You walk in the streets; your eyes catch sight of something, like that new games console. Suddenly, you desire it. Even though the games console is surrounded by mass numbers of items, every time you walk past, you still somehow manage to see it.

You point it out for the hundredth time to your friends…except this time, you’ve got enough cash to buy it. You wonder whether to buy it…will you use it or will you eventually tire of it and let it be claimed by dust? Your friends however urge you on and you succumb to the temptation. You grin widely as you buy the console. Your friends coo and whine about how they want it too, and then you all walk onwards discussing the console’s powerful specifications. A few months later, the console is abandoned, due to its replacement by the latest release of mobile phones.

Whatever it is that you’ve wanted to get, have you actually thought about if you NEED it?

For example, how will buying yourself that new games console benefit your heart? How will it help you connect with God?

Humanity is possessed by the urge to fill the spiritual vacuum in their hearts. Yet they do so with materials. This spiritual vacuum is a dull ache made by the lack of worship. God says in the Glorious Qur’an:

“I did not create the jinns and the humans except to worship Me alone.” (51:56)

It is impossible to fill the spiritual vacuum with materials, yet how society deceives us! It teaches that the more you have, the better you are. Barry Schwartz tells us in his book, of how he asked for a pair of jeans in a shop, and the salesperson replied: “Do you want them slim, fit, easy fit, baggy or extra baggy?…Do you want them stonewashed, acid-washed, or distressed?…Do you want them buttonfly or zipper-fly?…Do you want them faded or regular?” Stunned by this, he spluttered “I just want regular jeans! You know the kind that used be the only kind”.

We buy so many materials, because we are urged to, yet so many are unneeded things. The sheer amount of clutter you end up having may even become a burden on your spiritual development. Without nourishing your soul, how do you expect God to fill you with iman (faith) and deen (religion)? One might liken this to a parable of the farmer who planted a seed, yet never nourished it, and never protected it. Unsurprisingly the seed grew to be a weak plant that produced bad quality fruit.

De-attach yourself from materials; Unburden yourself from the clutter, and let your soul submit to Him. For isn’t that what Islam is all about? The surrender of your heart to our Beloved Creator.

This does not mean that we should seclude ourselves from society and own no possessions. God has given us bounties to enjoy. It simply means one should not abuse these bounties by becoming obsessed with them. We can own money and materials, but we have to remember that these things are worth little, if not nothing, in-front of God.

I end by quoting the story of the prophet Ayyub, peace be upon him, (Job). The devil who saw that Job was a pious man, plotted to try and make Job appear materialistic. After having been granted permission from the Almighty, the devil destroyed most of Job’s possessions, killed some of his family, and even placed a painful disease in the patient prophet’s body. What was Job’s response to his sudden loss of wealth and success in this life?

“What Allah (God) has taken away from me belongs to Him. I was only its trustee for awhile. He gives to whom He wills and withholds from whom He wills”.

Subhaan Allah; Job was patient and remained submitting to the Almighty. Follow his example and may God reward you greatly for it in this life and the next! Let yourself surrender to the Almighty who is Al-Ghaffaar (‘The Great Forgiver, The One who forgives the sins of His slaves time and time again’).

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