Mirza Yawar Baig – Wants and Needs
AI: Summary ©
The importance of differentiation between needs and wants in American families is discussed, with Daruri being essential for survival and causing harm. The speaker advises reducing the number of things people want to buy to reduce their desire to one specific type of food. differentiation between needs and wants leads to happiness, and listeners are encouraged to practice gratitude and differentiate between needs and wants in life.
AI: Summary ©
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
This is Leo, my brother's cat.
He's a Russian Blue and not the friendliest
of cats but he is, seems to like
me for reasons unknown.
And what I want to say here today
is the importance of differentiating between needs and
wants.
And this is something that starts very early
in life, in the way we raise children.
The difference between needs and wants.
Anytime the child says, Mommy, Daddy, I really,
really, really need this.
It's very common in American families.
I really, really, really need it.
Three times, really.
I really, really, really need it.
It's to help them differentiate between is it
something you really need or is it a
want, a desire.
Nothing wrong with wants, except that if you
do not differentiate between needs and wants, you
end up with increasing your cost of living.
And by cost of living, I don't just
mean the amount in terms of dollars or
cents or rupees or whatever.
I mean the price you pay for that
life quality.
So if I need an iPhone 16, then
I'm adding that into my cost of living.
Because when you're saying need or want, it
relates to happiness.
What is it that makes you happy?
So the more the needs you have to
make you happy, two things happen.
One is your chances of being unhappy go
up.
Because what makes you happy is more and
more and more.
And if I can't get that, then I'm
going to be unhappy.
So my chances of being happy go down
and my chances of being unhappy go up.
The second issue of the difference between needs
and wants is, of course, the actual dollar
value.
What does it cost?
And once again, the more the needs, the
more it's going to cost.
I therefore want us to, I remind myself
of you, let us recalibrate our lives.
I say, what is it that I truly
need?
Now a need, a good way of understanding
that is to use the Islamic and Arabic
and Urdu concept of Zaroorah.
What is Zaroorah?
What is something, a Zaroorah or Daruri is
something that is essential for survival.
Where if you don't have that, then it
is dangerous to life.
It is going to cause Darar, which is
harm.
So Daruri is something which prevents harm.
So what is Daruri in terms of food,
say for example, what is Daruri?
Daruri is the Hadith of the Prophet, he
said, eat enough to keep your back straight.
And if you must eat more, then eat
up to one third of the capacity of
your belly.
One third food, one third water, one third
empty air.
And he said, the Hadith doesn't begin there,
the Hadith begins with, he said, the worst
utensil, the worst vessel to fill is the
belly.
So it begins with that.
And then he says, well eat only enough,
a few morsels, a few morsels, not handfuls,
morsels, to keep the back straight.
So we can do our work, we can
worship Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
we can go about our daily business and
keep it free from, and never fill the
whole belly.
Now if you look at this, the whole
issue of saying, I want a triple chocolate
sundae, is it a need or a want?
To say, I want, I need this, I
need that kind of food, I need a
Hyderabadi Biryani, I need Bihari Kebab, I need
this and that, all our desires, they are
desires.
Now, remember, I'm not saying that it is
haram to have a desire, no, if you
want to eat a particular kind of food,
alhamdulillah, but don't say it is a need.
It's not about semantics, it's about the psychological
effect of calling something a need.
If you call the thing a need, then
it becomes a need.
It generates unhappiness because, as I told you,
a need is something which, if you don't
have, it causes you harm.
I need to breathe properly, if I don't
have that air, I will die.
I need a certain amount of food, if
I don't have even that amount of food,
which is, frankly speaking, one meal in 24
hours, is a need.
So, one meal in 24 hours, if I
don't have, then I'm likely to, you know,
have low sugar and I'm likely to experience
the harmful effects of that.
So, that's a need.
But anything more than that is a want,
it's a desire.
Again, it's not haram, but if I convert
it into a need, then it has the
potential to create unhappiness.
So, always watch for that.
What do I convert into my need?
Go further and see, make a list of
all the things that we have in our
lives and ask yourself, is this a need
or is this a want?
Ideally, reduce the number of wants.
I'm not saying necessarily that if you have
something, give it away or sell it or
something.
No, if you do that, that's good for
you.
But even if you don't do that, it's
okay.
But take it out of that list of
wants, list of needs.
It's not a need, it's a want.
Transportation is a need.
A particular brand of car is a want.
Food is a need.
Particular kinds of food so many times a
day are all wants, they are not needs.
Shelter, a house, is a need.
But necessarily to own the house, even at
the cost of the anger of Allah by
taking an interest-based loan, this is a
want, it's not a need.
And in this case, it is also a
haram want.
So think about that.
What are needs and what are wants?
And separate the two and begin that, as
far as children are concerned, begin that right
in the nursery, right in the beginning from
where they start and say, differentiate between needs
and wants.
The happiest people in the world are the
people with the least wants.
They may have those things, then what happens
is if you get those wants without wanting
them, then it generates shukr with Allah, it
generates gratitude.
Alhamdulillah, this is not a need, but Allah
has given it to me as a gift.
I don't need to drive this kind of
car, but Alhamdulillah, Allah gave it to me.
I don't need this, I don't need that,
I don't need this food, I don't need
this shelter, I don't need these clothes, I
don't need these gadgets.
But Alhamdulillah, Allah gave it to me and
therefore I am very grateful to Allah SWT.
If you don't do that, if you convert
those wants into needs and you say, I
need an iPhone 16.
So when you have the iPhone 16, it
has only satisfied a need, therefore there's no
gratitude.
Yeah, I need it, I got it.
I need air, I can breathe.
I need water, I have water.
There's no gratitude.
So, first of all, it was never a
need in the first place, it was a
want.
And Allah SWT gave it to you.
So recognize it as a want, as something
that you need to be grateful to Allah
SWT for and as something you can do
without.
So tomorrow if I don't have it, no
problem, Alhamdulillah, it was never a need in
the first place.
The loss does not create sadness, it does
not create disappointment, it does not create any
problems.
I don't even see it as a loss.
Yeah, I had it, Alhamdulillah, I enjoyed it.
When I don't have it, Alhamdulillah, I did
not need it in the first place.
So I remind myself with you, very important
thing in life, differentiate between wants and needs.
Final point, Salah, is it a want or
a need?
Worship of Allah, is it a want or
a need?
Learning about Islam, learning my Aqeedah, what exactly
do I believe, is it a want or
a need?
Jannah, is it a want or a need?
To have a peaceful sleep in the cover
and be free from the Azab of the
cover, from the punishment of the grave, is
it a want or a need?
Think about that.
And spend time and focus and energy on
those things, because those are true needs.
Those are not wants, those are true needs.
Those are Daruri.
Hidayah fil hayati dunya wa maghfira ba'dal mawt.
To have guidance in the life of this
world and to get the forgiveness of Allah
SWT after we die, throughout our lives and
when we die and after we die.
These are needs, these are desperate needs.
These are things which we simply cannot do
without.
Alhamdulillah, Allah SWT gave us guidance.
We are either born Muslims or we came
to Islam, but to stay there, the steadfastness,
ihdinas siratal mustaqeem.
We ask Allah to grant us guidance towards
the straight path, towards the path of righteousness,
to the path of steadfastness.
So ask Allah SWT to help us to
differentiate between needs and wants and to focus
on those needs, real needs, and to be
grateful to Allah SWT for giving us those
needs.
And all the wants which Allah SWT has
given us is a gift, Alhamdulillah.
But that's not something we are going to
focus on, that's not something we are going
to run behind.
That is not something that we are going
to allow to come in the way of
appreciating and thanking Allah SWT.
And if you don't have any of those
wants, you say, Alhamdulillah, I don't have that
thing which I wanted, because first of all
it was not a need, and therefore if
I didn't have it, I'm now going to
be questioned by Allah about it?
Alhamdulillah.
We ask Allah to keep us always, always,
always among the shakireen, among those who are
grateful, because they are the people who will
be called and asked to enter Jannah.
We ask Allah to be among them, Inshallah.
Always be grateful to Allah SWT.
No matter what.
And always look at people who have less.
There's no shortage of that in the world.
We ask Allah SWT to help us to
do that.