Gems from Juzz 'Amma: "It distracted you.."

~ Gems from Juzz 'Amma ~

Day 25 / Gem 25

Surah Takathur, ayah 1: "It distracted you.."

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ

"The piling up of worldly things diverts you."

[Takathur:1]

It deluded you..

What did? Al Takathur deluded you/distracted you.

Takathur - kathra - katheer means, 'alot / plentifulness.'

Meaning:

1 – The desire of having alot – distracts you.

“i want more money, a better car, a bigger house”.

2 - Competing with others in getting alot.

I.e. Competing in wanting to get a better job than someone else. Even in petty things like; Competing in wanting a better chair than another co-worker in the workplace.

Even in social issues; i.e. Weddings, “we need to have a more expensive wedding than theirs.”

Even amongst children; “I want to have his toy.”

3 – Taking Pride in the Fact that you have more:
I.e. “I just got that brand new car for a special offer before anyone else found out about the offer.” “I’ve got that brand new house which everyone wanted.”

4 – You want more and more:

All of you have the same thing – not one of you wants less, you all want more and more. The one thing that unites humans is the fact that you all always want more.

Allah is saying, this attitude – it deluded you, it distracted you.

But distracted you from What?

Some scholars said it distracted you from:

- The truth.

- The One who sent the truth (Allah/God)
Your worldly affairs kept you away from Allah.

- Looking into yourself: “What am I doing in life? What is my purpose?” You waste your life in worldly pursuits, forgetting what your real purpose is.

- Paying Attention to this Message: It was supposed to give you guidance in this life.

- In surah al Qari’ah; This distraction distracted you from Judgment Day: preparing for it.