Miserliness Annihilates Affections

There are certain feelings which originate deep in the hearts of men, the fruits of these feelings being invaluable; these are the roots of man’s cooperation. These feelings which are manifested in helping needy individuals, are among the special spiritual and excellent traits of man. These are feelings that make man react when he sees pain or suffering that the another experiences; inspiring him to offer all types of sacrifices and over looking personal wants for the sake of reducing the pain of others. Man does this without expecting any reward.

Dr. Carl said:
“Advancement in any field needs a certain degree of sacrifice, greatness, and sincerely; purity of the soul can be achieved only by sacrificing material gains and fame for the sake of one’s country or a greater goal.

“Self-sacrifice is the habit of those who understand the beauty of righteousness and truly believe in Allah. These are the people who sacrifice their souls in order to implement justice, love and harmony all over the world.

“Reason alone does not lead man to perfection. Love and affection are also important factors in this field. This is true because the soul excels through feelings more than it does through reason and reflection.
“Everyone can advance on this path passing the clouds into peak of light and reach the truth.”

There is a characteristic that may destroy the roots of affection, which can conceal itself in man’s subconscious. It known as miserliness. Miserliness paves the way for man’s nature to abandon his good morals.
Miserliness is an evil characteristic that is always associated with the breach of all moral and spiritual commitments. It subjects man to humiliation and public resentment, in addition to leading the miser to narrow mindedness. As a resulof miserliness and selfishness, the misers’ minds are centered around materialism and wealth. They are, therefore, deprived of the freedom of thought and subsequently from the facts of life and spiritual and moral values. The miser ignores the fact that wealth is a method of securing material need in life. After securing the basic necessities of life in comfort, harmony or in treating anxieties and psychological pains, there is not a role for wealth.
Fear of imaginative poverty is an illness that affects the minds of the miser. For this reason a miser person can never rid himself of worry and depression. Despite the wealth a miser may have, he is deprived of comfort and ease.

According to a British scholar:
“Some people hope for wealth as if there is nothing else worth hoping for. There are even some people who deprive themselves of knowledge and sleep because their primary goal is to acquire wealth. Individuals like this deprive themselves of the truth for they imagine wealth to be a goal and not a means.
“Wealth is like a bridge that rescues us from destruction. How wrong are those who spend their live strengthening the bridge itself while ignoring its purpose. We should not give ourselves up for the sake of money, instead we should give up money for our sake... Many people spend their whole lives searching for money and by the time they find it they need another life to spend it...but the days they long for shall never come.

There seems to be direct relationship between wealth and miserliness. Most wealthy people are misers. A survey would reveal that helping the poor is usually done by the middle-class and not the rich.
The miser rich, who fall victim to the frustration and anger of the poor, are the subject of some social corruption. The pressure which is put on the poor, and the subsequent psychological complication which befall them are factors in spreading corruption and disarray. No one denies the devastating role which this problem has in causing crimes and dissention.
There are many wealthy people who abandon the borders of humanity as a result of their intense inclination towards acquiring wealth to the point that they add to their oppression the act of depriving the poor of their rights. Such oppressors have certainly lost the human light in them. On the other hand, we have generosity, a factor of human integrity. It is a manifestation of the originality of human feelings and a sign of stable thinking. Generosity is also the best trait among all authentic characteristics.
Generosity enjoys a very high place among all traits. Hatim Tai’s name still shines throughout the centuries because of his well-known generosity.
It is evident that generosity can only be praiseworthy, if nearness to Allah is sought in reducing the suffering of the poor as its only aim. Bragging and fame should not play a role in generosity.

A Glance at Leaders’ Views on Miserliness

Islam has stressed all aspects of human society. It recommends sacrifices and abundant giving so as to strengthen the ties of love and mercy between the rich and poor. Islam also greatly resents miserliness and immorality.
Islam deepens the roots of love in the Islamic society by implementing human feelings and the sense of cooperation between Muslims. It prohibits the rich Muslims from being indifferent to the condition of the poor, it also prohibits stinginess which prevents Muslims from paying the dues which Islam levied on them for the deprived Muslims.

The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said:
“Islam does not resent a thing more than miserliness.
Nahj al-Fasahah p. 549

Miserliness is an evil trait which deprives the individual of happiness and tranquility and leaves him in pain. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) also said:
“The least harmonious among people are the misers.”
Nahj al- Fasahah p.81

A Western scholar is known to have said:
“He who lacks love and seeks it (even subconsciously) always blames himself and is never satisfied with it: for this reason most of us lust the lives of others and are greatly envious of them. This feeling is not limited to the poor toward the rich: envy effects all of us for there is an element in everyone’s life that they feel weak in, for instance, a man who has a wife, children, and a good position feels greedy over those who are deprived of such things.
Individuals like this consider their clothes, for example, as evidence of their superiority, or a man may see another man who is dressed better and thinks that the well dressed man is happier then he for if he wasn’t happier he would not have better clothes...”
Ravankavi

The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) besought Allah to have mercy on those who do not love wealth for its self but spend their surplus (wealth) on the deprived. He said:
“May Allah have mercy on he who restrains the unnecessary word and who spends the surplus of his belongings.”
Nahj aI-Fasähah p.81

The Prophet (A.S.) also said:
“Avoid stinginess for stinginess caused those who proceeded you to perish and lead them to shed their blood and violate their sanctities.’’ Nahj al-Fasahah p.8
Imam Ali (A.S.) said:
“1 am amazed at the miserable misers, for they cause the poverty from which they run to come faster, and miss the wealth which they sought. In this life they live the life of the poor and will be judged in the hereafter the judgment of the rich.’’
(Ghurar al-Hikam p. 497)

A British scholar stated:
“Some people appear rich but are actually poor. They possess money but cannot even spend it on themselves. Their wealth becomes like a chain of gold tied around their neck from which they gain nothing save pain and torture. Here money becomes an affliction and wealth a disaster.”
Dar Aghushe Khush Bakhti.

Even the children of the misers complain about their fathers. This fact is clarified by Imam Ali (A.S.) who said:
“A man’s generosity makes his foes love him, and his miserliness makes his children hate him.”
Ghurar al-Hikam , p. 368

He also said:
“Greed and stinginess arc built on doubt and lack of confidence”
Ghurar al-Hikam p. 488
Dr. Farmer is known to have said:
“The traits generosity and self-confidence which arise from harmony and trusting yourself and others, when found together in an individual, perfect social manners and allow perfect enjoyment of social life. The opposite is also true for when these traits are lacking, integrity of social manners is impossible, hence, an individual is unable to enjoy a social life.” Raz Khushbakhti.
Imam Musa al-Kadhim (A.S.) explains the value of generosity by saving:
“The generous and the well-mannered are always under the protection of Allah. Allah does not abandon them but leads them to Paradise. Allah, Glory be to Him, did not send a prophet or a successor save a generous one; nor was there a righteous man who was not generous. Up to the day that he died, my Father commanded me to be generous.”
Furu al-Kafi v.4, p. 38

Once when Imam Ali (A.S.) was fighting in a battle, the man that he was fighting asked him for his sword. Imam Ali (A.S.) handed his sword to him which amazed the man. Imam All (A.S.) then stated that the miser are in urgent need of ideological guidance and if they are deprived of that guidance will remain in the trap of materialism, deprivation and misery.

16

GREED

On the Necessities of Life A Greedy Person is Never Satisfied Fair Distribution in Islam

On the Necessities of Life

In this life our existence is surrounded by certain necessities which hold a tight grip on us from the day that we are born. Some of these necessities such as food, clothes and shelter are basic and the preservation of life’s system depends on them. Needs of this type are natural and cannot be taken care of permanently. The other type of needs are non-essential and are constantly changing and can never be totally fulfilled.
According to natural motives and the sense of need, man seeks money and struggles with all his might against all problems and difficulties which may stand in his way to make more money for to most people wealth is the beauty of life.
It is natural for the condition of men to vary in this field. For instance, if a man is surrounby poverty and weakness, he starts to seek sustenance by all means possible trying to eradicate the poverty which surrounded him. If a man has acquired wealth, he becomes inflicted with conceit and arrogance as if there was a direct relationship between wealth and the latter traits. Finally, if a man acquires wealth and security for himself, he becomes intoxicated with conceit and arrogance and evil inspirations endlessly battle his mind.
Life takes various forms depending on how every individual views it and because the reasoning ability differs from person to person. For example there are many people who have not realized the truth or reached the stage where they can distinguish between places of safety and danger. Realization of the facts of life, and reaching the state of happiness requires precision in the secrets of existence, especially the secret of “knowing one’s self which can only be done in the domain of reason and logic.
Man must understand why he is in this world in order to start his search for happiness. He must choose the method with which he can advance according to his natural and spiritual needs while refraining from shortcomings that separate the soul from the realistic growth of one’s personality.
Yet, success and happiness do not mean that man must constantly excel over others in exploiting material resources, for material matters are not the main goal in life and man should not violate the borders of morality and piety to make material gains.
According to Dr. Carl:
“Personal interests overtake our minds in the ideological atmosphere which liberal materialism founded. Wealth has come to be the greatest talent in our eyes and success is now measured by currency bills.
“A society which gives priority to economical affairs can never be inclined to morality which requires complete obedience to the laws of life. An individual who excludes all affairs but the economical ones from his day-to-day struggle cannot adhere to the natural laws of life. Morality. undoubtedly, leads us to the truth and organizes all our physical and psychological activities in accordance to the human system. Moral excellence may be compared to strong engines which function properly. Dissention in a society is not but a consequence of immorality”

The authentic aim of life is to achieve spirituality. Spirituality is the most important and valuable matter which man can achieve. He who keeps his soul confined to spiritual treasures seldom needs this world, for he gains spiritual satisfaction in the shadow of spirituality which accompanies him for the rest of his life. Such an individual would not exchange his spiritual wealth for material gains under any conditions.