Arabic Text
عن أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال:
«إنَّ الدُّنْيَا حُلْوَةٌ خَضِرَةٌ، وَإنَّ الله مُسْتَخْلِفُكُمْ فِيهَا، فَيَنْظُرُ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ، فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا وَاتَّقُوا النِّسَاء، فَإنَّ أوَّلَ فِتنَةِ بَنِي إسْرائيلَ كَانَتْ في النِّسَاءِ». رواه مسلم.
Translation
Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Indeed, the world is sweet and green, and Allah has made you successors in it, so He may see how you act. So beware of the world and beware of women, for the first trial of the Children of Israel was in women.”
1. Connection to the Chapter
This hadith belongs under التقوى because it teaches the believer how to live responsibly inside a world that is attractive, temporary, and morally dangerous. Taqwa is not only about avoiding open sin; it is about walking through a beautiful world without becoming trapped by its sweetness. The chapter begins with taqwa, and this hadith shows why taqwa is needed: the world can seduce the heart if it is not guarded.
The hadith also makes clear that the believer is not owner of the world, but a custodian in it. Allah has placed human beings as successors, meaning they are entrusted, tested, and watched. That awareness is the essence of taqwa.
2. Key Words Meaning
حلوة — sweet, attractive, and pleasing to the desire.
خضرة — green, fresh, and inviting; something that looks full of life.
مستخلفكم — making you successors or custodians; placing you in charge temporarily, not permanently.
فينظر كيف تعملون — so He may see how you act; the world is a place of examination, not entitlement.
فاتقوا الدنيا — beware of the world; do not let its beauty pull you into heedlessness.
واتقوا النساء — beware of women; this is a warning against the fitnah of unlawful desire and the pathways that lead to it.
فتنة — trial, temptation, and the pressure that exposes what is hidden in the heart.
3. Hadith Lessons
The first lesson is that the world is appealing by design. It is not condemned because it is ugly, but because it is alluring. The believer must therefore understand that attraction itself is part of the test. Wealth, comfort, beauty, pleasure, and status can all become distractions if the heart loses direction.
The second lesson is that life is trust, not possession. Allah has made people successors in the world, which means they are temporary caretakers. A believer should therefore ask not, “What can I take from this world?” but, “How will I act while I am placed in it?”
The third lesson is that the believer must guard himself from fitnah, especially the fitnah that awakens desire and leads to disobedience. The mention of women here is not a denial of honor or value, but a warning that desire can become a powerful trial when it is not governed by taqwa. The first trial of the Children of Israel is mentioned to show that history repeats when hearts remain unguarded.
The fourth lesson is that taqwa means living with moral alertness in a world that constantly invites compromise. It is not enough to know that the world is temporary; one must also resist being shaped by its temptations.
4. Special Reflections
This hadith becomes even sharper in modern life, because the world today is not only sweet and green — it is endlessly displayed, marketed, and amplified. People are constantly being trained to want more, look more, compare more, and desire more. The believer has to protect the heart from being softened into surrender by beauty without boundaries.
The warning about women should also be read with seriousness and precision. The issue is not the existence of women, but the fitnah of unlawful attraction, imbalance, gaze, and desire. In the modern age, this includes the whole culture of sexualized imagery, hidden relationships, emotional attachment, and what begins as a glance but grows into corruption. Taqwa means guarding the pathways before the sin becomes large.
The hadith also exposes a deep illusion: people often think they are using the world, when in fact the world is using them. They think they are managing desire, when desire is quietly managing them. This is why the Prophet ﷺ gives a warning instead of praise.
5. Three Questions to Close With
- Do I see the world as a trust I will answer for, or as something I am entitled to enjoy without restraint?
- Which part of the world’s beauty weakens my taqwa the most?
- Am I guarding my eyes, heart, and desires with seriousness, or have I allowed attraction to become normal to me?