PLEASE YOUR CREATOR! Materialism leads to Hellfire.

Please Your Creator

By Pleasing His Creation!

Don’t be greedy! The race for

wealth and materialism will lead

you to Hellfire via grave.

So, wake up! It’s getting late!

(M. Javed Naseem)

We are all in a race with each other to accumulate wealth and material things. We are in competition with others who we think are better than us or materially or financially better off. This race has no rules, therefore, everybody is using all fair and unfair means to achieve their goals. In this process, we ignore all norms of ethics, violate all codes of conduct and break all principles of morality.

We are trying to please our families and friends but forget that it’s God we should be trying to please. God loves us, so it’s not difficult to please Him.

Please God by pleasing His people (the poor, the hungry, the needy, the handicapped, the orphans, the sick and injured, the refugees, the victims of war, atrocities and injustice, and the old and the weak)! Of course, you cannot please everybody but do as much as you can! It’s your intention, followed by a good effort that counts. And you would be rewarded by Allah tremendously.

God is the ultimate Truth. If you are a believer (believing that God is One; Only He is worthy of worship; He is the Supreme Creator and Commander, Sustainer of mankind and all living creatures, and the Controller of the universe Who is masterly running this marvelous, awesome, miraculous and mind-boggling show; and Whom we shall be answering on the Day of Judgment, then you’ll surrender to His will. You’ll obey His commands and follow His instructions and live by the rules He prescribed because you realize that, eventually, there is no escape from Him.

Fear Allah! The best way to

avoid Hellfire is to avoid

His disobedience.

We are His Creation! He is the Master and we are His slaves or servants. If we understand this relationship, we’ll never go astray! The Quran is God’s last and final revelation and thus the best and most authentic source of guidance of our time. The Devil (Shaitan) is out there to mislead us because he is our enemy. He never liked that Allah made him bow down in front of man (Adam) as he thought that he was superior to Adam. So, the war between the two is on and will continue till the final day. Our defense and protection lies in that Book (the Quran) that tells us how to defend and fight back. It is up to us if we want to do that!

“Of those We have created are people

who guide (others) with truth. And

edtablish justice therewith.”

 (al-Quran 7:181)

As human beings, we should remember one thing that Shaitan was cursed and degraded by Allah because of his arrogance and disobedience. You cannot say ‘no’ to your Creator or Master and still hope for His mercy! You can’t take it for granted. He is our Sole Provider and we owe Him gratitude. We can’t thank Him enough for all the blessings.

Those of us who don’t accept this notion, become guilty of subordination and disobedience. And we should know (from the Scriptures) the punishment for disobedience – it’s the Hellfire!

“In the Gardens (Paradise) they will ask

one another about the guilty: What has

brought you to this Hellfire? They will

answer: We were not of those who prayed;

nor did we feed the poor. But we used to

talk vanities with vain talkers; and

we used to deny the Day of Judgment,

till the inevitable came unto us”.

(al-Quran 74:40-47)

In the above verses, Allah is talking about the disobedient folks, the dwellers of Hell. We can be smart and learn a lesson from it, therefore, not doing what they used to do to merit the Hellfire.

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Remember death and don’t let the

pleasures of this world seduce you!

Resist the temptation! Money is

evil if not spent in God’s way. Don’t

ruin yourself with your own hands!

Uphold justice and fair-play!

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Those of us who pray, pay thanks, spend in Allah’s way; and those who fight for Allah’s cause, they are the good believers. And Allah has promised to reward the good.

“Those who spend (freely), whether in

prosperity or in adversity; who restrain

anger and pardon (all) people; for Allah

loves those who do good.”

 (al-Quran 3:134)

When your belief in Allah is total, your trust in Him is not shaky, and you look up to Him for everything, you have the highest degree of faith. In response, Allah takes care of you and your affairs. He creates the means and resources from nowhere.

“Is not Allah sufficient

for His servant?”

(Quran 39:36)

Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim, a.s.) had total faith in Almighty Allah. He would not deviate from the right path because he had totally surrendered to the will of God. So, when the people of Nimrod decided to throw him into the fire, he did not budge. He knew it was Allah’s will, therefore, he accepted it. At that time angel Gabriel came to Abraham and asked if he could do anything to help him out. Prophet Abraham replied: No, I cannot ask you for anything because, if it’s Allah’s will, you cannot help me.

Now, this is the height of faith (Iman). Prophet Abraham used to praise his Lord and say:

“Our Lord! In You we put our trust,

and unto You we turn in repentance,

and unto You is the final journey.”

(al-Quran 60:4)

With total surrender to the will of your Lord, you belong to Allah and you expect things from Allah alone, nobody else. The scriptures tell us how Allah then took care of Abraham. His promise is always valid.

“In the end We deliver Our messengers

and those who believe: Thus is it fitting

on Our part that We should deliver

those who believe!”

 (al-Quran 10:103)

 Here’s a story about strong faith (Iman)! A saint narrates:

“I, along with my companion, left the town and started living   in the mountains where remembrance of Allah was our main motive and occupation. My companion was living in a cave not far from me. In the beginning we were surviving on plants, herbs and vegetation. Then Almighty God made some special arrangement for my nourishment. A female deer started coming to my place every day and would stand near me. I started suckling her milk. After that she would leave and come back the next day at the same time. This became her routine and continued for months.

“They shall have all they wish for,

of their Lord’s bounty. Such is the

reward of those who do good.”

(al-Quran 39:34)

One day my companion came to see me. He said that there was a caravan camping nearby. Let us go there and ask them for some milk and foodstuff. I refused to go but he seemed desperate and insisted. Finally, I gave in and went along with him. The caravan people treated us good and gave us some food to carry also. The next day, I had a big surprise! I never saw the deer again. I used to come out of the cave around the same time everyday and wait for her. But she never showed up again. Then I realized what a big mistake I had made. I counted more on the food from the caravan people than from Allah. Ultimately, I lost both.

When you try to break the shell of your faith to come out as an ‘independent’ (in truth, dependent on humans), and your trust in God is not total, the greed creeps in and you lose everything. We should have been content with whatever provision Allah had made for us because He knows best what is good for us; and how much!”

“Allah has full knowledge of your enemies.

Allah is sufficient as a Guardian, and

Allah is sufficient as a Helper.”

(al-Quran 4:45)

So, the most important element for a believer is the ‘Faith’ (Iman). If your faith is strong (your trust in God is total), you are solid like a mountain, otherwise you are a heap of sand that’s scattered whenever the wind blows.

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) said that early part of this Ummah (early Muslims) achieved their salvation with strong faith in Allah and disenchantment of the world. But the latter part of this Ummah (today’s Muslims) will be destroyed because of their love of wealth and high hopes.

“Woe to every slanderer and-backbiter,

Who has gathered wealth (of this world)

and arranged it. He thinks that his wealth

will make him immortal. By no means!

He will be sure to be thrown into that

(blazing Fire) which breaks to pieces.”

(al-Quran 104:1-4)

According to another Hadith, the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w.) said that when a man gets older, his heart feels younger with two things: One is his love of the world and the other his countless high hopes.

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) advised people to remember death every night, and they should remember how they are going to become dust with dust (in the grave). And the one who remembers the Hereafter, cannot be seduced by the pleasures of this world.

Those who start preparing for the Hereafter, they have strong faith in Allah. When they start loving Allah, they start slowly withdrawing from the world. The wealth and other material ornaments of the world cannot attract them any more.

Umme Waleed (the daughter of Umar bin al-Khattab, r.a.) narrates that once Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) came out of the house in the evening and addressed people by saying:

“Don’t you people feel any shame?”

The companions said: “O Apostle of Allah, shame about what?”

The Prophet (s.a.w.) replied: “You accumulate so much that you can’t even eat that; and you construct  (or buy) so many houses that you can’t even live in them; and you have so many high hopes that you can’t even fulfill them. Are you not ashamed of all that?”

The scholars explain that it means that one should have only that much food for the day that he/she needs to live; and only that house in which he/she lives. The wealth is not for accumulating. One must spend in charity whatever is extra after fulfilling the basic needs.

You can give in charity only when you have strong faith in Allah – when you consider Allah as your Sole Provider. You give away in His name and you don’t have any fear about the future needs. That’s the kind of faith which will earn you paradise.

When you love the world and its material things, you are afraid of death. You want to enjoy life on this earth and live forever. You don’t want to die. On the other hand, a Muslim knows that everybody will die one day, sooner or later. Therefore, he has no fear. The only thing he is worried about is the accountability on the Day of Judgment. The more you have in this world, the longer the accountability process would be. And that can tear you apart.

Therefore, the wise men live in this world with the minimum and try to get the maximum reward for their good deeds to carry over.

So, try to seek His pleasure, not the worldly pleasures! Try to live by His rules and not by ‘other’ people’s rules. That’s the only way to enjoy the power of Iman (faith).

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