Wealth and children make you negligent of remembering God

Let not the wealth and children make you negligent of remembering God

??? “O Faithful ones! Let not your wealth and your children make you negligent of Allah’s remembrance (that is, you must not involve in loving them instead of loving God) and whoever does so (instead of loving the Bestower of gifts loves the wealth and children permanently) then they will remain in loss.”

Since such people disconnected themselves from God, they could not gain any permanent benefit from their life, meaning they could not acquire faith and a good character.

Those who cannot be stopped from remembering God

Almighty Allah says in verse 37 of Surah Noor (24):

رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاء الزَّكَاةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ

“Some men of Allah are such who cannot be stalled from remembering Allah from offering prayer and from paying zakaat either by trade or by buying and seeling (because) they are afraid (because of fear) of the Day in which hearts and eyes will overturn (due to fear).”

(Surah Noor 24:37)

In this verse the remembrance of Allah means heartfelt love. It means man should think of God in every condition and at every time. His interest and activeness in his affairs should be because of God’s love and he should carry out every order and worship because of His love only.

Worldly beauties are merely a test

It is mentioned in the verse 7 of the Holy Surah Kahf:

وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَت تَّزَاوَرُ عَن كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَت تَّقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِّنْهُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِي وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا

“Whatever is there on the surface of earth has been made by Us as its adornment so that We may take a test of people to observe whose character among them is the best and (then) We will (on one day or the other) remove whatever is on it to turn it into a plain field.”

(Surah Khaf 18:7)

The beauty of Amal-e-Swaalih (good deeds and character) at which the Holy Quran repeated hints and which has been termed the means of permanent ever lasting wellbeing is the name of every such deed which is done in obeying god’s command and which is because of His love. Apparently it may not look like worship, for example, one may eat good food and wear fine clothes, but not for satisfying desires and filling belly but for enjoying the Lord’s bounty and to display His bounty and for obeying His orders.

Similarly bad deed is a deed which may be done to satisfy passion, to fulfill a devilish desire and for getting only worldly benefit, even though, its appearance resembles worship. For example the worship of a hypocrite and an egoist. The meaning of Zeenat is decoration, beautification so that a buyer can be attracted.

The main and the secondary Aim of Creation

By pondering over the above and other similar verses of the Holy Quran we understand that the Creator of the Universe created His various bounties and desires for them on this earthly plant and taking a drop of the Unfathomable Ocean of Existence of Beauty, spread it out in accordance with its ability for acceptance. The Lord of the universe says in verse 21 of Surah Hijr (15):

وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ عِندَنَا خَزَائِنُهُ وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُ إِلاَّ بِقَدَرٍ مَّعْلُومٍ

“And we have (innumerable) treasures of everything (full ) and We provide (therefrom) a measured quantity.”

(Surah Hijr 15:21)

Then He created man and displayed this treasure before him for two aims, main and secondary. The secondary aim of presenting the worldly wealth is that man should get a desire for it and he may employ it thereby it may cause the world to be a habitat and mankind may spread and survive.

But the main aim of presenting the worldly wealth or benefit to the world is that this bounty may be the means of realizing of the Creator the creation may begin to find the Creator, the lamp of His love may light up hearts and He may be thanked for His bounties and also for being His obedient creatures. Against this, it is not the aim of creation that the creation may become and after the worldly wealth and may run after it relentlessly, may think that it (man) is needless of His nearness, may make the wealth his sole aim, may consider himself to be its absolute owner and real possessor and then cross the limits fixed by God. In short, that he may become mad after it worshipping it and get for the Real Benefactor and become ungrateful to Him.

(With a view to explain and to make the similes fully comprehensible and to elaborate the matter the following story is presented).

“It is said that the main reason of King Mehmood Gaznavi’s love for his slave Ayaaza was that the king had got a lot of jewels after the conquest of Somaat. The lot was carried on camels to Gazni. In transit a box of jewels broke up and its contents fell down on ground. The king declared that anything on which any body lays his hands would be his property. At once all ministers and court men got busy collecting the jewels. When the king looked around he could not find any one near him except Ayaaz. All had left him alone and all were busy gathering the wealth. The Sultan then asked Ayaaz: why did you not join all others in collecting jewels? Ayaaz replied: I felt ashamed at the thought of leving the king and busying in collecting wealth. There are many enemies of the king and some one of them might try to take a chance. That is why I did not move away from you. If some one would pounce upon you I might sacrifice my life for you. It was this selfless love of Ayaaz that made the king to make him his legatee despite having his brother and son. Many a time he used to make Ayaaz sit beside him in the court.”

The reader should understand that God loves His servant who remembers his Lord after gaining the worldly beauties and who keeps away from everything which can make him forget his Lord even if that bounty is worth taking pride in.

It is said that one of the rubies brought by Mehmood Gazni from India was shining in the darkness of night. One day the king showed it to his ministers and asked about its value. Every one assessed its value very high. Then the king ordered that this stone should be broken. None of the court men was ready to do so. They said it was not wise to break it. In the meanwhile Ayaaz entered the court. When he was asked about the value of that precious stone he replied that it was far more valuable than others had appraised. Then the Sultan asked him also to break it. Ayaaz did so at once without any hesitation. The audience felt happy in their hearts imagining that now the king will frown on Ayaaz. All taunted him asking his why did he do so. They told him: by so doing you have caused a loss to the king’s treasure, that you are not a friend of the king but are his foe. Ayaaz told them: As the command of the king was more valuable than the jewel in my view I did not hesitate in breaking that jewel but refrained from breaking the command of the king. In your opinion the stone was costlier than the king’s word, so you refrained from breaking the stone. This reply of Ayaaz made it clear to all that the king’s order was meant to test the loyalties of his court men. This event boosted the value of Ayaaz in the eyes of the king while all other court men felt ashamed.

How people are tested through worldly adornments

It is incumbent on man to observe the beauties of the world and to ponder over their defects too the topmost of which is the transitoriness of the world and its nature of decline. Then he must trust that there is one more world wherein every perfection will appear discarding all defects and faults. Its most important aspect is the eternal life. It is necessary for man to remember that he has been created for that another world of eternity. The reason is that if it is believed that life ends with the advent of death then the creation of the universe becomes aimless where as each and every particle of the universe testifies to the wisdom of the Lord Creator. (Full light has been thrown on this subject in the chapter Ma’ad). This aim is that God tests His slaves through worldly adornments. It is as a result of this test that a tyrant is born from the belly of a virtuous man, good from bad, good character from a bad character, courageous from the timid, humane from a beastly person and one worth of hell from one worthy of paradise. Then two types of people will be there in the eternal world. The first kind of people will be called Ashaabe yameen who will live in a permanent paradise according to the holy Quran and they will enjoy all heavenly rewards and gifts.

At that time they will see the Grace of God the Great manifest. Another type of people will be Ashaab e Shimaal who will remain on the same stage and which they would have earned for themselves. They will suffer punishment in Hell because of their misdeeds. It will be the time when God will employ His real Adl (justice). Every one will get the reward or punishment of his deeds. At that time he will realize that absolute praise is only for Allah. The last verse of Surah Zumar hints at this matter:

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“And true and proper settlement will be made between people (and from all sides) there will rise the voice that only the Lord of the worlds deserves all praise.” Like wise this matter has been made clear in Surah Shoora (48) saying:

(Surah Hijr 15:21)

فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا إِنْ عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ وَإِنَّا إِذَا أَذَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِنَّا رَحْمَةً فَرِحَ بِهَا وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَإِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ كَفُورٌ

“One group will remain in Paradise and another in Hell.”

(Surah Shoora 42:48)

In conclusion, the Lord Creator of the universe has made this world with its beauty and brightness a matter of test for every person until the time of his or he death, so that a distinction can be made between the world-hungry fellow and those who love the Hereafter and befriend God. In this way the one who want only the worldly life (comfort) will be counted among the losers. The Last Day has been picturised in verse 33 of Surah Luqmaan (31) in these words

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ وَاخْشَوْا يَوْمًا لَّا يَجْزِي وَالِدٌ عَن وَلَدِهِ وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ هُوَ جَازٍ عَن وَالِدِهِ شَيْئًا إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ فَلَا تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا وَلَا يَغُرَّنَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ

“O people, Fear your Lord and remain afraid of the Day when neither a father will be able to do anything for his son nor a son for his father. God’s promise (of the Day of Judgement) in firm and sure. So let not the worldly life of a few days deceive you nor let the deceiver (satan) deceive you.”

(Surah Luman 31:33)

The Lord of the universe has, through a number of Quranic verses, warned man that he should not be deceived by the worldly life. This matter has been repeatedly mentioned in verses 70 and 130 of surah Anaam, 51 of Surah A’raaf, 33 of Luqmaan, 33 of Faatir, 35 of Jaasiyah and 14 of Hadeed. Therefore it is a must for every Muslim to make effort from his heart so that he may not be counted among the deceited.

Paradise is a better place for the Godfearing ones

“(In this world) love for their pleasant things (for example) wives, children, heaps of gold and silver nice horses and animals and agriculture have been made attractive for men. All these are short living benefits of the worldly life and (everlasting) better place is only with God. O Prophet, tell these people, should I show you things better than these? (Well then hear) for those who feared God are, with their Lord, gardens beneath which are running streams 9an they) will remain is them for ever. Besides, for them are pure and clean wives and above all is the pleasure of God and God observes His slaves well.”

The gist of this verse is that God created the beauties of the world and made them an adoration for man so that, through it, they may begin to love God and worry for the success of their Hereafter. But what happened is that satan deceived them whereby they became mad after the worldly attractions instead of loving the Creator. Such people must know that this life, along with all its tastefulness is transitory and very short living. Obviously it is not wise to be attracted to a thing which is to pass out soon. Hence what is proper is to stop being mad after this world and to love that world which is far better and also permanent. This holy verse proves that a permanent love for this world is condemnable even if it is very little.

A Wonderful narration regarding worldly love

The Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) said:

“The Lord Almighty told me on the night of Meraaj (Heavenly Ascention): “O Ahmad, If any of my slaves offers prayers and fasts equal to that done by all in the sky and the earth, may refrain from food like angels, may wear the dress of constant worshippers and then I see that in his heart was even an iota of love or desire for worldly fame, position, material desire etc I will not admit him to paradise. I will remove My love from his heart. I will make his heart dark, so that he may forget Me and I will not allow him to taste the sweetness of My love.

Likewise Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) says:

“By God! One who loves the world cannot befriend God.”

(Jihaad Mustadrak, Baab, 61)

Explaing the verse Illaa Man ……, the innocent Imam (a.s.) says that this heart (Qalb-e-Saleem) is the heart which is safe from worldly love. (Anh…)

(Jihaad Mustadrak, Baab: 61).

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said:

“One who loves this world, makes his heart empty of the fear of Aakhirat (Hereafter). Therefore the love for this world increases in the heart of one who God does not give knowledge. Then God’s anger grows against him and that fellow gets away from God.”

(Jihaad Mustadrak, Baab: 61).

Mentioning the virtues of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) says:

“The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) used to dine sitting on ground, His manner of sitting on ground was like slaves. He was mending his shoes with his own hands. He was grafting his clothes himself. He was sitting on the bare back of an ass, making someone else also ride with him. There was a curtain in his house with a picture on it. He asked one of his wives: Remove that curtain from my eyes. By looking at it I begin admiring the world and its beauties. So, remove the attention toward worldly possessions from your heart. Make your soul empty of material wants. He liked that the worldly adoration should remain away from hidden from his eyes so that he may not select beautified clothings from pompous dress from wordly possessions. This not a place of rest and comfort for him. He did not have any desire to remain in this world. So he had freed his soul from the worldly love and his heart from material attraction. He used to turn away his eyes from material glamour. The fact is that if the one who is inimical toward a thing also does not like to look at it. He also avoids remembering it.”

He says that it is incumbent on a Muslim to follow his prophet (s.a.w.s.). It is a must to imitate him to avoid destruction.