.033: How to gain the love of Allah and the love of people
Text of the Hadith:
عن أبي سعيد الخذري قال:سمعت رسول الله(صلي الله عليه و آله و سلم)يقول لرجل يعظه:إرغب فيما عند الله يحبك الله،و ازهد ما في أيدي الناس يحبك الناس.إن الزاهد في الدنيا يريح،و يريح قلبه و بدنه في الدنيا و الاخرة،و الراغب فيها يعتب قلبه و بدنه في الدنيا و الاخرة ليجيئن أقوام يوم القيامة لهم حسنات كأمثال الجبال فيأمر بهم إلي النار فقيل:يا نبي الله،أمصلون كانوا؟قال:نعم،كانوا يصلون و يصومون و يأخذون و هنا من الليل،لكنهم إذا لاح لهم شيء من أمر الدنيا و ثبوا عليه
TRANSLATION:
The Messenger of Allah (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) said the following to a person whom he was advising: Actively seek that which is in the presence of Allah so that Allah will have love for you and keep away from that which is in the hands of the people so that the people will have love for you. Surely the one who is an ascetic in this material world is at ease and his heart and body are both at ease in the world and the next life. However the one who seeks that which is in the world (its material pleasures) both his heart and his both will be fatigued and put through toil both in the world and the next life. on the Day of Resurrection, a nation shall be brought forth whose good deeds shall be like the size of mountains and they will then be commanded to go to the Hell Fire. It was said, O Prophet of Allah! Did these people offer the Salat? The Prophet replied, Yes, they used to offer the Salat and they used to fast and they even used to stay up a portion of the night (in the night prayer) however when anything of this material world was brought in front of these people, they followed it (and took it without regarding if it was hgalal or haram).(1)
Commentary of Hadith:
In this hadith, the Noble Prophet (s.a.) has given warning and council to a man, and then at the end of his warning, he (s.a.) brings forth a discussion in relation to the material world and its dangers.
1. If you want Allah to love you, then you must seek that which is in the presence of Allah and if you want the people to love you, then you should not look at what is in the hands of the people and should not look at the wealth of the people, nor seek it.
What does it mean by the phraseما عند الله
that which is with Allah ?
The meaning of that which is with Allah is the Divine Reward of Allah close proximity to Allah and His blessings and favours and if we request these things, then Allah will definitely love us.
However, we are told that when the people begin to love you, then you must not pay any attention to those things which they are in love with (meaning the things of the material world) since miserliness is that which rules and governs a person who is stingy and this rulership of miserliness in a person would lead to the person who is not interested in the material world to develop an attraction to materialism (through loing those people who have material possessions).
Without doubt, if a person wishes to protect his own position, status and worth, then he must not pay any attention to that which the people have in their possession.
During the course of history, there are some amazing events and incidents which have taken place in these regards. There are some rulers who had killed the people who were close to them and even ended up killing their own brothers just to protect their own reign! For example, king Muhammad Fatih, the `Uthmani king when he reached to the position of the emperor, he commanded that all of his brothers should be killed since he feared that they would be a threat to his governorship! After king Muhammad Fatih, it became the norm amongst the `Uthmani rulers that whoever reached to the position of the emperor would begin his reign by killing all of his brothers!
In relation to one of the Parthian kings, it has been written that when he reached to the kingship, his first task was to kill his father and thirty of his brothers. He then married his mother and the progeny which came forth from this marriage were spared however he also killed his mother. This is how the world is for those who worship it.
2. For the person who does not pay any attention to the material world both for himself, and also his body and soul - there is ease and comfort and for others as well (around him) there is ease and comfort.
To have a very intense attachment to this world will definitely lead to pain and suffering and toils, and as such, a person would not, for example, be able to have a peaceful sleep.
There are many people who, when they reach home in the evening from work, see all of the events which took place in their day in the market and all of the transactions which they carried out marching in front of their very eyes and in their thoughts. If they are able to get to sleep, then we still see that they do not gain any satisfaction from such a sleep, and if they do not sleep, then it is a night full of grief and sorrow such people must take sleeping pills just to go to sleep and in this state, their soul is continuously tormented.
However that person who does not give any importance to the world, both his body and soul are at rest and are tranquil.
These Divine Commandments are not simply commandments that only have importance in the next life, rather their rewards and punishments will be physically manifested while in this world. If may Allah protect us there was no next life, then it would have still been necessary to think about the execution of these commandments for the life of this world and for the safety and ease of our body and soul and its comfort.
It is said that due to the advancements in medicine, the number of physical sicknesses has been reduced, however the number of spiritual and psychological ailments are increasing day by day and maybe we will reach to a day when the world, in our words, will reach to a great big place ofدار المجانين
or the Abode of the Insane Ones and across the entire Earth, we would not be able to find a single person whose nerves are at ease and free from any spiritual sicknesses.
The mental and psychological illnesses are increasing day by day and these are all related to some agents and factors. By a person having a strong affinity to the world, it leads his soul to be continuously tortured and tormented. Without doubt, we must keep the following verse of the Qur’an in mind in relation to the issues of this material world which states:
لكيلا تأسوا علي ما فاتكم ولا تفرحوا بما آتيكم
So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you (from the material word), nor be exultant at what He has given you(2)
We must have firm and true faith and act according to this verse to be at complete ease. This verse of the Quran is the prescription for the good health of our soul and the asceticism which has been mentioned in these two lines of the ahadith have actually been summarized and defined in this verse of the Quran given above.
The material life of the people of true faith is one which is very good since they do not gain tranquility through money and wealth and they do not consider status are what brings them happiness.
There are people who have all of the material possessions, however they are the worst off people in the entire world and are consistently in anxiety and distress and hope that no one comes and takes away what they have nor tries to pull the wool over their eyes and trick them! Thus, these types of people are continuously in mental punishment and torture.
On the opposite side of these people, there are those who do not possess anything from this material world however they are the richest people in the entire universe. In this, the meaning of Zuhd or asceticism is not that they do not possess anything, rather, the meaning of it is that they do not have any attachment or interest to the material world.
After this, Abu Sa`id Khudri relates from the Noble Prophet (s.a.) that he has stated that on the Day of Judgment, a nation shall be brought forth and they will be commanded to go towards the hell fire, where as they had good deeds on their record equivalent to the size of mountains! The narrator of the hadith then asked the Prophet (s.a.), Did these people offer their Salat? The Prophet (s.a.) replied, Yes, they offered their Salat, they fasted and in addition, they performed the recommended acts and they even stayed up in the night and performed the night Salat.
The companions were obviously shocked at this statement that would could have lead these people to go to the hell-fire? Their problem was, as the Prophet(s.a.) put it, that when they when any issue of the issues of the world came in front of them, they did not pay any attention to halal and haram (permissible and forbidden) and they just took what came.
The phrase used,و تعبوا عليه
is a very meaningful expression. This phrase means that they were just like animals that just as when the animal sees any food in front of him, it just pounces on top of it - and these people too are just the same in relation to the affairs o this world and this is the same thing which they do.
When a person looks and reflects of the verses of the Quran and the ahadith and looks at them from the point of view of his own life and from the point of view of the history of humanity, he would truly see the veracity behind the hadith which tells us:
حب الدنيا رأس كل خطيئة
Love of the material world is the beginning of all sins.
Through this, he would definitely become more acquainted with this issue. The phrase love of the material world has a very deep meaning to it the material world is not just limited to money and wealth. Sometimes for the love of status, the love of a woman, and thousands of other loves, a person would completely subordinate himself and thus, the spring of all pillaging and plundering is the love of this material world.
These days, this issue has been made completely clear and open for all and others do not even try to hide it when they ask, Why are you perpetrating all of these crimes ? To this question, the reply comes, There is no profit or benefit for us here ! Thus, in order to for them to reach to their own personal profit and benefit, they commit thousands of crimes and felonies.
These people who are committing these crimes are referred to as however if you were to ask those self proclaimed holy people and those with no Taqwa why they are performing such wicked deeds they would explain why they do so through religious reasonings such that if they were to say, We too have some benefit in this issue.
They feel that they are much more noble or honourable that they would have any love of the material world and to also show pride and arrogance. However when those so-called and self-proclaimed religious and holy people are asked about how a particular person is (who has this love of the world) he would reply to you, Do not speak about these things as the Islamic legislations have prevented us from speaking things about another person. However it would have been better for that person to speak and tell others about the sins of htat person since by him stating this, the thoughts of the person would go from place to place and he would begin to think what kind of a sin that person must have performed for it not to be permissible for us to speak about!
It is it this point that the great teacher of Akhlaq (the Noble Prophet Muhammad (s.a.) has told us that, This person thinks that he has not committed a sin however in addition to backbiting another person he has also performed the sin of showing off.
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Author: Ayatullah Seyyed Muhammad Shirazi
