With numerous researches conducted on the social,
economic, and political upheaval caused by
the oil boom in the past few decades, I discovered
that little was stated about its impact on the moral and
spiritual state of the Peninsula. This was understandable
considering that esoterica of the human heart is the expertise
of the prophets only. They are sent with the stated mission
to bring mankind to submission to Allah, which is not
possible until the heart is fully affirmed in its belief in Allah
and completely surrendered to Him. Once, Abu Ubayda g
returned with a collection of jizya from Bahrain. Some of
the poor Sahaba l from surrounding areas found out, and
the masjid was full the next morning at Fajr. The Prophet
a looked around, smiled, and then said, “I see that you
have learned that Abu Ubayda has come with something.”
“Yes, O Prophet of Allah,” they replied. He said, “Receive
glad tidings and hold your hopes in that which will make
you happy. I swear by Allah, I do not fear your being struck
by poverty, but that the material world will be expanded
for you as it was for the people before you. Then, you will
compete with each other as they did and it will destroy you
as it did them” (Bukhari, 5/84). Destruction here does not
refer to hardships and tragedies but decadence of the heart.
The more prosperous one becomes, the less dependent on
Allah they become. They develop more arrogance and vanity
within themselves. As wealth increases, the more one
is convinced of their immortality even while they know
that they are edging closer to death each day. As Allah says,
“Who accumulates wealth and counts it. He thinks that his
wealth will make him immortal” (104:2-3). No Muslim or
non-Muslim believes that wealth can prevent death; the
ayah means that wealth and assets will make one so engrossed
in the dunya that they will be forgetful of Allah as
if they never knew that they will die one day and be raised
before Him on the Day of Judgment.
The hadith of Jibril e is a famous hadith which found in
Bukhari, Muslim, and all the major hadith books, is called
“The essence of all the prophetic hadith (Sunna)”1 by Imam
Qurtubi and “The fundamental of Islam” by Imam Nawawi.
2 It encapsulates the essential creed, practice, and spirituality
of a believer and two major prophesies that provide
a framework to understand the condition of Muslims in
the Last Days. The fact that Jibril e was sent to teach these
essentials impresses the fundamental importance of this
hadith, which is why our predecessors have stated that
every believing man and woman must learn and study this
hadith.
One of the inquiries Jibril e made in the hadith was about
the coming of the Hour. The Prophet a replied that he did
not know. Jibril e then asked him to enumerate signs by
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