The Islamic Principles that Changed My Life

New York – Mainstream culture relentlessly attempts to persuade us that the ultimate aspirations in life are leisure, pleasure and consumption; ideally, a combination of the three while eschewing deep thought and reflection and ignoring ethical and moral issues. The pursuit of these pseudo-values leads us to spend the majority of our waking hours chasing wealth, which we then heedlessly spend on goods and entertainment we do not need and that may actually harm us, such as excess food, material clutter and ceaseless noise.

Orienting our lives towards materialism and self-indulgence can never produce lasting satisfaction. It is equally problematic to content ourselves with a low-level existence, failing to develop our intellect and talents and therefore, missing the opportunity to make a difference in the world. These approaches result in a life devoid of meaning.

In order to be fulfilled, we must have a life purpose that is bigger than ourselves. We can determine that purpose by assessing what our interests and skills are and figuring out how we can best put them to use for the good of humanity. Pursuing a large purpose, explains Dr. Sultan Abdulhameed, brings out talents in you which you would not discover otherwise.

I used to think the best thing in life was being able to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I had deluded myself into believing that pursuing pleasure and amusement while avoiding responsibility and effort was a worthwhile way to live. I was convinced I would be happy if I didn’t have to work and could pass my days in complete leisure. Spending most evenings in restaurants with lavish foods and lounges with elaborate alcoholic concoctions was, for instance, among my main hobbies. I lived this way for many years and although today it seems like a shameful and repulsive lifestyle, I am grateful for the experience because it gave me certainty that a life made up primarily of diversions is meaningless, a complete waste, and that happiness cannot be thus obtained.

Anne Lamott perfectly describes this phenomenon in her wonderful book on writing, “Bird by Bird,” where, quoting her father, she asserts that “a life oriented to leisure is in the end a life oriented to death –the greatest leisure of all.” Her father, who wrote an article on the subject, described how people in Marin County, California, which is an affluent and beautiful place, had huge problems with alcohol and drugs, as well tremendously high divorce rates, frequent mental breakdowns and troublesome sexual behavior.

He went on to criticize the materialistic frenzy in which these people lived, describing the despair that the women most poignantly experienced: “these estimable women, the wives of doctors, architects, and lawyers…tanned and well preserved, wandering the aisles of our super markets with a glint of madness in their eyes.”

Since we do not find contentment in leisure or consumerism, we always want more. We constantly look for a new way to entertain ourselves, the next restaurant to try, the new sugary or alcoholic drink to intoxicate ourselves with, the latest movie to watch, trendy fashions to buy, the ultimate vacation, and on and on. It is endless. In the meantime, our allotted time on Earth is passing us by and our sublime talents, faculties and intellectual capacities neglected and squandered.

The idealization of “the life of leisure” is so prevalent that it takes great effort to recognize how we may be falling pray to these false values and avoid it. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements for food of all kinds (in reality, a simple diet is best for our health and budget), unnecessary luxuries for which we willingly sell most of our time to employers (less possessions make our lives more peaceful and enjoyable), drugs to cure us of diseases that don’t even exist (or have their origin in this greedy, purposeless, consumption-centered lifestyle), expensive vacations (from which we quickly return to our regular lives, many of us with more debt), exorbitantly expensive designer clothing, music and movies that instead of elevating us lower our consciousness, etc.

For women, the tendency to focus on the superficial is exacerbated by the emphasis society places on female beauty. We are socialized to base our value predominantly on our looks and to spend undue amounts of energy maintaining and improving our exterior. Because of this, unless we muster the strength to develop and live by our own values and consciously direct our energy to a higher purpose, a vast part of our life will be spent being preoccupied with our appearance and engaging in the corresponding activities and rituals such as shopping, spending hours at the gym, doing our hair and makeup on a daily basis, and even undergoing plastic surgery.

And so, we are left with little time and energy to develop our human qualities, focus on our intellectual and spiritual growth, and pursue activities of substance and depth. This is tragic. Women are more, infinitely more than our bodies and the pieces of fabric that clothe them. While it is important to stay healthy and take pride in our physical appearance, “it is an inversion of priorities if you spend more effort in taking care of your body than you devote to the cultivation of your spirit,” brilliantly writes Dr. Sultan.

In the midst of this madness, it is an enormous blessing to have the clear guidance Islam provides. Islam emphasizes the importance of using our faculties in noble pursuits, developing our human qualities, and being deliberate about how we spend our time for we are accountable to God for these gifts. This sense of personal responsibility is central to the entire purpose and approach of Islam.

Islam teaches that we are responsible for the talents we have been blessed with. They are not ours to squander, but are rather a trust from God that we must employ to uplift ourselves and others. We are not to waste them in idleness or use them for self-centered or superficial purposes only.

Dr. Sultan Abdulhameed affirms that “the best way to live is to be ambitious in the contribution you want to make in the world because if you focus on a large objective, you will encounter tremendous difficulties and in overcoming them, if you learn to live with the right principles, you will grow tremendously.”

Dr. Sultan further explains that in the process of living a life of continuous effort, we grow more and more and therefore, “it is a mistake to look for a life of ease and laziness because it shuts down possibilities for you and your life.” The real meaning of jihad, he elaborates, is to always live with a sense of effort, following the uphill path, as the Quran advises us in Surat Al-Balad (8-11):

“Have we not given him two eyes, a tongue, and two lips? And shown him the two paths? But he does not attempt to take the uphill path.”

In “The Quran and the Life of Excellence,” the uphill path is defined as doing the best possible and aiming to make a difference for others while the low road is giving in to laziness and selfishness:

“Those who understand the wisdom of the uphill path always choose to do more than expected. These are the people who continuously grow in their capabilities. People who do physical exercise know that muscles grow in strength if you push them every day to do more than what is comfortable. As the muscles are stretched beyond their apparent capacity, it may not feel comfortable, but that is how you grow. The same is true of our psychological and spiritual muscles. They have to be applied strenuously in order to grow.”

I have experienced the truth and deep wisdom of this Quranic principle and can attest to the futility of living a life of leisure and hedonism. In striving to follow the uphill path, I feel motivated, satisfied, at peace with myself and with God. I am continuously growing and my existence is meaningful and seems justified because the gifts God gave me are being put to good use. In the life of leisure, on the other hand, I felt restless, purposeless, and anxious; my life lacked meaning and the constant nagging feeling that I was wasting the talents I was given never left me. It is a horrible way to live.

When I began to actively struggle to overcome laziness and self-indulgence and orient my life towards exertion and purpose, I came across a hadith from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that fully woke me up. It was such a revelation that I remember sending it to many friends, some of them non-Muslims who got annoyed by my enthusiastic email:

“A slave will not be able to take a step further on the Day of Requital until he is taken to account for [the following things]: his time and how he spent it, his knowledge and how he used it, his money and how he earned and spent it, and his youth and how he passed it.”

This clarified it all. We are accountable and responsible to make the best use of these magnificent gifts. We cannot just waste them as we wish. If we need personal confirmation of how true this hadith is, we need only pay attention to how we feel internally when we take different courses of action. Do we feel satisfied just floating through life aimlessly, ‘having fun’? I am certain that for most human beings the answer is an emphatic no.

As we embark on the uphill path, we may find that many obstacles come our way and our shortcomings seem monumental and insurmountable. This is natural and must not discourage us. Khurram Murad, in his book “In the Early Hours,” advises us not to allow these feelings to undermine our efforts and to remember that:

“Islam is a state of becoming not a state of being. Each day you must strive to improve and better yourself –and you will improve.”

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