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Destruction of the Ego

What is the ego? It is our self-perception. Our egos determine our self-esteem and self-worth. Everybody has an ego to some extent and generally speaking, it's for the worse. People use it as a way to put themselves above others or separate themselves from another group of people. We use our experiences, monetary value, educational achievements and appearance as a way to determine our ego; this can be very dangerous. It is not up to us to determine our own value and how the rest of the world should value or care about us. People are not fit to determine how important they really are.

We have to take a step back from ourselves to take a look at who we are. One may say that they have a PhD or another high level degree so they deserve a certain amount of respect. Another person may say that their bank account had x number of dollars in it so they deserve to be treated better than a person with less money. We have to realize that the things we have, whether education, money or any other physical thing is from Allah (swt). We don't get anything our self, they are all directly from God. Every little possession is a gift and blessing from God. And it's not to say that God gives certain people more than others because He loves them more, the more people have, the more they are tested; possessions are a test.

As a society, we need to look at ourselves the way that God created us, we are all equal. A person living in a mansion holds no more value than somebody living in a rambler house, in the eyes of God. We must destroy our egos within us that give us a sense of entitlement or that we deserve certain things. It's often said that money is the basis of evil and that can be very true. It's common that the more money a person has, the more exclusive and secluded from the rest of society they will be and the higher they will value themselves. We are given money not to spend frivolously and indulge in this world's luxuries. Money should be shared, especially with those who truly need it. Now, I am not saying that somebody should donate all of their money, though that is a generous thing to do. Be wiry of those in need, after all, they are your equal.

Remember that we are all one race, the human race. And the human race is not a race against each other. We are all here to serve God, we are his slaves. When a person can truly embrace that reality, they will start lowering their personal status and eliminate the ego within that can cause so many problems.

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