Six Things That Destroy Good Charity (chapter 1)
By Bahron Ansori, Journalist of MINA News
A person’s good deeds, will not always be ‘eternal’ stored with Allah Ta’ala. There are times when the good deeds will be damaged by certain reasons. At least, there are six things that can damage the good deeds of a servant, such as the following.
First, busy taking care of other people’s disgrace (al istighlal bi’uyubil kholqi). There are many types of people living on this earth. One of them is a person whose life is only busy taking care of other people’s disgrace. This kind of person seems to have never seen himself too much disgrace.
In the book of Shifah al-Shafwah, Imam Abu al-Faraj Abdurrahman ibn al-Jauzi (d. 597 H) records the advice given by Imam Dzun Nun al-Mishri to Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Salamah.
Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Salamah said, “I heard Dzu Nun (al-Mishri) say – in fact I asked him to give me advice when (we were about to) parting, so he said, “Don’t concern yourself with the disgrace of people (others) than your own disgrace, (because) you do not (have the authority to be) their inspector/supervisor.”
Then he said, “Indeed, the servants of Allah who love Allah the most are those who know Him best. And, a sign of the perfection of a person’s mind and humility in terms of his reasoning is his good (or polite) attitude in listening to people who speak even though he (more) knows (about the content/theme being discussed); (another sign) is his speed in accepting the truth even though it comes from people who are (lower) than him; (another sign) is his confession of his guilt if he is indeed guilty.” (Imam Abu al-Faraj Abdurrahman ibn al-Jauzi, Shifah al-Shafwah, Cairo: Dar al-Hadith, 2009, juz 2, p. 445).
Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wassalam also forbade the disgrace of others. As he said,
إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ فَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ أَكْذَبُ الْحَدِيثِ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا تَحَسَّسُوا وَلَا تَبَاغَضُوا وَكُونُوا إِخْوَانًا
“Stay away from you prejudice, for it is the most false expression. And do not look for the disgrace of others, do not spread hatred among each other and be brothers and sisters.” (Narrated by Bukhari).
Second, his heart is hard (qaswatul qulub). People who are hard-hearted, are usually difficult to advise and accept advice. Instead, he prefers that when he speaks, people hear and follow his conversation.
Among the reasons for a hard heart include; First, talk a lot. People who are intelligent in their minds, will be careful in speaking. The Prophet Shalallahu alaihi wassalam warned, “Whoever talks a lot, then a lot of mistakes. Whoever makes a lot of mistakes, then there are many sins. Whoever has many sins, then hell is better for him.” (HR Tabrani).
However of course, the meaning of a lot of talk here is to talk without meaning, while speaking that gives benefits and wisdom is highly recommended. Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wassalam said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, then say what is good or be silent,” (HR Malik). (See: Ibn Abi ‘Ashim, al-Zuhd, Daru al-Rayyan: Cairo], 1408 H, p. 38).
Which causes the second hard heart, eat a lot. Allah Ta’ala forbids His servants to eat a lot. It’s not that you can’t eat, but you eat a lot. Moreover, if the meal contains haram, of course the slightest should not be eaten.
The scholars agree that among the halal things that are hated is a full stomach. This is halal, of course against haram food is more hated. Therefore one of Luqman al-Hakim’s messages to his son, “O my son, if your stomach is full, then your mind will sleep, wisdom will be closed, and the limbs will be weak under worship.”
Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wassalam reminded his people not to overfill the stomach. Because the stomach is not a container that is ready to be filled with anything according to lust. Even if it is filled, it should not be excessive so that it exceeds the limit of its ability, as in the hadith, “The descendants of Adam are not considered to make their stomachs a bad container if they fill them with a few mouthfuls that can straighten their bodies. Therefore, what he has to do is one third of his stomach for food, one third for drink, and another third for breath.” (HR Ahmad).
Third, hang out a lot with people with bad morals Of course, for people who believe that nothing will happen if they get along and affect the good, then that’s okay. Conversely, if our faith is weak, then leave hanging out with people who have bad morals.
Luqman al-Hakim once advised his son, “Associate with pious people, servants of Allah. Because, from their goodness, you will get good. Perhaps, at the end of the association with them, grace will descend and you have that grace with them. O my son, do not associate with bad people. Because, by associating with them, you will not get good. It may be that at the end of their association with them, the torment descends upon them and you will be afflicted with the torment with them.” (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Zuhd, (Darul Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah: Beirut], 1999, p. 87).
Fourth, look a lot. What it means is to see in the bad. The effect will cause other evils; adultery, rape, murder and a host of other vices.
Given the importance of keeping or lowering this view, Allah commands it directly in the Qur’an, “Say to the believing men, ‘Let them hold their gaze, and guard their private parts; that is purer for them, verily Allah is Knowing of what they do.” (Surat al-Nur/24:30).
Keeping and lowering the gaze not only for men, but also for women. Allah commands to guard their gaze, “Say to believing women, ‘Let them hold their gaze and their genitals, and let them not reveal their adornments, except that which (usually) appears from them. ‘.” (Surah al-Nur/24:31).
Third, love the world (hubbud dunya). What is meant by love of the world, is a person who merely makes the direction of his life only limited to the world. Love of the world is a condition of someone who likes and sacrifices everything he has for the sake of getting worldly pleasures in the form of wealth, women, or the throne.
People who love the world, feel that life in this world is forever. Never thought that real life is in the afterlife. The love of the world is one of the causes of the destruction of a servant’s good deeds. Because of the love of the world, a person forgets to prepare his provisions for the hereafter.
In the book Guidance for the Young Generation published by Risalah Nur, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi wrote, loving the world must be accompanied by reflection and contemplation.
Nursi said, “Your love for the world in a form that is justified by religion, which is accompanied by reflection and contemplation of two aspects of its beauty, as a field of the hereafter and as a mirror that shows the manifestation of Asmaul Husna.
Then why the love of the world can ruin someone’s life? Al Baihaqi in the book Syu’ab Al Iman narrates a hadith that reads:
حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا رَأْسُ كُلِّ خَطِيئَةٍ
“Hubbuddunya ra’su kulli khathi’ah (love of the world is the cause of all mistakes).
Love of the world that has blinded the heart encourages someone to dare to corruption, rob, gamble, and commit other disobedience. Imam Ali bin Abi Talib in Nahj Al-Balagha states,
مَنْ لَهِجَ قَلْبُهُ بِحُبِّ الدُّنْيَا الْتَاطَ قَلْبُهُ مِنْهَا بِثَلَاثٍ هَمٍّ لَا يُغِبُّهُ وَ حِرْصٍ لَا يَتْرُكُهُ وَ أَمَلٍ لَا يُدْرِكُهُ
“There is no love of the world that dominates a person’s heart, unless he will be tested with three things, namely endless aspirations, poverty that will not achieve sufficiency, and busyness that cannot be separated from fatigue.”
Allah Ta’ala also inflicts various calamities on a people if the love of the world dominates the recesses of their hearts. Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wassalam said,
لا تزال أمّتي بخير ما لم يظهر فيهم حبّ الدّنيا في علماء فسّاق، و قرّاء جهّال، و جبابرة، فإذا ظهرت خشيت أن يعمّهم اللَّه بعقاب
“My Ummah will always be in goodness as long as there is no worldly love for the wicked scholars, ignorant reciters, and rulers. When that happens, I’m afraid Allah will torture them thoroughly.” (See Ma’rifat As Shahabah by Abi Nu’aim, juz 23 p. 408).
Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wassalam was worried about the future of this ummah if his people ruled the world. He swore:
فَوَاللَّهِ مَا الفَقْرَ أَخْشَى عَلَيْكُمْ، وَلَكِنْ أَخْشَى عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ تُبْسَطَ عَلَيْكُمُ الدُّنْيَا كَمَا بُسِطَتْ عَلَى مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ، فَتَنَافَسُوهَا كَمَا تَنَافَسُوهَا، وَتُلْهِيَكُمْ كَمَا أَلْهَتْهُمْ
“By Allah, it’s not poverty that I’m worried about, but I’m afraid that if the world is conquered by all of you as conquered by those before you, as a result you are competing for the world like they are competing and the world is destroying you as it destroyed them.” (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim).
Why is the love of the world referred to as the root of all forms of sin and guilt and destroys one’s religion? This can be viewed from several aspects. First, loving the world excessively will lead to an attitude of glorifying it. In fact, the world before God is very low. Glorifying what God despises is a major sin.
Second, Allah has cursed the world and hates it, except for the world that is used for the sake of His religion. Whoever loves whom Allah has cursed, Allah hates him and He is tested. Ad Daylami narrated a hadith that states, the greatest great sin is love of the world.
Third, if someone loves the world too much, the world becomes the ultimate goal of his life. That person will make the afterlife as a means to get the world. This world should be used as a wasilah to invest in the hereafter.
Fourth, loving the world will prevent a person from the affairs of the hereafter. In addition, it prevents them from faith and the Shari’a. The love of the world can prevent them from carrying out their obligations or at least being lazy to do good.
Fifth, loving the world encourages us to make the world the orientation of life. Sixth, the lover of the world is severely tormented in three stages. In the world tormented with various difficulties in searching for it, in the grave he feels miserable because the world’s treasures that he has been looking for are not brought to the barzah realm.
And in the afterlife, he will find great difficulty when he is judged. This punishment is emphasized in the Quran letter at Taubah verse 55.
فَلَا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُهُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ بِهَا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَتَزْهَقَ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَهُمْ كَافِرُونَ
“So let not their possessions and children attract you. Verily, Allah wills by (giving) property and children to torture them in life in this world and later their lives will die, while they are in a state of disbelief.” (T/RE1)
Continued…
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
