Items of Deception - Portal Gems #53

Est. Read time: 4 min
Edition Number: 53
Adapted from: Treasures of Surah Al-Kahf
Instructor: Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Assalamu Alaykum,

Today’s gem is from Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed’s course, Treasures of Surah Al-Kahf. In this gem, Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed shares how Allah ﷻ describes this dunya in the Quran.

Hope you enjoy!

We begin in the Name of Allah ﷻ, the Most Merciful and Compassionate,
We ask that He ﷻ sends Peace and Blessings upon our noble and beloved
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Allah ﷻ describes the dunya in the Quran more than seven times saying: مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْغُرُورِ - items of deception.

These are things of deception. When you look at it, you think it's something but when you actually have it, it's not what you expected. And I don't think there's a better definition of dunya than this. Every single time we desire something and we go out and we get it, once we get it we're like wow, it's not what I expected. The hype was bigger than the reality. I thought this car was going to be like this. This is how the commercial was, this is how the portfolio and the booklet about it was, but when I bought it, it wasn’t as smooth, it didn’t give as good gas mileage, etc.

Every single thing in dunya is deception. Imam Ibn Ashur (R) explains the definition of mata’ - one of the words that are used most to define the dunya in the Quran. He explains it through a story that there was once a young girl that went to the seaside where she was washing some dishes that her mother had given her along the port. She was washing the dishes, and she was using a handkerchief to wipe the plates and the utensils. And as she's doing this, she puts that piece of cloth (the handkerchief) down and a dog comes and grabs it and runs away. This young girl goes running to her mother and she says that the dog has grabbed my mata’ - my handkerchief. And this is the first time the word mata’ was used, that the dog has grabbed my mata’. 

This is a good way for us to understand what mata’ means in the Quran, something which is used to clean something else and it's thrown away. It's a filthy thing, you just use it, you don't keep it. No one takes that handkerchief and puts it on their wall as a decoration piece. It's just there to clean something and then get rid of, I don't need you anymore.

May Allah ﷻ grant us tawfiq to understand the reality of this Dunya.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم، فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرحيم

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