Ain Al-Hayat, The Essence of Life.pdf - Higher Intellect | Content ...

Similarly eating delicious food, wearing expensive garments acquiring valuable artifacts
is not only the sign of being worldly, but it also depends on the intentions and the acts of
the person who uses such things. Otherwise, Hazrat Sulaiman (a.s.)’s monarchy would
have been termed worldly. To the contrary what he did was the best for the Hereafter.
In short, everything that keeps one away from Allah and the Hereafter is due to worldly
avarice and that which is the cause of nearness to Allah and harbinger of the benefits of
the Hereafter is venerable. Every hypocrite act that appears like prayer and devotion is
nothing but an act to show off to the people of the world.
Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) says that piety is not abdicating one’s wealth and making
legitimate (Halal) things taboo (Haram) for oneself. But piety is having more faith in
Allah than on one’s own wealth and power. The true piety springs from the knowledge of
the Quran, the Sunnat and acting on them. It is also subject to following the Holy Imams
(a.s.) and fulfilling all the duties made mandatory by Allah for his creatures. A pious
person has to drive away all worldly desires from his heart and every step he takes must
be in consonance with Allah’s dictates!
THE LOVE FOR WORLDLY GAINS
Generally mendicants (faqeers) surpass others in the avarice for worldly gains. They are
definitely not pious persons. It proves the fact that the seekers of the world may not be
identifiable from their outward appearances. The pious are those who implicitly follow
the norms and tenets of the faith. These may include the entire gamut of activity viz.:
prayer ( Namaz), fasting, trading, marriage, managing a household etc. If these activities
are carried out contrary to the norms set by the Faith, then they will be termed
contemptible. They are of three types:
1. Duniya e Haram: One deserves Allah’s punishment if he perpetuates illegitimate
(Haram) acts like offering prayers, intercourse and other worldly acts against the
norms of Shariah.
2. Duniya e Makrooh: Perpetuating acts that have not been termed Haram by Allah, but
are considered Makrooh or undesirable. For example: avarice for wealth, acquiring
property more than necessary. These activities divert one’s attention from Allah.
3. Diniya e Mubah: This is drawing pleasure from the legitimate blessings bestowed by
Allah on the people. This may sometime also fall in the second category if a person
tends to the side of excess. Sometimes a person does these acts considering them as
an act of prayer and worship. Then, to attain that status, at other times, in his
ignorance, a person avoids legitimate and essential activities assuming that he is
doing it to please Allah.His acts would be tantamount to innovation (Bidat), that is a
sin!
• Hazrat Ali (a.s.) says,” A man of piety is one who removes big desires from his heart.
He thanks Allah for His Bounties and abstains from taboo activities.”