The heat was sweltering. But it was nothing in comparison to the emotions bubbling up inside of me. I parked my car and made sure the doors were locked, knowing it would be well over 130 degree upon my return.

I took a few steps on the melting asphalt toward the store and realized there was nothing they could sell me to fix what I was feeling.

Then I took a few more steps into the cool air conditioning of a place which offered no answers, no solace. I had not come to purchase milk, eggs, or even entertainment. And I didn’t know what I have come to buy. I drove to this place of consumerism to buy something that didn’t exist with money I didn’t have.

At the time I was 18, and it was the first time in my life that I realized the things we need the most can’t be found in the dunya.

I realized that C.S. Lewis had struck upon some truth when he wrote:

“The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home”.

What is Dunya?

“The word dunya encompasses many things but generally means the temporal, earthly world in contrast to the eternal spiritual realm of the hereafter. Literally, the word dunya means ‘closer,’ or ‘lower.’”

More colloquially speaking, the dunya is any earthly concern or possession. We human beings admittedly love the dunya. And there is no problem in loving the dunya. It is after all the means to sustain our lives and continue our worship. It is after all a blessing for us and a means for us to be thankful to our Creator.

When Love of the Dunya Goes too Far

The problem comes in when we make the dunya become the goal and not the means to the ultimate goal. The dunya is a place where we are for a time, and all that is in the dunya should be used for or avoided with the ultimate goal of pleasing Allah in mind.

Our goal is not to be as rich, or as powerful, or as comfortable as we possibly can in this life. This life is just a means to the hereafter where what we do in the dunya will determine our position with Allah. And Allah knows how we forget the dunya’s place in our journey to the hereafter. He says in the Quran:

But you prefer the worldly life, while the Hereafter is better and more enduring. (87:16-7)

When we start chasing the dunya for dunya’s sake instead of using it as a means to our real goal (pleasing Allah) that is when our priorities are mixed up. And we start to suffer from a serious spiritual disease.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) once stood before the companions and said:

“It is not poverty that I fear for you, but what I fear for you is that the world (the dunya) will be presented for you just as it was presented for those before you, then you will compete for it, and it will destroy you, just as it destroyed them.” (Ibn Majah)

As a physical disease destroys the body, a spiritual disease destroys the soul. When we put the love of the dunya before the love of Allah, diseases like greed, arrogance, ingratitude, jealousy, vanity all start to take over our heart and destroy our lives.

Guiding Children

Children have a natural love of Allah. And it is easy to nurture this love in them.

But as soon as they are old enough to process visual stimulus and voice their wants, they are bombarded with advertisements geared at them, convincing them that they need the latest and greatest toy, article of clothing, or snack on the market. And this is where the battle ground for the heart begins.

The good news is that, as parents, you can do a lot to make sure the love of Allah wins over the love of dunya in the hearts and minds of your children. Use their obsession with getting that bright and shiny new toy as a teachable moment. Tell them about children who could only dream about having all that they have.

Ask them if they would rather get a new toy or send money to those in need. Teaching them empathy, compassion, love for their brothers what they love for themselves, and investing in Allah’s cause are all antidotes to greed, jealousy, ingratitude.

As your children get into school age, they will start to look to their friends’ approval and even compete with them in material possession. If their friend has the newest video game, they all of the sudden HAVE to have it also. Don’t tell them to ignore what their friends have, redirect them to compete with their friends in halal ways. Encourage your children to start a Quran memorization competition, compete in good deeds, and learning the deen.

The key is not to deny children their impulses, but to redirect them to something better.

Combating too Much Love of Dunya as Adults

As adults, we still fall for the same traps we did as children. The commercials may be more sophisticated and our friends may have bigger toys to tempt us to compete, but it is all the same.

Similarly, the cure for this disease of too much love of the dunya is the same.

When we want the latest and greatest “toy” and become obsessed with it and feel like we cannot live without it, we can look to those who have less than us. Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said:

Look at those who stand at a lower (financial) level than you but don’t look at those who stand at a higher level than you, for this would make the favors (conferred upon you by Allah) insignificant (in your eyes). (Muslim)

When we feel the urge to compete with others in material wealth or possessions – things that will not help you even a little in the hereafter – replace that competition with a competition in good deeds and gaining religious knowledge – things that will build mansions and gardens for us in the hereafter.

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was asked whether the verse in the Quran:

And those who give whatever they (have to) give while their hearts are trembling. (23:60) referred to people who committed sins, he replied:

No. They are those who fast, pray and give charity while fearing that (these deeds) may not be accepted (by God). They are those who compete with one another in good deeds. (Ibn Majah)

The key is to understand that Allah does not deny our impulses. He encourages us to redirect them to something better.

Remind yourself that everything you do in this dunya can be done for the love of Allah, if you just have the right intentions.

And say:

Indeed, my prayer, my service of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.’ (6:162)

(From Reading Islam’s archive)