Hadrat Sahal bin Sa’ad Radiallahu Anhu says that a person presented himself before Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam and said, “Show me such an action by which Allah and the servants of Allah will love me.”  Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “Disincline towards the world, Allah Ta’ala will love you, and do not desire that which is with people (wealth and fame) and people will love you.

The Buzurgs have written that the first step in the part of Allah is Zuhd (disinclination from the Dunya.) Whoever is chosen to be a close servant of Allah c, Allah c causes the heart of such a person to disincline from the Dunya. This does not mean that he totally discards the Dunya but it actually means that the Dunya will remain around him, but not in his heart. The heart will remain exclusively for Allah c.

A Buzurg mentioned that Imaan is the name of giving the heart to Allah and Islam is the name of handing over the body to Allah c, meaning the body must be made subservient to the laws of Shariat. Whoever becomes a special servant of Allah c, he becomes unconcerned of the wealth of people. Due to this attitude, he becomes beloved to the creator and the creation.

The author of Mazaahirul Haq has written that complete Zuhd is that a person has the Dunya with him but doesn’t incline towards it. Someone addressed Abdullah ibn Mubarak r  as ‘O Zaahid.’ He replied, “I am not a Zaahid, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz r was a Zaahid, the world used to fall at his feet and he wouldn’t even turn towards the Dunya, in what things (of the world) do we exercise abstinence?”