WHAT PROFITETH A MAN . . .
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36
By Babatunde Jose
‘Those who crave riches seek them only to drive the fear of poverty out of their spirits; others seek for glory to free themselves from the fear of being scorned; some seek sensual delights to escape the pain of privations; some seek knowledge to cast out the uncertainty of ignorance; others delight in hearing news and conversation because they seek by these means to dispel the sorrow of solitude and isolation.’_ Salah al-Din
Allah in Surah Takathur, Quran Chapter 102, aptly translated as Rivalry for Wealth says: *The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things) Until ye visit the graves. But nay, ye soon shall know (the reality). Again, ye soon shall know! Nay, were ye to know with certainty of mind, (ye would beware!) Ye shall certainly see Hellfire! Again, ye shall see it with certainty of sight! Then, shall ye be questioned that Day about joy (ye indulged in!) (Quran 102:1-8)*
What does ‘crave’ for wealth mean? The Latin verb avēre, meaning “to crave” provides the groundwork for the word avaricious and its definition as “greedy or covetous.” The adjective is applied to anyone who craves great wealth and suggests that desire for personal gain is an overriding influence in the avaricious person’s life.
Why do some people crave money? People who have a sense of insecurity do not consider what they have enough. They always compare themselves with other people and end up feeling inadequate. They want to measure up to a certain standard and this drives an excessive desire to make money. This leads to all sorts of means of making money such as embezzlement, outright stealing and any other form of corrupt enrichment.
A wise man said, “The people who have the greatest degree of restlessness are the envious, those who have the greatest degree of happiness are the contented. Those who have the simplest and most pleasant life are those who most strongly refuse this world. The one who will suffer the greatest regret is the scholar whose actions contradict his knowledge.”
There is no doubt that the lust for worldly possessions leads to greed, avariciousness, and an inordinate propensity to acquire more and more worldly wealth, material benefits, pleasure, position, and power, which are seen as a sure avenue to increase their wealth. In the process they forget death and the Day of Judgement when we shall all meet our maker to answer for all our actions.
This one pursuit has so occupied them that they are left with no time or opportunity for pursuing the higher things in life. They mortgage their soul on the altar of acquisitiveness. After warning the people of its evil end the Quran says: *”These blessings which you are amassing and enjoying thoughtlessly, are not mere blessings but are also a means of your trial. For each one of these blessings and comforts you will surely be called to account in the Hereafter.”*
Sayyid Qutb, the ‘Martyr’ says of the first two verses: You drunken and confused lot! You who take delight and indulge in rivalry for wealth, children, and the pleasures of this life, from which you are sure to depart! You who are absorbed with what you have, unaware of what comes afterwards! You who will leave the object of this rivalry, and what you seek pride in, and go to a narrow hole where there is no rivalry or pride!
The passion for piling up more and more has made the people heedless of God, of the Hereafter, of the moral bounds and moral responsibilities, of the rights of others and of their own obligations to render those rights. They desire to have more and more means of comfort and physical enjoyment and, overwhelmed by this greed, they have become wholly insensitive to the ultimate end of this way of living.
In the book Sharh Hadeeth Maa Dhi’baan Jaai’aan… written by the great scholar Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali 1335-1393 he warned about the dangers of expending our energies in chasing after the transitory things of this world at the expense of the rewards of the Hereafter.
How man forgets so soon to learn from observing his environment. We do not learn from what became of those who amassed wealth yesterday. Where are they today? Ali Oloko, as rich as he was, death took him away; Adebisi of Idikan in Ibadan with all his palatial edifice succumbed to death; S. B. Bakare, Sobaloju of Lagos and Saloro of Ijesha, left without taking his Ijesha Lodge away; Mai Deribe of Maiduguri with his gilded edifice, answered the call of his maker.
What became of their wealth? Their Queens Drive Lodges, their Castles of Mercy, their Casa de Ibitayo, their 90-room edifice at Idikan and their 50-bedroom Hilltop mansions? What becomes of their Presidential Libraries, (and other epitomes of corruption)? How many lives did they touch positively before they departed? Where are their children and grandchildren today? What enduring legacies did they leave? The answer to these questions calls for sober reflections and contemplation.
What became of the great Imam Salu Onirakunmi of Lewis Street, my father’s maternal grandfather, one of the first men to go on holy pilgrimage from Lagos. In 1877 he and Imam Onipede left Lagos for the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. They returned to Lagos, after seven years, on 31st August 1884 to a rousing welcome by the people of Lagos. The pilgrims gave Oba Dosunmu Zam Zam water which he ordered to be poured in a very large basin of water from which the public partook. Today, only the Onirakunmi mosque in Lafiaji stands as a memorial to the great man.
Chief Candido Joao Da Rocha (1860–1959) was a Nigerian businessman, landowner and creditor who owned Water House on Kakawa Street, Lagos Island. Born in 1860 in Brazil, Candido Da Rocha was the son of Joao Esan Da Rocha— a returnee slave from Brazil, of Ijesha extraction. He was a millionaire in those days and very generous. The Da Rochas, Johnsons, Doherty of Odunlami, and the Olowus, were foremost wealthy people. They didn’t wash their clothes in Nigeria, they sent them abroad for laundry. Where are they today?
We know of men who had lost their lives because they were heedless of the plight of their servants. Sometimes they are unkind and wicked to their servants and yet they want God to be merciful on them. They forget that mercy begets mercy and forgiveness begets forgiveness. They read their Lord’s Prayer upside down!
Yet, we know of men of wealth who have not added to their collection of watches in 30 years, who have not changed their furniture in 25 years, who have not added a new car to their fleet, who sponsor the children of their domestic servants to school up to university and build houses for them, ensure they never go hungry and empathize with them in their moments of grieve. They are not only employers of labor but are compassionate and kind and engage in philanthropy.
About the blessings that accrue to man in consequence of his own labor and skill, he will have to render an account as to how he acquired them and in what ways he expended them.
The Messenger of Allah said, _“Three things follow the deceased person to the grave, and two of them return while only one remains behind with him: The things which follow him are: his family, his wealth and his actions; his family and his wealth return while his actions remain.” (of those three things, the only one which benefits him is his actions)._
Let us remember the day we would meet our maker and open our palms, and say: ‘Lord, I have brought nothing. See my empty palms’. We come with nothing and will go with nothing.
*O Allah we thank thee for all You have blessed us with. We recognize that it is not by our power but by Your Grace. May the wealth You have bestowed on us not be the source of our perdition; especially that wealth which we stole.*
Lest we forget: *“A well-dressed soul in this world, may be naked in the hereafter.”*
*Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend.*
*Babatunde Jose*
