When you believe that all blessings only come from Allah, you will have true contentment, worshippers will be told Friday.
“Allah has created the human being and honoured him and gave him blessings. There are ones who are content, and those who are greedy and avaricious,” says today’s sermon.
“As for man, whenever his Lord tryeth him by honouring him, and is gracious unto him, he sayeth: ‘my Lord honoureth me’,” says a verse from the Quran. “But whenever He tryeth him by straightening his means of life, he sayeth: ‘my Lord despiseth me’.”
Another verse says: “Is it they who apportion thy Lord’s mercy? We have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of the world, and raised some of them above others in rank that some of them may take labour from others; and the mercy of thy Lord is better than [the wealth] that they amass.”
Contentment is reached by accepting what is available and not grieving over what is missing. “It is pride in the self that cannot be bought, happiness that cannot be ended, money that does not finish, a happy secure life,” explains the sermon.
The Prophet Mohammed once said: “If the son of Adam had two valleys of money, he would have sought a third valley.”
The sermon cites an incident where Hakim bin Hazam went to the Prophet and begged him for money. “So he gave me, I begged him again and he gave me, I begged him again and he gave me and said: ‘O Hakim: wealth is pleasant and sweet. He who acquires it with self-contentment, it becomes a source of blessing for him; but it is not blessed for him who seeks it out of greed.
“‘He is like one who goes on eating but his hunger is not satisfied. The upper hand is better than the lower one.’
“I said to him, ‘O Messenger of Allah, by Him Who sent you with the Truth I will not, after you, ask anyone for anything until I leave this world’.’’
hdajani@thenational.ae
