Ismail Kamdar – Balancing Ambition and Contentment
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
There are two important and noble characteristics in
our religion.
One is contentment and the other is ambition.
Our religion teaches us to be content, but
our religion also teaches us to be ambitious.
And in the minds of some people, this
is a contradiction.
This is something that they don't go together.
So today in short, I just want to
share very briefly, what does Islam teach about
contentment?
What is the opposite of contentment?
Why contentment is important?
But also, what does Islam teach about ambition?
And how do you find balance?
That's the key.
How do you find balance between being content
and being ambitious?
To begin, if you look at the duas
that we make on a daily basis.
We make dua for gratitude and contentment, right?
But if you look at the daily duas,
the duas we are taught to make every
day include I seek protection from complacency
and laziness.
And I seek protection from poverty.
We are supposed to make dua every day
for protection from complacency, laziness and poverty.
Which means we are supposed to be ambitious.
We are supposed to be working hard.
We are supposed to be striving to do
better in life.
How do you balance that with the idea
that we are supposed to be content?
Because in our religion we are also taught
that contentment is an important part of purifying
the soul.
That if we wish to attain Allah's pleasure,
we must be grateful for what we have
and content with what we have.
Just to give the ending before we go
into the details, to give the conclusion before
we go into the details.
It's a very simple balance.
When you are going to do work, when
you are embarking on a project or a
journey or an adventure or a career or
a study, you must be ambitious.
You must work hard, you must do your
best, you must aim high.
After everything is done, whatever the result is,
whatever your order is, whatever your destiny was,
whatever was the result of the hard work
you did, you be grateful for it, you
be content with it.
And then you move on and you try
again.
This is the balance.
That on one hand, when we are starting
a job, when we are starting our day,
when we are starting a career, we should
have goals, we should have vision, we should
have ambition.
By the end of the day, whatever we
received for that day, what our qadr for
that day, what our destiny for that day,
and we should be content with it and
we should be grateful for it.
So the concept of contentment is very important
in Islam.
Just to share with you a few hadiths
about this.
The Prophet ﷺ said, وَلَيْسَ ٱلْقِنَاءَ عَنْ قَسْرَةِ
الْعَرَضِ وَلَاقِنَّ الْقِنَاءِ قِنَا النَّقْسِ Rasulullah ﷺ said
that true wealth is not having a lot
of worldly possessions.
But true wealth is a contentment of the
soul.
Meaning, you can be happy whether you are
wealthy or not.
Because happiness is in you, it's in the
heart.
A wealthy person can be happy.
Someone who is not wealthy can also be
happy.
It's all about perspective, it's all about what
is in your soul, what is in your
heart.
Is your heart full of gratitude to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala?
Or is your heart full of greed?
You see, somebody could be living a very
average lifestyle, but they are grateful to Allah
for what they have and they are happy.
Someone else could be a multimillionaire, but they
are full of jealousy and greed that they
are not a billionaire, and they are never
happy.
It's not about how much you have, it's
about what's the state of your heart.
Another hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ goes into more details
about what should give us contentment.
What we should be grateful for.
The blessings that we take for granted.
Whoever amongst you wakes up with a roof
over his head, with health in his body,
and with enough provisions for the day, it
is as if Allah has given him the
entire world.
You have risk, you have a home, you
have health.
What more do you need to be happy?
What more do you need to be content?
What more do you need to live a
fulfilling life?
You see, our needs in this world are
actually very few.
Capitalism has made us believe it's much more
than that, right?
The consumer culture makes us believe that we
need this and we need that, and we
need the newest phone, and we need the
newest car, and we need a bigger house.
We don't need all of that.
Our needs are actually very few.
And when your needs are fulfilled, say Alhamdulillah,
be grateful for it.
Because that is the greatest blessing in this
world.
Now the opposite of contentment is not ambition.
Ambition is not the opposite of contentment.
You can be ambitious and content at the
same time.
The opposite of contentment is two things.
If contentment is a quality of the heart
we should aim for, there are two qualities
of the heart we should avoid.
Jealousy and greed.
Someone who is jealous can never be content.
Someone who is greedy can never be content.
What is the difference between greed and ambition?
Ambition is where you are aiming higher for
a noble cause.
You want to do better to provide better
for your family.
You want to do better so you can
benefit the ummah.
You want to do better so you can
help your community.
This is ambition, this is noble, this is
something Muslims should aspire towards.
Greed is where you just want to pile
up the dunya.
You just want more and more of the
dunya for yourself.
It's all about you.
It's all about ego.
It's all about having everything for you.
And Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam warned us against
greed.
When he said if the son of Adam
was given two valleys full of gold, he
would want a third valley full of gold.
And nothing folds the belly of a human
being aside from the dust of his grave.
Mean people's greed doesn't end until they die.
If someone is greedy, it never ends until
they die.
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam has teached us that
greed is unending.
If you don't check yourself, if you don't
put limits on your greed, if you don't
learn to control it, it consumes you until
you die.
Someone who is greedy will never be happy.
Someone who is greedy will never find contentment
or joy in life.
They become a millionaire, they want to be
a multi-millionaire.
They become a multi-millionaire, they want to
become a billionaire.
They become a billionaire, they want to be
the richest man on earth.
They become the richest man on earth, they
want to move to Mars.
They never content, right?
Contentment is the contentment of the soul.
To be content in your soul, you have
to have a limit on what you want
in this world.
You have to have a limit on how
much do I need in this world.
You can't just be wanting to pile up
more and more and more.
In another hadith, Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam warned
us, Beware of greed, because it destroyed those
who came before you.
It destroyed those who came before you.
Greed commanded them to be misers, and so
they did.
It commanded them to break family ties, and
so they did.
It commanded them to be evil, and so
they did.
This hadith teaches us about the results of
greed.
Why is greed haram?
Greed leads you to miserliness.
Remember in Islam, you should want wealth so
you can benefit the ummah.
If your wealth is only for yourself, you
have no benefit to the ummah.
This is why greed is haram.
Greed leads people to breaking family ties.
How many people divorce over money?
How many people break family ties over inheritance?
How many people break family ties over business?
This is greed.
In Islam, family is more important than money.
Greed leads people to evil.
How many people murder for money?
How many people steal for money?
Greed is the root cause of many evils.
And so Islam teaches us, don't be greedy.
Islam teaches us, aim high but don't be
greedy.
So, what does Islam teach us about aiming
high?
Are we supposed to just sit back and
wait for our risk?
Are we supposed to just be content at
whatever level we are born at?
I'll give you one story from the lives
of the sahaba, to show you the ambition
of the first generation.
When the sahaba migrated from Makkah to Madinah,
they left everything behind.
And they came to Madinah as poor people.
They came to Madinah with nothing.
One of the sahaba was from the Ashram
-e-Washram, the blessed camp.
Abdul Rahman Ibn Auf, may Allah be pleased
with him.
Abdul Rahman Ibn Auf comes to Madinah with
nothing.
And one of the Ansar offers him half
of his wealth.
And what does he respond?
His response is, I don't want your money.
Just show me the way to the marketplace.
I don't want your money, show me the
way to the marketplace.
Abdul Rahman goes to the marketplace with whatever
little bit he had on him.
And he's a gifted business genius.
He finds a way to make some profits,
get more goods, make more profits.
Within a few months he's a millionaire again.
Within a few months he's a millionaire.
This is one of the blessed ten.
One of the ten men who Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam said about him, Abdul Rahman Ibn
Auf in Jannah.
Abdul Rahman Ibn Auf is from the people
of Jannah.
He was ambitious.
He worked hard.
He looked for a halal way to get
wealthy.
And he used that wealth to benefit the
ummah.
In fact, when you look at the blessed
ten, the Ashram-e-Washram, the majority of
them, if not all of them, were wealthy
businessmen.
If you look at the Ashram-e-Washram,
Zubair Ibn Awwam, Talha Ibn Ubaidullah, Abdul Rahman
Ibn Auf, Saeed Ibn Zaid, Sa'd Ibn Abi
Waqas, they were all wealthy people.
Really wealthy people.
And they used that wealth to benefit the
ummah.
So clearly, Islam doesn't stop us from aiming
high.
Islam doesn't stop us from working hard.
Islam doesn't stop us from reaching higher levels
of wealth.
But it must be checked with the condition
of your heart.
When your heart is for Allah, and your
goal is to use that wealth in a
way that is beneficial for the ummah, that
keeps your greed in check and that makes
your ambition noble.
And so as Muslims, we should aim high.
But there should be noble reasons for why
we aim high.
Finally, ambition is directly linked to a very
important concept in our religion, and that is
the concept of Ihsan.
Ihsan means that in everything you do, you
aim to be the best.
In everything you do, you strive for excellence.
We know Ihsan in worship is to worship
Allah as if you can see Him.
That is excellency worship, the highest form of
worship.
But Rasulullah s.a.w. said, Allah has
commanded Ihsan in everything that you do.
And he said, indeed, Allah is the definition
of Ihsan.
Allah is perfection, and He loves perfection.
Allah is perfection, and He loves perfection.
So in everything you do, you strive for
perfection.
Islam teaches us, if you are going to
be a doctor, strive to be the best
of doctors.
If you are going to be a teacher,
strive to be the best of teachers.
If you are going to be a mother,
strive to be the best of mothers.
If you are going to be a father,
strive to be the best of fathers.
In everything, in every aspect of your life,
try to be the absolute best.
Never aim to be mediocre, never aim to
be below average, never aim to just get
by.
Strive to be the best.
As we are all striving to be the
best, we become the ummah that leads.
This is how the early Muslims were able
to lead the world.
They were ambitious, and they did aim high.
And this ummah, for centuries, produced the best
doctors in the world, the best scientists in
the world, the best ulema in the world,
the best military leaders in the world.
It was the leader of this world for
hundreds of years, through multiple empires.
But when we stopped being ambitious, when we
started using contentment as an excuse for laziness,
for an excuse for mediocrity, we fell behind,
and we became where we are today.
If we want to get back on top,
we have to learn how to find this
balance again.
A balance between being ambitious for noble causes,
while being content in our heart with what
Allah has given us for the day.
We ask Allah to accept from us what
we are.
Alhamdulillahi wahda wa salatu wa salamu ala madlana
bi iman al abad.
I'm going
to
share with you a few terms, a few
practical terms, on how to find balance.
Now that it's clear that we should be
aiming high, we should be working hard, we
should be striving our best, we should have
goal, we should have ambition, but they should
be noble, and the condition of our heart
should be one of contentment.
How do you find that balance?
A few terms.
Number one, be grateful.
Every day of your life, practice shukr, practice
gratitude.
Every day of your life, look at the
blessings in your life and say Alhamdulillah.
Look at the good that Allah has given
you and say Alhamdulillah.
Every single day, practice gratitude.
Contentment comes from gratitude.
When you are grateful for what you have,
you will be happy.
Even when life is difficult, even when there
are trials, even when there are difficulties, you
will always find something in your heart to
be grateful for, and when you are grateful
for something, you will be at peace inside.
Number two, redefine success.
The modern world teaches us that success is
to be rich and famous.
That's not what Islam teaches us.
Being rich and famous is not successful in
Islam.
Success in Islam is multiple levels.
Of course, number one is the pleasure of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But having a beautiful family where everyone loves
each other, that's more important than being rich
and famous.
Being a beneficial member of your community, this
is more important than being rich and famous.
Having halal money is more important than being
rich.
We need to redefine success.
We need to look at what does success
really mean.
Go back to the Hadiths we mentioned earlier.
If you have a roof over your head,
and health in your body, and you have
enough sustenance, you have the entire world.
We need to redefine success.
If you are only aiming to be rich
and famous, what you are going to find
is if you ever get there, you are
not going to be happy.
You are not going to be happy when
you get there.
The famous movie star, Jim Carrey once said,
he said, I wish everybody could get rich
and famous, so you can realize there is
no happiness in it.
It doesn't bring you any joy.
At one point in time, you are amongst
the most richest and famous of people, and
yet, he said, you want no joy.
No goodness comes out of it.
So, we need to redefine success.
Some people think, I'll be happy when I'm
rich.
No, you can be happy now.
Some people think, I'll be happy when I'm
famous.
No, fame brings misery, it doesn't bring happiness.
So, redefine success.
Number three, have goals, but make sure your
goals are realistic and meaningful.
Make sure your goals are realistic and meaningful.
So, your goal shouldn't just be, I want
to be rich, or I want to be
famous, or I want this car, or I
want this house.
Number one, they should be realistic.
What's the next level I can get to?
What's the next advancement in my career?
What's a good field I can get into?
Something realistic, but also something meaningful.
How can I benefit the ummah?
How can I help my community?
How can I be of service to others?
You should have goals that are both meaningful
and realistic.
Inshallah, Allah will assist you in accomplishing your
goals, and you will get joy out of
the goals, and out of the process of
accomplishing those goals, because they are meaningful and
beneficial to the community.
On that point, number four, enjoy the journey.
Don't think that happiness comes at the end.
Enjoy the journey of life.
Learn to find ways to be happy wherever
you are.
We go through life in this way, many
of us, when we're in school, we're like,
when I'm done with school, I'll be happy.
When you're done with school and you're in
university, when I'm done with university, I'll be
happy.
When I have a career, I'll be happy.
When I'm married, I'll be happy.
When I have children, I'll be happy.
When I retire, I'll be happy.
If you're always thinking like this, you're never
going to be happy.
Learn to enjoy the state of life you
are in right now.
If you are a child, you're not getting
your childhood back, enjoy it.
If you are a teenager, you're not getting
those teenagers back, enjoy it.
In a halal way, of course, right?
If you are studying, enjoy being a student.
If you are in the early years of
your career, when you have youth and you're
working hard, learn to enjoy the journey of
being hardworking.
Learn to find joy in being a hardworking
individual.
If you are just building your relationship, you
just got married, it's the early years of
marriage, many people don't talk about it, the
early years of marriage are the hardest.
Because you're still getting used to each other,
you're still learning to live with each other,
you're still establishing the bonds with each other.
Once you've been married for 10, 14, 20
years, it gets easier because you can't imagine
life without each other.
But you need to enjoy the journey.
You need to not wait for a certain
point and say, I'll be happy when that
happens.
No, be happy today.
Find contentment today.
Look at the blessings in your life today
and be happy for that.
Happiness is not at the end, except the
gender, of course.
That's the end that we all work towards.
But in this world, if you are waiting
for some point in the future to be
happy, it's never going to come.
Learn to enjoy the journey of life.
You're starting a business, enjoy the phase of
starting a business.
Don't wait.
When a business does well, enjoy the moment,
enjoy the challenge, enjoy where you are.
Number five, don't compare yourself with others.
Allah has given each of us different skills.
Allah has given each of us different strengths
and different weaknesses.
Allah has given each of us a different
distribution of interest for His sustenance.
No two people are meant to accomplish the
same thing, even if they are in the
same field.
That's the nature of this world.
Two people will go to the same school
and the same university, and it may be
that one of them graduates with better grades
than the other, and the one with the
lesser grades becomes more wealthy.
How many times does this happen?
You can't compare yourself with others.
Everybody's risk is different.
Don't focus on what others have that you
don't have.
Focus on what you can do to make
this world a better place.
Focus on what you can do with the
gifts that Allah has given you.
Focus on how you can improve the quality
of your life in ways that are realistic,
without wanting what other people have, without chasing
after other people's possessions.
Beware of jealousy because jealousy destroys your soul.
Rasulullah ﷺ said when he was asked, he
was asked by one of his companions, teach
me something that if I do it, Allah
will be pleased with me and people will
be pleased with me.
Very interesting hadith, right?
A man asked the Prophet ﷺ, teach me
something, if I do this, Allah will be
pleased with me and the people will be
pleased with me.
So what did Rasulullah ﷺ reply?
He said, إِذْ هَدْفِ الدُّنْيَا يُحِبُّكَ اللَّهُ وَإِذْ
هَدْفِ مَا تَنْفِعِ أَيْدِ النَّاسِ يُحِبُّكَ النَّاسِ Rasulullah
ﷺ replied that, do not chase after this
world, Allah will love you.
And do not chase after what other people
have, they will love you.
If you're not greedy and jealous and chasing
after other people's positions, that's how you get
the love of people.
And so we should be careful that we
do not become greedy and that we do
not want what others have.
Be grateful for what is your risk and
work hard to improve your life, but don't
look at what somebody else has and say,
that shouldn't be me.
Don't become jealous of others because that's where
all evil starts, from being jealous of others.
Finally, Be satisfied with a hard day's work.
Not everyone is going to be wealthy, but
everybody can be hardworking, everybody can be striving,
everybody can be doing their best.
See your work as a rewarding of itself.
Allah has blessed you with the ability to
be a hardworking individual that contributes to society,
that has a good family, Alhamdulillah.
You may not have everything in this dunya
when it comes to wealth, but you have
good qualities.
And so every day, you wake up, you
don't know what your risk for the day
is going to be, so you work your
hardest, and whatever you make, you are grateful
for it, and you are satisfied with the
fact that you tried your best.
This is really where the balance comes in.
When we learn to work hard, and at
the end of the day, to be content
with what we earn through working hard, whether
it's little or a lot, that's where we
find balance between being ambitious and being content.
And so these are two important qualities that
we need to strive for.
Contentment is essential for our souls.
It is essential for keeping our hearts in
check, for protecting us from going down dangerous
paths that lead to many sins, the sins
related to greed and jealousy.
But ambition is equally important for uplifting us
and the ummah.
It's equally important for ensuring that this ummah
gets back into a position of leadership, gets
back into being the powerful ummah that it
once was.
We have to be ambitious to get there.
We can't sit back and be lazy, and
say, oh, thank Allah, Mahdi will come and
save us one day.
That's not how it works.
We must be ambitious, we must work hard
for the sake of Allah to what's noble
goals, and we must try our best to
elevate our lives, the lives of our communities,
the lives of our society, and the ummah
as a whole.
And it is when doing so, with contentment
in the heart, that we will find balance.
We ask Allah to bless us with contentment,
and with the ability to work hard for
His sake, and to protect us from greed
and jealousy.
Al Fatiha.