Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … Wealth and riches are a trial (fitnah); they incite one to neglect the obligatory and recommended acts in worship, dealings, and character, and to commit the forbidden and disliked acts. The majority of the wealthy have been afflicted by this trial, yet they themselves neither understand this point nor make any effort to understand it.

Dear readers! When commenting on a society, it is the majority that is considered, not just a few individuals. The trial (fitnah) of this Ummah is wealth. In this regard, reflect on the following excerpts:

In this matter, it is necessary to keep in mind the reality that the abundance and excess of wealth has changed the temperaments of most people. Their priorities have been altered; the rich, taking pride in their wealth, consider themselves of high status and look down upon those with lower incomes, and do not treat them with kindness. Their relationships or friendships are based on money. These people will show utmost respect—sometimes to the point of flattery—to those like themselves: the wealthy, landlords, major political leaders, and high officials, and will host them lavishly. But when a poor and pious person comes to their door, they consider it sufficient to deal with him through their servants and attempt to send him away from the door. It is rarely seen that they honor a pious person because of his piety, or even meet him with a smiling face. Rather, most of them are found slandering religious people. If we look at the matter of worship, the common people are seen to prevail; the ratio of common people to those born with a silver spoon among the worshippers in any mosque can be observed, and a comparison can be made in the recitation and memorization of the Qur’an. In my life, I have found only a few wealthy individuals who memorized the Noble Qur’an, and even they forgot it due to their love of comfort. The same is the case with the teaching, study, and research of the ahadith of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And so on.

The eye of the sky and the insight of every person of vision bear witness that, due to worldly comforts, the continuity of worship cannot remain unaffected. This is why today the number of worshippers in mosques has greatly decreased, and many regular worshippers do not attend the mosque for Fajr prayer simply because they eat heartily in the evening, sleep on soft mattresses, cover themselves with fine blankets, and sleep with fans, room coolers, or air conditioners running. In such an environment, sleep plays a role no less than intoxication; sleep does not seem to end, the limbs become slack, and as a result, they miss the congregation for Fajr or even the Fajr prayer itself. I say with certainty that those who sleep in seemingly extremely comfortable environments sleep much more, whereas people of the same kind who sleep only four, five, or six hours a day appear healthier than them.

As for the issue of whether scarcity or abundance of wealth is better, it is an undeniable reality that, for the protection of religion, the fulfillment of the pillars of Islam, and to avoid many evils, scarcity of wealth has been and remains the best means. Believe me, if one receives sustenance just sufficient for subsistence, one attains true peace in this world. It is poverty that motivates children to receive religious education, to memorize the Noble Qur’an, and to pursue the knowledge of Qur’an and hadith. And it is these people, the majority of whom have been used to transmit the religion to future generations. Simplicity in temperament and meeting everyone with a cheerful face is the habit of these very people. What greater reward can there be than that the poor will enter Paradise five hundred years before the rich? In any case, these are facts that are unacceptable to the children of the wealthy and the seekers of wealth and riches.

Dear readers! You should know that the abundance and vastness of wealth preventing a person from fulfilling the obligatory acts of Shari‘ah, including jihad, is a cause of destruction, about which Allah the Exalted has said: {وَلَا تُلْقُوْا بِاَیْدِیْکُمْ اِلَی التَّھْلُکَۃِ} (Surah al-Baqarah: 195) … Do not throw yourselves into destruction.

In any case, it is due to his wealth that Sayyiduna Uthman radi Allahu anhu is remembered by the title “al-Ghani” (the wealthy). Those wealthy people are truly fortunate who do not forget their origins and their past, and who fulfill the demands of their wealth and the rights of all Muslims without discrimination.