Tuesday 30 April 2013

Proper use of Allah's Blessings

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

One of the blessings of praying to the Merciful Lord to “guide us on the Straight Path” is that we should utilize our material blessings and assets to be of benefit to us in this life as well as in the next. 
How many people waste their lives and the precious material gifts that the Merciful Lord bestowed on them? Many of them became pauper after having much, and they then realized that they wasted their time and resources in things that did not stay with them forever. They then had to continue the journey of life with very little, or in some case with nothing.
Sometimes the thought may come to the minds of the believers and that is,  why is it that Allah is bestowing so much of material things on the “rejecters of His Oneness? Many of them do not only misuse their wealth, but they also cause harm, hardship and suffering to believers who may not agree with what they are doing.
Such a thought once crossed the mind of Prophet Moses when he saw how Pharaoh was using his God-given gifts to torture and torment the Children of Israel. When Moses saw what Pharaoh was doing he prayed to Allah as follows:
Our Lord! You have indeed bestowed of Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and wealth in the life of this world; that they may lead men astray from Your Path. Our Lord, destroy their wealth, and harden their hearts, so that they will not believe until they see the painful doom……………Allah said: verily the invocation of you both is accepted. So you both keep to the Straight Way, and do not follow the path of those who do not know. (Qur’an:10:88-89)
Prophet Muhammad (pboh) used to feel sorry for those who wasted their wealth, talent and life by staying busy with only the material life, not realizing that one day they will have to die and leave all these things behind them. So sad and depressed he used to be when he saw how these people were wasting their lives that Allah had to console him. This is recorded in the Holy Qur’an in the following verse:
Perhaps you will kill yourself (O Muhammad) with grief, over their footsteps (because they do not accept the message), as they do not believe in this narration, i.e. the Holy Qur’an. (18:6)
Prophet Muhammad (pboh) knew that, out of ignorance, the non-believers are spending all their time trying to acquire as much as they can the wealth of this world and then they will be called back by the Lord and they will die and leave everything behind them. And some of their inheritors may even abuse what they got.
Muslims are taught to manage their precious time and resources properly, so that these things can benefit them while they are alive in this world, and will also benefit on the onward journey and in the next life.
Islam teaches us how to do so.
 

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