Page 35 - Faith: The Way to Happiness

The Unhappiness of the Society of the Ignorant

scribed by Allah in a number of verses of the Qur'an. People such as
these resort to miserliness because they have made the accumula-
tion of property their principal aim in life. In spite of this unpleasant
and selfish behavior they still regard everything they accumulate as
a blessing for them. The truth is that in the life of this world A l l a h
makes some people rich as a test so that by believing that their
wealth is a gain, people who do not use it for good fall into a major
error because on the Day of Judgment it will return to them as fire.
Allah tells us of this truth in the Qur'an:
Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty Allah has given
them should not suppose that that is better for them. No in -
deed, it is worse for them! What they were tight-fisted with
will be hung around their necks on the Day of Rising.
Allah is the inheritor of the Heavens and the earth and
Allah is aware of what you do. (Surah Al ‘Imran: 180)
As we are told by Allah in the verse, "those who are tight-fisted
and direct others [to it]…" (Surat an-Nisa': 37), one characteristic of
such people is that they encourage others to engage in the same un-
pleasant behavior. In addition to this, they hide what they own from
those around them so that others will want nothing from them.
Because their real desire is continually to increase their possessions
and accumulate more, they do not want others to make use of them.
Their failure to understand the true nature of worldly life forces
them into deviant misbehavior and constant preoccupation with
their own advantage. They have convinced themselves that if they
act according to this logic they will come out in profit. However,
they gain nothing but trouble and anxiety. Despite this, they insist
on such behavior with great determination and ambition. Because
they are deceived by the life of this world, they expect to be happy
and at peace with what they engage in, but what they obtain is just a

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