10- WORLDLY AMBITIONS (TUL-I AMAL)

The tenth of the diseases of the heart is worldly ambitions (Tul-i amal). It means one wants and desires a long life so that he may derive all the pleasures, joys and enjoyment. Desiring a long life for the purpose of performing worships is not considered as worldly ambitions. Those who have worldly ambitions would not perform their worships on their due times. They also stop making repentance. Their hearts are hardened. They don't remember death. Preaching and advice does not show any effect on them. Following hadiths communicate: "Remember often the things that will put an end to pleasures," and "If animals would know what you know about the happenings of life after death, you couldn't find any well fed animal," and "Anyone who remembers death constantly day and night will accompany martyrs in the Day of Gathering 'Qiyamat'." A person who has worldly ambitions (Tul-i Amal) always thinks of how to obtain worldly possessions and ranks and wastes his life to obtain them. He forgets about the next world and preoccupies himself with pleasures and enjoyments. Striving to earn enough money to obtain food stuffs which are necessary to support one's family members for a duration of one year is not considered as "tul-i amal". This one year's of food is called "Hawayij-i asliyya" and is considered among the things that are necessary to support life. Therefore, it is not included for the calculation of "Nisab" for obligatory almsgiving. Anyone having only this much of money would not be considered rich. A bachelor who does not have this much of money may store 40 days' of food stuff. Storing more than this amount causes him to lose his trust (Tawakkul) in Allahu ta'ala. Following was communicated in the hadiths, "The best among the human beings is the one who lives a long life and performs good deeds," and "The worst among the human beings is the one who lives a long life and performs evil deeds," and "Do not wish or ask to die. The punishments of the grave are very severe. Living a long life by obeying the laws of Islam is a great happiness." and "The hair of a human being, which becomes white while the owner of those hair ages in the way of Islam, will be lights 'Nurs' on the Day of Gathering 'Qiyamat'."

What causes worldly ambitions is one's love and attachment to the worldly pleasures and one's abandonment of the thought of death and finally one's being deceived by his false trust in youth and health. One should annihilate these causes in order to get rid of the worldly ambitions. The death might come at any moment and health or youth cannot stop the forthcoming death. According to the statistics death among the youngsters are greater than death among the older ones. It is often seen that many of the sick people recover while many of the healthy person dies away quickly with no apparent reason. One should learn about the disastrous effects of having worldly ambitions and benefits of remembrance of death. In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "Remember death often! Remembrance of death holds one back from sinning and also holds one back from doing those actions which would be harmful for the life after death." One of the companions, Bara bin Azib, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him, said, "We carried some dead person's body to the cemetery. Rasulullah, peace be upon him, sat down by the grave and started to cry and tears started to drop on the soil then he said, 'Oh my brothers! All of you get ready for this.'" Umar bin Abdulaziz, may Allahu ta'ala be well pleased with him, upon seeing a scholar, asked advice. The scholar said, "You are Caliph now. Therefore, you can order others but, soon you will die!" Caliph Abdulaziz asked him for more advice. The scholar then said, "All of your ancestors up to first man and prophet Adam, peace be upon him, experienced the taste of death. Now, its your turn." Caliph cried for a long time. Following hadiths communicate, "Death is a good advice giver. Anyone who wants wealth of the world should tell himself to have belief in destiny ("Qada" and "Qadar") and "The smartest among the human beings is the one who remembers death often. A person who remembers death often will be honorable in this world and have ranks in the next life," and "One should be ashamed of Allahu ta'ala. One should not waste his time by gathering things that will be left to others. One should not strive to obtain things that are not possible for him to obtain. One should not occupy one's life to construct extra buildings beyond one's needs," and "One should not built his house with construction materials which are obtained by forbidden ‘Haram’ means. Doing so will cause destruction of his religion and his worldly life." When Rasulullah, peace be upon him, heard that his beloved friend Usama bin Zayd, may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with him, bought a slave for hundred gold and will pay for it thirty days later, he said, "Weren't you surprised with this? Usama became a man of 'tul-i amal'." It is permissible (Jaiz) to purchase one's life necessities by credit. In another hadith Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "Anyone who wants to enter Paradise should not have worldly ambitions. One's busying himself with worldly occupations and business should not make him forget about the death. One should be ashamed of Allahu ta’ala while committing prohibited actions 'Harams'." It is forbidden for one to desire a long life with the intention of experiencing forbidden pleasures. Even though it is not forbidden to have worldly ambitions "Tul-i amal" in order to enjoy the permissible pleasures of life, still, it is not a good aspiration. One should not desire to live a long life but instead should desire a healthy and happy life.