Book Name:Ittiba e Shahawat
In short, this one word [extravagance] contains various rulings. (Tafseer-e-Na’eemi, vol. 8, pp. 390)
3 Thinking unnecessarily about others’ affairs
Similarly, one reason for indulging in following desires is thinking unnecessarily about others’ affairs. Thinking unnecessarily about the excellent dresses, grand palaces and luxurious lifestyle of others not only creates the destructive trait of jealousy in a person, but it also ignites the fire of following desires in one’s heart. Then, blinded by his desires, such a person even adopts impermissible means to earn wealth in order to fulfil his desires.
The cure for this is that such a person should refrain from thinking about the affairs of other people. He should have patience and be thankful for what Allah Almighty has bestowed upon him. He should look at those who are poorer than him and pay gratitude to Allah Almighty. Moreover, he should study the biography of righteous predecessors رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ تَـعَالٰی and ponder over the affairs of their lives so that his heart could be inclined towards righteousness and piety.
4 Heedlessness from one’s own reform
One of the reasons for following Nafs and Shaytan is not to pay attention towards one’s own reform. If a person does not hold himself accountable for his deeds, he never gets aware of his own shortcomings and sins. Therefore, such a person keeps committing sins and following shaytan.
Such a person should carry out his self-accountability on a daily basis. In the Madani environment of Dawat-e-Islami, it is called performing “Fikr e Madinah”. Before going to sleep in the night, one should ponder on the fact that what righteous actions did he perform today? Which evil actions and sins did he commit today? He should scold his Nafs for his sins and promise himself not to commit sins again. اَلْـحَمْـدُ لـِلّٰـه عَزَّوَجَلَّ, Madani In’amaat given by