why do people become MATERIALISTIC???

"Orang Utan" bec0me materialistic??hahahhaha very funy hasan!
yup,its true that what is the m0st imp0rtant thing that the AIM f0r the "material" in the hereafter but h0w?
s0metime its hard rght?
example,hp n0kia3310 and iph0ne4,which 0ne wil y0u ch0ose? b0th we can use for messaging and calling to do dakwah right?hehe

2030_17_hasif wrote:"Orang Utan" bec0me materialistic??hahahhaha very funy hasan!
yup,its true that what is the m0st imp0rtant thing that the AIM f0r the "material" in the hereafter but h0w?
s0metime its hard rght?
example,hp n0kia3310 and iph0ne4,which 0ne wil y0u ch0ose? b0th we can use for messaging and calling to do dakwah right?hehe

Actually, I don't think the Hereafter can be called a material world. Despite all the info we have received about them, the Hereafter is something that we can't accurately imagine. It's beyond the limits of our comprehension so yeah, I really don't think "material" would fit over there.

And your phone preferences don't matter. Unless the reason you want to buy something better is to show off.

2030_17_hasif wrote:"Orang Utan" bec0me materialistic??hahahhaha very funy hasan!
yup,its true that what is the m0st imp0rtant thing that the AIM f0r the "material" in the hereafter but h0w?
s0metime its hard rght?
example,hp n0kia3310 and iph0ne4,which 0ne wil y0u ch0ose? b0th we can use for messaging and calling to do dakwah right?hehe

when u have iphone 4 then u will say thats y its better than nokia3310 even in massaging and calling life is moving and everything has to be faster and easier tomorrow when the communication become 4G and everyone using the video-call. will u keep using n0kia3310? nt that only while u working or studying would n0kia3310 help u?

lol, even in an academic forum, topic derailing is inevitable... *sigh*

salamalikom may ALLAH bless all of you
First we should define materialism or materialistic attitudes, of course here we should not go to dictionaries, Google or any other western sources, because this will mislead us, as it is always doing. We should try to have an Islamic view towards every topic. A person is materialistic if he prefers his worldly affairs instead of his religious teachings. As an example if a person is asked by his religious duties to give Zakat and he does not, he is a materialistic person, if your friend is in need and you have more than your necessities and you do not brow him, you are materialistic. A person is materialistic if he earns money by unlawful ways that are forbidden by Islam.
But if a person is doing well in his duties and religious recommendations, he has the right to be rich, to be wealthy.
If we go deep in our religious teachings concerning this topic we will find that to be materialistic is to take money from wrong ways and to spend it into a wrong ways.

2_AOUIDAD wrote:salamalikom may ALLAH bless all of you
First we should define materialism or materialistic attitudes, of course here we should not go to dictionaries, Google or any other western sources, because this will mislead us, as it is always doing. We should try to have an Islamic view towards every topic. A person is materialistic if he prefers his worldly affairs instead of his religious teachings. As an example if a person is asked by his religious duties to give Zakat and he does not, he is a materialistic person, if your friend is in need and you have more than your necessities and you do not brow him, you are materialistic. A person is materialistic if he earns money by unlawful ways that are forbidden by Islam.
But if a person is doing well in his duties and religious recommendations, he has the right to be rich, to be wealthy.
If we go deep in our religious teachings concerning this topic we will find that to be materialistic is to take money from wrong ways and to spend it into a wrong ways.

The problem is, materialism is an English word. Islam does not bring new definitions to English words. Yes, Islam will be able to tell us the truth on why and how people become materialistic but the definition of materialism itself comes from its language. It doesn't make sense how western sources can mislead us on how a word is defined, because that depends entirely on how the word is used when people communicate, even if these people are non-Muslims. For example, even if they modify the definition of God to make it incompatible with Islam and the majority of the people begin to use the word "God" in this way, then we can't argue with them on what "God" really means. We can argue with them on what "ilah" means and explain that it is very different from their concept of "God", but we have no control over the English language. We'll just have to avoid using the word "God" ourselves and start using a different word for it when we speak in English. In fact, it is for precisely this reason that I try my best to avoid using English words like God, worship, and even religion, because their concept of these words is quite different from ours.

As for materialism, it is the attachment of the heart to material things. There is no reason to assume that a person who deeply loves money does not love Allah more. Yes, he does not love Allah the way He should be loved, but this does NOT mean that he is neglecting his Ibadah and indulging in the haram for the sake of pursuing wealth. Materialism =/= Explicit Shirk. I agree that it is perfectly fine for a Muslim to become rich and wealthy through halal means but if he has any strong love for this wealth, then it has the potential to corrupt his mind. Even though he's not doing anything wrong right now, this is something that should be eliminated before it gets stronger.

Oh, as for the materialism worldview that states that only matter exists, that is explicit Kufr. No discussions are necessary to illustrate this. The Admin's thread was not about that, and I highly doubt this thread (by the moderator) was about that issue either. It's about the love of money, which refers to the English word "materialism".

2030_17_nurhanani wrote:

2030_17_hasmida wrote: I personally thinks that all the people are materialistic. It our fitrah or our common sense to be in wealthy state, to have a better life and so on so forth. For example, if we are given a choice whether to choose a kancil car or BMW car, definitely we will choose BMW over kancil because it is more comfortable. It is our natural desire that we want luxurious life. Who in the whole world wants to be poverty state? So , it is not wrong to be materialistic as long as we have our iman to control our materialistic attitude.

interesting!

salaam,
BMW over kancil.................u must b from management section 6 .
my view is i have seen someone who enjoy at property state believe it or not.
but not me,of course i also prefer luxurious state
so plz note to dn't put everyone in a standard role.
like one of our bro said,a real muslim can never b too materialistic.

Assalamualaikum, bro n sis, being materialistic or realistic? please answer.
once, prophet Muhamad SAW make a dua' so that he lives as a poor person throughout his life. but being to poor would also lead to kufr. we can muhasabah our selves. one day prophet went out of his house during a sunny day, also went out was hhis companion Abu Bakr n 'Umar, then the meet at one road. the prophet asks: what make both of you come out at this sunny day. both of them replied that they were hungry. n the prophet said Demi Allah (by Allah) i come out because hungry to. then, prophet Muhamad SAW n his companions were invited to eat at his companions house.

there is also once that the prophet was invited to eat at his companions house and he ask permission to take some food back for his beloved daughter Siti Fatimah az-Zahra. he said: Wallahi! there have been no food in that house ( house of Fatimah n Ali) for three days.
We nowdays even eat at least once a day n never had starved for 3 days.

money is not everything, but almost everything needs money.

during the early hijrah years, there were also companions who were very rich like uthman al affan, they spend their money towards jihad fi sabilillah, not like us nowdays spending it for nike football shoes, gucci handbags, and blackberry.

say that you dont know where to spend your money wisely. well you can help by donating some potion of your money to islamic institutions and NGOs that help aid people around the world. Taamalu!

may this small writing help us in being a better muslim. =)

salamalikom dear brothers and sisters, thank you Hadi you have told us a nice and true statement but i want only to say two things, the first is that the prophet did not ask ALLAH to be poor the supplication is as follow اللهم اجعل رزق آل محمد قوتا
Which does not mean to be poor in the literal meaning as we should observe here that this is special to the prophet and it is not for all of us. the prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم taught us supplications and advised us to earn money and as you mentioned Utman may ALLAH be pleased with him was a rich companion as many other companions.
secondly as you have said dear brother the fact is that we are spending our money in non necessary things and Dr AbdelKABIR gave us examples about the difference between the necessity and a Luxury spending of money
May ALLAH grant us all

Still though, there isn't actually anything wrong with spending money for luxury, as long as it doesn't cross the line to the haram. Some people can still view that as a "waste" though, because that money can be used for things that would benefit us in the Akhirat, instead of this dunya. But the person actually isn't doing anything wrong by spending money on the luxury of this material world. He's simply just ignoring the opportunities to invest the money for the Akhirat, which would definitely be the better option by a huge margin.

Of course, if we spend too much wealth on the luxuries of this life, it may end up making us more attached to this material world. If we're not careful, this materialism can corrupt us and make us forget about the Akhirat. And the best way to handle a Fitnah is to prevent it from even reaching us in the first place.

salamalikom brothers and sisters
dear sajed thank you for your observations, but i want to say that the problem is not related to language because the concept of materialism is well know in all languages and in the same meaning is expressed in Arabic مادي so no wonder that we should always refer to our Islamic view towards things, the western worldview is found in every part of our life. as we should know that everything in this life should be seen through our religious teachings as it does not matter if this concept is in english, german or Arabic. . to be wealthy does not mean to be materialistic, Because ALLAH asks us in several verses to work to make trade and to try to earn goods and money. The only condition is to follow the HALAL way.
Dear brother you mentioned an important point that I have never thought about before, you said the use words like Gods, religion and so are not to be used because they have a specific meaning in English so we are not obliged to put them in Islamic context. Please dear can you explain more about this point.

2_AOUIDAD wrote:salamalikom brothers and sisters
dear sajed thank you for your observations, but i want to say that the problem is not related to language because the concept of materialism is well know in all languages and in the same meaning is expressed in Arabic مادي so no wonder that we should always refer to our Islamic view towards things, the western worldview is found in every part of our life. as we should know that everything in this life should be seen through our religious teachings as it does not matter if this concept is in english, german or Arabic. . to be wealthy does not mean to be materialistic, Because ALLAH asks us in several verses to work to make trade and to try to earn goods and money. The only condition is to follow the HALAL way.

Indeed, we should look at the Islamic view of things. However, my point was that the small traces of materialism in someone's mind is not actually haram. Yes, the only condition is to follow the halal way of earning money. But even then, it is still advised that you do not become too strongly attached to your money, even if you continue to stick to the halal methods and avoid the haram. That is what materialism is all about. The love of material things, even if you love Allah more. There isn't really an immediate problem if this happens, but if you're not careful, this attachment can eventually grow strong enough to corrupt you. So, even if you go through great pains to ensure that all of your actions are halal, it is best to avoid coddling the materialism within you.

Dear brother you mentioned an important point that I have never thought about before, you said the use words like Gods, religion and so are not to be used because they have a specific meaning in English so we are not obliged to put them in Islamic context. Please dear can you explain more about this point.

Uh, I haven't actually said that they are not to be used. I apologize if I wasn't clear. I only meant that I personally prefer to avoid using them. As to why, it's because non-Muslims generally perceive these words to mean something SLIGHTLY different. For example, if you tell a non-Muslim that Islam is a religion, he/she will likely think that Islam is like Christianity or Judaism which is restricted to beliefs and rituals. The word "religion" is nowhere near as encompassing as the Arabic word "Deen". Until you actually explain the depth of Islam, they may continue to misunderstand this concept without you ever realizing it. It's not always like that but I would still stick to using words like Deen and Allah and first explain what they mean, rather than just go straight to the point by using English words like God.

Speaking of which, God, for instance, seems to represent the Creator of all that exists, and an All-Powerful, Eternal Being. Which is perfectly okay and all, but when you consider the way other religions view God, it's not likely for people to assume that God is completely separate from this physical world that contains the universe and everything in it. In particular, they seem to assume that He is omnipresent even! With a capital O btw. So yeah, you probably won't ever hear me use the word "God" when I'm actually referring to Allah.

wah,very interesting topic..there are some lesson that we can get from here..good,keep it on..

nowadays people become materialistic because most of them are lack in islamic knowledges and also they just cannot defend their lush on things that they are admired most...

In my opinion ,I think the tendency of human (in the western world) to become a materialistic was because there is no clear and convincing answers about the (unseen world and the virtues) in the church which conduct to give up the religious interpretation and adopt the materialism philosophy.
when the westerner asks himself,what am going to get from the virtue ?
when the merchant asks himself,why don't i sell my products with expensive prices?why don't i take an advantages of people ?who said that virtues are better than making my family rich and happy?
who is God?,what is the soul?,why can't i feel my soul?
every thing has an entity is remarkable,and they aren't remarkable which mean they don't exist.
Therefore,in the 20th century the materialism started to become the absolute truth ,it has become like a new religion that prevails on all Strata of society,and people started to believe that technology will success to develop the humankind and it can handle political and social affairs,and people started to think that virtues can be derived only from Legislative laws and people don't need any divine sources to guide them in such contest.
besides,due to the availability of communication tools and the prevail of media,muslims (those who don't acquire enough knowledge about their religion) have been influenced by this philosophy and materialism provides lots of utilization projects that encourage some of those with stinky intention to follow this view.
even though,(all thanks due Allah) as practiced muslims all ambiguities have been clarified and perfectly conceived to us.It is because we have(the islamic worldview) and what it provides of explanations of the metaphysical world and that will keep us away of materialism and make us committed strongly to islam.

2030_17_ahmadali wrote:who is God?,what is the soul?,why can't i feel my soul?

Uh, a minor quibble but these questions don't pop up naturally inside an uncorrupted human brain. It takes a lot to actually bring a person down to the level where he begins to have doubts on these issues. However, the temptation of material things is something which is instilled inside every human being, and when it grows strong enough, it may begin to corrupt the person, eventually leading them to ask these questions, because their inclination to materialism causes them to doubt the idea of religion and accountability, which is their only barrier.

Also, a lot of people actually don't even think very deeply about this. Not all materialists actually resort to the idea that only matter exists to justify their pursuit of wealth, etc. A great number of these people are actually agnostics, who don't want to think about these issues at all. And some people have enough common sense to realize that the idea of atheism is very foolish, so they developed the idea of Deism. And even now, there are some Christians that don't believe in accountability because they believe that the "Redemption" (I'm not going to explain the blasphemous details, if you don't know what it is) purged the sins of all those that believed in it.

As what i mentioned in the title...in my point of view, having a simple life is much more better rather than be too materialistic...muslim can be materialistic but to some extent muslim should not..

the word materialistic itself did not confine to money only.. wallahualam.

yes... u are right.. as long we spend the money in the right way..

If u are Right.. then u spend the money on the right way.. if u are Left.. u spend the money on the Left way..

because by money you can do whatever you want. i dont think its bad thing or good its depend in they way you spend it

materialism.
is either a good thing or a bad thing depend on the situation.
if he/she is driven to0 much by the materialistic object such as money,cars n etc,it could be a bad thing.

but if they spent on the material things, for their good, and give benefit to them its good...

salam,,

2030_17_aisha.tahir wrote:

the word materialistic itself did not confine to money only.. wallahualam.

yup, totally agree with u. ustaz have mentioned bout this before.
but, our discussion for this topic is mostly about money.

emm, can i say that materialism is the opposite of spiritualism?? 0.o

i dont know... but mostly materialism reject supreme being and doctrines..but they trust the material/ things that have super power... confuse...

2030_17_amiza wrote:emm, can i say that materialism is the opposite of spiritualism?? 0.o

I believe the correct word here would be spirituality. Materialism is to focus on the material side of life, while spirituality is concerned with the spiritual aspect. Unless you're referring to certain BELIEFS (only matter exists, spirit communication, etc), in which case Materialism's direct opposite would be to claim that matter does NOT exist. Wait, what?