“Seek with (the wealth)
which God has given
you to obtain the abode
of the Hereafter, and
do not forget your share
of this world. And do
excellent deeds as God
has done excellent
deeds to you. Do not seek
to spread corruption
in the land, for surely
God does not love the
spreaders of corruption” (Qur’an,
28:77).
This was part of
the admonishment, which was addressed by certain good believers of the
followers of Prophet Moses to Qaroun (one of their fellow men) when they were
in Egypt. They addressed it to him because when God granted him riches
abundantly he arrogantly exalted himself above his fellow men (see Qur’an,
28:76). His arrogance was clear when he replied to them saying: “This (wealth)
has been given to me only by knowledge I possess” (28:78). One day the rich
Qaroun went out before his people in all his pomp. Some of them (who cared only
for the life of this world) said: “Oh if only we had been given like of what
Qaroun has been given!” But to the contrary, those who had deep faith in God
and in the Hereafter said: “Woe unto you! Merit in the sight of God is by far
the best for any who attains to faith and does what is right!” Immediately
after that God caused the earth to swallow Qaroun and his home (see 28:78-81).
It is indeed an
excellent admonishment to all people, so that it deserved to be recorded in the
Qur’an for those who may take lesson.
Our guide, the
Messenger of God used to urge his followers to work hard, to benefit from what
we can get, spend it for the cause of God, in order to get multiple reward in
the Hereafter.
Abu Hurairah narrated the saying of the Prophet (may
Peace and God’s blessings be upon him): “A
believer who is strong is better and dearer to God than the believer who is
weak although there is goodness in both of them. Be keen on what benefits you,
and seek help from God, and do not give up. If anything afflicts you do not say
“if I had done such and such things, such and such would have happened” but
say: God has decreed that, and what He wills it must happen, for (the
utterance) “if I had” provides an opening for the devil’s deed”. (Recorded
by Muslim in his “Collection of Hadith”).
To be keen on
doing good things, to invent and to invest for more benefits by fair means, to
strive for a better life is the duty of every Muslim, according to the guidance
of the Messenger of God. But a better life means a chance to strive for a better
life in the Hereafter, by helping the needy, aiding the unable and fulfilling all
kinds of devotion to God alone, and not by showing others and boasting.
The Qur’an guides
Muslims to spend out of their wealth for the needy as a devotion to God, and it
is called “the spending in the cause of God”. “Those who spend their wealth in
God’s cause are like grain of corn that produce seven ears, each bearing a
hundred grains. God gives multiple increases to whomever He wishes. He is
limitless and all knowing. Those who spend their wealth in God’s cause, and do
not follow their spending with reminder of their generosity and injury, their
wage is with their Lord, and no fear shall befall them, neither shall they
grieve” (2:261
-262).
One might ask why are
we told not to forget our share of this life, while we love it by nature,
without advice?
We need to understand
that God’s advice to not forget this worldly life comes only after his urging
us to devote ourselves to Him. This devotion means to use all means at hand
in this life, to work together with others and for others, because a better
Hereafter can only be attained through a worthy worldly life.
As the wise people
used to say:
LIFE OF THIS WORLD
IS MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN TO BE FORGOTTEN, BUT IT IS MORE TRIVIAL THAN TO BECOME
OUR AIM.
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