| Answer: I am afraid your
perception is not true. The Almighty has created this world as a trial and
test for all of us. Everyone of us undergoes this trial in some form or the
other. It is not that only the poor and the needy are put through this test.
Affluence also is a form of trial. Here the trial is to test a person
regarding his attitude with the Almighty. He is tested on whether he shows
gratitude to the Almighty on His favours and blessings. As such, since a
person generally tends to forget his Lord if he is blessed with an affluent
life, this trial is perhaps tougher than that of a person who is put through
the trial of poverty and adverse circumstances; in such circumstances, a
person tends to remember the Lord more – or at least, has more opportunities
for this remembrance.
Moreover, affluence is just
one form of comfort a person may have. There are people who maybe affluent
and very rich, but still undergo various forms of mental worries, troubles
and tribulations.
Besides, having a strong relationship with the Almighty, the best way to
fight out the ups and downs of life is to always look at people who are
worse off and, believe me, a cursory glance would bring many to your mind.
One will begin to realize what one actually has in contrast with millions of
others. Where others have been deprived, he would find himself blessed with
many favours. Remember the story narrated by the famous Muslim sage, Sheikh
Sa‘dī: A person was found wailing because he did not have any shoes to wear.
One day, he came across a lame person and then he suddenly realized, what if
he did not have shoes, he had legs to walk barefooted contrary to the lame
person who did not even have the feet to wear shoes.
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