Distractions

" Al hakumu takassur - Competition in (worldly) increase diverts you ( at - Takathur 102:1) "

Hakumu comes from the work lawhu (distractions) which means

1. Entertainment
2. Something that preoccupied you, gets all your attention and keep you from doing something more important.

So what it is that is distracting, preoccupying and take over your hear and mind. Allah swt called it takassur. Takassur means

1. The want, desire of wanting more and plenty. Continuous worry about not what we have but what we don't have. Human always wants more and never satisfied. When the person is graduate, he will think about finding a good job. When he get a good job, now he's thinking about promotion. When he achieve something in his life, there's always the thinking of "what's next?"
2. Human does not just desire more, but he or she will struggle and exhaust himself or herself to get more. 
3. Human also have the urge to show off and this preoccupies them. "How can I show you that I have more?' "How could I prove to people?" This thought overwhelm human being, the desire of wanting to show their superiority over others.

It means it distract you from every good thing that you could have done but you were aren't able to do it because you were distracted

"Hatta zur tumul makobir - Until you visit the graveyards (At - Takassur 102:2)"

Makobir (graveyards) - illustrate location. Human beings are preoccupied with one home (world) but one  day they will have to transfer to another home; a transfer that you can't escape.


Zurtumu - visit; comes from the word ziarah which means to go somewhere for a while and come back. It's beautiful why Allah use 'to visit the grave' instead of 'going to the grave'. The point is we are not going to be in the grave for a long time, one day we will be waken up to be resurrect on the Day of Judgement.


Some people have been in the grave for thousand of years. Yet, Allah only used the term 'ziarah' (visit the grave - remain there only for a short while). Try to compare the people who have been under the earth for thousand of years and the life that we live on the earth! Subhanallah!, majority of us only live up to 60 or 70 years. The time for us here is even more limited! 

Saidina Ali r.a said

"People are asleep and when they die, they wake up"