4. Your “Stuff” is Not a Part of You

4.
You are not defined by the stuff you own. Your "stuff" is not a part
of you. Your "stuff" will break, disappear, or be left behindone day.
In fact what truly defines our character is how we react to loss. If
we were stripped of all the possessions we love, who would we be in
that moment? Would we still be grateful to Allah, patient, trusting?
Hopefully it never comes tothat. But seriously, those times of
greatest sadness and joy are when our thoughts must turn to Allah, The
Eternal, The Merciful, The Wise.
Allah says, "Never will you attain the good until you spend from that
which you love. And whatever you spend – indeed, Allahis Knowing of
it." [Quran 3: 92]
Think about that. Allah is telling us to give away the things that we
love the most! SubhanAllah! Why does Allah ask this of us? Is it to
liberate us from slavery to material possessions? To f0cus our minds
on Allah and the aakhirah (hereafter)? To prevent the evil that
results from the love of money? To benefit the poor?
Yes, for all of those reasons. Excessive attachment to any
materialthing is misguidance. The love of possessions is a spiritual
trap.
I have at times given away things that were precious to me, thinking
they wouldmean as much to the otherperson as they do to me. Sometimes
they do, and sometimes they don't, and yes it hurts my feelings when
the other person doesn't value my gift; but eventually I get over it,
because the point is the actof giving. And maybe – Insha-Allah – I'll
have something to show Allah on Yawm Al-Qiyamah (the Day of
Resurrection), maybe I'll be able to say, "O Allah, I gave away
thesethings that I loved," and maybe that will earn me some
forgiveness, Allah knows.
There is a powerful spiritual lesson in taking anobject that you love,
and giving it away. I remembera middle-aged brother named AbdulKareem
(Damis-Salaam, for those ofyou who know him). He worked hard,
supported a family, and got by on a tight budget. One time he got a
nice brown leather coat, the long kind that comes down to the knees.
It looked good on him. Then a younger brother, a teenager with poor
manners, said, "Man, that's a cool coat. Can I have it?" Without a
word, AbdulKareem took off the coat and gave it to the teenager.
There's such a strength of character, such freedom from attachment, in
being able to do that. That was 27 years ago and I imagine that
AbdulKareem (who is an old man now) has forgotten all about it. But
Allah sees and remembers.
This deep generosity was one of the qualities of the Prophet Muhammad
(peacebe upon him). It's said that he never refused anyone who asked
him for anything, if it was his to give.
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: "Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) was the
mostgenerous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in
generosity in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used
to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Qur'an. Allah's
Messenger was the most generous person, even more generous than the
strong uncontrollable wind." [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number
5]
Aside from being generous,the Messenger of Allah (sws) had no
attachment to"stuff". The extreme simplicity of his lifestyle was
astounding. He never ate lavish food (not even soft bread), never ate
on a dining cloth, and never filled his belly even with barley bread.
His household often went many days with no cooking fire in the oven,
living on dates and water, and occasionally a glass of milk donated by
the neighbors. His mattress was a piece of tanned skin filled with
rough palm fibers.
Once Umar Ibn al-Khattab (radhi allahu anhu) enteredupon the Messenger
of Allah (sws) when he was lying on a mat of palm fibers that had left
marks on his side. Umar (ra) said: "O Messenger of Allah, why do you
not get something more comfortable than this?" He (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam) said: "What do I have to do with this world? My
relationship with this world is like that of a traveler on a
hotsummer's day, who seeksshade under a tree for an hour, then moves
on." [Musnad Ahmad and al-Hakim. Saheeh al-Jamee (5545)]
So you see, he lived like this not out of necessity, but out of
choice. Money often came into his household (especially later in his
life when Islam has spread to all of Arabia) but he would give it all
to the poor, retaining nothing.
Excessive possessions are anchors that drag us down.The hunger for
material goods is a kind of sickness. It causes us more stress than
happiness, and in the end we gain nothing genuine.
I once got angry with my daughter when she was nomore than four years
old, because she pulled the softcover off my headphones and tore
it.:->

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