![]() One will then understand why God has disparaged wealth in some places in the Qur’an. Thus, one should not depend on wealth, but one should only take what is important for one’s essential needs. He will use only what he needs, the ultimate goal, which is the purification of the soul. Once he knows the extent of the honor given to wealth, he should use it accordingly, and fulfill the goal for which it is intended. He who has understood the order of the importance of wealth, food, and the body, will know the value of wealth, and how it should be ranked in the scale of importance. God states: “From the earth We created you, into it We shall return you, and from it We shall raise you a second time” (Qur’an 20:55).ġ3 In another passage, al-Ghazali states:Īs mentioned, the goal of food is to nourish the body, and the body in turn is important for the perfection of the soul. The afterlife is always treated in the Qur’an as something in relation to life in this world, and it is mentioned on almost every page. This provides a context to our life, and it becomes meaningful inasmuch as it is full of good works. Life in this world is an inseparable part of a unified whole that includes birth, death, and life after death. It is like a farm, where one should sow the seeds of good deeds to reap a harvest in the hereafter. Life in this world is a gift from God to be used properly, following God’s commandments. It teaches that this life is transient and that the real life is the one to come. It states that the afterlife is better and more enduring. ![]() The Qur’an frequently uses these two words: “You desire the ephemeral goods of this world ( al-dunya), while God desires the Hereafter ( al-akhirah )” (Qur’an 8:67). The concept of al-dunya presupposes the concept of al-akhirah(the hereafter) and stands in contrast to it. This world is called al-dunya, literally ‘the lower world.’ The Qur’ān mostly uses the expression al-hayat al-dunya (the lower life). “If man conforms to his fiṭrah, his external circumstances will improve, but if he deviates from his fiṭrah, his circumstances will deteriorate”. As long as people retain their pure inner state ( fiṭrah), God will not withhold their blessings. The other is that the change referred to is from a state of good to evil. One is that the onus is on people to take the initiative to change themselves from a state of evil to a state of goodness. There are two interpretations of this verse. Character plays an important part in improving our circumstances as the Almighty states: “God does not change the condition of people unless they change their souls” (Qur’an 13:11). Character also helps to shape our inward attitude to inevitable adverse circumstances and helps us cope with them. A miserly person said, “Imagine if I did not eat food for fifty years, how much money would I have saved!” Circumstances and character both contribute to happiness, but character is more important as it helps to shape our circumstances. The miser seeks money for the mere joy of it and makes the acquisition of money his sole object in life and pursues it to the sacrifice of all rational ends and pleasures. ![]() They confuse happiness with the means of happiness, sacrificing the first for the attainment of the second. People generally forget that happiness is a disposition of the soul and not a condition of circumstance. In reading the works of the eleventh-century Islamic ethicists such as al-Isfahani and al-Ghazali, one finds that their philosophical-literary style engages the reader’s entire soul in a way that an abstract and impersonal ethical prose treatise does not. Contemporary moral philosophy has much to learn from Islamic philosophical wisdom if it wishes to move beyond the academy and take its place in the daily life of human beings. ![]() They propose a theory of immoderate desire that they believe to be the root cause of human ailments, whether physical, psychological, or spiritual in nature. They do not simply philosophize about ethics for the sake of academic pleasure. Islamic ethicists, therefore, in their attempt to grapple with human suffering, try to articulate a mode of living in the world. It should, furthermore, be borne in mind that the ethical philosophy of the Qur’an is not purely intellectual, but that it is bound up with a diagnosis of human suffering and an intuitive conception of human flourishing.
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