life". (Quran 53:29)
5. Allah, the Most High, says: "The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb - [those] from which men and livestock eat - until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest, as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought". (Quran 10:24)
6. Allah, the Most High, says: "And they say, 'There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time'. And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming". (Quran 45:24)
7. Allah, the Most High, says: "O you who have believed, what is [the matter] with you that, when you are told to go forth in the cause of Allah, you adhere heavily to the earth? Are you satisfied with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter? But what is the enjoyment of worldly life compared to the Hereafter except a [very] little". (Quran 9:38)
8. Allah, the Most High, says: "Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein and those who are heedless of Our signs". (Quran 10:7)
9. Allah, the Most High, says: "For them who disbelieved, the worldly life is adorned, and they ridicule those who believe. But those who fear Allah are above them on the Day of Resurrection. And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account". (Quran 10:24)
10. Allah, the Most High, says: "So is he whom We have promised a good promise which he will obtain like he for whom We provided enjoyment of worldly life [but] then he is, on the Day of Resurrection, among those presented [for punishment in Hell]?" (Quran 28:61)