Islamic Civilization. Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi

Engaging in and dealing with a Temporal Life

      The Qur’ān instructs:

       O people! Eat of the lawful and pure things in the earth and follow not in the footsteps of Satan. For surely he is your open enemy; he only commands you to do evil and commit acts of indecency and to ascribe to Allah the things concerning which you have no knowledge.

      [al-Baqarah 2: 168-169]

       Believers! Do not hold as unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful to you, and do not exceed the bounds of right. Allah does not love those who transgress the bounds of right. And partake of the lawful, good things which Allah has provided you as sustenance, and refrain from disobeying Allah in Whom you believe.

      [al-Mā’idah 5: 87-88]

       Say (O Muḥammad): ‘Who has forbidden the adornment which Allah has brought forth for His creatures or the good things from among the means of sustenance?’

      [al-Aʿrāf 7: 32]

       He enjoins upon them what is good and forbids them what is evil. He makes the clean things lawful to them and prohibits all corrupt things and removes from them their burdens and the shackles that were upon them.

      [al-Aʿrāf 7: 157]

       It is no offence for you to seek the bounty of your Lord.

      [al-Baqarah 2: 198]

       As for monasticism, it is they who invented it; We did not prescribe it for them. They themselves invented it in pursuit of Allah’s good pleasure.

      [al-Ḥadīd 57: 27]

       And certainly We have created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind; they have hearts with which they fail to understand; and they have eyes with which they fail to see; and they have ears with which they fail to hear. They are like cattle – indeed, even more astray. Such are utterly heedless.

      [al-Aʿrāf 7: 179]

      All these verses from the Qur’ān show that it is not proper for man to renounce a temporal life, for it is not something to abstain or run away from. The immense blessings and embellishments of worldly matters and businesses are lawful and cannot be self-proscribed or added to a forbidden list. This world has been made for human utilization. Therefore, it is man’s duty to use and use well. However, during this process of consumption, he must make a distinction between good and bad usage, between manners appropriate and inappropriate, between the pure and the impure. For instance, the eyes have been given for vision, the ears for hearing, and the intellect for good judgement. If the individual were to refrain from using his mind or any part of his body, or were to use it improperly, then there would be no difference between him and a lower animal.

The Assets of Worldly Life

      The Qur’ān’s directives about leading life are as follows:

       Surely Allah’s promise is true. So let the life of this world not beguile you, nor let the Deluder delude you about Allah.

      [Luqmān 31: 33]

       The wrong-doers kept pursuing the ease and comfort which had been conferred upon them, thus losing themselves in sinfulness.

      [Hūd 11: 116]

       (O Prophet), propound to them the parable of the present life: it is like the vegetation of the earth which flourished luxuriantly when it mingled with the water that We sent down from the sky, but after that the same vegetation turned into stubble which the winds blew about. Allah alone has the power over all things. Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world. But the deeds of lasting righteousness are the best in the sight of your Lord in reward, and far better a source of hope.

      [al-Kahf 18: 45-46]

       Believers, let your possessions and your offspring not make you negligent of Allah’s remembrance. For whoever does that, they will be the losers.

      [al-Munāfiqūn 63: 9]

       It is not your riches nor your children that make you near-stationed to Us, except for him who has faith and acts righteously.

      [Saba’ 34: 37]

       Know well that the life of this world is merely sport and diversion and adornment and an object of your boasting with one another, and a rivalry in the multiplication of riches and children. Its likeness is that of rain: when it produces vegetation it delights the tillers. But then it withers and you see it turn yellow, and then it crumbles away.

      [al-Ḥadīd 57: 20]

       What, you build a monument on every hill merely for fun, and erect huge palaces as though you will live forever.

      [al-Shuʿarā’ 26: 128-29]

       Do you believe that you will be left here to live securely in the present state, amidst gardens and springs, and cornfields and date-palms laden with juicy fruits? You hew dwellings in mountains and exult in that.

      [al-Shuʿarā’ 26: 146-49]

       Wherever you might be, death will overtake you even though you be in massive towers.

      [al-Nisā’ 4: 78]

       Every being shall taste death, then it is to Us that you shall be sent back.

      [al-ʿAnkabūt 29: 57]

       Did you imagine that We created you without any purpose, and that you will not be brought back to Us?”

      [al-Mu’minūn 23: 115]

      Thus it is clear how the Qur’ān sees the world and states that it has been created for human use – and that it is to be used well. Now, we see the other side of the picture being presented. It is made abundantly clear that man has not been created to be used up and devoured by the world. Indeed, man is not supposed to lose himself in the world. Deceived by the lure of the world, human beings cannot fool themselves into believing that they are here to stay eternally. It must be remembered – and remembered very clearly – that all this material wealth and means of pomp and glory are temporary, fleeting pleasures. Everything must end in ‘death’ and like man himself all matter will be united with the ‘dust’. In this impermanent universe, if anything is to outlive the material milieu it can only be good actions, beauty of heart and soul, and piety of thought and action.

Responsibility and Accountability for Actions

      The Qur’ān alerts man thus:

       The Hour of Resurrection is coming. I have willed to keep the time of its coming hidden so that everyone may be recompensed in accordance with his effort.

      [Ṭā Hā 20: 15]

       Will you be recompensed for aught other than what you do?

      [al-Naml 27: 90]

       And that man shall have nothing but what he has striven for, and that (the result of) his striving shall soon be seen, and that he shall then be fully recompensed, and that the final end is with your Lord.

      [al-Najm 53: 39-42]

       Whoever lived in this world as blind shall live as blind in the Life to Come; rather, he will be even farther astray than if he were (just) blind.

      [Banī Isrā’īl 17: 72]

       Whatever good deeds you send forth for your own good, you will find them with Allah. Surely Allah sees all that you do.

      [al-Baqarah 2: 110]

       And have fear of the Day when you shall return to Allah, and every human being