Blessing In Fortunes: 2 Conditions To Achieve Blessings
The Meaning of Blessing (Baraka)
We Often mention about, or listen to, or wish to get, or pray to obtain, blessings in our life, either upon our age, family, business, properties, etc. But have we ever question, what is actually the meaning of blessing that we are longing for? And how to achieve it?Is it only comes in the form of food we bring back from a banquet? Or, is it only a special gift of scholar, oracle, or guardian of cemetery, hence they becoming the destination to “find blessing” for someone to be successful?
If we study carefully the meaning of blessing, either in Arabic language or based on the meaning stated in Al Qur’an and Sunnah, we can see that the word ‘al Baraka’/blessing contains vast and noble understanding. Etymologically, al Baraka means improving, added, and happiness [1]. Imam An Nawawee – may Allah have mercy on him- said: ” The original meaning of blessing is enormous and everlasting goodness.” [2]
SABA ONCE A BLESSED LAND
Allah The Holy and Exalted stated regarding their land:“A good land (have you) and a forgiving Lord.” (Saba: 15)
That verse reveals about the land of Saba’, before it was afflicted by disasters due to their infidelity toward Allah The Holy and Exalted. In His book, The Holy Qur’an, Allah the Holy and Exalted narrated about the story of Saba’, a land which, when their dwellers were believers and pious, was surrounded with blessings. Even the experts in tafseer (Qur’an Interpretation) told that their ladies did not have difficulties harvesting their fruits, since to collect them, they only need to put a basket on their head, then walk through their garden, and the ripe fruits fell to fill their basket without being plucked. Nor did they need workers to harvest them.
Some scholars also mentioned that previously in the land of Saba’, there was no flies, mosquitos, ticks, or other insects, due to their fresh and clean air, and the blessings of Allah The Holy and Exalted, which pervade them.[3]
The amazing story of blessing on the golden era of Muslim once told by Imam Ibn Al Qayyim -may Allah have mercy on him-: “Verily, beans in the past, either in the form of wheat, or others, were larger than today, as it contained more blessings than now. Imam Ahmad -may Allah have mercy on him- Narrated through his chain of narration, that it was found inside the storehouses of Bani Umawi Imperial, a pocket of wheat, which kernels was as big as the kernel of palm-dates. And it was written otside of the pocket:”This is the harvested wheat at the time when justice was implied.” [4]
Now, all of us must be willing, and eager to achieve blessings upon our work, income, and wealth. Thus we question, what are the tricks to obtain blessing of Allah upon my work, income, and riches?
2 REQUISITES TO OBTAIN BLESSINGS
To find and gain blessing in life, particularly in our income, there are 2 requisites to be fulfilled:First: Firm faith on Allah The Holy and Exalted
This is the first, and the most important requisite for our wealth to be blessed, and this shall be done by applying the consequences of our faith on Allah The Holy and Exalted in every step our life.
Allah The Holy and Exalted decreed:
“And if only the people of the cities has believed and feared Allah, We would have opened (i.e. bestowed) upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth. But they denied (the messengers) so We seized them for what they were earning.” (Al A’raf/The Heights: 96)
Those were the rewards of Allah The Holy and Exalted toward His faithful believers, and simultaneously, the rewards became an explanation that the infidels would never find blessings in their life.
Among the realization of faith on Allah The Holy and Exalted, upon the matter of income, is by firm believe upon the generosity of Allah, and by realizing that any fortune we obtain come from His graces, not merely from our efforts or our intelligence. This faith derived from our knowledge that Allah The Holy and Exalted had determined amount of fortune for every human being He had created since they were still in their mother’s womb.
At another hadith, the Prophet Shallallaahu’alayhe wa Sallam said,
“Know this, if any of you want to make love to his wife, he should say: ‘In the name of Allah, O Allah, distance us from satan, and distance satan from the child you (will) give us’, if they have a child (from that lovemaking, -translator) he will never be annoyed by satan.” (Collected by Bukharee)
This is a brief explanation on how important the role of faith in Allah The Holy and Exalted is, which is transformed into mentioning of His name when someone want to use one of His grace, and by that, invoke blessings upon his wealth and his offsprings.
Second: Pious deed
The exact meaning of pious deed is performing commands and abandoning prohibitions of Allah, based on shari’a, as what had been taught by Allah’s Messenger Shallallaahu’alayhe wa Sallam. This is the essence, the core of piety, the ultimate requirement for blessing as indicated in surah Al A’raf (The Height): 96 mentioned earlier.
When Allah The Holy and Exalted narrated about The Scriptures who lived at the time of The Prophet Shallallaahu’alayhe wa Sallam, Allah The Holy and Exalted decreed:
“And if only they have upheld the law of the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to them from their Lord (i.e. The Qur’an), they would have consumed provision from above them and from beneath their feet.” (Al Ma’ida/The Table Spread: 66)
The experts of Qur’an interpretation explained that the meaning of “consumed provision from above them and from beneath their feet” is that Allah The Holy and Exalted will bestow upon them abundant provisions from the sky and the earth, so that they will earn prosperity and plenty of goodness, without difficulties. tiredness, weakness, and without challenges or annoyances to their life. [5]
Among the real examples of blessings bestowed upon wealth of someone who used to performed pious deeds is the story of Khidr and Prophet Moses with 2 kids. In that story, Khidr fixed the broken wall belong to the kids to protect their inheritance which was buried under the wall, so that no one would see and steal it from them.
Allah The Holy and Exalted decreed:
“And as for the wall it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord.” (Al Kahfi/The Cave: 82)
The scholars of Qur’an Interpretation explained that the “father” mentioned in that verse as “righteous” was not their biological father, but he was their 7th (in ascending order) grandfather, who was working as a weaver during his life.
Vice versa, if a person is reluctant to perform righteous deeds, furthermore committing sins, he or she will only obtain the result of what he or she has done. The Messenger of Allah said,
“Indeed, someone could have been prohibited from his provision due to his sins.” (Collected by Ahmad, Ibn Maja, Al Hakim, etc)
Meats become rotten, and foods become spoiled, actually one of the bad effects afflicted upon human being due to their sins and wrongdoings. Allah’s messenger Shallallaahu’alayhe wa Sallam said,
“If it was not for the misdeed of the Children of Israel, the food would never be spoiled and the meat would never be decayed.” (Muttafaqun ‘alayhe)
It was explained by the scholars that when the descendants of Israel were given provisions by Allah The Holy and Exalted in the form of birds of Salwa (bird that resembled quail), which came to them every morning so that they could easily catch them, they were forbidden to keep the birds’ meat. Every morning they were only permitted to take the meat sufficient for that day. But they broke the law, and they took meats more than they need for a day to be kept. The result of their action was punishment from Allah The Holy and Exalted, which made their stored meat decayed. (7)
Finally, those are brief explanations of requisites to obtain blessing in our life.
Author: Dr. Muhammad Arifin Badri
Tag :
buy and sell
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