اچھی زندگی

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever among you sees a man who is wealthier than himself and of finer appearance than himself (and on seeing him feels grief and longing over his own condition, becomes slack and negligent in giving thanks to Allah, and feelings of envy and jealousy toward that man arise in him), let him look at the man who is of a lower station than himself (so that, on seeing him, he may give thanks to Allah the Almighty for his own condition and be pleased with the Lord who bestows blessings)." (Bukhari and Muslim)

To save the members of society from mutual rancour and envy, jealousy and longing, and dejection and despair on account of worldly goods and wealth and rank and pomp, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has prescribed a great psychological method. It is human nature that when a person sees another wealthier than himself and in a better status and condition than himself, then either such feelings arise within him as make him dejected and despairing, grief-stricken and full of longing, and a complainer against the divine decree; or else envy and jealousy and the urge to get ahead of one another are produced within him, on account of which he tries by every means, lawful and unlawful, to raise himself higher, and in this way a strange kind of competition of show and a harmful social and economic race begins in society. So, to save from this state of affairs, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave the above guidance, the meaning of which is that when a person sees someone who is wealthier than himself, of finer appearance than himself, holding a higher rank than himself, and living in finer clothing and a finer house than himself — while that man is at the same time unaware of the reality that all these worldly advantages he has acquired are in fact, with respect to the Hereafter, a burden against him, in that on account of these very things, whose use he will not make lawful, he will be answerable in the Hereafter and will deserve punishment — then that person should look toward the man who is of a lower station than himself with respect to goods and wealth, appearance, and worldly status and honour, but who, with respect to his belief and thought and his speech and conduct, deserves a high station in the Hereafter. From the words of this hadith it becomes clear that the majority in society are people who are, economically and socially, in a state of moderation — that is, they neither hold a very high station nor belong to a very low one (generally the people who are called the middle class). It is another matter that this state of moderation is not uniform in nature, but rather it may be that one person is in a moderate condition relative to someone and another person relative to someone else. Therefore, whoever, having looked toward one above himself, then casts his glance toward one below himself, will surely be one who is in a good state.

In another hadith the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Look at the one who is beneath you in station, and do not look at the one who is above you in station; for doing so is most fitting for you, so that you do not belittle the blessing that Allah the Almighty has given you." (Reported by Muslim)

This hadith is in reality the complete solution to our present economic and religious problems, because by acting upon this hadith a spirit of patience and gratitude will be produced in a person. When he looks at the one above himself he will be patient, and on looking at the one below himself a substance of gratitude will be produced in him, and in this way he will be saved from all those thoughts and imaginings that ultimately become a cause of depression and tension.