A very dear friend, a young man I proudly consider a younger brother, sent me a news article today about the rather superficial and fleeting aspect of this life (aka dunya, lit. dunya means "world"): it's an article about the stupid Forbes 400 list, specifically about the wavering fortunes of Sheldon Adelson. His email was entitled "dunya" and I think he makes a solid point. Everything here is fleeting, we need to anchor ourselves in more than our net worth. I understand the higher the net worth, the harder it becomes to stay anchored.
That having said, I think it is vital to remind ourselves that while it may be difficult, it is not impossible. And there is that distinctly different side to dunya. The works of Bill Gates and thousands of people who have acquired financial freedom (and engaged heavily with dunya) are worth mentioning and reminding so they inspire us for they are truly inspirational. A random search on google found a lot of articles, just one of which I thought I would share to make sure we don't lose our perspective on this matter.
In Islam, envy (not jealousy) is permitted in case you notice a person whom God has blessed with means and this person spends for good causes (because by becoming one who gives, this person is truly blessed!). In Islam, the hand that gives is better than the hand that receives. With so many hands in need right now, we need more hands that can give. Go and seek riches, my friends, grow the stuff of dunya, and then, do the ultimate...give it away to help others!
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6 comments:
AA- ATM,
I agree but with a condition. One must be in control of oneself, otherwise the allurements of dunya will overtake and destroy. The affluent sahaba (like Uthman and AbdurRahman bin Awf) had conquered their nafs so that all the riches in the world could not sway them from the true goal of life.
Before we embrace dunya, we must first reject it. Only then can we achieve greatness.
Naeem wrote:
> One must be in control of oneself, otherwise
Of course...that is like saying before you cross the road, one must look to left and right, otherwise one might be run over by a car. That is a given.
I believe extremism in one direction INVITES extremism in the other. Muslims tend to so over-emphasize this "before we embrace dunya, we must first reject it" bit that we have the sort of obscenity that litters the landscape in Dubai and other Gulf states.
My other observation is that wealth is as dangerous as a lot of other things. Piety itself is to be feared, it will be the reason many fall in the eyes of God if not done with proper intention (rather with intention to be recognized as a pious person), as is scholarship, as is charity. I find the over-caution on this issue a bit out of place.
AA-
"Of course...that is like saying before you cross the road, one must look to left and right, otherwise one might be run over by a car. That is a given."
True, that is a given when dealing with adults who have years of experience crossing streets. But when talking to a child, one MUST be sure to remind to look both ways.
Who among us can claim to be an adult in the spiritual world, where adulthood is measured not by age but by control of the nafs and nearness to Allah?
I would say very few.
So, no, I don't believe that reminding each other to *know* our nafs and understand our level of spiritual development before we take on the duty of embracing the dunya is a 'given'.
>Who among us can claim to be an adult...
As I said, extremism in either direction breeds extremism in the opposite direction. I am not comfortable with your characterization, I think it's a bit extreme.
AA-
Its understandable that you may be uncomfortable in the realization that the nafs has many of us in a stranglehold (although to term that 'extreme' is a bit...extreme).
Indeed, to reach such a stage requires an immense supply of humility and patience - both of which are lacking in our community.
As Imam Ghazzali so aptly put it, we are the like the rider who is being ridden by his ride. Its quite humiliating and extremely uncomfortable.
> you may be uncomfortable in the realization that the nafs has many of us in a stranglehold
Not really, I am uncomfortable because I worry that this sort of thinking is behind the abject poverty, hunger and disease that abound in the Muslim world.
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