Remember, worldliness is that which makes us heedless of Allah Almighty, whereas the worldly life of a wise person or a gnostic is a field of cultivation for the Hereafter; their world is praiseworthy.

The prayers performed by a heedless person out of ostentation are also worldly. A wise person’s eating, drinking, sleeping, waking, even living and dying, are all acts of faith because they follow the Sunnah of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. Muslims should eat, drink, sleep, and wake in order to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم.

There is a clear-cut difference between حیاۃُ الدُّنیا, حَیٰوۃٌ فِی الدُّنیا and حیاۃٌ للِّدُّنیا i.e. life of the world, life in the world, and life for the world. Life in this world for the Hereafter, and not for the world itself, is blessed.^[1]

Dead lamb

Sayyidunā Jābir رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ narrates that the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم passed by a dead lamb and said, “Would any of you like to have it for one dirham?” They replied, “We do not want it in exchange for anything.” Then he صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, “By Allah! The world is even more insignificant in the sight of Allah than this is to you.”^[2]

Mufti Aḥmad Yār Khān رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه explains:

Nobody buys a dead lamb for even a small amount of money as its hide is useless and its meat is unlawful; who would want it? The Sufis رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ said: ‘Those attached to the world cannot be guided by all the guides of the universe. Similarly, all of the devils cannot misguide those who abandon the world. A worldly person performs religious duties for the world, whereas a religious person performs worldly duties for the sake of religion.’^[3]

The world is more worthless than a mosquito’s wing

Sayyidunā Sahl b. SaꜤd رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ narrates that the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, “If the world had even the value of a mosquito’s wing in