Be Like A Traveler

The prophet sallahualaihi wasallam he tells us in many different prophetic teachings, in many different ahadeeth about how to view this life. In one of them he says, 'be In this life like a strange...as if you are a stranger or a traveler (a wayfarer.)' I want us to think about this advice for a moment its very, its seems very simple and short but as is you know the prophet sallahu alaihi wasallam when he tells us something, he tells us in few words something that is so profound. When you think about been a traveler. What is the mindset of a traveler? Ask yourself the last time you were traveling, what was your mindset? Think about the hotel room that you were staying in. My question to you is when you go and you stay at a hotel, when you are traveling, how many of you go into the hotel, look around and say, 'okay now I wanna start decorating this room. Now I am going to go to the store and I am gonna spend all this money so that I can decorate my room.' And then we go to the bed spread and we say, 'oh my! This bed spread, it is the wrong color and we go and we throw it out and we go and we go get a new bed spread!' No one does this.

Why? Why don't we act this way when we are staying at a hotel room? The reason is very simple. The reason is we know that we are only staying there for a short time and then we are leaving. How many of you become really attached to your hotel bed? Like you just don't want to let it go. There's a chair in the room and you just you just become in love with the chair and you don't wanna let it go! Nobody does that! Again it's just a temporary place and then you are leaving. You don't invest a lot of money in furnishing your hotel room. Correct?

You don't become obsessed or attached to the furniture in your hotel room. The reason is that you know that you are leaving. Similarly, if your hotel bed isn't the most comfortable. You know it's just not the best bed in the world, which typically they aren't. It's not that comfortable. Your pillow it's not that comfortable. How many of you make a big deal out of that? It's okay! Why is it okay? Why is it okay to be little bit uncomfortable in a hotel room? Because you know you are staying there for a short time and you are leaving.

There is a natural sense of detachment when you are a traveler. Because you are like, 'it's okay I can handle it for few days, it's not that big of a deal I am leaving.' Now how does this apply to this life? The Prophet sallahualahi wasallam is advising us to have that mind set in this life! That I am only in this place for a short time and then I am leaving.

Just like you don't get attached to your hotel bed & your hotel chair, and you don't start spending lots of money furnishing it. We should have that same mindset in this life. It doesn't mean we can't have nice things. It does not mean that we can't furnish those, you know rooms that we have or that we have things which are comfort. However there is a big difference in having things that you own and letting those things own you!

By Ustadha Yasmin Mogahed