Islam As It Is
man, know theyself!
~ 13 ~
in their faces are directly connected with success or
failure in the fulfillment of material ambitions. No
one cares about tomorrow. Everyone wants his
share of the good things of life right this minute,
and even being accepted and liked by other people
would appear to depend on the type and amount of
one’s possessions.
Everyone, in fact, wants the world. No one wants
the afterworld. No one, indeed, even thinks about
it. And this state of affairs is to be found not only in
our big cities, but even in the tiniest of villages.
Wherever one goes, people have the same
obsessions. Male and female, rich and poor, young
and old, townsman and countryman, religious or ir-
religious - all are running in this same direction. All
are frittering away their precious time and talents
on material gain. What an obsession! No sacrifice,
however dubious in character, is too great if it
brings them such things. Even faith and conscience
are sacrificed at the alter of worldly gain. No
compromise is too base.
Success of this kind, however, is trivial and without
meaning, for it will be of no avail in the after-life.
