FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Prof. Farida Khanam is an author, editor, translator, public speaker and former professor of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Among her books are ‘A Simple Guide to Sufism’ and ‘A Study of World’s Major Religions’. She has translated into English many books authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently the chairperson of CPS International, she is a regular contributor of articles to various publications. Prof. Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
WORLDLY GAIN, SPIRITUAL LOSS
ONCE, I was told by a friend of mine about how well she had done in securing a job with a big company. The job brought her a decent salary. It was good news indeed, but then she also revealed that she had lost interest in her household duties and socializing. She had become preoccupied with her office work. She did not even feel like spending time with her husband and children. All of this information was communicated to me in a matter-of-fact tone. It seemed that this behaviour was expected of her and quite normal. Her mind had become so tuned to her office work that she had stopped missing her social activities.
This made me think about the willingness of people to become so totally absorbed in mundane activities for a lucrative monthly salary. Here was someone who was prepared to put her heart and soul into her work, to set all other loyalties aside, to become immersed in it to the exclusion of all other considerations. What could be the reason for this great change? It was due to the expectation of financial gain that the salary would provide. For spending a few hours in office, people mould their entire lives accordingly. Even when they know that around 10-12 years of their life on an average is spent on a job—people consider it necessary to undertake such jobs whilst sacrificing many other interests.
All around us we find examples of such people, engrossed body and soul in their work, devoted to the banalities of commerce. Ask anyone of them to help in God’s cause, and you will be met with indifference or, at best with half-heartedness. There will be no zeal and dedication for this work. And whatever little help is offered in terms of effort or money will be regarded by the donor as more than enough. There will be no parallel with the lady who is not satisfied just by working at her office, and who continues to be preoccupied by her work even at home. There will be no show of the kind of interest which develops when one is wholeheartedly devoted to the task at hand.
Why is there such lack of fervour for spiritual goals? This seems very strange when we all know that the rewards God has promised for working for His cause are hundreds of thousands of times higher than worldly rewards for everyday tasks. Even a single moment spent in this world on furthering God’s cause is valued at much more than one month’s salary. Then why do people fail to show comparable seriousness and devotion in purely spiritual matters? The answer is perhaps not far to seek. Worldly returns bring immediate and obvious benefits. It requires no special perceptiveness to grasp this. But, to understand the rewards to be gained in the Hereafter, one needs to have patience, wisdom, and above all, insight.
People only pay lip service to their belief in God and the Hereafter, for all their attention is focused on this world and its gains.
People only pay lip service to their belief in God and the Hereafter, for all their attention is focused on this world and its gains. That is why they are all too willing to devote themselves to any job in this world which will bring them a few thousand rupees, regardless of the fact that this may cause them to lose the limitless ‘thousands’ of the world to come.
Prof. Farida Khanam
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.