Key Lesson From The Life of Prophet Jesus

Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam, was this symbol of humbleness and asceticism. No man in that time, and in many parts of history, was was less materialistic than Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam. He was the least materialistic man on earth, because he knew how to prepare for the hereafter. He knew what's good for us, what's bad for us.

In a beautiful hadith, which Imam 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib, alayhi as-salam, narrates from Prophet 'Isa. He says: 'Isa, alayhi as-salam, once told his companions, his people, he gave them a beautiful example that farmers, or those people who have a nice garden, you know the meaning of this example. He gave a beautiful example. He says the materialistic aspect of this life is like the weed that grows in your garden. Have you seen those weeds? Right? They are so annoying. They spread so fast. They ruin the grass, they ruin the plants.

He says that is the likeness of this materialistic world. When you become attached to this materialistic world, it is like weed that spreads, that flourishes in your garden, in your farm, and it starts destroying your crops, your plants, the beautiful turf that you have. That is the likeness of this world. Once you allow your heart to submit to the materialistic aspect of this world, that's it. A point will come in which you cannot do anything.

Like when the weed takes over your garden. First of all, it is very difficult to uproot the weed, right? To get rid of it. At times, you just have to kill everything in your garden and start from scratch. There is no point. And that is what happens to the heart of the human being. When you allow the materialistic world to captivate your heart, that is what happens. And you lose that spirituality.

In another beautiful hadith, Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam, he says, have you seen the sick person? The one who is ill. Has no appetite for food. You will put the most delicious types of plates in front of this person, but this person has no appetite. Why? Because this person is ill. This person is sick, that is why. Otherwise, the food is delicious. It is delicious. On a normal day, this person would be so happy to be eating that food. But when you are sick, you lose that appetite.

Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam, he says, the one who falls in love with this world, what happens? He will be struck with a type of spiritual disease. What happens? He has no appetite to worship Allah. He has no appetite to repent. He has no appetite to prepare for the Akhira, for the Hereafter. Just like when you are sick, you have no appetite for food. The same happens when you become inflicted with the disease of this materialistic world. You have no appetite.

Some people sometimes wonder, Sayyid, I am trying to pray, I am trying to do Du'a. I am just not interacting with it. Well, maybe my heart is filled with this world. I need to make room for spirituality. Start by trying to remove the materialistic aspect from your heart. Then you will make room for spirituality. Then you will make room for Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. Because Allah says in one hadith: I am the best partner. If you give me 99% and you give the world 1%, I relinquish all of my 99%. I relinquish my share. The heart is for Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Hence another hadith says: "al-qalbu haram Allah". The heart is the sanctuary of Allah. It is a sacred place for Allah, Subhana wa Ta'ala. Therefore, do not allow anything besides Allah to sit in your heart.

These are the lessons that we learn from Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam. Otherwise, look at the world. People kill each other. People go to war with each other because of what? A brother will turn against his own brother and stop talking to him. Because of what? Because of this materialistic world.

In one hadith, Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam, was walking with three of his companions. They stopped by three blocks of gold. They were there in the desert. Prophet 'Isa looked at the gold. He noticed that it caught their attention. He told them, you see these three pieces of gold? They caused people to die. They kill. This gold has the power to kill.

Then they left. Those three went back to that gold. They all wanted it, right? So what did they do? Two of them conspired. They said to the third one, go and get us some food. And they decided, when he comes back, we will kill him, and we get the gold to ourselves, and we don't have to share it with him. While he went, the Shaytan came to him. What did he do? He is like, Let me poison the food and get rid of those two, and I will get all the gold to myself.

So he brings the food, he poisons it, he gives it to them. They kill him. They attack him. They kill him. He dies. They eat the food, they die. All of them die. And none of them benefited from that gold. Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam, walks back. He sees them dead. With the permission of Allah, he revives them. He brings them back to life, as the Quran says, he would bring people back to life.

When he brought them back to life, he told them, look, didn't I tell you what this world does? Didn't I tell you how this gold can kill human beings? This is the lesson that we learned, brothers and sisters, from Prophet 'Isa, alayhi as-salam.