Ebrahim Bham – The positives of the Material world
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the challenges faced by the material world and the importance of avoiding denying the reality and not giving priority to important aspects of life. They emphasize the need for people to consider their past and the success of Islam in bringing peace and building a culture. The wealth and success of Islam is also highlighted, with emphasis on the importance of technology in benefiting the community and bringing peace and building a culture.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillahi wahdah, wassalatu wassalamu ala man la
nabiyya ba'dah.
Amma ba'du khawmu billahi minash shaitanir rajim, bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
I'lamu annamal hayatu dunya la'ibu walah.
Wa qala ta'ala fa idha qudiatil salatu
fama tasharufil ardi wa abtaguhu mina fadlillah.
Wa dhukur Allaha kathiran la'allakum tuflihoon.
Sadaqallahul Azeem.
My dear respected elders and brothers, you and
I, we live in this material world.
And this material world that you and I
live in presents us with some dilemmas, some
challenges.
And what are the challenges, I will relate
them and perhaps look at the solution with
regard to those challenges and those dilemmas.
The first challenge, let me explain, that we
live in this world, we have heard our
ulema, we have also heard the Quranic verses,
which tells us about this material world being
amusement and play.
Anyone who reads the Quran will come upon
verses of the Quran which tells us, I
'lamu annamal hayatu dunya la'ibu walah.
This material world is amusement and play.
Fala taghurrannakum walhayatu dunya.
Says Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in surah
Luqman, don't let this material world deceive you.
So many times we have heard ulema, we
have heard religious scholars warning us about the
deceitful nature of this material world.
Yet at the same time, let us all
admit, we all enjoy the ni'mats of this
material world.
We enjoy the pleasures of this material world.
And no one can say he doesn't enjoy
the beautiful aspects and attractions of this material
world.
And to a certain extent, Allah has kept
it within us that we love certain things
of this material world.
Allah ta'ala in surah Ali Imran says,
Allah has adorned certain of these beautiful things
of this material world that you love.
We love the wealth.
There are other things that we in this
world, Allah ta'ala has said, He has
made it appealing.
So Allah has mentioned with regard to this.
Allah has also told us, The material world
and the attractions which are halal, don't make
it haram.
Don't make haram, tayyibat, the wholesome attractions and
the wholesome beauties of the material world.
So now, how do we find the balance
between the two?
One is, we are living in this world.
We cannot live in this world and deny
the reality of us being in this world.
And Allah ta'ala has also kept within
us the love of certain things of this
material world.
Allah ta'ala in the holy Quran for
example tells us, Allah has made the world,
the material world, amal.
Amal of course means the material world, the
wealth.
Allah has made it a means of existence
for you.
Without which it becomes difficult for you to
live in this world.
So we cannot deny the reality, we are
in this world.
And Allah ta'ala has not mentioned that
we are supposed to stay away from this
world, the attractions of this world, the responsibilities
of this material world.
Allah has not told us to stay away
from it.
What Allah ta'ala has told us is
that we must not deny the reality, but
we must not give it primacy, and we
must not give it priority over more important
aspects of life.
Now look at this beautiful verse in the
holy Quran.
Tell unto the people of Prophet of Almighty
Allah.
All these particular attractions and things that we
find appealing in this world, to children, to
parents, to extended family.
The wealth that you accumulate.
The businesses.
Now what is the greatest fear with regard
to any businessman?
That there must not be a loss and
there must not be a downscale in my
profits.
So Allah ta'ala says the businesses that
you fear loss in.
The homes that you live in.
And sometimes we spend great amount of time
in our homes to be able to make
it beautiful for us to live.
Now look at the words and I ask
you to think about these words.
Is it more beloved to you than Allah
and his Rasul and striving in the path
of Allah?
Now why did Allah ta'ala use the
word ahabba, more beloved?
That means it is beloved.
No one can tell you the house that
you are living in is not beloved to
you.
No one can tell you the wealth that
you have is not...
If you don't have love for it, you
are not going to preserve it.
You are not going to look after it.
So Allah didn't say it is not beloved.
Allah ta'ala says it must not be
more beloved to you than Allah and his
Rasul.
And not more beloved to you than striving
in the path of Almighty Allah and striving
for deen.
Now that gives us some form of balance
with regard to this particular aspect.
Now let me give you the two aspects.
The apprehension and the opportunities.
And in every particular aspect, even in deen,
Allah ta'ala has told us...
For example, there is a hadith of Nabiya
Karim s.a.w. Iman is between fear
and hope.
So one is you fear Allah ta'ala
with regard to your sins and your shortcomings,
but you also have hope in the mercy
of Allah.
In a similar manner with regard to this
material world, there are apprehensions and there are
potentials.
There is apprehension.
Now what do you do with any particular...
You know, you always look at any business
in leadership courses, they always tell you with
regard to...
You know, fulfill your potentials and keep away
from the apprehensions.
All the things that are of danger, you
keep away from it and you try to
fulfill the potentials.
Now the first thing is, let us look
at the apprehension.
In every book of hadith, and the books
of hadith is the one that we preserve,
the teachings of our beloved Nabi s.a
.w., the sayings of Prophet s.a.w.
In every book of hadith, there is a
chapter known as Kitab ul-Riqaq.
Riqaq means soft-heartedness.
And in this chapter, you only find a
hadith in which Nabiya Karim s.a.w.
sayings are there with regard to the temporary
nature of this world, to not make this
material world the be-all and end-all
of your existence, to not make it the
sole reason for your living, to not make
all your happiness and sadness only surround this
material world, and also tells you that there
is a world after this world, which is
more just, more evolved, more permanent than the
world that you are living in.
And success is not what you do in
this 50, 60, 70, 80 years of your
life, but real success is where a person
gains success in the everlasting world of the
hereafter.
So Allah Ta'ala in the Holy Quran,
in Surah Ali Imran, Allah Ta'ala has
made mention of a verse, which Allah has
given a very unique definition of success.
فَمَنْ زُحْزِهَا عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازْ
He who saves himself through the means of
his a'mal from Jahannam, and gain entry into
Jannah by his a'mal and the grace of
Allah Ta'ala, and the grace of Allah
Ta'ala is earned by your a'mal, your
good deeds, فَقَدْ فَازْ He is successful.
Today you and I, what is our definition
of success?
Our definition of success, a person has got
a beautiful car, a beautiful home, he's got
a good standard of living, that is success.
But look at this definition of success.
He who has made himself worthy of entry
into Jannah, and saved himself from Jahannam, فَقَدْ
فَازْ He is successful.
So this is what Allah Ta'ala in
the world, the apprehension.
The first thing that we learn from the
Quran and Hadith is, the material world in
itself, and I'm using this word very deliberately,
the material world in itself does not have
any value in the eyes of Allah Ta
'ala.
It only becomes valuable if you use the
material world, the talent that you've got in
this world, your health, your wealth, for the
sake of higher objectives.
But in itself, it has got no value
in the eyes of Allah Ta'ala.
Therefore Nabi-e-Karim SAW had said, if
this material world had any value in the
eyes of Allah Ta'ala, then Allah Ta
'ala would not have given a glass of
water to a disbeliever to drink.
But it doesn't have value in the eyes
of Allah.
Now look at this verse in the Holy
Quran.
Once again, I appeal to you for your
consideration and your understanding.
How Allah puts things forward for us to
understand.
وَلَوْ لَأَن يَكُونَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَحِدًا Had it
not been for this fear, that everyone would
have been on one path, on one ummah,
one teachings, رَجْعَلْنَا I would have made, says
Allah, لِمَن يَكْفُرُ بِالرَّحْمَانِ For the one who
denies Allah, لِبُيُوتِهِمْ I would have given him
such a home.
سُقُفٌ مِّن فِدَّة The staircase of that home
would have been made of silver.
وَمَعَارِجَ عَلَيْهَا يَزْهَرُونَ وَزُخْرُفَةً The staircases would have
been made of silver.
Alhamdulillah, you've got beautiful homes in the surroundings,
but I don't think anyone's staircase is made
of silver.
But all the beautiful homes, Allah says, I
would have given it freely.
To whom would I have given it to?
To those who deny Allah Ta'ala.
Why didn't I give it?
You know why I didn't give it?
For the sake of their palatial homes, people
would have sold and compromised their religion.
They would have queued up to deny Allah
Ta'ala to get this wealth.
Now that is the value of wealth.
Had it not been for the fear that
people would have lost their deed, I would
have given them wealth freely.
Allah Ta'ala makes mention of it in
Holy Quran.
Allah Ta'ala says, وَإِن كُلُّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمَّا
مَتَّاءُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا At the end of this
world is only commodities of this material world.
It is not the criteria for success and
it is not the criteria that you have
earned much or you have become very great
by having some of these palatial homes or
anything.
So understand how Allah Ta'ala had put
it.
The material world in itself, it is worthless
in the eyes of Almighty Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Therefore Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used
to make this dua, اللهم لا تجعل الدنيا
أكبر أحمنا Oh Allah, do not make this
material world the highest of our aspirations.
And this is something said, we have reached
and everyone has to actually examine ourselves.
Is that what we are making?
But that is something that Nabiye Karim sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam sought Allah's protection from.
ولا غاية رغبتنا To be all in the
end all of our desires.
ولا مبلغ علمنا The reason why we gain
knowledge.
Ask today a person when he goes into
the university, why are you choosing this course?
Why are you choosing this career?
It gives me a lot of money.
There is great potential of earning money.
I mean, is that why you earn knowledge?
To gain wealth?
Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi wa sallam sought Allah's
protection from earning knowledge for the sake of
material wealth.
We learn to serve, we don't learn to
earn.
Allah Ta'ala can give risk whether you
have a degree or not.
So Allah Ta'ala doesn't depend upon your
degree to give you risk.
There are certain people who have not got
any degree but Allah Ta'ala has given
a great amount of wealth.
So Allah Ta'ala, Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam sought Allah's protection.
And not only did he do so in
terms of his dua, he demonstrated it.
You all know the famous incident.
Umar r.a one day came to our
beloved Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's room
and when he saw Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam's past furniture and possession, he started
crying.
And Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was
resting.
And Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
Umar, why are you crying?
Why are you weeping?
Ya Rasulullah, why shouldn't I cry?
When I look at the Roman and Persian
Empire, they have such great amount of wealth,
palatial homes.
Here is my Nabi.
I see there is nothing in this room.
He's only got one mat.
The imprint of that mat is embodied on
the body of Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam.
Ya Rasulullah, why shouldn't I cry?
Nabiye Karim sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, he
was sitting down.
He got up and he hit Umar in
the chest.
And he said, Umar, are you in doubt
with regard to this?
For this, for them, is this material world.
For us, it's in the yard.
Does anyone think like that?
That, listen, this is not the criteria for
success.
That is why Umar r.a cried when
he saw great amount of wealth coming in
after the conquest the Muslims gained in his
time.
So someone, Abdurrahman ibn Umar said, Oh Umar,
the people of Medina are happy.
And you are crying.
He said, Abdurrahman, I know.
Look at what a reply he gave.
He said, I know Allah has made these
things appealing.
I'm not saying that it is not appealing.
I'm not saying that it is not attractive.
I'm just crying.
Because whenever this wealth comes, it brings in
its way fitna.
Whenever this wealth comes, it brings in its
way fitna and corruption.
And there are more sins that are committed
because of wealth than what is committed because
of poverty.
Therefore, nabiya karim s.a.w. said in
a hadith, I don't fear poverty from my
ummah.
I fear that Allah ta'ala will make
this ummah wealthy.
And they will be destroyed because of the
wealth.
The way they were destroyed by the people,
the way the people of the path were
destroyed.
So look at the beautiful way that nabiya
karim s.a.w. warned us with regard
to it.
Umar r.a cried.
Now I can go on making mention with
regard to those particular aspects.
The apprehension.
And we have to be careful that we
don't make this material world the be-all
and the end-all of all our, you
know, desires, objectives.
You know, sitaro se aage aur jahan bhi
hai.
There's another dimension.
There's another world that we have to worry
about.
Today we have made everything about this world.
They said one day a person was sitting,
you know, in a masjid.
Now today they say that the imams must
look after the mental condition of the musallis.
You know, I did a presentation recently on
the evolving role of an imam.
Right now I'm 40 years as an imam,
so I had some modem of authority to
speak.
So I said today, the imam is not
only to read salat, he's supposed to look
after the mental condition, he's supposed to give
counselling to the youth.
You know, look at the people.
So one day the imams saw a musalli
very, very, you know, despondent.
Why are you despondent?
What's happening to you?
He said, you know what actually happened was
that many, about 5-10 years back, you
know, nowadays everyone is selling their property, their
zameen and their property in India.
So my grandfather passed away and because of
his passing away he had some land in
India, that land was sold and my family
got a whole big amount and we got
couple of millions from that particular land.
So then why are you despondent?
He said that 5 years ago, 5 years
ago or 6 years ago, my maternal grandfather,
his family, they sold their land and I
got couple of millions from there.
So he said, why are you despondent?
He said, the last 2 years no one
passed away.
So no, we everything, we just made it
around that particular thing.
So that is the one aspect, the apprehension
with regard to this material world.
And they have a proper perspective with regard
to it.
Now let us look at the positive.
And many times people don't talk about the
positive.
Brothers, there is so many, there is so
much potential in this material world for us
to do good.
Every good that comes, every positive will come
from this material world.
نعم المال الصالح لرجل الصالح نعم المال الصالح
لرجل الصالح Very good is wealth in the
hands of a pious person.
Nabiya Kareem Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had said, He
said, الدنيا مزرعة الآخرة This dunya is a
sowing ground for the year after.
Now many a times people feel we will
gain Jannah after we pass away.
You don't gain Jannah after you pass away.
You gain Jannah by how you are leading
your life in this material world.
This material world becomes the means of your
Jannah.
After you pass away you can't even make
one good deed.
After you pass away your good deeds are
closed.
You can't do any good deed.
Unless you did something that the benefit will
still accrue after you have passed on.
But you can only do good deeds while
you are alive.
This dunya is the sowing ground for the
year after.
Many a times people go and travel.
You go to India, Pakistan.
So sometimes you take a taxi and you
tell the taxi, listen, I need to go
to the airport but on the way I
have to collect this, this and this and
this.
So sometimes they tell you, the meter is
on.
The meter of the taxi is running.
You can go and stop there, the meter
will continue running.
Since the time we are Bali and we
are responsible for our deeds the meter of
Jannah and Jahannam is running.
It's up to you now what you want
to do with this particular meter.
Jannah is not going to be earned after
you passed away.
Jannah is going to be earned from this
particular material world.
How you use it positively, that is how
you are going to use this material world.
That is why Allah ta'ala speaks so
highly about giving wealth in the path of
almighty Allah.
He who gives one cent in charity, Allah
multiplies it at least 700 times.
If Allah ta'ala wants, He could have
given even more than that.
How did Abdul Rahman Ibn Auf come amongst
Ashra'i Mubashara?
When he had so much wealth, that more
wealth than anyone even today presently, Muslim or
non-Muslim.
There was a survey done with regard to
the wealth of Abdul Rahman Ibn Auf.
It was found that he was seven times
more wealthier than the wealthiest person today on
earth.
He had seven times more wealth than Bulgates.
Just to give you a perspective.
But he was Abdul Rahman fil Jannah.
So what he used his wealth to do
what?
To gain Jannah.
Now that becomes a positive aspect with regard
to this material world.
We all heard throughout history that traders went
to Indonesia.
Now today many a times people say Islam
was spread by the sword.
I ask you the question, how can it
be possible that Indonesia is the greatest amount
of Muslims in one single country.
Of course now we have countries.
Previously we didn't have countries.
The single greatest amount and population of Muslims
in any country is Indonesia.
Indonesia was not conquered by the sword.
There is no recorded history where a Muslim
army went to Indonesia.
How do they have over 200, 300 million
Muslims?
They went there because traders went there.
They traded with integrity.
They traded with honesty.
The people came so beloved.
They loved them so much because of their
honesty and integrity the way they traded.
And they became Muslims because of the honesty
of a Muslim trader.
Does a Muslim trader ever think that I
can use my trade, I can use my
wealth to make people Muslims by my positivity,
by my honesty, by my integrity.
Does anyone think like that?
Or does he only look at the end
of the day to see what is the
profit that I have made from my business.
Look at our history.
I believe that there are many people who
are here who are professionals.
Might be accountants, might be lawyers.
Look at our history.
You will find that Muslim professionals they were
in the forefront with regard to profession, with
regard to all of academic excellence.
Imam Razi Rahmatullahi was the first person in
the human history to make an experiment where
is the best place to make a hospital.
He made an experiment and he said this
is the place where we are supposed to
make a hospital.
Ibn Khaldun Rahmatullahi was one of the first
sociologists.
He wrote 17 volumes on human society and
civilizations.
The rise and fall and decline of nations.
He wrote Kitabul Ibr 17 volumes on the
rise and fall of nations.
Sociologist by excellence.
Arnold Toynbee, the British historian said Ibn Khaldun
Rahmatullahi his works and his Kitabul Ibr is
the best work of its kind by any
human being in any era.
Just to give an example what Ibn Khaldun
Rahmatullahi, how he studied society.
So Ibn Khaldun Rahmatullahi has written that any
person any nation that gets freedom it has
to contend and it has to fight two
challenges.
One is its inherent inferiority complex which has
come because of oppression over the years because
of slavery or because of oppression and one
it is new found opulence and wealth.
Look at what is happening in South Africa.
The ANC have been a failure with regard
to these two type of challenges with regard
to coming out of oppression.
Which Ibn Khaldun Rahmatullahi identified many years ago
as a sociologist understanding society.
Ibn Khaldun Rahmatullahi has been mentioned and I
can go on and making mention with regard
to it.
I can just go on and give an
example.
Haythami in Optics, the first person to do
a cataract operation.
You know Masoudi in Geography.
Idrisi in Geography, Masoudi in Environment.
Today people talk about environmental affairs.
The first person to write a detailed explanation
with regard to the environment was Masoudi.
Idrisi was the first person he was commissioned
by the ruler of Sicily in Italy to
do a world map and Idrisi made the
first world map and even today it is
preserved and we can go on making mention.
Now they didn't do all of this only
for the sake of worldly gain.
They did it with an intention.
They did it with an intention to benefit
the community, benefit humanity and benefit the Ummah.
The Ummah benefited because of this.
The Ummah benefited because of this.
The Muslims were in the forefront of everything.
Today for the past 2-3 centuries we
are we are in the, we have been
you know, we have not progressed.
We have declined and no one can tell
me that let the other people go and
do the technology, we will benefit from it.
You become prejudiced.
The Ummah becomes prejudiced.
Look at what happened in Lebanon.
The technology that we take for granted that
each and every one of us got in
his pocket, it is by who?
It is done by someone else.
The day they want to pull the plug
against it, what do they do?
It actually blew up in your own pockets.
So where is your technology?
Why can't you do it as a Muslim
Ummah?
We got 2 billion people in this world.
Why can't we do it?
We are dependent upon someone else and look
at the results with regard to what has
happened.
This is just a small example.
Even worse can follow because we have not
been able to keep up with the progress.
We have not been able to keep up
with technology.
When Muslims were in the first part, we
talked about many other aspects.
So all I can say is this world
has got its apprehension.
But together with this apprehension it got its
potential.
It is for us to stay away from
the apprehension and for us to fulfill its
potential.
May Allah give us a topic of understanding.
Wa Akhiru Ja'awwana.
Alhumdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.