Excessive Ambitions in this Worldly Life - I

Having excessive ambitions in this worldly life is one of the greatest
diseases of the heart. What is the meaning of this disease? What are
its harmful consequences? What is its treatment?
Meaning of Excessive Ambitions in this Worldly Life
Having excessive ambitions in this worldly life is to continuously
strive for its pleasures and persistently indulge in its luxuries
whilst turning away from the Hereafter. Allaah The Almighty Says )what
means(:}...And be diverted by ]false[ hope...{]Quran 15:3[ Commenting
on this verse, Al-Qurtubisaid, "Their excessive ambitions in this
worldly life turned them away from obeying Allaah." Ibn Hajarsaid,
"There is an important rationale behind ambitions in this worldly
life. Having ambitions in this worldly life is not totally dispraised
as without it no one would be able to enjoy his life or look forward
to doing anything that is related to this world. What is dispraised is
having extensive ambitions in this worldly life and not preparing for
the Hereafter. As long as a person is safe from this, he is not
required to totally abstain from having ambitions in this world.
Ignorance and love for this world are the causes behind this disease."
Having Excessive Ambitions in this Worldly Life is Dispraised in the Quran
There are many verses in the Quran that dispraise having excessive
ambitions in this worldly life. The Noble Quran uses multiple modes of
address to warn people against this incurable and destructive disease.
For example Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:
•}Perhaps those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims.
Let them eat and enjoy themselves and be diverted by ]false[ hope, for
they are going to know.{]Quran 15:2-3[
• When talking about the Jews, Allaah The Almighty Says )what
means(:}And you will surely find them the most greedy of people for
life - ]even[ more than those who associate others with Allaah. One of
them wishes that he could be granted life a thousand years, but it
would not remove him in the least from the ]coming[ punishment that he
should be granted life. And Allaah Is Seeing of what they do.{]Quran
2:96[
•}]Allaah[ will Say: "How long did you remain on earth in number of
years?" They will say: "We remained a day or part of a day; ask those
who enumerate." He will Say: "You stayed not but a little - if only
you had known. Then did you think that We created you uselessly and
that to Us you would not be returned?"{]Quran 23:112-115[
•}Has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts
should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allaah and what
has come down of the truth? And let them not be like those who were
given the Scripture before, and a long period passed over them, so
their hearts hardened; and many of them are defiantly
disobedient.{]Quran 57:16[
Having Excessive Ambitions in this Worldly Life is Dispraised in the Sunnah
The Prophetwarned his Ummah )nation( against having extensive
ambitions in this worldly life, as it is likely to drive the person
away from obeying Allaah. It was narrated on the authority of Abu
Hurayrahthat he said, "I heard the Prophetsaying:'The heart of an old
man remains young in two respects: his love for this worldly life and
his excessive ambitions in it.'" ]Al-Bukhaari[
It was narrated on the authority of Anasthat he said, "The Prophetonce
drew a few lines and said:'This is ]man's[ ambitions, and this is the
instant of his death, and while he is in this state ]of ambitions[,
the nearer line ]death[ comes to Him.'" ]Al-Bukhaari[
It was narrated on the authority of Ibn Mas'oodthat he said, "The
Prophetonce drew a square and then drew a line in the middle of it and
let it extend outside the square and then drew several small lines
attached to that central line, and said:"This is the human being, and
this ]square[ is his lease of life which encircles or has encircled
him, and this ]line[ which is outside ]the square[, represents his
ambitions, and these small lines are the calamities and troubles
]which may befall him[, and if one misses him, another will overtake
him, and if the other misses him, a third will overtake him.'"
]Al-Bukhaari[ It was narrated on the authority of 'Abdullaah ibn
'Umarthat he said,: "The Messenger of Allaahtook hold of my shoulder
and said:'Be in this world as if you are a stranger or a traveler.'"
The sub-narrator added, "Ibn 'Umarwould 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.'" ]Al-Bukhaari[
It was narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Abbaasand his father, that he
said, "The Messenger of Allaahsaid to a man while advising
him:'Utilize five things before the coming of another five: your youth
before your decrepitude, your health before your sickness, your wealth
before your poverty, your leisure before your work, and your life
before your death.'" ]Al-Haakim narrated this Hadeeth according to the
conditions of Al-Bukhaari and Muslim, however they did not narrate it.
Ath-Thahabi agreed with him.[
It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrahthat the
Prophetsaid:"Take the initiative to do good deeds before you are
hindered by one of seven calamities: poverty that makes you forget the
remembrance of Allaah, prosperity that leads you to transgression, an
ailment that damages your health, old age that makes you lose your
senses, a sudden death, the Antichrist which is an evil yet to come,
or the Hour, which is indeed even more disastrous and even more
bitter."]At-Tirmithi - Hasan[
When the Prophetwas asked about the scriptures of Moosa )Moses(he
replied:"It was all full of lessons. I wonder at a person who is
certain of death and can still be happy. I wonder at a person who is
certain of Hell and can still laugh. I wonder at a person who believes
in fate and still grieves over hardships that befall him. I wonder at
a person who sees this world and how its wellbeing never lasts for
people and can still feel safe in it. I wonder at a person who
believes that the Day of Reckoning is soon to come and still does not
perform righteous deeds."]Al-Bayhaqi and Al-Bazzaar[