In addition...

In addition, Islam believes not only in these criteria for man’s lifetime but also for every moment of one’s life; that is to say, Islam says that within one hour man can make the value of his life reach its peak. Within one hour man can make himself prosperous forever and attain eternal and infinite bliss or can make himself villainous and wretched within that same hour.

Therefore, the criterion of value in Islam, is the competence and worthiness of an individual and his righteous intention and from the viewpoint of Islam even the benefits that a person grants to society are not a standard of measure even if the value that the society has placed on that person is equal to the benefits that the person has imparted to the society.

All too often, it is possible that the value which a society grants to an individual is not only refuted by Islam, but Islam may also grant that person negative value due to the fact that the individual is corrupt inside and has a reprehensible and contaminated interior covered by a deceptive outward appearance.

For this reason, it is possible for an individual to confer many benefits upon the society, but to be ill-fated himself, like a scholar that teaches religious sciences and from whom others derive benefit and attain prosperity but he himself suffers misfortune because he does not practice what he preaches and ends up in the hellfire. Or a rich man who spends his wealth for the society and alleviates the needs of the deprived with the intention of attaining fame, power and position.

Without the least doubt, from the viewpoint of Islam his deeds have no value whatsoever. That which grants value to man’s existence and deeds is his relationship with eternity and the infinite world. This relationship is a relationship that comes from the heart and is attained under the auspices of a righteous intention and attentiveness of the heart to Allah. Therefore, if deeds are performed for the sake of Allah, they have infinite value whether they are visibly small or large.

In addition, it is natural that the more man’s knowledge about Allah increases and the purer his intention becomes, the greater his own value becomes. Reciprocally, the more the purity of his intention decreases and the more his intention is to draw the attention of people and popularity as well as gain social position, the more the value of his deeds decreases even if his deeds are innumerable.