In Times Of Success We Presume That It Was Predictable
Most of us presume that success in predictable when we are constantly successful, and we forget that it was Allah who had blessed us with success. And in times of success we forget about Allah and think that the success that we achieve was bound to come. In those moments of success we should remember that Allah can turn success into failure in the blink of an eye.
And there have been many examples in the past where rulers and businessmen who were confident of their success have lost everything. In the Quran, Allah has provided an example of a person who was very wealthy that when he entered in his own built paradise and he was not even justified to himself he said I don’t think that my this wealth and richness will ever finish.
We Attribute Our Success To Our Own Intellect And Efforts
When most of us achieve success after making many efforts, we tend to think we are solely responsible for our success and we forget about Allah. We forget that it was Allah who blessed us with success. This was exactly was Qarun used to do; he attributed his wealth and success to his intellect. Surah Al-Qasas highlights how arrogant he was.
He (Qarun) said that he claimed, “all this I have is only given to me because of my own intellectual abilities and knowledge” and he forgot how many generations Allah had destroyed in front of him and those who were stronger than him and also they had collected the people who were greater in number according to richness point of view. Allah says that such people are sinners and criminals and they will not be queried and will directly send to be punished without any accountability.
In Times Of Success And Happiness We Forget About The Poor And Needy
According to our religion Islam, we have to give a portion of our wealth to the poor. And doing this is a favor we do on the poor and needy, it is an obligation and we are bound to give a portion of our wealth to the poor. But in times of success we forget about the poor, we are so intoxicated with our success that we don’t even look towards the poor.
In Quran, Allah reminds us of the people who are the righteous in Surah Adh-Dhariyat and one of their attributes is the following:
And in their properties there was the right of the beggar, and the Mahroom (the poor who does not ask the others)
Quran (Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Verse 19)
Quran says that people have a part in their properties there was the right of the beggar, and the Mahroom (the poor who do not ask the others). It was described from Abu Hurayrah (R.A) that the Prophet (PBUH) said that without missing any day, when people get up and two angels come down and one among them says O Allah bless a person with compensation who spend in your way and punish them who withholds.
While giving from our wealth in charity is a recipe for success, withholding charity can lead us to destruction. Whether Allah destroys the wealth that one has or deprives one from other blessings is up to Him. Consider the following hadith of the prophet (s):
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no day on which the people get up but two angels come down and one of them says, ‘O Allah, give in compensation to the one who spends (in charity),’ and the other says, ‘O Allah, destroy the one who withholds.’”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1374; Muslim, 1010.
The point to remember is that charity is quite essential and the future of our blessings and provisions can be tied to our giving or withholding. The One who has the power to grant, not only can grant more but also has the power to take it away.
Happiness And Wealth Do Not Necessarily Mean That Allah Is Happy With Us
If we have wealth in this world we should not imply that Allah is happy with us, wealth has no value in front of Allah. Today most of the corrupt people have a lot of wealth, but they will have to answer for their wrong doings on the Day of Judgment.
