Ambition and the Quran
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Too true brother hawk. The best ambition is to strive in the cause of God in whatever way one can. That distinguish one with faith against those who only talk.
handshake
I thought of the saying "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
My greatest ambition is to please God and obtain paradise.
God bless
peace
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Yes, but you are blindfolded that it has to be monetary fund. I gave examples what is a contribution to the society and it is worth as much as your beloved money.
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Yes, but you are blindfolded that it has to be monetary fund. I gave examples what is a contribution to the society and it is worth as much as your beloved money.
Because the context of this thread is about "money". . . wealth, and we live in the world where almost everything needs money. We are not living in the Stone Age.
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Yes and so did the world while the recitation was revealed too. And wealth is a trap as so much else.
And the wealth is unevenly distributed over a tiny portion of people and we have technology to make no one barely work and we could live fairly well by simply splitting everyone's possessions evenly and live together as a community. But the society does not do that.
I was a very rightish person some years ago and now I am like a communist because I think that is the kind of system that is most compatible with God. The concept of communism is good but it has been implemented mainly in dictatorships and not really been communism at length. Just "in disguise".
It does not matter if it is a king or group of people, as long as elected, a similar kind of system would be the best. The government should own all companies and its people evenly share the profits and work evenly at them.
So wealthy people should not be required. Only a wealthy country and evenly shared provisions.
You said it yourself that we have an advanced monetary system and advanced technology to be able to have great wealth for everyone.
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Why is that? And there are always things to strive for and evil-doers are always around the corner.
It is as much compulsion with the monetary system in a capitalist state.
And it does not matter about corruption because it is everywhere. Good government with little corruption is a must.
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Wow, this thread really took off.
First I'd like to thank everyone for giving their input. bravo group
Brother Hawk99, Insha'Allah, we'll both be amongst the winners on that day.
The Quran has its legal structure, and it has the "definition provision" to define terms in the Quran . . .
much like any other laws existed today, ie. the "interpretation clause", or "Interpretation Act" to define terms in their legal texts.and when the Quran said. . .
The believers ARE ONLY the ones
(1) who have believed in Allah and His Messenger <- ie. follow the commands
(2) and then doubt not <- ie. not even 0.1%
(3) but strive with <- ie. motivation
(4) their properties <- ie. do you have wealth?
(5) and their lives <- ie. do you have skills?
(6) in the cause of Allah . <- to read the signs, and use your wealth and skills with justiceIt is those who are the truthful.
49.15It means , only those people are the "Believers" , and the understanding of "Believers" shall be subjected to the above "interpretation clause" (verse). Not only that, the "Believers" must have "wealth" and "skills" etc. Only they are the "Believers".
Brother muslims, my Arabic is too poor to form my own non-translated opinion of 4915. God willing, I'll be able to do that shortly.
But when I read properties in that translation, I interpret that as meaning more than just physical wealth. I interpret that as monetary properties as well as character(mental aptitude, physical ability, skills learned, etc) properties.
"Lives" on the next line, to me, speaks to time/effort. When people say, "I dedicated my life to x or y...", that generally means they gave a significant amount of time and effort to that cause.
Is it better to be poor? Is there a surfeit of piousness associated with poverty? (all the holy men with no possessions theme, not sure what came first though). I've often found that people tend towards the respective latter...because they think it's not right to have ambition in regards to wealth and sometimes in regards to other material things.
This was my observation as well. I wanted to know if there was a specific Quranic verse dealing with this very thing. We have examples of modern-day philanthropists who give a lot of money to benefit a lot of less-fortunate people.
Also Carrot, thanks for trying to keep the thread on-topic.
On the topic of less-fortunate(read poor) people, I don't think the group should be homogeneously labeled with the group of lazy and dumb. I specifically work with refugees/immigrants who come to the US and are poor due to extraneous circumstances. Some were doctors/engineers/lawyers/dentists in their home countries, and are now driving trucks at Microsoft because their English is not good enough or they don't have the time/money to go to do residency in the US(doctors) or pay for the bar exam (lawyers) or can't open their own practice (dentists).
To be certain, some poor people are lazy, just like some wealthy people are lazy/dumb but were born into wealth. But that label doesn't apply to all poor people.
So considering the length of this thread, and nobody stating it, am I to assume that nowhere in the Quran is it stated that monetarily wealthy people will certainly have a more difficult time than a poor person reaching Paradise?
peace
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But when I read properties in that translation, I interpret that as meaning more than just physical wealth. I interpret that as monetary properties as well as character(mental aptitude, physical ability, skills learned, etc) properties.
What matter is how we used our "sense perception" to achieve the objective in the Quran. . .
On the topic of less-fortunate(read poor) people, I don't think the group should be homogeneously labeled with the group of lazy and dumb.
Maybe because we are from different countries, but if you look at some countries where Muslim is the majority, you can see that the more religious they are. . the dumber they will be. They are fanatics, create riots and zero tolerance with other religions. Sometimes they fight and killed people like animals over stupid things, and they have no ambition in life. They have lots of children which they don't take care, wife who support them, and they demand so many things from other etc, and give less or none to the society. So I would describe them as. . .
Deaf, dumb and blind - so they will not return. 2.18
http//i61.tinypic.com/2ic2vlg.gif
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So considering the length of this thread, and nobody stating it, am I to assume that nowhere in the Quran is it stated that monetarily wealthy people will certainly have a more difficult time than a poor person reaching Paradise?
I remember in the Quran a similar verse regarding wealth and its affect on reaching Paradise, but I don't remember specifically which.
Not that I've read. if you can recall which verse gave you that impression? Perhaps verses like 6415, 3186? From my reading, everyone faces tests, regardless of wealth/other factors. Monetary wealth does not seem to be a barrier, it's more like what you do with what you have etc. We could discuss which seems to be the more hazardous route with the more problematic factors in our opinions, but that is neither here nor there regarding what you ask.peace
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if you can recall which verse gave you that impression? Perhaps verses like 6415, 3186?
I think 6415 may have been it. Reading that now reminded me of the verses I mentioned from the NT before. God-willing, this time I read through the Quran I'll take diligent notes. I read through it 2x before but didn't take any notes...rookie mistake.
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Brother Hawk99, Insha'Allah, we'll both be amongst the winners on that day.
handshake
in the Quran is it stated that monetarily wealthy people will certainly have a more difficult time than a poor person reaching Paradise?
All things being even I would say yes because being wealthy is an added responsibility that the poor do not have,
and that stinginess is a bad character trait the righteous do not have rich or poor. 3/180Copied from " THE RIGHT PATH"
?It is not Al-Birr (righteousness) that you turn your faces towards east and / or west (in prayers); but Al-Birr (righteous) is one who;
- Believes in
a) Allah
b) The Last Day
c) The Angels
d) The Book (Qur?an)
e) The Prophets.
- Gives his / her wealth, inspite of love for it,
a) To the kinsfolk
b) To the orphans
c) To Al-Masakin (the poor people)
d) To the wayfarer
e) To those who ask
f) To set the slaves free.
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Performs As-Salat
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Gives Zakat
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Fulfill their covenant when they make it (meaning to keep promises)
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Are patient in extreme poverty & ailment and at the times of fighting (battles).
Such are the people of truth and they are Al-Muttaqun?. 2/177
We see that after Faith, the first requirement for a person to be righteous is that he gives their wealth; and this
requirement is placed even before Salat and Zakat. This explains that there is something more than just paying
Zakat that comes under Infaq-fi-Sabeelillah.?By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, Allah?s reward), unless you spend of that which you
love; and whatever of good you spend, Allah knows it well.? 3/92Thus, if someone wants to be a righteous person, he/she has to spend his/her wealth, without which he/she
cannot attain righteousness.The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the Way of Allah is as the likeness of a grain; it grows seven ears,
each ear has hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His
creatures? needs, All-Knower.? 2/261God bless
peace
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Are you thinking of this one
Quran - Sahih International
740 Indeed, those who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them - the gates of Heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle. And thus do We recompense the criminals.
Seeing as it is similar to this
Gospel of Matthew
1924 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.?
The Quran bit does not mention wealth, yes; however it does talk about people acting arrogant towards its verses and arrogance is often a characteristic of wealthy people I find. I have heard them say that they 'do not need God' as they have managed to get a lot of property and wealth for themselves all by themselves hehehe.
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Peace,
I love that expression. "Camel through the eye of a needle".
Well there is some truth behind wealth and that statement if it is one who becomes greedy and stingy due to his/her wealth and also arrogant.
God bless you