Continuing our study of the fruits of eman, here are some additional fruits that spring from the tree of eman:
In Surah Nahl, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:
Translation: Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions. (Surah Nahl, verse 97)1
Eman beings blessings into this world. And only Muslims can truly enjoy this world.
Muslims know about paradise and the different levels and things, but many of us also fail to realize that the blessings begin here, in this life.
If you look at non-Muslims, they’re never satisfied, no matter how much they get–they always want more and more and more, and the little they have, they’re afraid to lose. (Have you ever heard of someone who reached a certain point in their wealth where they said “ok, that’s enough for me”?–never!)
Interestingly, $400-million is the mark–the point at which a person can buy anything they want. After that, if someone earns more money, there’s no more stuff to buy. But the quality of life of the person is the same. Of those people who have over $400M in personal holdings (and there are quite a few), not one of them says “let me retire in peace”. They want more, and think–and this is a common misconception–that money necessitates happiness. Wrong.
The real mu’min remains content no matter what he has–even if it’s $1, he says “alhamdullilah” and spends it on himself and his family. He remains content because he knows Allah will give him more. As for what he doesn’t have, Allah knows best about it.
The highest suicide rates are in “civilized” first-world countries. It’s the multimillionaires who watch the stock-market crash and commit suicide because of the millions they lose. A farmer, if you give him $1M, he won’t know what to do with it.
The mu’min’s quality of life is incomparable. And it’s not in wordly posessions, it’s in attitude. So don’t forget–Jannah is the ultimate goal, the ultimate reward, yes–but your rewards start here as well, inshaAllah.
And one last difference: when disasters strike, non-Muslims and people with low eman go crazy. Muslims bear through it with patience. That’s why nobody can have the quality of life we can have.
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) give us the best of this life and the next life.
(1) Pickthall, Muhammad M., trans. Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem: Parallel Arabic text with English Translation. One Ummah Network. 25 Mar. 2006 <http://www.oneummah.net/quran/quran.html>.
(2) Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Light of Guidance. University of Toronto, Toronto. March 2006.