Page 32 - Signs of the End Times in Surat Al-Kahf

SIGNS OF THE END TIMES IN SURAT AL-KAHF

But most people prefer the pleasures of this life over the life of the
Hereafter. To own the latest sports car, a luxurious villa, jewels, or de-
signer cloths are thought, mistakenly, to be the purpose of life. They
race to become richer, more beautiful, or more famous, and spend
their lives chasing these goals. However, nothing will benefit them un-
less they use it appropriately, as the following verses reveal:
To mankind, the love of worldly appetites is painted in glow-
ing 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 this world. The best homecoming is in the presence of
Allah. Say: "Shall I tell you of something better than that?"
Those who do their duty will have Gardens with their Lord,
with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly,
forever, and purified wives, and Allah's good pleasure. Allah
sees His servants. (Surah Al `Imran, 14-15)
As these verses make clear, this life is temporary and its pleasures
are misleading. In the End Times, as it has always been throughout
history, all that exists (e.g., palaces, huge factories, bridges, gold and
jewelry, money piled up in the bank, stock shares, cars, speed boats,
and planes) is created to test people. While owning or not owning
such things has specific connotations in human societies, in the eyes of
Allah they mean nothing.
What really matters is one's faith in Allah, sincerity, and good char-
acter. Every person will die and realize that the eternal life of the
Hereafter is true. Therefore, it is very unwise to be misled by the pleas-
ures of this life. The believers, who realize this truth, exchange their
lives and property for the eternal life in the Hereafter and enjoy this
deal. Allah says to the believers:
Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their
wealth in return for Paradise. They fight in the Way of Allah,
and they kill and are killed. It is a promise binding upon Him

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