Money, The Key of Allah’s Favors?
Money, The Key of Allah’s Favors?
IntroductionAll praises be to Allah, the Exalted. Peace and prayer might always bestowed upon Prophet Muhammad, peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-, his family, and his devoted companions. Amin.
Who doesn’t want to be rich? Delicious foods served without tiresome cooking efforts. Grand, luxurious house without saving for ages. Great, handsome cars line in front of the very door. People looking with awe. And beautiful, charming ladies are always dreaming to be your spouse.
What a life, indeed. I believe you’d also be glad to make it true. Isn’t it so, my brother?
Without Money, Life tastes Sour
Those daydreams could be realized with much much money and tons of gold. Thus, even if you don’t have too ambitious a dream, you’ll realize that money is the key to those dreams. Enemy would turn into best friend, difficulty would flick into ease, and bitterness would change into cheerfulness. All thanks to money, that smooth everything out.Hence, it is natural that many people today race for it. They sleep because of money, get up because of it too, befriended and be enemies also because of it.
Money has indeed controlled the men’s life, so powerful that all affairs and pleasures of it would be plain without money come in handy. Due to it’s gigantic influence, some people even think that Allah only descended one provision: money.
You don’t believe it? Try to remember, how many times did you say, “If I have sustenance, I’d do this and that?” And of course, sustenance’ here means money. Isn’t it?
All other priceless favors; health, offspring, healthy mind, etc would feel plain to you without money in your pocket. Too plain until you feel like the poorest and the most troubled man on earth.
You forget that indeed there are too many people who dreamed to be like you. They think that you are the happiest man living. Therefore, in terms of favors, always compare yourself with people below you, not the contrary. By this, you’ll realize how many favors that Allah has bestowed upon you.
وَآتَاكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَإِنْ
تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا ۗ إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ
كَفَّارٌ
“and Who gave you all that you asked Him for. Were you to count
the favours of Allah you shall never be able to encompass them. Verily
man is highly unjust, exceedingly ungrateful.” [Ibrahim : 34]Miserable due to His own deed
Brother, do you know that narrow minded and insular perspective over this meaning of favor are the culprit that causes your sorrows for all these times; unwell sleep, unable to enjoy the food, aching all over the body, and difficult affairs. Whereas the truth is that all those sorrows need not come over you, if you are able to understand the meaning of Allah’s favor. Those misery occurred because you felt that you were far from His favors.When you got rice, complete with tempeh, vegetables, and a glass of water, you might be sad, because you thought that you would only be able to enjoy His favors if you could taste the meat, with various type of meal created from it, together with other foods. As a result, you couldn’t enjoy the delicious tastes of that tempeh and vegetable.
Your misery got worse because you thought of many favors of Allah as disaster, believing that you deserve to get more provisions than you already had.
All these beliefs would steal you away, twisted in the storm of ambitions, and suffered due to unending battle to make your surreal dream comes true.
“If you have two valleys of wealth, you would surely wish to have the third. And nothing could stop your ambition of wealth but the earth (death). And Allah will accept repentance of people who goes back to Him.” [Muttafaqun’alaih]
Ambition to gain more from this world costed you a more miserable and barren life. The happiness that you used to have beyond the wealth would also slipped farther from your hands.
“Whoever make the affairs of the Hereafter as his main concern, Allah will put richness in his heart, unite his matters, and expand his favors in this world. As for people whose concern is the world, Allah will put poorness in front of his eye, scatter his matters, and confine his favors.” (Narrated by At Tirmidhi and others).
You have been negligent, that whatever thing Allah granted upon you is indeed the best for you.
وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا
فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِنْ يُنَزِّلُ بِقَدَرٍ مَا يَشَاءُ ۚ إِنَّهُ
بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ
“If Allah were to grant ample sustenance to His servants they would
go about transgressing in the land. But He sends down in due measure
whatever (sustenance) He wills. Surely He is Well-Aware and All-Seeing
concerning matters that relate to His servants.” [As-Syura/The Council:
27]This pettiness of mind and heart is the cause of Allah’s wrath and His warning.
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ
“Also call to mind when your Lord proclaimed: “If you give thanks, I
will certainly grant you more; but if you are ungrateful for My favors,
My chastisement is terrible.”[Ibrahim: 7]Take a heed, O Brother! Allah promised to increase and multiply His favors to you, if only you would acknowledge His favors and be grateful of them. But if you were ungrateful, Allah has prepared for you a terrible chastisement.
Keep in mind that that threat of Allah mentioned in this verse isn’t merely confined in the world, or in the Hereafter. It means that both might happened to you. Allah’s torment might come to you in this world, and also in the Hereafter. In this world, He might taken away His favors and changed it to sorrows, and in the Hereafter of course the torments of the Hell has been waiting.
تَعِسَ عبد الدِّينَارِ وَعَبْدُ الدِّرْهَمِ وَعَبْدُ
الْخَمِيصَةِ إن أُعْطِيَ رضي وَإِنْ لم يُعْطَ سَخِطَ تَعِسَ وَانْتَكَسَ
وإذا شِيكَ فلا انْتَقَشَ
“Doom be upon the slave of dinar, dirham, and silken clothes (slave
of wealth, -ed). Woes be to him and more woes to him. And if he is
pricked by a spike, none will help him to loose it from him.” (Narrated
by Bukhari)Be the Happiest Person
Brother! You will certainly assent to have a happy life in this world and enter the Paradise later on. And of course, for every dream there must be struggles. Know that the main keys to achieve the happiness in this world are:1. Self-relying and being satisfied to all things Allah has ordained for you.
عَجَبًا لأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ
خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لأَحَدٍ إلاَّ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَصَابَتْهُ
سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ
فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ
“”It’s amazing the affairs of a believer, indeed, all of his affairs
are good, and that will not occur but to a believer. When he gets
pleasure, he is thankful, it was a pleasure to be good for him. And if
he have trouble, he perseveres, then the distress is good for him.”
(Narrated by Muslim)2. Realizing how many favors that Allah has bestowed upon you.
“Whoever feels secure inside his country, healthy, and possesses food that is enough for him for that day, it seems like he has got the world and all it’s contents. ” (Narrated by At Tirmidhi)
3. Wealth is not the parameter of Allah’s love of you.
Brother! Do not mistook the worldly affairs; indeed, it is nothing to Allah. Therefore, do not trade away your life in this world and in the Hereafter with these cheap wealth of the world.
“Indeed, Allah the Almighty has distributed for you your manners as He has distributed your sustenances. And indeed Allah gave the wealth to whom He loved and He hated. Whereas Allah would not give faith but those He loved. Thus if Allah loved someone, Allah would certainly grant the faith to him.” (Narrated by Al Bukhari in “Al-Adab Al Mufrad”, also narrated by At Thabrani).
Brother! By realizing these three things in your life, by Allah’s permission, you’ll have everlasting happiness in this world and in the Hereafter.
Closing
I wish that this brief explanation will help to release you from the claw of money that has overwhelmed the life of men today. And with those three things, hopefully you’ll be able to return to Allah’s love and graces, in this world and in the Hereafter later on. I hope that you’ll find this brief article useful, and help to clear your mind to value to worldly wealth in general, and money in particular. And Allah knows best.Author: Ustadz Dr. Muhammad Arifin Badri, M.A.
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