Spirit of Islam, June 2016

The fact is that there is a definite limit to the wealth that we really need. GREED TILL THE GRAVE Until the End The Quran refers to a condition of many people in the following words: Greed for more and more distracted you [from God] till you reached the grave. (102: 1-2) M ANY people make accumulating as much wealth as they can, the aim of their lives. That is what they keep themselves busy with, till at last, one day, death arrives and carries them away. They leave the world lamenting that they failed to acquire what they had spent their lives chasing. The fact is that there is a definite limit to the wealth that we really need. But for those who make accumulating wealth for its own sake the aim of their lives, there is no such limit. If it is to meet your needs that you seek wealth, when you have earned enough to meet your needs you will be content. But if you have made acquiring wealth for its own sake your life’s purpose, you will never be content. You will constantly hanker for more. You will always be discontent, and you will die in that condition. The well-known American businessman Bill Gates made making as much money as he could the aim of his life. That’s what he did for many years, till he became, in economic terms, the richest man in the world. Finally, however, he realized that his needs were, after all, limited and that the extra wealth that he had accumulated was, in terms of meeting his needs, pointless. He very rightly commented: Once you get beyond a million dollars, it is the same hamburger. Masterstroke The quality of adjustment makes a person capable of surviving with all kinds of people.