Ramadan 2022 – Juz 26 – Reacting to ups and downs

قُلْ أَرَءَيْتُم مَّا تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ أَرُونِى مَاذَا خَلَقُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ أَمْ لَهُمْ شِرْكٌۭ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ ۖ ٱئْتُونِى بِكِتَـٰبٍۢ مِّن قَبْلِ هَـٰذَآ أَوْ أَثَـٰرَةٍۢ مِّنْ عِلْمٍ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ ٤

Ask ˹them, O  Prophet˺, “Have you considered whatever ˹idols˺ you invoke besides Allah? Show me what they have created on earth! Or do they have a share in ˹the creation of˺ the heavens? Bring me a scripture ˹revealed˺ before this ˹Quran˺ or a shred of knowledge, if what you say is true.” — Quran 46:4

All things in life — the purpose and our intention should be to please Allah. If we’re seeking something else, it is an idol of the heart, common ones are seeking money for it’s own sake or fame and status.

All of these things are temporary and mean nothing when it comes to heaven and the afterlife. Temporary symbols of luxury and ostentation seem trivial when we look at things with divine knowledge. When we think about things from a long-term point of view and consider what we’ll regret and cherish about our lives from our death-bed — even then it’s clear how trivial such temporary luxuries are. Our real goal will be the connections we shared with people, and doing right by them, hand in hand with the legacy we leave aiming to make the world a better place than when we found it.