When Our Wants Start to Take Over
As-Salamu alaykum - The Qur’an warns about a god we sometimes don’t realize we’re serving. “Have you seen the one who takes his own desires as his god?” (Surah Al-Jathiyah 45:23) It’s scary not because it points to some far-off people, but because it can quietly happen to any of us. When our wants begin to guide our decisions more than Allah does… When impulses push aside our principles… When we know the right path but pick what feels good instead… When “I feel like it” outweighs “Allah ordered”… That’s when the heart starts to bow to something other than its Creator. The danger isn’t only big sins. Sometimes it’s very subtle. You recognise a place or company that weakens your eemaan, but you go because “I want to.” You know a habit is harming your salah, yet you keep it because “I enjoy it.” You see a relationship pulling you away from Allah, but your heart says, “I can’t let go.” But the mercy of Islam is that the moment you begin turning your heart away from serving desires, even a little, Allah pulls you back with more help than you had alone. We’re not meant to erase desire - that’s unrealistic. The aim is to train desire so it follows our faith, not the other way round.