Nothing is Our Personal Possession

There is a report attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that appears in different books of Hadith. One of the traditions appears as follows:

A person often cries out: ‘My wealth! My wealth!’ However, of a person’s wealth there are only three portions for him: whatever he eats and is thus consumed, that by means of which he dresses himself and so it wears out, and that which he gives away [in charity] and thus stores up for himself [as reward in the Hereafter]. Apart from this, the remaining will pass away as he will leave it behind for people. (Sahih Muslim 2959)

When a person spends his life in this world, he has access to several things that he regards as his own. He does a job, through which he earns money. He thinks that this money is his—his rightful earnings. He also thinks that the things he buys with this money all belong to him. He feels that he is the owner of them, and that, therefore, he has the right to do with them just as he pleases.

But death is a complete rebuttal of this notion. Death tells us that a person actually has nothing that is really his own. None of his possessions will remain with him forever. Death completely separates him from his wealth forever. After death, he suddenly finds himself all alone. This is the biggest fact of life. A person who discovers this truth will use his money and possessions in such a way that will benefit him in the life that comes after death. Without knowing this truth, a person’s life is oriented to this world alone. But if he realizes this truth, his life becomes a Hereafter-oriented one.