Thread by @Gowhar_

1. Every morning we wake up to be more successful than we were yesterday.

And success is defined by two things: Money and Power.

If you have either of the two, by design you will have the other as well.

2. Chickens have something called pecking order, it is the sequence that they will follow when they have to have their food- like who will go first, then who will go second, and so on.

3. Obviously, the chicken who is strongest among the brood is the first one to have his fill.

In Chickens, strength defines the pecking order. We, humans too follow this pecking order in our day-to-day lives. Our pecking order is not based on strength but Money and Power.

4. We subconsciously place people on the pecking order based on their Money & Power. Enter any family function and you will observe that financially sound relatives enjoy more clout, their opinions are held with higher regard than the rest etc-pecking order in a family function.

5. People want to wield power but if they can’t have it they at least want to be near it. Money and Power are quite interchangeable in our society, in fact, money buys Power therefore those with money influence corridors of Power, unabated.

6. People want to marry into wealthy and powerful families, they want to be friends with the wealthy and powerful.

In Desi culture, wherein parents play a pivotal role in the marriage of their children, Desi parents grade the potentials based on their pecking order.

7. Given a choice, obviously, a doctor will be prefered to a businessman unless the businessman earns more. Grading takes place based on Ancestry, Character, Beauty, and Money.

8. Apart from Character, all others are indicative of potential’s Purchase power in the society which can range from buying onions to buying officials. If the potential has deep pockets then parents might look away from other graders such as ancestry and/or beauty.

9. Societal pecking order defines that if you are of sound mind you should marry someone rich, famous, and beautiful.
Today is 13th Rajab which marks the date of birth of one of the greatest people to ever walk on this Earth- Ameer-ul-Momineen Hazrat Ali.

10. Ali lived his life in abject poverty. Ali’s parents were so poor that to alleviate their financial burdens our Prophet took Ali under his care while Ali was still a boy. Ali grew up in the Prophet’s household under the watchful eyes of the Prophet.

11. Ali was weakly built and had health complications concerning his eyes. When Ali reached the age of marriage, he didn’t have a single Dirham to his name and yet Prophet preferred him to all of the leaders, businessmen, prodigies, statesmen of his time!

12. The pecking order might have placed him at the lowest point but he was worthy enough to be betrothed to the best among the women of Jannah!

13. Prophet asked him to pay Mehar but Ali didn’t have a single Dirham. Prophet asked him to sell something to be able to pay Mehar but he literally didn’t have anything. Then Prophet asked him about his armour which Ali used in battles-that was all Ali had!

An armour!

14. The logic dictates that Prophet should have married his daughter to the wealthiest and the most powerful suitor but he chose someone whose source of income was menial jobs.

It defies logic, like why would someone prefer hardships for their children over comfort?

15. Hazrat Fatima deserved all the comforts in the world, she was the most beloved daughter of the Prophet and yet Prophet chose Ali for her.
While being married, Hazrat Fatima endured a lot of hardships due to which her health worsened in the prime of her youth.

16. Which grading did Prophet follow while choosing the spouse of his most beloved daughter because all Ali had before marriage was a piece of armour and even after the marriage they never ate their fill?

17. What the Prophet saw in Ali was a companion for his daughter, he neither looked at his wealth nor his social status, he only looked at his character.

In Ali, he saw her companion of Jannah.

18. Regarding the hardships, Prophet knew that “On the Day of Judgement, when the people who were tried (in this world) are given their rewards, the people who were pardoned (in life), will wish that their skins had been cut off with scissors while they were in world." -Tirmidhi

19. If the wisest and the best of the creations chooses hardships for himself and his family, logic dictates that hardships have humongous returns.

20. Have faith in the fact that your hardships won’t be worthless, they will have returns. Your returns will be beyond your wildest expectations, and when you will receive your returns, you will wish your life had even more hardships than what you are enduring at present!

21. The pecking orders of here and hereafter cannot be the same, those who call on their Lord toiling in dust and those who call while gilded with gold cannot be the same.

Sabr. InShaAllah Khair