The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish. Someone asked: Will that be because of our small numbers at that time? He replied: No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be scum like that carried down by a torrent, and Allah will take fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and last enervation into your hearts. Someone asked: What is wahn (enervation). Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): He replied: Love of the world and dislike of death.
Scum is a layer of froth or dirt on the surface of water. Unlike solids, it lacks form. It is stagnant; it lacks movement of its own (“like that carried down by a torrent”). It does not act for itself but is carried by a torrent, and as such, it is acted upon. These are not accidental attributes but inhere in the very ontology of man who was created from both ‘mud‘ (hamin masnun) (15:28) that is stagnant and sedentary and the spirit that is active and is driven towards the sublime. Man is in a constant struggle between these two poles. Thus, love of this world represents a drive toward what is like that of mud; it is sedentary and stagnant.
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