We should not interest ourselves in this world; because, this temporary life doesn’t have that much value, rather, we must think of death and dying. Since this world is like a farm as compared to the hereafter, we must try to live in a way that we could enjoy the hereafter.
Question:
How can we live and practice in accordance with the following hadiths saying that "work for your world as if you were to live forever" and many other hadiths that dispraise and belittle the interests of the worldly life?
Answer:
First, when we refer to the verses of the holy Quran or Hadiths, we should study the whole verse and tradition, not just a particular part of it.. The whole hadith is this: "work for your world as if you were to live forever, work for the afterlife as if you were to die tomorrow." [1]
In fact, this hadith has different meanings and applicants, one of which is to prevent us from extremism and adhere to what belongs to this world. Practicing in accordance with this tradition will prevent us from sketchy thinking and from losing our property just due to the temporary pleasure, and it also enables us to know the value of our body and our essence.
According to the second part of the hadith, we should not interest ourselves in this world, because this temporary life doesn’t have that much value, rather, we must think of death and dying. Since this world is like a farm as compared to the hereafter, we must try to live in a way that we could enjoy the hereafter.
Note:
[1] man la yahdhuruhu al-faghih, v.3, p.156 “اعْمَلْ لِدُنْيَاكَ كَأَنَّكَ تَعِيشُ أَبَداً وَ اعْمَلْ لآِخِرَتِكَ كَأَنَّكَ تَمُوتُ غَدا”