ENDEAVOUR TOWARDS DEEN AND DUNYA

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim Alhamdulillahi rabbil-‘alamin was-Salatu was-Salam ‘ala Sayyidil-Mursalin wa ‘ala ‘Alihi wa Sahbihi Ajma’in. As Salamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

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Q1: Should we isolate ourselves to be good people or be involved in life? What does Quran Suggest we to do?

When it comes to Deen and Dunya, people typically operate in extremes: some completely immerse themselves in this worldly life, forgetting the upcoming Akhirah, while others isolate themselves from society in order to concentrate on their spiritual and religious obligations, neglecting their families and worldly obligations in the process. They frequently overlook the fact that Islam is a religion of balance and ease rather than extremes. Finding a balance between your religious obligations and your worldly obligations is the key to becoming a good Muslim in Allah's (SWT) eyes, because they are intertwined. Rather than despise or flee from the world, you should remember that both go hand in hand.

In Judaism, we can see a focus more on the life; on the other hand, Christianity focuses more on the hereafter side. Unlike Judaism and Christianity; Islam focuses on life and hereafter, and finds a connection between them.

Having said all of these, we stand against the concept of “Balancing Deen and Dunya”, since balance, as a word, bring separateness to mind; however, in Islam, as said before, concept of Deen and Dunya are not separate. Both have been linked to each other. To exemplify what has been said so far, Allah (s.w.t.) mentions this issue so clearly in Surah Al-Qasas (28:77) “But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.” Pillars of Islam, for instance, requires huge number of people –Ummah what we call-. Zakat, Hajj, Salah and of course the other good deeds Islam encourages us to perform.

Allah (s.w.t.) even tells us to remember Him while we are doing daily things. He mentioned this in Surah Al-Ali’Imran (3:191) “[The people of understanding are those] Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], “Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”. Therefore, no matter we are doing, we must remember Allah (s.w.t.), in other words we should find the link between Deen and Dunya.

An interesting fact related to this issue is the word root of “Medina”. The word of “Medina” has come from Madaniyya, which means “socialization”. We all know that in Medina a great community had been formed at the time of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), thus, for this fact alone it can be said that Islam promotes socialization.

Two hadiths, related to what has been said so far, will be given to explain more;

“A man once asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), “Do you think that if I only perform the obligatory prayers, fast the whole month of Ramadan, treat as lawful that which is lawful and treat as forbidden that which is forbidden, and do nothing further, shall I enter paradise? He (peace be upon him) replied, “Yes!” (Muslim)

“Have I heard right that you fast every day and stand in prayer all night?” Abdullah replied: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah”. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Do not do that. Fast, as well as, eat and drink. Stand in prayer, as well as, sleep. This is because your body has a right upon you, your eyes have a right upon you, your wife has a right upon you, and your guest has a right upon you.” (Sahih Bukhari 127)

Finally, let us finish our words with a pray that Allah (s.w.t.) teaches us to perform; Allah (s.w.t.) says in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:201) “Our Lord, give us what is good in this world and also what is good in the Hereafter”.

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Q2: Are our efforts for work/academic life different from what we should do for Akhirah? How can we combine our endeavors with Akhirah? What does proper balance look like between Deen and Dunya?

Indeed, the words have been said in the first answer must apply to this question as well. No matter what is being done, it needs to be kept in mind that there is no such thing as “balance” of Deen and Dunya since those two concepts are not separate in Islamic approach rather related with one another. To prove this claim, we can point out two Ayahs has already been given in the first answer.

Surah Al-Qasas (28:77) “But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.” Allah (s.w.t.) directly tells us not to forget our share in this Dunya, by not ignoring our Akhirah, namely trying to find sake of Allah (s.w.t.) whatever we do in Dunya. in Surah Al-Ali’Imran (3:191) explains this very well, “[The people of understanding are those] Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], “Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”.

Therefore, instead of focusing on the blessings we lack, we should seek the hereafter in what Allah (s.w.t.) has provided us. We should do that not on a desert island or in a remote location, right on the center of the Dunya. Allah (s.w.t.) might bestowed us; family, religion, cuisine, employment status, line of work, partner, child, friend, nation, etc. By taking the greatest possible care of what we have, such as treating our spouse with respect and executing our jobs to the best of our abilities, we are actually seeking the finest in the afterlife. The task we do in the morning when we go to work or the lab is not separate from what we will do in the afterlife. This is not the way we ought to think. Each one contributes to the total. It is part of a stream. In fact, all of them together express oneness / Tawheed in multiplicity.

Finally, may Allah (s.w.t.) helps us to find the right (His) path and sustains us to keep on this path. Let us pray once more, as Allah (s.w.t.) has taught us in Quran in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:201) “Our Lord, give us what is good in this world and also what is good in the Hereafter”.