This world is a temporary station that presents itself as permanent. It offers stability, but its structure is fragile. It gives comfort, but it does not give lasting security. The Qur’an states in Surah Aal Imran 3:185 that the life of this world is a deceiving enjoyment. This is a precise description of how human perception is shaped. The mind becomes attached to what it repeatedly sees and uses. Over time, attachment turns into dependence. Dependence turns into identity. A person then begins to define himself through possessions, control, and recognition. This process is subtle, but it is powerful. It shifts focus away from purpose and toward accumulation. As a result, temporary things begin to feel essential, while essential truths are ignored. This is how illusion replaces clarity.
Inside families, this illusion creates visible damage. Property becomes more than an asset. It becomes a symbol of power and control. When multiple individuals feel entitled to the same resource, conflict begins. What should be handled with fairness and transparency turns into competition and suspicion. Brothers begin to question each other’s intentions. Sisters are viewed through the lens of loss instead of rights. Conversations shift from cooperation to calculation. The emotional tone of the household changes. Trust declines because each person starts protecting his perceived share. This transformation does not happen in a single moment. It builds through repeated thoughts, small disagreements, and lack of honest communication. Over time, the family structure weakens from within.
The most severe impact falls on parents. They invest years of physical effort, emotional energy, and financial resources into raising children. Their sacrifices are not transactional. They do not expect measurable returns. They expect continuity of respect, unity among siblings, and a sense of belonging in old age. When conflicts over money and property emerge, these expectations collapse. Parents are forced to witness division among the very individuals they raised to stay united. In some cases, they are pressured to take sides. In others, they are ignored to avoid interference. Research in geriatric psychology shows that perceived neglect and family conflict significantly increase depression and reduce life satisfaction among elderly individuals. The pain is not limited to emotion. It affects physical health, sleep patterns, and overall resilience.
Islam established a structured system to prevent such outcomes. Inheritance laws were defined with precision to remove ambiguity and reduce conflict. Each individual was given a fixed share based on relationship and responsibility. This system acknowledges human tendencies toward bias and corrects them through clear guidelines. At the same time, the Qur’an and Hadith place exceptional emphasis on the treatment of parents. Respect is not framed as optional behavior. It is positioned as a core duty. Speaking gently, showing patience, and providing care in old age are presented as direct obligations. When individuals ignore these directives, they are not only violating social ethics. They are disrupting a balanced system designed to maintain justice and harmony.
Modern conditioning complicates this further. Individuals are exposed to continuous streams of curated success through digital platforms. These images highlight wealth, luxury, and influence while hiding effort, failure, and context. The brain responds by forming comparisons. This activates a perceived gap between current reality and desired status. Neuroscience explains that such comparisons trigger reward pathways linked to dopamine. The result is increased desire and reduced satisfaction with present conditions. When desire expands without proportional growth in patience and discipline, individuals seek faster methods to close the gap. Family property becomes an immediate target because it is accessible and already within reach.
This shift in thinking alters decision making. Instead of evaluating actions through fairness and long term impact, individuals focus on immediate gain. Ethical boundaries become flexible. Emotional connections weaken because they are seen as obstacles to personal advancement. Behavioral studies indicate that when financial incentives dominate decision frameworks, empathy decreases and risk taking increases. This explains why individuals who appear rational in other areas make impulsive and damaging choices in property disputes. They are operating under a narrowed perspective where gain overrides principle.
The treatment of sisters in inheritance cases reflects a critical ethical failure. Despite clear entitlement, many are pressured to relinquish their share. This pressure is often framed as a moral duty to maintain family unity. In reality, it is a strategy to concentrate resources. This creates a false peace that rests on suppressed rights. Over time, suppressed rights generate silent resentment and emotional distance. Trust erodes because fairness was compromised at a foundational level. From a systems perspective, any structure that denies rightful distribution becomes unstable. It may appear functional for a period, but underlying imbalance eventually surfaces.
“Material wealth and identity perish at death; only the ethical impact of one’s actions endures. True success is defined by justice and responsibility, creating a lasting legacy that outweighs fleeting personal gain. Because time is finite, individual accountability in the present is paramount.”
Children observe these patterns closely. They learn behavioral norms not from instruction, but from repeated exposure. When they see conflict rewarded and fairness ignored, they internalize those patterns. Developmental psychology confirms that early observation shapes long term decision frameworks. This means that one generation’s choices directly influence the next generation’s behavior. If greed becomes normalized, it propagates. If justice is practiced consistently, it also propagates. This transfer of values determines the long term stability of families and communities.
The physiological impact of prolonged conflict is measurable. Chronic stress elevates cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol over extended periods affects cardiovascular function, immune response, and cognitive performance. Individuals involved in ongoing disputes often experience sleep disruption, irritability, and reduced concentration. These effects reduce productivity and impair judgment, creating a feedback loop where poor decisions lead to further conflict. The cost of conflict, therefore, is not limited to relationships. It extends to physical health and overall life quality.
Ego amplifies each stage of this process. It creates a need to assert dominance and avoid perceived loss. It resists compromise because compromise is interpreted as weakness. It prevents acknowledgment of error, which blocks resolution. From a psychological standpoint, ego driven behavior is linked to fragile self perception. The individual seeks external validation to maintain internal stability. Any challenge to this perception triggers defensive responses. In property disputes, this results in rigid positions and prolonged conflict. Resolution becomes difficult because the issue is no longer just material. It is tied to identity.
The grave represents the final point where all constructed identities dissolve. It eliminates distinctions based on wealth, status, and influence. The physical space is uniform. The silence is absolute. At this stage, material assets have no functional value. The only remaining variable is the record of actions. This includes how individuals fulfilled obligations, how they exercised control over desires, and how they treated others. This perspective reframes the importance of daily decisions. It shifts focus from accumulation to accountability.
Awareness of this endpoint influences behavior in measurable ways. Individuals who regularly reflect on mortality tend to prioritize meaningful actions over superficial gains. Studies in behavioral science show that mortality awareness increases ethical decision making and reduces impulsive behavior. This is because the time horizon expands beyond immediate reward. Actions are evaluated based on lasting impact rather than short term benefit. In practical terms, this leads to fairer distribution of resources, stronger relationships, and reduced conflict.
Implementing change requires deliberate action. Families need structured communication regarding inheritance before disputes arise. Documentation must be clear, accessible, and aligned with ethical and legal standards. Each individual’s share should be acknowledged and respected without emotional manipulation. Parents should maintain transparency to prevent ambiguity. Siblings should prioritize relationship preservation over marginal gains. These steps reduce uncertainty, which is a primary driver of conflict.
Daily behavior also requires adjustment. Time with parents should be intentional and consistent. Active listening, patience, and support build emotional security. This security reduces the likelihood of future disputes because it strengthens trust. Individuals should also regulate exposure to comparison driven content. Limiting such exposure stabilizes desire and improves focus. Attention can then be redirected toward productive and meaningful activities.
Self evaluation is critical. Before making decisions, individuals should assess intention. Is the action aligned with fairness. Does it protect relationships. Would it remain acceptable if outcomes were permanent. These questions introduce accountability at the decision point. Over time, this practice strengthens judgment and reduces impulsive behavior.
A stable society depends on stable families. Stability within families is achieved through consistent application of justice and respect. When these principles are compromised, instability spreads outward. Economic growth or external success cannot compensate for internal breakdown. Sustainable progress requires alignment between values and actions at the individual level.
The conclusion remains constant and unavoidable. Everything ends in the grave. Material assets remain in this world. Constructed identities dissolve. What continues is the impact of actions. Individuals who align behavior with justice and responsibility create outcomes that extend beyond their lifetime. Those who prioritize short term gain at the cost of ethics face consequences that cannot be offset by material success. The direction is clear. The responsibility is individual. The time to act is limited
(The author a teacher by profession is a freelancer. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
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