Loving Things Of This Wolrd
In the context of the verse, there were religious people that had the idea that enjoying the blessings of God was not allowed, rather one should just worship HIm and that is all expected of this life, things like the “zinat” (adornments) which Ghamidi Sahab explains: “The Arabic word zīnat (translated as adornments) refers to an object which a person uses to embellish something to satisfy his aesthetic taste. Thus, dress and jewellery are the zīnat of the body; curtains, sofas, carpets, rugs, sculptures, portraits and paintings are the zīnat of the house; orchards, gardens and buildings and other similar things are the zīnat of the city; music is the zīnat of the voice and poetry is the zīnat of words. The sufistic interpretation of religion and sufistic religions consider these things to be an illusion, and generally regard them to be prohibited, undesirable, worthy of being forsaken and impediments to spiritual advancement. However, the Qur’ān does not subscribe to this view. It refutes all these religions, and vehemently says that all these things are lawful; in fact, in this verse, it chidingly inquires of the person who dares regard as unlawful what God has created for man? These last words are in fact a statement of argument that none of God’s acts are meaningless. If He has created these things, then the purpose is that people use them while giving due regard to His limits. Their mere existence shows that there is no undue restriction on their use.” The response of Allah is in 7:32 that the beauty and luxuries of this life are created solely for the satisfaction of His obedient servants. They can’t be condemned and Allah says this in a very strict tone as Ghamidi Sahab explains: “The parallel words in these sentences are suppressed in accordance with linguistic principles. I have expressed them in the translation. It is further evident from these words that benefiting from God’s favours is neither against faith, nor religiosity nor piety. God has in fact created all these things for the believers. The rejecters of God receive these through them as a by-product and because of the period of trial which they have to endure in this world. Thus, in the Hereafter, they shall solely be reserved for the believers; the rejecters will have no share in them; they shall be deprived of them forever: This is an amazing declaration of the Qur’ān. Contrary to general religious concepts and teachings of sufistic religions, it presents a completely different aspect of religious life. Instead of urging people to forego the pleasures of this world in order to attain the nearness of God and union with Him, it urges the believers to abstain from being spendthrifts but to benefit without any hesitation from all the objects of zīnat within the limits prescribed by God and to show gratitude for His favours.”