At such a sensitive time...

At such a sensitive time, the Prophet (S) gave the Muslims four commandments which would not only act as a source of tranquility for their hearts, but would also make the path to removing the tension for the losses suffered at Uhud clear to them, and would assist them in their future victories.

The essence of the words spoken by the Prophet (S) contained in these commandments are in relation to the religion and material world: “Perform those things which are your primary and principal responsibilities…” As we know, people have one set of responsibilities which are their primary ones, however they also have others which are their secondary duties.

The main responsibility is the reformation of the next life, while the secondary program is the maintainence of one's life in this transient world which has been guaranteed by Allah (SwT).

All of this is in a manifest book.”[^2] On the other hand, we do not have a single verse in the Qur`an in relation to the next life which has given us a guarantee that everyone would be assured of entering into Paradise! From one point of view, Islam tells us that we should not busy ourselves with the life of this world and in reality, we have been commanded to spend most of our time in the remembrance of the next life.

Naturally, within one's self, there is something which pulls him towards the material world while the various spiritual dimensions seek to pull him towards the next life - however these forces are very weak. Thus, in relation to the material world, people are like robots, chasing things of the temporal world, while in relation to the next life, it is like the machine is moving rapidly around them which they can not catch up with!

Therefore, 'neglecting' the transient world does not mean that Islam wants people to be lazy, poor and not prosper in the economic spheres of life - no this is definitely not the case! The natural instinct of the human being is that he gravitates towards the material world and thus we see that the greatest teacher of humanity, the Noble Prophet of Islam (S), has told us that there must be a balance in both arenas!