Difference between being Materialistic and Appreciating what is given to you.

BismillahirRahmanirRahim

Question : What is the difference between being ‘materialistic’ and appreciating what is given to you? What is it like being proud and happy?

Being materialistic is when you are so busy just with the material things. When you have it, your energy is up,  your mood is up. If you don’t have it, your energy is low, your mood is low, your faith is low.

Appreciating is when you have it and you start to appreciate more when you don’t have it. That is a difference. But when you are materialistic, when you don’t have it, you get upset. When you have it, you want more and  you always want to fulfil this desire. But when you are appreciating, you are going to say, ‘Syukur ya Rabbi that You have given this to me. Syukur ya Rabbi,’ understanding that it is Allah who gives and understanding that Allah can take it and saying, ‘Ya Rabbi, please don’t  test me with that.’ But at the back of your mind, you know you are not the one in control.

No materialistic person thinks that Allah is in control.  No materialistic person knows or thinks that it is Allah who gives. The materialistic people, they think that they are the ones who give, they are the ones who take, they are the ones who earn.

So, what is being proud and what is being happy?

We are very proud that we are Muslims. We are also very happy that we are Muslims. Say, ‘Alhamdulillah.’ Because Islam gives us honour. We should not be proud with things that do not give us honour. And if we are proud with things that give us honour, and not honour in the eyes of the dunya but honour in the eyes of Allah and His Prophet  and the Awliya Allah, if we say that we are proud because of these things that we have,  that Allah and His Prophet and the Awliya Allah they give honour to it, for example, Laylatul Qadr passed, say whatever night that you are celebrating, you are saying, ‘I manage to not sleep. I’m feeling very proud. Not feeling very proud that you are being arrogant, you are feeling yourself very special and other people they are low. You are feeling very proud in that you are appreciating the value that Allah has given to you the chance to be able to appreciate the Laylatul Qadr, and given you the power then to worship the whole night. Yes, we are very proud of Islam and we are very happy with it. But this is something also that we want the whole world to have.

Most people when we say that when they are proud of something that they have, they are feeling proud because they are the only one who have it and other people don’t have it. Once other people start to have it, then they feel more jealousy. You understand?

But Prophet and Awliya Allah they, want to give this pride and this ni’mat of Islam to everyone. Did holy Prophet (asws) give any preference to anyone? Did he say, ‘you, I don’t like, I’m not going to give Islam. You I like, I’m going to give Islam. You’re a bad person, I’m not going to give Islam. You’re a good person, I’m going to give Islam.’ He went to Abu Jahil and Abu Lahab, the more evellish ones, the most evellish ones amongst the Mushriks, and he did not stop giving them the message of Islam.

InsyaAllah ar-Rahman, whatever that we have that is good, if it is good for the rest of the Ummat, we wish to share it. I’m saying if it is good, because now we are putting the final decision back to Allah swt too. Not to us. Because so many times we think it is good to do something but in reality, it is not too good. so we are saying, let Allah to make the decision. I submit this. InsyaAllah, may it be accepted.

 SelamAleykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu.

Hoja Lokman Efendi Hz, Khalifah of Shaykh Abdulkerim el Kibrisi (qs) * OSMANLI DERGAHI- New York

July 31, 2014