The need and the desire

A person is thirsty. He needs something to drink to quench his thirst. He can do so by drinking a glass of water which may not cost him anything. Likewise, he may quench his thirst with a drink such as a fruit juice or a soft drink which would normally cost him something. However that person does not want to content himself with water. At this point, two things come to the fore: need and desire. Need can be satisfied without paying a cent but to fulfil desire, money has to be spent. From here, we can understand that often it is easy to satisfy one's needs. However it is desire that requires effort and exertion.

Thus, a person can live well if he suppresses his desires or limits them to what he may acquire with ease through his means. But the problem arises when one pursues one's desire. For that purpose, one must make additional expenses that require additional efforts. One also needs time to acquire it. And if one cannot do it in a fair and proper way, then one will tend to adopt unworthy and reprehensible means. One will not hesitate to lie, deceive people or do transactions which are not permissible in Deen. On the other hand, it is already a very grave sin if one is doing all this to satisfy one's permissible desires, but if these desires are reprehensible, illegal and detestable, then it is worse.

A Muslim must always strive to content himself with satisfying his needs over his desires. He has the right to satisfy his desires also if his means permit him, but it must never be to the detriment of his Deen.

A person who pursues his pleasures and desires is someone who will always be in turmoil. He will allow himself to commit a series of blunders that will harm others as well as himself. That is why the Shari'ah has put a lot of emphasis on being content with what one has. In a Hadith reported in Sunan At-Tirmizi, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

من اصبح منكم آ منا فى سربه معافى فى جسده وعنده قوة يومه فكانما حيزت له الدنيا بمحذافيرها

"Whoever among you who enters the morning while feeling secure within himself, healthy and he has food for that day, then it is as if the Dunya came to him."

That is, a person who feels physically and morally fit and he has his necessities, then he has already acquired all that which a person needs from this massive world. A recommended Dua to constantly make in order to be satisfied with the little that one has:

اللهم قنعنى بما رزقتنى

"O Allah, make me satisfied with what You have granted me."

[English version of "Besoin et l’envie" – Al Jamiat – Vol.7 No.4]