لَن تَنَالُوا۟ ٱلْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنفِقُوا۟ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِن شَىْءٍۢ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌۭ ٩٢
Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah ] from that which you love. And whatever you spend – indeed, Allah is Knowing of it. (Al-Imran;92)
During my years as a student, especially as an SBP student, we were taught that to succeed in life a.k.a SPM, we must give it our all. Tidur pukul 1 pagi (semata-mata untuk study) dan bangun pukul 5 was a norm. While a normal teenager would spend their leisure time with melepak, watching movies, playing video games, and sleeping, we would be in our classroom, finishing our 10th homework of the week. And the weekends? Who needs them? Off to our extra class.
Those are just the few sacrifices that we had to endure as Budak SBP yang nak ambik SPM.
“Nak berjaya perlu usaha lebih, kena berkorban”, a common phrase that is always being used to motivate us. Even to this day, I would use the same phrase to remind my own students that, to succeed, you have to sacrifice. Sacrifice your time, money, sleep, wants, and desire to attain the ultimate goal of achieving your dream. I’m sure you would agree me. Cuz that’s not rocket science (“Untuk berjaya perlu berkorban”). That’s just how life works.
Then why would we think that success in the next life would be any different? They’re not.
While the idea of sacrifice in a worldly sense for worldly benefits has resonated well in the minds of people, sacrificing for the sake of our akhirat has become scarce. We would quickly seize the opportunity of the year-end sales, yet hesitate in making donations to charity. We would spend hundreds, even thousands (RM) to attend a business seminar, hoping it would give us the boost we need to up our game. Yet rarely do we spend our time and money for the betterment of our understanding and appreciation for the deen.
In other words,
Untuk kejayaan dunia its “I’ll give it my all!”,
Tapi sedihnya untuk kejayaan akhirat its “Aaa…Let me think about it”.
Why is that? When it comes to dunya, laju kita belanja. The new iPhone, new gadget, new clothes, new car. But when it comes to spending in the path of Allah, we hesitate, we give excuses, we decline.
In tafsir Tafheem Al-Quran, Syeikh Al-Maududi explains;
“If the love of anything seizes a man’s mind to such an extent that he is unable to sacrifice it for the sake of the love of God, then that thing has virtually become an idol, and until he smashes it the door to righteousness will remain closed to him.”
Maybe that’s the reason. Dunya has entered our hearts and we have allowed it to become our Idol. Our obsession. Like the stubborn toddler, who’s holding on to his parents’ phones tightly, refusing to give it back when being told to. Even though the phone was never his to begin with, he definitely thought it was, even for a brief moment. Until his parents came along and said,
“Anak kesayanganku, beri balik phone ayah”
Despite the toddler’s love and obsession over the phone, he would eventually give it back to the parents. Because a soleh toddler knows, obeying my father is more important than the phone. And because “I love you dad”.
You probably can guess by now, I’m not actually talking about a father and his son. I’m talking about us and Allah SWT. Where if we truly believe in Him, love Him and desire goodness (ٱلْبِرَّ) for ourselves, then prove it by letting ‘THE PHONE’ go (a.k.a. the things we love most eg; money, time, energy, worldly possession), sacrificing them in the path of Allah.
لَن تَنَالُوا۟ ٱلْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنفِقُوا۟ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ
Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah ] from that which you love. (Al-Imran;92)
Well, some might say,
“I don’t have anything to give. I’m barely living a life here. How am I to give when I myself don’t have? When I myself still struggling”
Then here’s my 3 responses;
First, it’s called a sacrifice for a reason. Sacrifice means it’s hard. It means we might suffer (in a worldly sense). But know that our sacrifice for Allah’s sake is never a loss.
Second, by Allah’s Mercy towards us, the ayat says مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ (from what you love). Meaning, He’s not asking for everything we own and love. He only asks for some of it.
And third. we might differ in terms of rezeki. Sure, some are richer than others. But regardless, there’s one thing that every child of Adam has been given the same, which is TIME. We all have 24 hours a day. And we definitely love it, especially during those free and leisure time. Most probably on the weekend and during the night. Thus, if we can’t spend in a material sense for the sake of Allah, then spend our time and energy instead. Spend our precious time by learning Allah’s deen during the weekend, by reading the Al-Quran during our 10 minute-break and by praying tahajud during the night. And whatever it is that you give, know that;
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌۭ
“Indeed, Allah is Knowing of it.”
Sure, there’s no doubt that success in this world has its perks. Eg; Gaji besar, kereta mewah, rumah besar, hidup senang lenang, boleh melancong sini sana. And I’m not even saying that we shouldn’t strive for it. Cuz the fact is, we should. But sometimes, amid those struggles, we need to pause and ask ourselves,
“What about our akhirat?”
The point I’m trying to make is not to abandon our dunya. But instead,
Seperti mana kita faham dan sanggup berkorban untuk meraih kejayaan di dunia ini, maka semakin itu lah kita perlu dan lebih sangup berkorban untuk memperoleh kejayaan di akhirat . Yang mana kejayaan di akhirat itu jauh lebih bernilai dan bermakna daripada dunya yang sementara
ذَٰلِكَ مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَٱللَّهُ عِندَهُۥ حُسْنُ ٱلْمَـَٔابِ
Semuanya itu ialah kesenangan hidup didunia. Dan (Ingatlah), pada sisi Allah ada tempat kembali yang sebaik-baiknya (Syurga). (Al-Imran;14)