Chapter X: Remembrance of Death
Another class of rich men board money and worship in such a way in which no expenditure is necessary, such as fasting and keeping awake at night. They live in error as they earn miserliness which is harmful. They are like the person who is net destruction as a serpent entered his cloth but instead of removing the serpent, he keeps himself busy in cleansing his cloth :
Miserliness is so strong on others that they don't spend in good works except in payment of Zakat. They pay Zakat also to such poor persons who serve them and help them in their works.
THREE MEANS OF GAINING FORTUNE THE NEXT WORLD
In order to save from the above erroneous beliefs and ideas, three means should be adopted intellect learning and knowledge 6f a thing. Intellect means the inborn light with which a man knows the true nature of everything. If it does not arise in early years, it does not become possible to earn it in future. It can be increased by experience and other methods if there is existence of
Vol-III Condemnation of Error 295
sharp intellect. The Prophet said : Blessed is He who distributed intellect among His aervants in different measures. Once a man asked the Prophet : What is the rank of the man near God on the Resurrection Day who fasts the day, prays Tahajjud, performs Haj and Umrah, gives charity in the way of God, makes jihad, serves the diseased, remains present in funeral prayers andhelps the weak? The Prophet said : He will get rewards according to is intellect. Once a man was prasiing another man before the Prophet who asked : How is his intellect, as a fool commits sins more than the sinners owing to his foolishness. Once the people mentioned before the Prophet about a man's great devotions. He asked. How is his intellect ? The people said : He has got no intellect. He said : He has not reached the rank which you wish to give him. It appears that sharp in tellect is a special gift of God.
The second means of removing erroneous beliefs is knowledge. This includes knowledge of four things — (1)
knowledge of oneself, (2) knowledge of God, (3) knowledge of the next world and (4) knowledge of this world. Man is a sojouner in the world. He has been given beastly nature and also spiritual nature to know God. When one will know these four matters, love for God will arise in his mind. When he will act everything to please god and for the next world, he will find guidance. When he will like the present world in preference to the next world, and his passions and low desires in preference to the pleasure of God, it will become impossible to save himself from erroneous beliefs.
The third means of removing erroneous beliefs is learning.
The merits of learning have already been described in the first book of worship and as such they need not be repeated here.
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