Detachment from the World

Detachment from the world makes one free from prejudice and one is able to think and see things as they are. Such a person can adopt the right stand based on truth and justice.

According to a certain tradition, the Prophet of Islam once observed: “Whenever any servant of God leads a life of disinterestedness with the world, God plants wisdom in his heart. And he speaks words of wisdom. And God tells him the remedy for the ills of the world, and then leads him to the home of peace in safety.” (Shuab al-Iman 10050)

What is wisdom? Wisdom is, in fact, another name for realistic thinking and far sightedness. When a person has reached that level of intellectual development where he may analyze problems in an unbiased manner and is able to take decisions at a deeper level, that is wisdom.

The source of this wisdom is detachment from the world, because it sometimes happens that some worldly concerns become such an obsession that a person becomes blind to understanding the reality of things. And in the same way sometimes, worldly experience makes him prejudiced. Such a person, due to his biases, is not able to look at things in their real form.

Those who are free from prejudice, who can think and see things as they are, who can form realistic opinions, will adopt the right stand, which is the demand of truth and justice.

Detachment from the world frees a person from his limitations: such a person is an intellectually developed being. By temperament, he is realistic and is very serious and conscientious about his faith. He proceeds in a very serious and cautious manner. Those possessed of such a noble character, are destined to become successful in this world as well as in the next. Detachment is not abandonment of this world. It is a source rather of intellectual development.