Living By What We Need

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

If you wish to become the beloved of Allah then abstain from the world and do not let it enter your heart.

Allah says,

وَمَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ لَهِىَ ٱلْحَيَوَانُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٦٤

And this worldly life is not but diversion and amusement. And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the [eternal] life, if only they knew. (64)

(Al-Ankabut 29:64)

ٱلْمَالُ وَٱلْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَٱلْبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا ﴿٤٦

Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope. (46)

(Al-Kahf 18:46)

If you wish to become beloved to people then do not crave for what they have.

If you have wealth, fame, prestige, etc. it is a blessing from Allah and may Allah increase you in it. It is when we desire for ourselves what belongs to others that jealousy, anger, conniving, fighting, etc. will follow. Be content with what you have and people will be comfortable and happy with you and will love you.

Sahl bin Sa'd al Sa'idi narrated,

A man came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and inquired: "O Messenger of Allah! Guide me to a deed that, if I do it, Allah will love me and the people will love me as well." He (saw) said, "Have renunciation in the world: Allah will love you; have renunciation from what is in the hands of the people: they will love you.

(Ibn Majah)

The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, also said,

Renunciation of the world is not by making unlawful that which is lawful or wasting wealth. Renunciation is when that which is in Allah's possession is more reliable to you than that which is in your hand, and that the reward for an affliction that strikes you is more desirable to you if it (the affliction) were to remain.

(Tirmidhi)

It is reported that Ibrahim b. Ad-ham, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Zuhd (abstinence from materialism, asceticism) is of three types: (i) obligatory zuhd, (ii) virtuous zuhd and (iii) zuhd for safety. Obligatory zuhd is to abstain from what is forbidden (haram); virtuous zuhd is to be disinterested in what is allowed (of this world); and zuhd for safety is to stay away from doubtful matters.

He also said,

Renunciation (Zudh) is for the heart - not the hand - to be divested of the world; this is the renunciation of the Gnostics. Higher than it is the renunciation of those brought near (muqarrabun); renunciation of everything besides Allah, including this level of renunciation has nothng other than reaching Allah and having closeness to Him.

In this day and age, we need money to buy what we need. There is no bartering anymore. What we need is what we need, but we don't have to have the most expensive things.

For example, it is not haram/unlawful to have a car, but suffice with a reliable car, not necessarily a Mercedes or a Land Rover. If you can't afford a car, try not to get into debt for it. Suffice with public transportation. Maybe you need a phone to keep tabs on your family members, or for your business, but you don't need expensive phones/smartphones, with all kinds of gadgets and functions/capabilities because we can live comfortably without them. Besides, they only detract/distract you from the remembrance of Allah. Suffice one which allows you to make calls and receive calls and have an alarm to wake you up for tahajjud/fajr and remind you of prayer times already entered. Many people, even high school and college students, have 2,3, or 4 phones and I wonder when they ever have time to themselves. It is becoming a fad to have more than one phone or more than one sim cards, and manufacturers/retailers catch on to this and build/sell phones with dual sim cards. I have this old Nokia phone which have served me very well for the last 5 years. My children have cheap cell phones (each was less than $30 when I bought them a few years ago) and they serve our needs until today. One of my children has an old Motorolla phone that I bought for him about 5 years ago and you can no longer see the writings on the keypad. But everyone memorized the keypad (I am always amazed at the speed people type their text messages), so we see no need to replace the phone just so he can see the keypad.

We should try to live a minimal and simple lifestyle. Buy only what we need. Replace something only when it is broken or about to break. Use the extra money to help others and sponsor Islamic projects. When we see the poor or a needy person we free our hands and give it to them. Buy gifts for your relatives, your friends, the friends of your parents, your neighbors every once in a while--this will bring happiness to their hearts and help strengthen our bonds.

Let Nobody Have Any Favor Over You. Imam Ahmad Hanbal, may Allah have Mercy upon him, would not accept any gifts from the people, so that they would not have any favor over him. He would reject the gifts of the rulers. Once, the people loved to present him with gifts - he sent one of his sons to buy a loaf of bread. So, when the baker asked the boy who he was, he replied: "I am the son of Ahmad bin Hanbal." So, instead of filling the bag with bread, the baker filled it with gold and silver, and gave it to him. When Ahmad bin Hanbal opened the bag and found gold and silver, he told his son: "Go back to him." When he gave the bag back, the baker called out to him: "Come, at least take the bread that you paid a dirham for!" Imam Ahmad's son said: "My father commanded me to return everything."

May Allah make us content with what He desires for Us. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam