The Multiplier of Intention: Worldly Desires and Surrender
28 March 2021
Where Do We Turn after an Argument?
When we argue with someone close to us, it is often their words that stay in our minds. We think, “How can they say this to me? How can they fail to see what I have done?” We notice later how much we raised our own voice or which of our sentences was hurtful. As we consider the Prophet Musa’s return and the tension he experienced with his brother in Surah Al-A’raf, we need to look at ourselves as well. We may have approached an event angrily. But what we do afterward also matters. Do we carry our anger as proof of being right, or do we try, once calm, to see the parts we knew incompletely?
The lesson draws particular attention to the Prophet Musa’s asking forgiveness for himself and his brother. His looking first at his own part recalls a question very close to us: After an argument, do I want only the other person to change? Can I say, “My Lord, forgive me too”? Acknowledging that we made a mistake does not mean losing our worth. It means using the opportunity to correct our wrong. Before a close relationship turns into years of estrangement, let us stop and think. Is the pride we have inflated after a remark truly more precious than the relationship we are trying to protect?
Along with Supplication, Let Us Return to Where We Caused Hurt
The Prophet Musa’s supplication also asks for mercy. People’s needs are not only food, drink, or money. Loving, being loved, trusting, and being able to live in peace are also important parts of our lives. The coldness felt within a home after an argument sometimes diminishes the pleasure of all the resources we possess. So when turning to our Lord, let us not ask only for a material solution. Let us also ask to recognize the hardness in our hearts, find the right words, and truly listen to the other person. Repairing a relationship may also require a change in our own behavior.
Praying does not replace apologizing to the person we hurt or making amends for the harm we caused. When turning to our Lord, we are not escaping our responsibility; we are trying to undertake it more honestly. If I spoke wrongly, I can acknowledge it. If I judged the other person without listening, I can listen again. If the person with whom I want to reconcile is not yet ready to speak, I can leave a door open without forcing them. Of course, not every relationship is the same; there are also situations requiring the protection of safety and boundaries. The call here is to be able to look justly at our own part in every situation and not forget compassion.
Doing Wrong Does Not Close the Way Back
This part of Surah Al-A’raf also describes taking the calf as a deity, its consequences, and those who repent afterward. The lesson considers the possibility of returning after different wrongs. Sometimes people magnify their mistake so much that they think they can no longer improve. Sometimes they do the opposite: They minimize their wrong by saying, “Everyone does it.” Both attitudes can keep us where we are. The first closes off hope; the second removes responsibility. Yet seeing that a wrong is wrong and believing that change is possible can go together.
Repentance is not merely speaking of what happened in the past; it also concerns our direction today. What do I not want to repeat? Which habit should I change? From whom do I need help? If we remain within the same behavior without considering these things, our words have not reached our lives sufficiently. But when we struggle once more, let us not disregard all our effort either. We can stop again, recognize our mistake, and return to what is right. Remaining open to learning instead of presenting ourselves as flawless is a more sincere path. Let the hope of forgiveness be support for leaving the mistake, not an excuse for continuing it.
What Do We Mean by Life’s Multiplier?
One of the lesson’s striking examples is built around numbers. On one side are the resources people possess; on the other, the intention that gives them direction. In mathematics, when we make one factor zero, the result is zero. This is a comparison used to explain intention’s determining effect, not to turn a person’s life into an actual calculator. We may possess much, work hard, and appear successful from outside. But if we never question why we do all this, what we obtain may not give us the meaning we seek.
Here, let us ask ourselves: What is at the center of my life? Others’ approval, appearing more powerful, continually gaining, or building an upright life with regard for Allah’s pleasure? Our answer may lead us to do the same work with a different awareness. We may want a house merely for display, or to provide our family with a safe living space. We may make our earnings a means of superiority, or an opportunity to fulfill our responsibilities and share. Actions that look similar from outside may not have the same intention.
Not Confusing Worldly Blessings with the Purpose
This comparison does not mean considering a home, a car, or the return on our effort worthless. We live in the world and have real needs. We need shelter, a livelihood, work, and to care for our family. The issue is whether we turn a resource we possess into life’s sole meaning. If I say, “Without a car I am worthless, when my income falls I am finished too, or I cannot be happy unless everyone likes me,” I may have made a temporary condition an absolute standard for myself. In this situation, even an increase in resources does not always remove the lack within me.
Seeking Allah’s pleasure does not mean stepping outside daily life. It means considering the standard by which we will act at home, at work, and in our relationships with people. Acting honestly in a task, sharing earnings, recognizing our spouse’s effort, and approaching our child justly are part of this orientation. Our good intention should meet our behavior as well. Merely speaking of a right purpose does not justify the wrong method we use. If our purpose is good, we also need to respect others’ rights on the way to it. The direction that gives our life meaning becomes visible in our detailed choices.
Let Us Not Tie a Relationship Solely to Temporary Qualities
The lesson also gives an example through marriage. If we tie a relationship solely to beauty, financial power, or prestige in others’ eyes, its meaning may also be shaken when these conditions change. People age, change jobs, may become ill, or experience financial difficulty. If the whole value of being together is tied to a single quality, a great void may emerge as conditions change. Yet approaching each other with an awareness of being entrusted to one another, and preserving goodness and justice, helps us consider the relationship within a broader responsibility.
We can ask a similar question about our children. Do I want my child’s well-being, or am I trying to fulfill my own expectations through them? Can I listen when they do not want the profession I have chosen or do not behave as I imagine? Loving a child does not mean considering them an extension of ourselves. It means knowing their personality, supporting their development, and establishing a language in which they can understand right and wrong. Let us not measure their success solely by the praise it brings us. Their moral character, compassion, and ability to benefit others matter at least as much as their visible achievements.
When Does the Desire for Something New Become a Need?
When we see a new phone, the one we have can suddenly begin to seem inadequate. Yet just a moment earlier, we were doing our work with that same device. Something similar happens with household items, cars, and many other things. This example invites us to consider how desire forms, not to condemn buying altogether. Do I truly have a need? Or did comparison make me dissatisfied with what I have? If I had not seen the new one, would I have found my existing resource equally inadequate? These questions can put a useful distance between us and our decision.
When we continually try to renew a brief joy, we may need something else each time. The new becomes familiar, and the search begins again. Gratitude helps us see the value of what we have within this cycle. Wanting something better and living in constant dissatisfaction are not the same thing. We can have a goal while also recognizing today’s blessing. When we see that a desire occupies our entire day, let us stop. What costs am I willing to bear to obtain that thing? Am I giving up my honesty, my family’s peace, or someone else’s rights?
Asking for Good in Both This World and the Hereafter
Verse one hundred and fifty-six of Surah Al-A’raf addresses asking for good in this world and the Hereafter. This supplication makes us question the idea that the world must be abandoned entirely. Goodness is not merely a feeling we keep within; it becomes behavior. It appears when sharing a burden at home, doing our work rightly, protecting a person’s rights, or helping someone in need. How we use our worldly resources is also part of our moral life. Therefore, asking for good in this world should not be reduced to asking for comfort only for ourselves.
We do not need to wait for great wealth to make our blessings a means of good. We can help someone with our knowledge, spare some time, or do our work more carefully. Sometimes even not saying a hurtful word protects a relationship. Sometimes listening patiently to a child is more effective than a great admonition. Turning our intention toward what is right also makes life’s small details precious. When we try to use responsibly the resource for which we are grateful, we learn not only to possess, but also how to live with what we possess.
Let Us Not Immediately Accept Everything We Hear
The lesson also explains that people need to question the words and offers they encounter. When we hear an offer promising very easy earnings, we may focus only on the money we will gain. But we need to ask how the business works, why it is being offered to us, and whether it contains any injustice. What someone describes does not become true merely because it sounds pleasing. Haste may prevent us from seeing certain details. Researching, asking for documents, and consulting when we do not know show that we are trying to decide responsibly, not that we are distrustful people.
The same care is needed for what we hear about people. In a place we have newly entered, someone may disparage others to us. Instead of immediately accepting this account as certain knowledge, we can ask what it is based on. Let us not imagine that we know the speaker’s intention either; but let us not make a final judgment about another person based on one person’s interpretation. Seeking the truth requires an effort that goes beyond both naively believing every word and accusing everyone in advance. Slowing down, asking questions, and listening to different sides make us more attentive to being misled.
Thinking about a Problem and Thinking toward a Solution Are Different
An issue may continually occupy our minds. At home, we think about work; at work, we think about the argument at home. Sometimes we realize we have spent hours circling the same possibilities and remained in the same place. The lesson considers this through fragmented attention. Taking a problem seriously and spending our entire day only in anxiety about it are not the same thing. We can ask ourselves: What concrete step does what I am thinking now lead me toward? Am I preparing a decision, seeking information, or merely repeating the same fear?
Ritual prayer and supplication can be a means for people to pause within the daily flow and remember their direction again. Alongside this, planning our work, resting, and asking for support when needed are also our responsibility. Let us not detach our spiritual orientation from our real needs. We can take small steps to give attention to a task while doing it, truly listen to our loved one’s words while at home, and gather our intention during worship. We do not have to solve everything at once. Returning to the right task we can do at that moment may be a more useful beginning than remaining motionless within anxiety.
Examining Our Intention Anew Every Day
Having formed a right intention once does not mean a person will never struggle again. They may be hurt, become angry, or grow excessively attached to a desire. What matters is not closing ourselves off when we recognize these things. As we reflect on the Prophet Musa’s supplication, let us also learn to seek forgiveness in our own relationships. Let us not forget gratitude when thinking of blessings, research when deciding, and asking for help when we struggle. Let what we call intention not remain merely a sentence spoken at the beginning; let it be a standard by which we repeatedly evaluate our behavior. In this way, we have room to return to what is right instead of defending our mistake.
Today, we can begin somewhere without making ourselves grand promises. Let us approach someone we hurt honestly, recognize a blessing we have, and consider whether a desire consuming all our attention is truly a need. Let us try to apply something we have learned to our own lives. May our Lord grant us the ability to unite right intention with good behavior, ask for good in this world and the Hereafter, and make what we possess a means of good. May He protect us from being carried away by pride and hurting our loved ones, considering what is temporary life’s sole meaning, and losing hope when we make a mistake.