Recitation of Surah Al-Kahf, Shaykh Salah Bukhatir
part 2
ayat 36 - ayat 77
...on wealth, power, humility and faith........
THE SURAH MOVES ON to examine features of this principle [... this refers to the previous thread.. ] and formulates it through a discussion between a wealthy non-believer and a believer of rather humble means. "Coin for them a similitude: Two men, unto one of whom We had assigned two gardens of grapes, and We had surrounded both with date-palms and had put between them tillage "(32) , while the other was of meager possessions. Gloating in his opulence, the affluence non-believer boasted: ".... I am more than thee in wealth, and stronger in respect of men "(34) . Rather than showing consideration towards his less fortunate neighbor and offering to share some of his possessions with him, he chose to exult in his position judging himself solely on the basis of his material wealth. There is no knowing who is best in the sight of God for Islam teaches that wealth and material possessions are gift from God, and not criteria for judging whether a person is good or bad. Whatever God gives, He can just as easily take away and if some wealthy people believe that they have come by their wealth through their personal skills and dexterity alone, they should ask themselves the question: Who gave them these qualities in the first place? It was left to the poor believer to put the fact across:
If only, when thou enteredst thy garden, thou hadst said: That which Allah willeth (will come to pass)! There is no strength save in Allah! Though thou seest me as less than thee in wealth and children, (39) Yet it may be that my Lord will give me better than thy garden, and will send on it a bolt from heaven, and some morning it will be a smooth hillside, (40)
This prophecy was fulfilled, and the green and fertile fields of the wealthy owner indeed turned into a barren arid waste. The rich neihgbor was grief-stricken and lamented his fate, saying: "" .... Would that I had ascribed no partner to my Lord! ""..(42) And he had no troop (of men) to help him against Allah, nor could he save himself " (43). He had been too proud, complacent, and self- satisfied, and although self-preservation usually does not drive human beings to place their personal interests before those of others, in many cases people become self-possessed anyway and are totally overtaken by their own self-interests. God no longer holds a place in their hearts and their consciences and they become completely self-centered.
In fact our own modern materialistic civilization has produced generations of self-seeking and greedy individuals. Modern culture has completely removed the issue of life-after-death from its agenda, and any discussion of it is seen as meaningless and futile, to be indulged in only by intellectual imbeciles, religious 'fanatics' or the superstitious. To such people God says:
And coin for them the similitude of the life of the world as water which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingleth with it and then becometh dry twigs that the winds scatter. Allah is Able to do all things. (45)
This is not to say that life, though transient and brief, is all evil or that affluence and prosperity are bad. Wealth and power are bestowed on many people as a blessing and a mercy from God. We have already seen how Joseph came to be appointed to a high position of power in Pharaoh's kingdom. " Thus gave We power to Joseph in the land. He was the owner of it where he pleased. We reach with Our mercy whom We will. We lose not the reward of the good "(56). Indeed power and wealth are necessary to establish God's universal truth on earth and support and perpetrate good and useful causes.
Wealth and affluence are not the prerogative of the non-believers only. The wealthy landowner in the above tale was not condemned for his affluence but for his crass attitude and famous justification , expressed as follows:
And he went into his garden, while he (thus) wronged himself. He said: I think not that all this will ever perish. (35) I think not that the Hour will ever come, and if indeed I am brought back unto my Lord I surely shall find better than this as a resort. (36)
But what caused him to arrive at this conclusion or reach such level of arrogance and irascibility? The surah comments: "Wealth and children are an ornament of the life of the world. But the good deeds which endure are better in thy Lord's sight for reward, and better in respect of hope " (46). Although wealth and offspring add to the happiness and enjoyment of this life, they are also sources of power and influence. In al-Isra', verse 6, God said to the Israelites: " Then we gave you once again your turn against them, and We aided you with wealth and children and made you more in soldiery " (al-Isra': 6).
Prophet Muhammad was quoted as saying: "Clean wealth befits the righteous" . But when the spirit of altruism and self -sacrifices is suppressed or defeated, man's infatuation with material wealth becomes an obsession; and if wealth is combined with greed and stinginess, the result can be disastrous. However when wealth is underpinned with faith in God and is utilised for good causes, it becomes an asset and earns God's pleasure.
Prophet Muhammad was reported to have said:
God will strengthen and enrich the heart of a man for whom success in the hereafter is the sole preoccupation; wealth shall come to him in spite of himself. But a man preoccupied with the worldly matters shall only see poverty and deprivation; he shall only receive his predestined share but suffer poverty day and night. Whoever turns his heart to God, others shall turn towards him with kindness and friendship, and God would bring him quicker to success.
These wise words are deeply reassuring, evoking a sense of contentment and inspiring us to free ourselves from the scourges of greed and self indulgence. However, they should by no means be taken as an excuse for apathy and a reason to avoid the lawful and clean pursuit of wealth and material prosperity. The threat to man's humanity and future happiness arises when he neglects God, discounts his accountability to Him, dismisses the reality of life after death, and surrenders his soul to the pursuit of material worldly interests and desires. Because of the catastrophic effect of this moral and religious amnesia on man and society as a whole, the surah reminds us of:
And (bethink you of) the Day when we remove the hills and ye see the earth emerging, and We gather them together so as to leave not one of them behind. (47) And they are set before thy Lord in ranks (and it is said unto them): Now verily have ye come unto Us as We created you at the first. But ye thought that We had set no tryst for you. (48)
Most people are negligent and forgetful. Conveniently, the present in their lives overshadows and obliterates the past and ignores the future. But this only makes facing God a more frightening and traumatic experience.
And the Book is placed, and thou seest the guilty fearful of that which is therein, and they say: What kind of a Book is this that leaveth not a small thing nor a great thing but hath counted it! And they find all that they did confronting them, and thy Lord wrongeth no-one. (49)
THe Day of Judgement is a day of shocks and surprises. It is only then that transgressors and wrong-doers will realize the extent of their folly and their despair. But it seem that man will continue to be complacent and indifferent to God's warnings, and will mainly see the truth when it is too late.
And (all) those townships! We destroyed them when they did wrong, and We appointed a fixed time for their destruction. (59)
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali
" A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an "
Reflection and commentary by Shaykh Yasir Qadhi :
part 9 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t77UQ6J-F6I
[ this one is addressed to the qaruns, the bransons and the bill gates of the world....these 'poor miskin' are deluded. The fitnah of wealth, power and knowledge ]
part 10 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmlF28Vfc1s
part 11 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oh1MnkpAaU
part 12 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU_O54TA__I
part 13 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX_-VRjSVNw
part 14 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boO603Avb_4
[ knowledge with rahmah; rahmah with no knowledge; and knowledge without rahmah... ]
part 15 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9vt0YuKwM
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