Indeed, man is prone to succumbing to selfish desires. He is ready to put himself first at every opportunity, look after his own selfish benefits and love himself above all others.
If a person is not sufficiently strong-willed in his fear of Allah and in superior morality, this will prompt him to selfish desires such as "Let only me be loved," or "Let me be admired" and "Let me be praised." Such an immoral approach invariably puts the comfort, tranquility and happiness of others in second place.
Instead of thinking such self-sacrificing thoughts as, "First, let me ensure the comfort of others," or "Let it be to their advantage and if necessary, I'll sacrifice my own benefits," and "Let others be happy and let me take pleasure from their happiness," he will come to act with the idea of "Me first, no matter what!"
Believers conquer this tendency in their natures and live out the morality which Allah approves. But some people fall into the error of thinking "I already fulfill certain religious obligations, what can be wrong if occasionally I look after my own interests?" and regard this as a harmless deficiency in their morality.
They go further and view protecting their own advantages as "a fact of life." In other words, even though the Qur'an tells them this is wrong, they privately believe that to stay alive and prosper, they need to put their own interests first. They think that nobody else can look out for their interests and that others will suppress and harm them.
Moreover, when everyone else demonstrates this morality and looks after his own interests, but one of them is generous and self-sacrificing, they believe this one is making a fool of himself.
Because of these ideas, they cannot direct their thinking toward self-sacrifice. In fact, there is only one Power Who can protect people's advantages, and that Power is Allah. Neither selfishness nor the pursuit of his own interests can bring a person any advantage.
Allah explains this in a verse:
If Allah afflicts you with harm, no one can remove it except Him. If He desires good for you, no one can avert His favor. He bestows it on whichever of His servants He wills. He is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surah Yunus: 107)
People's egotism emerges most clearly through their passion for life and property. For example, when a person is asked to lend something he owns, he may lie and say, "I don't have it with me," because he doesn't want to hand it over.
This selfish tendency manifests itself at every stage of life. Such people want a fine meal to be served to them alone. To avoid sharing it with others, they take pains to ensure that they dine when nobody else is in the house. When sharing is unavoidable, they keep the choicest parts of the meal for themselves and offer the others what is left.
In the same way, when there is a difficult job to be done, they use various excuses to escape doing it and try to arrange for someone else to do it. They regard their own selves as more important than anybody else's.
For this reason they still seek ways of escaping work, even if they have nothing to do and others are very tired or busy.
This attitude that such people conceal in their hearts is not limited to property and food, but becomes apparent in many other subjects. One whose soul is not cleansed of egotism will stoop to many things. He always wants his own wishes to be carried out and his to be the last word.
For example, when many others are present, he wants to listen to his choice of music and watch his choice of TV programs. He never regards the wishes of others as a priority. He rushes to grab the most comfortable seat. When work is being divided up, he "volunteers" for the easiest tasks and dumps the most difficult on others.
In situations that require effort or self-sacrifice, he acts slowly and is always one step behind. In conversation, he regards pushing himself forward as a talent, rather than behaving with humility.
The truth is, behaving in this way to obtain miniscule advantages pushes anyone who claims to be a believer and knows about the morality of the Qur'an into great hypocrisy. Insincerity always causes substantial uneasiness.
A person who continually pursues his own interests must undertake massive efforts to deceive others around him. He lives with the fear that this ongoing secret hypocrisy will be discovered.
Sincere Muslims never experience such fears. We are told in the Qur'an that if need be, sincere Muslims put their lives and their goods in jeopardy to earn Allah's approval, act with no expectation of any return and put the needs of other Muslims ahead of their own:
Those who were already settled in the abode [Madina], and in faith, before they came, love those who have migrated to them and do not find in their hearts any need for what they have been given and prefer them to themselves even if they themselves are needy. It is the people who are safeguarded from the avarice of their own selves who are successful. (Surat al-Hashr: 9)
They [the believers] give food, despite their love for it, to the poor and orphans and captives. "We feed you only out of desire for the Face of Allah. We do not want any repayment from you or any thanks. Truly We fear from our Lord a glowering, calamitous Day." So Allah has safeguarded them from the evil of that Day and has made them meet with radiance and pure joy. (Surat al-Insan: 8-11)
As we can see, Allah brings Muslims radiance and light because of their self-sacrificing morality. For the selfish, in contrast, Allah creates a secret torment. These selfish people believe that they are intelligent and are setting traps for others, but really fall into their own trap.
This is one of the secrets the Qur'an reveals to us. One who displays self-sacrificing morality may seem to tire himself more because he accepts more responsibilities, expends his goods and money, and renounces his own rights and desires.
But he lives a comfortable, happy and beautiful life with a clear conscience. A selfish and egocentric person lives a troubled, difficult life in the attempt to protect his own interests, the slightest threat to which is enough to make him uncomfortable and unhappy.
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