The Temptations of Life and Power

Allah created man to be the Khalifah of the earth. God commands all servants in the heavens to honor him. All obey and obey The Command of Allah, except the haughty devil. As a result of the devil’s arrogant, he received an eternal punishment. And therefore, Adam the caliph was then seduced by the devil. What was this caliph tempted with? By devil, Adam was tempted to disobey his God who had affectionately created and appointed him caliph. Adam was tempted by eating khuldi (the devil’s enticements) which he believed could make him live and reign forever. This is the first sin of human.

No wonder we when Adam’s descendants, especially those who are too aware of his caliphate, are so easily seduced by life and power? In fact, it seems that the desire to live and reign continues, is a seed that is fused and born with human.

Perhaps even our children or even ourselves since school have dreamed of becoming doctors who can live and master their patients. Or engineers who can live and master the staff and builders.

It is mortal, where is there eternal life in this world? Where is there a driver for life? Where there are positions do not experience retirement and retired. Life and eternal power are but the boasts of satan. But often especially when we are still in power, the devil continues to tempt us with all the temptations of power and eventually we become neglectful. Forgetting that power is merely mortal.

So, you who are enjoying life and boasting of power as big or small as possible should note this Arabic verse in your heart: “if some day you carry the tap to the grave, remember that after that you will be carried anyway and if you are given some power over the people, know that one day you will be dismissed as well.

There are so many lessons and wisdom that we can learn from this test of power.

Power can be a field of reward for us and vice versa if we abuse the authority of power is precisely the sin and curse of God that we can. Whoever you are currently enjoying power for personal pleasure get ready to be a friend of the devil in hell. But when you become a wise and trustworthy person in managing the power prepare to pick up His jannah.

We should realize that the power that we have is the deposition of Allah SWT. Therefore, power is not an excuse for us to do anything wrong. Welfare of his own family and apathy towards the people. Power is a test, because if we are unable to stand the test of power it will lead to negligence.

In contrast to the trusted leaders, power is inseparable as a wasilah for shirk, charity and dedicate themselves to fighting for the welfare of the people. There are many leaders that we can set an example as a leader who successfully passed the test called ‘office’. Just look at how the prophet Muhammad SAW who never ignored the material benefits of what he got from the office.

During  leading the Muslims, he dedicated his life to the ummah. In fact, he had to be tortured and humiliated by the infidels. Nevertheless, his struggle to lead to the welfare of the ummah continued until his death. He never took advantage of the power he saw. (Extracted from the book Finding Clear Springs- Gus Mus)