SPIRIT OF ISLAM MARCH 2O18

27 Spirit of Islam Issue 63 March 2018 This world is a testing ground and man has been given freedom, and therefore everything which a man receives is for a test, including wealth. Money gives you material comfort, but it cannot give you wisdom and learning. The best course for man is to live as a seeker of truth, wisdom, learning and an ultimate goal that is elevated. That is the only right way of life for man. What is that elevated goal for a man? It is intellectual development; it is to unfold the spiritual nature of his personality; it is to enhance his mental capacity. All these things are superior to man’s physical being. One who makes the acquisition of wealth his life’s goal, will of course, continue to receive bodily nourishment, but his soul will all the while remain starving. The intellectual part of his mind, continuously in an under-nourished state, will finally cease to exist. The activities of earning have to be kept within a certain limit and only then will man find time to attain the nobler goals. When man takes money as something which will fulfil his needs, he remains on the right path. He can travel along the road of life smoothly and successfully. But when he takes money as his supreme goal, he goes astray. For both men and women money-oriented thinking is the greatest source of distraction from the right path. Man is greater than money. Man should live for a higher purpose, and he should use money solely as his material base for constructive activity, such as acquiring knowledge, establishing educational institutes and providing essential services for the society. There are many such facilities which need money. Indeed without money it is very difficult to have a successful life on this earth. Money is a good helper. But it is not a good leader. A money-obsessed man is like one who has made money his leader. Money which is commensurate with needs is good, but excess money is bad. Save yourself from greed and then you will be able to save yourself from being overly money-minded. Money for the sake of money is bad, but money for the sake of some higher purpose is good; money as a necessity is good, but the money culture per se is a disaster. The money culture will keep a man at a very low level which does not behove the potential he is born with. o