By Abdullahi Jamaa
You have read a lot about how to be successful. You have listened to motivational speakers about how to deal with life in this freaking world. Ideally, you have known all the highways and alleyways of success. But are you successful?
I have an answer…..
Perhaps you are already tired of reading ‘how to get rich’ or ‘how to be successful’ western books, because most of these books present success from a worldly point of view, ignoring the long and impending eternal future.
What can you learn from such books? Most of the time these titles are about chasing endless worldly dreams. Certainly, you cannot learn success from someone who has ignored a bigger part of human existence.
Well, I am not saying you should not read them. Read them as much as you can, because you will learn the bane of life from another angle. Read them for knowledge and experience but practically know that success is in your own deen.
In these books, what they don’t tell you is that no one has ever achieved all his ambitions in life. Life is scattered, everyone’s glass is half full and many others are almost empty. This is important to note because there is no one who is perfect in this world and who can claim perfection in all its aspects.
Where to find success?
While you have all the answers at your fingertips, you still consider that you are yet to score a better mark of accomplishment in your life. Basically, you think you are unsuccessful just because you have not achieved your dreams of life.
Your yardstick for measuring achievements is bent towards material accomplishments. Most of the time you procrastinate and dwell emotionally on achievements of families and friends. You end up with a bleeding heart and a racked mind. What for?
Today, I would like to remind you that you are successful in your special ways, the only problem with you is that you are not contented with what you have; you are worried about what you don’t have. You are seething with frustrations and depressed for nothing because you cannot achieve all your dreams in this world.
So many people you know are living from hand to mouth, unable to earn their daily bills yet they are the happiest people on earth. Their life marks an epitome of humility and simplicity. They may seem poor physically but they are rich internally. This is the power of contentment.
Again on the other hand, how many people you know are leading a luxurious life but they are the unhappiest people on earth. Their world is a mix of complex and boring life, far from enjoyment. They may have all the money in this world, rich physically but poor internally. This is a product of discontent.
For success to surround your plot of life, plant contentment, and satisfaction in your heart and mind. Once you do that you will have a wholesome harvest here on earth and in the hereafter. Your biggest assignment of life should be having a great feeling of richness in a sea of what seems to be a life of abject poverty.
Of course with the ups and downs of life, sometimes you may have a feeling that you are not achieving your targets on earth. This feeling should not overwhelm you. Just try to accelerate within the limits, make concerted efforts and move on with a positive vibe.
In Islam, life is about having contentment with your lot. You can achieve a lot with the little you have. Victory is achieved through contentment and satisfaction, not in avarice and endless desire for more and more. That way you will one day lick the dust. Kwaheri!
Work hard
Unless you doubt the promise of Allah (the Most High), you should not have a lasting feeling of resentment. Know that true success is a product of piety and remaining true to the tenets of our blessed religion.
“So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are [true] believers” Quran 3:139
And as said by the messenger of Allah (PBUH) richness is not an abundance of worldly goods, rather richness is contentment with one’s lot. He said, “happiness is due to him who is guided to Islam and possesses provisions that sufficed him for his day and remains content.”
Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Adham said: ‘If kings and their sons knew the pleasure in which we are living because of our religious contentment, they would have fought us over it.”
Contentment is the baseline for accomplishment in Islam. With it, there is a boundless blessing that abundantly emanates and nourishes the soul of a believer. It is a heaven of a spiritual richness that brings tranquillity to the heart and mind.
You should not misunderstand contentment as laziness and taking things easy. As Imam Ibn Jawzi once said ‘be a man whose feet are on the ground but whose head is in the highest of stars’. Contentment combines faith, endurance and hard work. Life should be regarded as a blessing and exploited to the full.
You are entitled to move ahead with life with a full sense of success coupled with a strong zeal to achieve lawfully what is within your power. If you achieve them with honesty and dedication thank Allah for this and enjoy His blessings in a dignified way.
In case your efforts bear no fruits, know that you are required to be patient with every situation. Maybe your day is not yet and when that day comes it will be so so special for you. In the meantime be contented with the little you own, with Allah’s blessings that will be enough to take you to the next threshold of success.
“Be patient, for the destination is seen. And those who truly know Allah ought to be happy, because they will be greeted with glad-tidings” Imam Ibn Jawzi
