The Basic Tenets of Islam: The temporary nature of the life of this world
Contents
- Preface
- There is no god but allah
- Allah encompasses everything
- Allah is near to man
- Allah created everything according to a fixed decree
- Allah has power over everything
- Allah sees and knows everything
- All beings are subjected to allah
- False beliefs about allah
- Faith in allah free of idolatry
- Assessing allah with a just assessment
- Allah's infinite greatness and power
- Love of allah and fear of allah
- The qur'an is a guide
- Belief in the books revealed by allah and belief in his messengers
- Faith in the angels
- The temporary nature of the life of this world
- It's a magnificent blessing to love allah with passion
- Man is being tested
- Death is not the end
- Belief in the hereafter
- Faith in the day of judgment
- The resurrection
- The day of judgment
- Paradise and hell
- Everything is positive in paradise, and everything is negative in hell
- The aim is to attain the good pleasure of allah
- Sin and repentance
- Scrupulousness regarding religious observances
- The morality of religion is in conformity with the natural inclination of mankind
- Believers must be together and cooperate
- The last word
The life of this world is a trial for humanity. Though Allah has created countless allurements for man in this world, He has also warned him against becoming overly concerned by them, and forgetting Allah and His religion. In verses of the Qur'an, Allah states that the ostentation of this world is temporary, and that the real pleasure is paradise, as reward for Allah's contentment:
We made everything on the earth adornment for it so that We could test them to see whose actions are the best.
Know that the life of the world is merely a game and a diversion and ostentation and a cause of boasting among yourselves and trying to outdo one another in wealth and children:
like the plant-growth after rain which delights the cultivators, but then it withers and you see it turning yellow, and then it becomes broken stubble. In the hereafter there is terrible punishment but also forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure. The life of the world is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion.
While the believer also enjoys blessings of this world, unlike the unbeliever, he does not consider them the purpose of his life. He may desire to possess them, but only for the purpose of giving thanks to Allah, and to use them to earn Allah's consent. He does not pursue out of greed. Because, he knows that that which is of this world is short-lived, just as is his own life. He knows that, after his death, such things will be of no benefit to him. Furthermore, he knows that if he pursues only worldly things, at the expense of nobler goals, for them he sacrifices his hereafter. In a verse of the Qur'an, this important truth is related as follows:
To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted in glowing colors:
women and children, and heaped-up mounds of gold and silver, and horses with fine markings, and livestock and fertile farmland. All that is merely the enjoyment of the life of the world. The best homecoming is in the Presence of Allah.
The allure of the things of this world is an essential factor in the test placed upon man in this world. The satan resorts relentlessly to allurements in his attempts to deceive man.
Believers, however, are those people who, though they may be attracted to such allurement, are aware of their true worth. Cognizant that these are the temporary blessings of this world, and that by them they are being tested, the deceptive attraction of these things does not delude them. For this reason, they are not deceived by the satan, and are able to save themselves from eternal torment. In the Qur'an, Allah warns mankind as follows:
Mankind! Allah's promise is true. Do not let the life of the world delude you and do not let the Deluder delude you about Allah.
On the other hand, those who are without faith, and thus are bereft of wisdom, feel an inner inclination to this world. Under satan's influence, they make the attainment of the temporary goods of this world the ultimate purpose of their lives. The condition of such people is stated as follows:
No indeed! But you love this fleeting world and you disregard the hereafter.