From the viewpoint of Islam...

From the viewpoint of Islam, this world and the next are not separable, not alien to each other. The relation of this world to the other is similar to that between the inward and outward sides of a single reality. They are like the warp and woof of a single fabric. They are to each other as the soul to the body. Their relationship can be assumed to be something midway between unity and duality. The works of this world and those of the next are interrelated similarly.

Their difference is that of quality, without being essential. Accordingly, that which is harmful to the other world is also to one’s detriment in the present world, and everything which is beneficial for the summum bonum of life in this world is also beneficial for life in the next world.

Therefore, if a certain work which is in accordance with the higher interests of life in this world is performed with motives that are devoid of the higher, supra-material, and transcendental elements, that work would be considered totally this-worldly and would not, as the Quran tells us, elevate man in his ascent towards God.

However, if a work or action is motivated by sublime aims and intentions and is executed with a higher vision that transcends the narrow limits of worldly life, the same work and action are considered ‘other-worldly.’ The Islamic zuhd, as we said, is grounded in the very context and stream of life and gives a peculiar quality to living by emphasizing certain values in life. As affirmed by the Islamic texts, zuhd in Islam is based on three essential principles of the Islamic world outlook.

The Three Essential Principles 1. Enjoyments derived from the physical, material, and natural means of life are not sufficient for man’s happiness and felicity. A series of spiritual needs are inbuilt into human nature, without whose satisfaction the enjoyment provided by material means of life is not enough to make a man truly happy. 2. The individual’s felicity and happiness are not separable from that of society.

Since man is emotionally bound to his society, and carries within him a sense of responsibility towards it, his individual happiness cannot be independent of the prosperity and peace of his fellow men. 3. The soul, despite its fusion and a kind of unity with the body, has a reality of its own. It is a principle in addition to the body which constitutes another principle in itself. The soul is an independent source of pleasure and pain.