Different definitions of Success for Different People
Success can mean different things to different people, i.e., each person has his/her definition of success. But look at what ALMIGHTY says in the Holy Quran about successful believers [in one God and bearing witness that Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) is His Messenger]. I am not a scholar of Islam but I just wanted to throw light on the concept of success in Islam, that’s all! Before I cite from the Holy Quran, let me tell you that there are a total of 30 Juz/Chapters which in turn contain 114 Surahs. 89 Surahs were revealed in Mecca while the rest 25 were revealed in Madinah.
Qualities of Successful Believers
ALMIGHTY ALLAH says in the Holy Quran in Surah 23 (Juz/Chapter 18, ‘The Believers’(Surah Al-Mu’minun – 1-118 – Quran.Com, n.d.) the following regarding successful believers –
“23:1). Successful indeed are believers:
23.2). those who humble themselves in prayer;
23.3). those who avoid idle talk;
23.4). those who pay alms tax;
23.5). those who guard their chastity
23.6). except with their wives or those ‘bondwomen’ in their possession, for then they are free from blame,
23.7). but whoever seeks beyond that are the transgressors;
23.8). ‘the believers are also’ those who are true to their trusts and covenants;
23.9). and those who are ‘properly’ observant of their prayers.
23.10). These are the ones who will be awarded
23.11). Paradise as their own. They will be there forever.”
Few terms associated with Success
Like I said before, I am not a scholar of Islam so I will just discuss some of the terms mentioned in the verses above or share synonyms of the terms. Alms tax is called Zakah/Zakat in Arabic meaning purification and growth. When one pays Zakat and charity, s/he is purifying his/her wealth. Guarding one’s chastity is guarding one’s private parts. With all the open indecent acts going on around us, it is indeed very difficult to keep one’s mind and heart pure. But if our desires are satisfied in the Halal way (marriage), then this should not be a problem at all!
Sex, Promiscuity….
I guess the above points are pretty easy to understand by everyone. Nearly every aspect of life has been covered beautifully in the above points of successful believers. There are so many diseases, especially sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) which are transmitted by casual sex. Promiscuity is another example of people’s sexual desires gone haywire. With respect to idle talk, I don’t know how much of it is happening currently throughout the world. With the abundant social media platforms, and different channels of communication like the telephone, mobile phone, etc.; idle talk has become the sine qua non of today’s communication. I wish people put their time into more useful causes!
Time – The biggest commodity we take for granted and waste!!!
The greatest commodities of all is time. Time is money, many people say. The ALMIGHTY HIMSELF is time! And we waste so much of our time on useless pursuits, watching stupid shows on TV, and the internet! Wake up from your deep slumbers before it is too late. ‘Make hay while the sun shines’ is an old saying. ‘Make good use of your time in this world before you become dust’ should be remembered by us all. And acted upon with sincere determination and noble intention. Ameen. Summa Ameen.
References:
Surah Al-Mu’minun – 1-118 – Quran.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https://quran.com/al-muminun