Count yourself amongst the dead

Submitted by Mohammed Gilani on

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ . رضى الله عنهما . قَالَ أَخَذَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بمنكبي فَقَالَ " كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ، أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ ". وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ يَقُولُ إِذَا أَمْسَيْتَ فَلا تَنْتَظِرِ الصَّبَاحَ، وَإِذَا أَصْبَحْتَ فَلَا تَنْتَظِرِ الْمَسَاءَ، وَحُذْ مِنْ صِحْتِكَ لِمَرَضِكَ، وَمِنْ حَيَاتِكَ لِمَوْتِكَ

Abdullah ibn Umar said, "Rasulullâh took hold of my shoulder and said, 'Be in this world as if you were a foreigner 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."

In this chapter, Imam Bukhari has utilized the words of the hadith as the chapter heading.

كن في الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ، أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ

Remain in this world as though you are a foreigner or a traveller
In some books of ahadith, there is an addition, وَعْدُ نَفْسَكَ في أهل القبور

Count yourselves amongst the people of the grave. (Tirmidhi, Ahmad)

The actual home of a person is Jannah. Our grandfather Adam Alayhis salaam has come from Jannah. We all have to return there. We have merely come into the world to confirm our ticket and to attain our visa to Jannah. We cannot remain indifferent, but we have to prepare ourselves quickly. We are foreigners in this world. A foreigner has no home or business in a strange land. He has no connections and contacts. He therefore endeavours fully to complete the purpose of his visit to the foreign land.

We too should not have contacts, or permanent homes in this world. Our homes are like the hotels a foreigner stays in. This is how we have to shape our minds and thoughts.

traveller - This is one stage higher. When a person is a foreigner, he stays and eats in a hotel. However a traveller or passer-by just continues walking. He does not stay in a hotel, but merely stops under a tree, eats his food, rests, and then continues.

In big cities, we find that on the main road, a person is not allowed to park at peak hours. Boards are placed there: No stopping or parking between four and six. During the day, permission is granted to park there. A person can fulfil his errands by leaving his vehicle there for some time. However, at peak hours, even the last lane is utilized for traffic. Now, no-one can park or even stop there. So, a person in this level has to continue moving.

Then, there is one level higher وَعْدُ نَفْسَكَ في أهل القبور:Count yourselves amongst the dead. (Tirmidhi) In the past eras, people used to fold up their bedding at the age of forty, indicating that there is no time for sleeping now. At the age of sixty, they would bring their eating and other worldly necessities to a bare minimum.

Till the age of forty, person can build up his business enterprise. Once he reaches forty, he can slowly begin handing over his business to his children. If he had married at the age of eighteen or twenty, generally his children will be about twenty when he reaches the age of forty. He can therefore hand his business to his children, who are now mature and about to get married. For the next twenty years, he can supervise the running of the business. Now, when reaching sixty, the full affairs of the shop can be handed over to the son. He can now remain engaged in the worship of Allah, stay in the khanqah, proceed in jama'at, offer his services to some madrassah, markaz or darul-ulům. The children will take responsibility of their father's needs, realizing that he has handed his whole business to them. The person has fulfilled the needs of his worldly life, handed everything over, and prepared for the life of the hereafter.

Reference: 

  • Sahih al-Bukhari