In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad, and upon his pure Household, and may God curse all their enemies
In a narration related by Ammar Yasir, the Holy Prophet described some of the Commander of the Faithful’s characteristics. These characteristics are a lesson and a model for us to follow since they show us the path. Describing these characteristics is not just for the sake of praising and admiring him, rather the purpose is to show us a certain path. The Holy Prophet told the Commander of the Faithful, “God has adorned you with an adornment, which no other of God’s servants has been adorned with, and Allah loves this adornment more than all other adornments.”
The adornment given to you by God, the Exalted, is dearer to Him than all other adornments given to other people. What is this adornment?
This adornment is asceticism (zohd) in the world. Asceticism means a lack of interest in worldly things. It means not showing any signs of greed and not setting one’s goal to be the attainment of materialistic ease and this world’s embellishments. This is what asceticism means. Asceticism does not mean refusing to eat, to wear clothes, and to benefit from worldly comforts. No, it means not becoming attached to these. Because if there is attachment to these things, one will deviate from the path. The things that you become attached to are not always compatible with the truth, with one’s duty and the things that one is obliged to do. If you become strongly attached to such things, then when you come to a fork in the road, you will take the path leading in that direction. You will no longer move along the path of carrying out your obligations. This is what asceticism is for.
God, the Exalted, created you in such a way that you should not pursue the things in this world for your own sake. You build the world, but you do this for others. That is how it is. During the years when the Commander of the Faithful was prevented from ruling, he was not idle. The Commander of the Faithful was working constantly. One of the things this great Imam used to do was working on the land. He would dig wells and make the water flow, and then he would gift it as an endowment right there. He would give it to the poor and the orphans. He would earn money for the people and for the good of the public. He did not want anything for himself. He was not after things for his own sake.
Well, can you and I act in such a selfless manner? It is truly difficult. But we could act in such a way that we show less greed for things. We could do something to resemble, a little bit, the Commander of the Faithful. We could avoid running after the world so much for our own benefit. I am speaking of lawful means of course, not forbidden ways. Taking from the public funds or misusing the public funds is forbidden, for example. But even pursuing lawful means, we can stop running after the world so much and show less greed for our own personal benefit. Of course, it is fine to work hard for the people, for building the country, for bettering the world and for the good of the Muslims throughout the world. But we shouldn’t be greedy for our own personal benefit.
You did not ask the world for anything, and the world did not ask you for anything either.
This is important. This is the result. When you do not ask the world for anything, the world will naturally not be able to take anything from you either. It cannot use your determination, your strengths and your efforts for itself and worldly possessions.
One of the divine blessings and adornments given to you is that God has given you a love of the poor. Some people dislike the poor. They like the rich and would rather socialize with the rich. They dislike the poor and the penniless. The Commander of the Faithful is the direct opposite of such people. God, the Exalted, gave him a love of the poor. Of course, this characteristic was not particular to the Commander of the Faithful. The Holy Qur’an describes the great, divine prophets as possessing this quality as well.
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