What is Materialism, why we get infected with it, how to protect and cure ourselves?
Salam Alakum all, Thanks to our Creator and Sustainer, Almighty, all Wise, Allah (swt), we were able to deliver yet…
Posted by Life As It is on Wednesday, July 8, 2015
In this episode of Life As It Is, we look at one of the most powerful deceptions that the world faces….. how we can control it to our benefit and how not to become its victims…
you can listen to it on youtube or on SoundCloud
If you are interested in watching a ‘funny’ TV show on the same topic, you can view it here!
Enjoy and share your comments, let humanity benefit from your wisdom!
Summary of the radio show …..
Salam Alakum all, Thanks to our Creator and Sustainer, Almighty, all Wise, Allah (swt), we were able to deliver yet another productive and beneficial show of ‘Life as it is’…
the topic was ‘Materialism The Illusion’…. we are trying to incorporate the feedback which we are getting from our listeners – both on air and off air, and hope to make the show even more entertaining and educational (edutainment 
So here we go…. these are the notes or take homes… links will be posted shortly…. enjoy and inform us with your feedback….
Materialism The Illusion
· The value of Money in our lives.
Money: a current medium of exchange – in the form of metal coins and banknotes / digital / cashless society – – – – used to be silver and gold coins (dirham and dinar)
Wealth: an abundance of valuable possessions.
Cash: The most liquid form of money (nothing more than printed paper).
Sadly we see growing trend towards materialism at the cost of spiritualism. We have opened eyes in a society which is for most part ‘consumption driven’. However, some of the most ‘prosperous’ and advanced developed nations have the highest rate of suicide. …. South Korea is leading! 25/100000!http://
Islam promotes ‘balance’. It does not forbid making of money but rather gives the status of worship to the money earned according to its teachings… However, it encourages the spending of money, discouraging hoarding and wasting – again, making this ‘spend’ a ‘worship’… It provides instructions related to Interest, Zakah-what you owe from your money, Inheritance and wills, etc.
Main areas of concern:
After guidance, humans need food, clothing and shelter …. and all these need money…
Interest
“Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity” (Quran 2: 276).
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: Allah’s Messenger cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses; and he said: They are all equal (Muslim).
Abu Huraira related that the Prophet said: On the night of the Miraj I came upon a group of people whose bellies were like houses. They were full of snakes which could be seen from outside their bellies. I asked Gabriel who they were, and he told me that they were the people who had practiced Riba (Interest). (Ahmad, Ibn Maja)
Abdullah ibn Hanjalah related that the Prophet said: A dirham of Riba (interest) knowingly taken by a man is a sin worse than committing Zina (fornication) 36 times (Ahmad, Daraqutni).
Zakah
“And they are ordained naught else than to serve Allah, keeping religion pure for Him, as men by nature upright, and to establish worship and to pay the poor-due (Zakah). That is true religion.” (Quran 98:5)
Abbas related that a man asked the Prophet, Tell me what should I do to be admitted to Paradise and he (the Prophet) answered: Worship Allah associating nothing with Him, observe Salat, pay Zakah and strengthen the ties of kinship. (Bukhari, Muslim)
Inheritance
“And unto each We have appointed heirs of that which parents and near kindred leave; and as for those with whom your right hands have made a covenant, give them their due. Lo! Allah is ever Witness over all things” (Quran 4:33)
Ibn Umar related that the Prophet said: It is the duty of a Muslim man who has something which is to be given as a bequest not to have it for two nights without having his will written regarding it. (Bukhari, Muslim)
Anas related that the Prophet said: If anyone deprives an heir of his inheritance, Allah will deprive him of his inheritance in Paradise on the Day of Resurrection. (Ibn Maja)
We earn and accumulate wealth with a sole criterion of saving for future; keeping the money idle in bank accounts, gold and silver beautifying the vaults; and soothing his/her nafs regularly by enjoying the gradual growth in accumulated wealth. This is prohibited in Islam.
· Buy what you want Vs. Buy what you need.
Dont be driven by your desires…. or you will never be satisfied and will suffering with greed…. & this will drive you towards debt…. dont lose sight of balance between materialism and spiritualism…
Greed lowers the value of man in the sight of God and in the society / ruins his peace / makes him chase world till he dies… a misery is someone who lives poor but dies rich!
Money is the only thing about which we will be asked twice – how did we made it – and how did we spend it….
A time will come upon the people when one will not care how one gains one’s money, legally or illegally. (Bukhari)
Verily, spendthrifts are brothers of the Shayatin (devils), and the Shaitan (Devil Satan) is ever ungrateful to his Lord. (17:27)
Spend time with people who have been given less than you (trust me they have an easy exam!)…. Work with charities – orphans, disabled, refugees…. Or go to a disaster struck area as a volunteer…
even loan should be for a need – not a want ! – – necessary NOT luxury !
· We became consumers more than producers.
Consumption will not satisfy you….. Body, mind and soul equation… Learn to give more than to take….. Raise your standard of giving not only living….
we were not meant to be a nation of ‘takers’… we were to take from treasures of Allah and distribute it among His creation….
Abu Huraira related that the Prophet said: The Lord’s commandment for every one of His slaves is, ‘Spend on others, and I will spend on you’. (Bukhari, Muslim)
It is a matter of shame that many Muslims around are seen busy hoarding money. There are absolutely no concerns nowadays whether the money earned is from fair means or is it illegal. Who cares, as long as the wallets are warm and bank accounts are full. Money should come. That’s it. How sad!
People are dazzled by the world and a lot of them end up in loans….
“When a man falls in to debt, he speaks lies and breaches his promises.” (Sahih Bukhari, hadith: 832& 2397)
O Allah! I seek your protection from sin and debts
O Allah! Let the Halal things you provide suffice me from haram, and by Your Grace, keep me independent from all besides You.
(Sunan Tirmidhi – Imam Tirmidhi rahimahullah has classified this narration as hasan (sound) – hadith 3563.)
O Allah! I seek refuge in You from worries and difficulty, and I seek refuge in You from inability and laziness, and I seek refuge in You from cowardice and miserliness, and I seek refuge in You from the dominance of debt and being subjected to man.
(Abu Dawud, hadith 1550)
“Whoever steadily recites istighfar (like the words: Astaghfirullah) will find Allah creating ease for him from every difficulty and relief from every worry and Allah will provide sustenance for him from where he cannot fathom”
(Sunan Abi Dawud, hadith: 1513. Imam Hakim has declared this narration as sahih-authentic- see Targheeb, vol.2, pg.617)The truthful and trustworthy businessman will be in the company of Prophets, saints and martyrs on the Day of Judgment. (Darimi, Tirmidhi)
After the major sins which must be avoided, the greatest sin is that someone dies in a state of debt and leaves behind no asset to pay it off. (Darimi)
If anyone would like Allah to save him from the hardships of the Day of Resurrection, he should give more time to his debtor who is short of money, or remit his debt altogether. (Muslim)
· Comfort zone will disappear one day.
Time never stays the same… just look back at how tough was the life of our forefathers…. and they were better than us in all regards…. chasing comfort and laziness is not the solution – – there must be struggle in life – why do we workout ? …. positive stress is GOOD!
Time never remains the same. There are always ups and downs… The Prophet (pbuh) said:
“Take benefit of five before five:
your youth before your old age,
your health before your sickness,
your wealth before your poverty,
your free-time before your preoccupation,
and your life before your death.”
(Hakim)
· We compete in the wrong race.
Define success and chase it – is a homeless man a success – Ibrahim (pbuh)…. Islam instructs us to compete in the matters of the hereafter and take it easy for the affairs of this world…. good deeds …
“O you who believe! Spend of that which We have provided for you, before a Day comes when there will be no bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession. And it is the disbelievers who are the Zalimun.”(Aayah No. 254, Surah Al-Baqarah, Chapter No. 2, Holy Qur’an).
The amassed wealth shall be of no benefit for a person on the ‘Day of Judgement’; it is only the wealth that a Muslim spends that shall benefit him/her on that ‘Day’.
success is defined for humanity by the Creator…
faith, and do good works, and enjoin upon one another the keeping of truth, and enjoin upon one another patience in adversity. (ASR)
“Believers are merely those whose hearts feel wary whenever God is mentioned and whose faith increases when His verses are recited to them. On their Lord do they rely. Those who keep up prayer and spend some of what We have provided them with are truly believers” (Quran 8:2-4).
The mutual rivalry for piling up of worldly things diverts you, (102:1)
until you go down to your graves.(102:2)
“Hasten to do good acts before you are overtaken by temptation, which will be [gloomy] like parts of a dark night.”
“You will vie with one another, then you will shun one another and then you will hate one another…”
“There should be no envy except in two [cases]: [towards] a person whom Allaah has given [knowledge of] the Quran and he recites it throughout the night and day, and thus a neighbor of his hears him and says, ‘I wish I was given like so-and-so, and could do what he is doing.’ The second is [towards] a person whom Allaah has given wealth and he spends it for the sake of Allaah. A man says, ‘I wish I was given like so-and-so to do what he is doing.’”
NOTE: Envy here means a desire without malice!
· We can never feel content.
“O men! The Prophet used to say, “If the son of Adam were given a valley full of gold, he would love to have a second one; and if he were given the second one, he would love to have a third, for nothing fills the belly of Adam’s son except dust. And Allah forgives he who repents to Him.”
· Materialism is a disease.
materialism is a disease that kills the soul
Woe unto every slanderer, fault-finder!
(Woe unto him) who amasses wealth and counts it a safeguard,
thinking that his wealth will make him live forever!
A miser is someone who lives very poor and die very rich….
“It is not Al-Birr (righteousness) that you turn your faces towards east and / or west (in prayers); but Al-Birr (righteous) is one who;
1. Believes in
a) Allah
b) The Last Day
c) The Angels
d) The Book (Qur’an)
e) The Prophets.
2. Gives his / her wealth, inspite of love for it,
a) To the kinsfolk
b) To the orphans
c) To Al-Masakin (the poor people)
d) To the wayfarer
e) To those who ask
f) To set the slaves free.
3. Performs As-Salat
4. Gives Zakat
5. Fulfill their covenant when they make it (meaning: to keep promises)
6. Are patient in extreme poverty & ailment and at the times of fighting (battles).
….Such are the people of truth and they are Al-Muttaqun“.
· Wasting resources that are meant for the next generation.
Shaitan (Satan) threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit Fahsha (evil deeds, illegal sexual intercourse, sins etc.); whereas Allah promises you Forgiveness from Himself and Bounty, and Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower. (Al-Baqarah 2:268)
· How can we cure ourselves.
“Look at those who are below you and do not look at those who are above you, for this will not make the favors [conferred on you by Allaah] insignificant [in your eyes].”
“The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, but only he (will prosper) that brings to Allah a sound heart” [Al-Quran: 26:88-89]
“By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, Allah’s reward), unless you spend of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend, Allah knows it well.” (Aayah No. 92, Surah Aal-Imran, Chapter No. 3, Holy Qur’an).
“The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the Way of Allah is as the likeness of a grain; it grows seven ears, each ear has hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower.” (Aayah No. 261, Surah Al-Baqarah, Chapter No. 2, Holy Qur’an).
There are people who have money and then there are people who are rich.
Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none.
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