Sadullah Khan – Developing a Qur’anic Personality To be and What not be. #26

Developing a Quranic personality

to be and what not to be.

The prophet

said,

the best of these are those deeds which

are done consistently

realize from such prophetic advice

that more

is not always better.

More is not always better.

Numbers are not the only measure of things.

Quality is indeed

far more important

than quantity.

We live in a world

driven by consumerism,

where the message is always needing more and

never having enough.

Remember

that the world has enough to meet everyone's

need,

but the world will never have enough

to meet anyone's greed.

The world has enough to meet everyone's need,

but the world will never have enough to

meet anyone's greed.

You see, everything seems quicker.

Everything seems grander.

But is everything

necessarily better?

We look at ourselves, our minds are filled

with information,

but are our hearts filled with empathy?

We spend so much time on social media,

but do we have any time for social

justice?

We have so much potential

to express our love and to manifest peace,

yet we have so much hatred,

so much prejudice, and so many wars.

So we must be careful.

Careful about the contemporary culture.

The prevailing culture that assumes

the more you have, the better off you

are, the happier you will be you will

feel, and the more secure you will be.

However,

the reality of the world around us

illustrates

otherwise.

We find

that more

may sometimes

be less than what we thought.

More

may be less

sometimes than what we thought.

We may have more information,

but does not mean we have better judgment.

Is it not ironic that we have much

more experts

but not less problems?

We have far more medication

but not necessarily more wellness.

We have more opportunities,

but are we more appreciative?

We have many leaders,

but do we have better leadership?

In fact,

we now have so many beautiful homes, masha'Allah.

But how many loving homes do we have?

So far more beautiful and bigger homes,

but far less loving homes.

We have more means of communication with anyone

anywhere,

yet we seem to have less attachment with

people who are around us. We have more

access to knowledge,

but do we have greater wisdom?

We have far more information at our fingertips,

but are we better informed?

We are swimming, it seems, in the ocean

of information,

yet sometimes drowning in the seas of ignorance.

As a matter of fact,

if we look at ourselves,

from our parents and our grandparents,

we have higher incomes for sure, but we

also have more debts.

We have more conveniences

but yet no peace of mind or happiness.

Numerous time saving devices.

Where is the free time?

We have more religious centers, churches, synagogues and

mosques.

We have far more religious

institutions and centers

but have we produced better human beings?

We have far higher pay,

but do we have higher morals?

We have more fame, but it seems less

dignity.

We have more guards and guns,

yet less safety and security.

We have far more human beings,

we have less humanity, it seems. We have

more anger, less empathy,

less love, more hate. We are quick to

judge

and slow to forgive.

People seem more depressed,

more lonely,

more overwhelmed,

more burnt out, more stressed out, more hooked

on legal pills and illegal drugs than ever

before.

So yes, we have multiplied our possessions,

but we have reduced our values.

We condemn too much,

love to love to sell them, and hate

too often. We condemn too much, critical, you

see. Love to sell them and hate too

often. We've learned to make a living, but

how many of us

have learned how to live

a full life?

You see, if we really want more from

our lives,

we must prioritize.

We must prioritize

in the spirit

of purification and moral rejuvenation.

Let's complain less and appreciate more.

Let's frown less and smile a bit more.

Criticize less and give credit and praise a

bit more.

Fear less,

and instill less fear, and hope more.

Judge less, and care more.

Take less,

and give more, talk less and do more,

hate less and love more.

I leave you with a hadith of Rasulullah.

Rasulullah

What is little and good and sufficient

is far better than the lot,

for it's little but good and sufficient.

Is far better than a lot which may

be destructively

distracting.