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.

 

A Bright Bulb

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

It is the custom of a lot of people that when they are decorating a home they usually put up a lot of bright bulbs.  If the bulbs of those lights aren’t bright and shinning it will not serve its purpose.

Every human being is like a bulb.  And the mission of life is to keep that bulb bright and shinning, so that it will be part of the decoration of the Garden on the Day of Resurrection.  In that Garden the perquisite of being there is to have a bright and shinning personality.  In this connection Allah tells us in the Qur’an;

O ye who believe!  Turn to Allah with sincere repentance:  In the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which rivers flow, - the Day that Allah will not permit to be humiliated the Prophet and those who believe with him.  Their light will run forward before them and by their right hands, while they say, "Our Lord! Perfect our light for us, and grant us forgiveness: for Thou hast power over all things".  (66:8)

There are two ways of keeping our bulbs bright and shinning.  One is to do good.  When we do good we add to the brightness of the bulb.  Another way is to wipe out the dust and smut that prevents our blub from shinning brightly.  The way of doing this is to constantly ask for forgiveness for your Lord.

A lot of people don’t keep this in mind at all.  When you reach a point in life concentrate on two things that Allah makes mention of in Surah Nashr;

Celebrate the praises of Thy Lord, and pray for His forgiveness: (110:3)

Keep your light bright and shinning by glorifying Allah, by seeking forgiveness for your shortcomings, by doing good to others and by connecting your lamp to the source of the light; i.e. Prophet Muhammad (pboh) because he is Sirajum Munirah – the lamp that gives light.

Our aspiration is to get into the Garden and the beginning of entry into the Garden is when you will rise with brightening countenances.

In this earth there are limitations.  For example Prophet Muhammad (pboh) could not have seen the true personality of Jibreal in this world.  It was only when he was outside the dimension of space and time he saw his true personality.  So we cannot understand what are the implication and the beauty of having a bright light.  It is only when we are resurrected we can understand fully.

Pray to Allah to perfect your light and try your best to avoid those things that soil your light or your soul.  The soul is the source of our light and we must never forget that our nafs is impacting upon it.

Our personality comprises of both the body and soul so we need to take care of both.  Because man cannot see the soul much attention isn’t given to it.  We must understand that the soul is the source of our light and we must polish it in order for it to shine brightly.

May Allah forgive us all and bless us with the ability and understanding to remove the spots we would have put on our light and polish it at the same time.