Is being rich/wealthy bad in Islam?

[strivingobserver98]

Some of you may have better understanding of this so that's why I'm asking question. Is having lot of money bad, is being rich or poor better?

There were multi millionaire sahabas like Abdur rahman bin auf (RA), Uthman Ibn Affan (RA) etc. How did they manage wealth?

 

[islamfriend]

if it is haram to be rich then why Prophet Sulaiman and Prophet Daud,were immensely rich !!!!

what matters most is how obedient one is to Allah Allmighty,under any circumstances

 

[islamfriend]

if it is haram to be rich then why Prophet Sulaiman and Prophet Daud,were immensely rich !!!!

what matters most is how obedient one is to Allah Allmighty,under any circumstances
It would be halal to be have a mindblowingly large annual income, as long as you had earned it in a halal way and spend the money again in a halal way.

I agree with whoever it was that said the Ummah needs some rich Muslims, that there are too many 'average income' people.

'Average income' people can't make a proper difference.
We need the rich Muslims to make the differences that will help the Ummah progress.
Maddy x

 

[Ridwaan Ravat]

Having money is not bad

Nabee صلي الله عليه و سلم has said "there is no harm in being wealthy, on condition it brings you closer to Allah " (Abu dawood)

This hadeeth is sufficient

 

[Scimitar]

just as poverty is a trial for the human being, so is wealth a trial for the human being.

Scimi

 

[legendaryman]

literately ,yes it is bad to be one wealthy person ,they tested on every aspect of there life...but i say if you have something more than you need simply share it with those need it ,the most

 

['Abd-al Latif]

:salamext:

Can anyone provide evidence from the Quran and/or Sunnah to say it's bad to be wealthy?

Some of the sahaba were wealthy or had come from wealthy backgrounds such as Abdurrahman bin Auf. Many of the tabi'een were wealthy and no one was ever rebuked due to their wealth. The difference between them and us is that the richest sahaba couldn't be distinguished from their slaves due to the amount of money they would spend in the way of Allah. The Messenger of Allah was the greatest of ascetics and he (pbuh) is the greatest example to be followed but there is nothing wrong with being wealthy. Being rich and wealthy is a blessing from Allah as through wealth he can make you independent of the creation.

Although it's highly recommended to give lots in charity, there is nothing wrong with being wealthy as long as it's within the boundaries i.e. the money is earned from permissible sources, zakat is always paid on it and greed and pride are not allowed to settle in the heart.

 

[BeTheChange]

Walaikumasalaam

Being poor has it's challenges and being rich has it's challenges. Just different problems in different areas of life.

Being rich isn't the problem - it's the associated traits that may come from this status like greed, ego, being proud etc & whoever has an atom of pride doesn't enter heaven imsad

May Allah swa save us from pride and arrogrance Ameen

 

[ardianto]

just as poverty is a trial for the human being, so is wealth a trial for the human being.

Scimi

"Yaa sheikh, why I am always poor?"
"Sabr, sabr, poverty is a test for you, just like wealth is a test for the rich"
"But sheikh, I prefer to be tested by wealth!"

 

[ardianto]

literately ,yes it is bad to be one wealthy person

This is the mindset that makes Muslims becoming weak.

Ummah would be stronger if they were economically stronger. So we should help poor Muslims to rise and leave their poverty. Help them with education, job training, business training, capital help.

 

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum,

(twinkle) Define rich/wealthy and poor...

(smile) Even in the mundane senses of these words, people have trouble defining them. (smile) A Canadian politician got into a fair bit of trouble when she actually put a dollar amount on what she considered to be a wealthy person. So many people protested and said this much was not wealthy, wealthy was having more than what she'd said.

(smile) I read a book many years ago that analyzed how people defined wealthy. Across the board, no matter how much the people surveyed actually had, they ended up defining feeling wealthy at about 20% more than they presently had.

(smile) I have lived on what is considered under the poverty line in my country (I'm not sure about now; I haven't checked for a while). Am I poor? I don't think so. Would I like more? Sometimes. Do I need it? Not really. Might some people in another country think I am wealthy? I think yes.

(smile) I remember in my second husband's village in the Caucasus, many people there thought themselves as poor. And to be sure, few had proper indoor plumbing, heating consisted of simple wood stoves (with no insulation; it was freezing in the winter after the fire died out!), the electricity was bit patchy, and few had proper washing machines (if any) and it was hard to find paid employment. But on the other hand, their houses were all paid off, they all had plots of land to grow food on, had farm animals, the food was nourishing and halal, they had a lot of free time to socialize, and most had tvs with satellite dishes and smartphones. Were they poor? (smile) I think some would think so. And others would not.

(smile) If we have our rizq, everything else is extras, I think. (twinkle) To be sure, I like the extras. And I feel Blessed in what I have. But do I really need them? No. (smile) Therefore, I think I am wealthy.

May Allah, the Knowing and the Wise, Help us to understand His Generosity. And to share what we have, with those who have less.

 

[ardianto]

Poverty is the most common cause that makes Muslims leave Islam, and its driving factor is passiveness of wealthy Muslims that don't care to the poor. This is what I have found onthe field.

Do you know?. The hunger people do not need Qur'an, do not need hadith. What they need is only food. And if wealthy Muslims do not share their foods to the poor Muslims, then the poor Muslims will try to get food from other people, and they are willing to change their Iman.

Are they weak in Iman?. If you think like this, it's means you don't know what the hungry is.

So, do not underestimate poverty among ummah.

 

[M.I.A.]

Wealth is god given just like everything else..

There is no good or bad in wealth itself, maybe in how it is acquired and how it is spent..

And even then I'm not one to judge.


Don't worry I tell my wife, when we buy a new car we will sell ours cheaper than we should..

 

[MuslimInshallah]

Poverty is the most common cause that makes Muslims leave Islam, and its driving factor is passiveness of wealthy Muslims that don't care to the poor. This is what I have found onthe field.

Do you know?. The hunger people do not need Qur'an, do not need hadith. What they need is only food. And if wealthy Muslims do not share their foods to the poor Muslims, then the poor Muslims will try to get food from other people, and they are willing to change their Iman.

Are they weak in Iman?. If you think like this, it's means you don't know what the hungry is.

So, do not underestimate poverty among ummah.

Assalaamu alaikum Ardianto,

I wonder if it is really poverty that is turning people off Islam? After all, there are people who have been very strong Muslims in spite of great material poverty.

I wonder if the problem is not more hypocrisy.

In your corner of the world, wealthy people quote the Qur'an and ahadith, and ignore (and mistreat?) the poor. In mine, men extolling Islam marry women in order to get here… and then dump them (and often their children) when they get here. In some countries rulers quote Islam… and terrorize their people. In others, the ruling class live totally unIslamic lives, yet expect the strictest good behaviour of their people. There are people with prayer marks on their foreheads that abuse little girls. There are callous murderers who decorate their greed and bloodthirstiness with sacred words.

It is this hypocrisy that does the most damage to Islam, I believe. It is not poverty, divorce, fear, hardship, abuse or murder that may cause people to say: Islam must be a terrible religion! It is the hypocrisy of those who call themselves Muslims, who decorate themselves with their supposed Islam, but who behave so very, very badly.

May Allah, the Protector, Strengthen us to be sincere in faith in spite of the munafiqun.

 

[strivingobserver98]

:jz: for everyone's responses. I recall somewhere loads of Non Muslims accepted Islam because of honesty and good conduct of Muslim businessmen and traders. Anyone know where and when this was?

 

[MuslimInshallah]

Some of you may have better understanding of this so that's why I'm asking question. Is having lot of money bad, is being rich or poor better?

There were multi millionaire sahabas like Abdur rahman bin auf (RA), Uthman Ibn Affan (RA) etc. How did they manage wealth?

Assalaamu alaikum Farhan,

I think the following hadith may shed some light on this matter:


Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ascended the pulpit and said, "Nothing worries me as to what will happen to you after me, except the temptation of worldly blessings which will be conferred on you." Then he mentioned the worldly pleasures. He started with the one (i.e. the blessings) and took up the other (i.e. the pleasures). A man got up saying, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Can the good bring about evil?" The Prophet (ﷺ) remained silent and we thought that he was being inspired divinely, so all the people kept silent with awe. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) wiped the sweat off his face and asked, "Where is the present questioner?" "Do you think wealth is good?" he repeated thrice, adding, "No doubt, good produces nothing but good. Indeed it is like what grows on the banks of a stream which either kills or nearly kills the grazing animals because of gluttony except the vegetation-eating animal which eats till both its flanks are full (i.e. till it gets satisfied) and then stands in the sun and defecates and urinates and again starts grazing. This worldly property is sweet vegetation. How excellent the wealth of the Muslim is, if it is collected through legal means and is spent in Allah's Cause and on orphans, poor people and travelers. But he who does not take it legally is like an eater who is never satisfied and his wealth will be a witness against him on the Day of Resurrection."




حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سِنَانٍ، حَدَّثَنَا فُلَيْحٌ، حَدَّثَنَا هِلاَلٌ، عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَامَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ إِنَّمَا أَخْشَى عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِي مَا يُفْتَحُ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ بَرَكَاتِ الأَرْضِ ‏"‏‏.‏ ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ زَهْرَةَ الدُّنْيَا، فَبَدَأَ بِإِحْدَاهُمَا وَثَنَّى بِالأُخْرَى، فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَوَيَأْتِي الْخَيْرُ بِالشَّرِّ فَسَكَتَ عَنْهُ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قُلْنَا يُوحَى إِلَيْهِ‏.‏ وَسَكَتَ النَّاسُ كَأَنَّ عَلَى رُءُوسِهِمِ الطَّيْرَ، ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ مَسَحَ عَنْ وَجْهِهِ الرُّحَضَاءَ، فَقَالَ ‏"‏ أَيْنَ السَّائِلُ آنِفًا أَوَخَيْرٌ هُوَ ـ ثَلاَثًا ـ إِنَّ الْخَيْرَ لاَ يَأْتِي إِلاَّ بِالْخَيْرِ، وَإِنَّهُ كُلُّ مَا يُنْبِتُ الرَّبِيعُ مَا يَقْتُلُ حَبَطًا أَوْ يُلِمُّ كُلَّمَا أَكَلَتْ، حَتَّى إِذَا امْتَلأَتْ خَاصِرَتَاهَا اسْتَقْبَلَتِ الشَّمْسَ، فَثَلَطَتْ وَبَالَتْ ثُمَّ رَتَعَتْ، وَإِنَّ هَذَا الْمَالَ خَضِرَةٌ حُلْوَةٌ، وَنِعْمَ صَاحِبُ الْمُسْلِمِ لِمَنْ أَخَذَهُ بِحَقِّهِ، فَجَعَلَهُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَأْخُذْهُ بِحَقِّهِ فَهْوَ كَالآكِلِ الَّذِي لاَ يَشْبَعُ، وَيَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ شَهِيدًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ‏"‏‏.‏

[TABLE="class: hadith_reference"]
[TR]
[TD]Reference[/TD]
[TD] : Sahih al-Bukhari 2842[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]In-book reference[/TD]
[TD] : Book 56, Hadith 58[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]USC-MSA web (English) reference[/TD]
[TD] : Vol. 4, Book 52, Hadith 95[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] (deprecated numbering scheme)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]



The translation here says: "through legal means" and "he who does not take it legally"… I'm not sure that this translation of haqq as legal(ly), does justice to the full meaning of the Arabic word haqq. Haqq also has shades of meaning of rightness, fairness and reasonableness.

​It seems to me that this hadith is saying that acquiring wealth itself is not bad… as long as we only take what we comfortably need, and that we are generous with the rest. But that if we hoard it up to stuff ourselves with the pleasures of this world, that it is not good for us.

Yes, there were Companions who were wealthy. But they were also very generous. The wealth did not stay piled up and collected in their hands for long, as far as I know (of course, I don't know all the details of all the Companions, and as people have varying strengths and weaknesses, they were perhaps some who accumulated more than others. But the ones I have read about seem to have been pretty amazingly generous).

Zakat is a bare minimum obligation, I think. Zakat is what rightfully belongs to others. It is not ours. Therefore, the giving of it is not a goodness that we do, it is a duty that we fulfil. Like paying taxes. It is what we give over and above this duty that becomes benefit for us.

I believe that as soon as we start accumulating wealth, our hearts start to become corrupted. We start to wish for more, we start to worry that others will take it, we start to fear we will lose it. And the more we have, the more we crave and worry and fear, it seems to me. And the more we have, the harder it is to let it go.

(smile) This is a bit abstract. Let me give you an example: I have a nice house. It is large enough, it is functional, it is warm in the winter, and we have a small air conditioner for one room in the summer. We don't need more. And we are comfortable. And yet, while I was walking in the neighbourhood, I saw a house with many skylights. And I thought: Hmm, it would be really nice to have one of those in the kitchen... Now, the kitchen is nice enough. It is large enough for us all, it has an oven, a fridge, a sink, and a fair bit of cupboard space. But could it be nicer? Well, yes. As it is north-facing, it is a little darker than I like. So a skylight would be nice. But then, thinking about how nice this would be, I started to think that having new cupboards would be nice, too, as the ones I have are rather old and one or two don't shut properly. And a door between the kitchen and the rest of the house would be nice (the old one broke). And why just a plain door? A fancy decorative one with frosted glass would look really nice for people entering the house. And...

(smile) If I were to acquire more wealth, I'd be tempted to start spending on these projects. And I might justify them to myself saying: well, I'm just spending on the basics: my home… And yet, do I really need all these things? Are there not people in this world who are more in need than I am?

I see many Muslims immigrate to Canada. And I am astonished at how they work like crazy to get luxurious homes and cars and expensive daycares and schools for their children and trips back home and… while I know that many Muslims who come to Canada are drawn from the wealthier classes in their countries (and so would be accustomed to richer lifestyles), nevertheless, a modest home here is nice for most of them. Why do they then put so much of their energies into acquiring even more? Why sacrifice your children and friends and community (and even deen!) for these luxuries? How can you forget the peoples from your home countries that you know have so much less?

Of course, some do remember their ties and the poor. But it seems to me that the more we acquire, the more we tend to forget.

Power, they say, corrupts. Well, it seems to me that wealth is this way, too. Perhaps because it is a form of power in this world? And this, I believe, is what this hadith is trying to tell us: wealth, if we take only what we truly comfortably need (we do not have to be ascetics), and if we act as conduits for His Bounty… this wealth is a lush goodness for us. But if we gorge ourselves on it, we will slowly become corrupted, and we risk our well-being in both this life and the Next.

(smile) But this is only my opinion. Only Allah truly Knows.


May Allah, the Pardoner, Help us in our efforts not to get caught up in the endless race for wealth that distracts us (see Qur'an 102:1).

 

[M.I.A.]

Its funny you mention Muslim traders, I give it my all and want to give quality products.

...my staff are inept and give inferior products.. And yet the customers call her fair.

I feel that is cruelty.

...reminds me of arranged marriages.

Would have been better if they just remembered me as cheap.

And yet it feels like even there money costs me my respect.

...*****d out seems fitting.

The funny thing is I let a lot of staff go..

And yet if you ask me what the meaning of business is I'd say..

To get as many people on as possible.

Allah swt has need of nobody.


...when life gives you lemons.


Half the time I think they trained me wrong on purpose lol.

The other half I think I'm being ungrateful.

 

[Samiun]

:jz: for everyone's responses. I recall somewhere loads of Non Muslims accepted Islam because of honesty and good conduct of Muslim businessmen and traders. Anyone know where and when this was?

Yes yohoo over here! They're the reason(with Allah's will) why we have became a Muslim majority country(though it was the marriage of the Malacca Sultanate that kicked off the Islamic state in that part south-east Asia[Tanah Malaya]). It was stated that the arabs came to Eastern Malaysia and went to trade there. The locals were astonished and attracted towards their adaab(in trade) so they became Muslims. Also while doing their trade, they would also teach Islam to the local people and some married the local people and lived there. Though I have no source atm(only by memory). I may leave a lot of details out but that's what I remember

 

[sister herb]

Salam alaykum

What ever is the situation of us, if we are poor or rich or something between, we always should remember that we have something what others don´t have and then try our best to share it. It might be money or knowledge or professional in some special field. When we are talking about being poor or rich we usually mean money. Helping hand when you can give it to other might means more than a million dollars. If you can give a little help to someone who desperately needs it righ now, you are rich.

 

[Muhaba]

Depends on what you do with the money. Do you earn the aakhira with it or hell?