Forgetting God will cause hardships in livelihood
One who forgets God and merely seeks to maximize his wealth and enjoyments will never feel satisfied and will cause hardships for himself due to his greed and expansionism and will engage in acts of tyranny against other people.
The holy Qur’an has stated in this regard that whosoever turns away from my remembrance, his life shall be narrow(Ta-Ha, 124).
If the person turns away from God’s remembrance and severs his relations with God nothing will be left except this world. Such a person will merely seek money, post, fame and other worldly manifestations and will keep up such a trend and will become greedier. Meanwhile, he finds nothing to rely on or resort to in case of difficulties and hardships and attain calmness. Hence, he always has the feeling of anxiety and fears possible calamities such as death and ailments and despite enjoying material welfare and facilities in this world he lacks mental calm or a promising future.
Correcting one’s motives
There are many motives for a person in using commodities and services that are shaped by his wishes and thoughts. Some of these motives are due to the person’s real and rational needs such as drinking water, eating food to continue living or using clothes and the need for housing in order to protect one in the face of cold and heat and maintaining his social prestige. Islam also agrees with this in congruity with human nature and not only considers as favorable meeting the aforementioned demands but in some cases considers them as necessary.
But Islam seeks to raise humans in such a way so that all activities by the person would pave the way for his proximity to God and attain his satisfaction that is the ultimate goal of creation. Consumption is not an exception in this regard.
By reviewing verses of holy Qur’an we will reach the conclusion that Qur’an considers using divine blessings as well as commodities and services as being necessary to some extent and the prerequisite for continuation of human life. Such a goal can deserve human status and guide humans in the right path based on a valuable motive and it can also turn into a negative factor incompatible with human objectives.
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
Verses in regard to the Creator
Sustenance and creation
Understanding the divine traditions
