only Allah(SW) gives wealth.
Tue Apr 24, 8:23 PM ET
sourceWASHINGTON (AFP) - Intelligence has nothing to do with wealth, according to a US study published Tuesday which found that people with below average smarts were just as wealthy as those with higher IQ scores.
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"People don't become rich because they are smart," said Jay Zagorsky, research scientist at Ohio State University whose study appears in the Journal Intelligence.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics survey included 7,403 Americans who have been interviewed repeatedly since 1979. Based on 2004 answers, people who are now in their mid-40s showed no link between brain- and earning-power.
"Your IQ has really no relationship to your wealth. And being very smart does not protect you from getting into financial difficulty," Zagorsky said.
The study confirmed previous research which has shown that smarter people tend to earn more money, but pointed out there is a difference between high pay and overall wealth.
"The average income difference between a person with an IQ score in the normal range (100) and someone in the top two percent of society (130) is currently between 6,000 and 18,500 dollars per year," it said.
"But when it came to total wealth and the likelihood of financial difficulties, people of below average and average intelligence did just fine when compared to the super-intelligent."
An irregular pattern of total wealth as well as financial distress levels -- such as maxed out credit cards, bankruptcy and missing bill payments -- emerged among the various degrees of intelligence, the study said.
The study measured intelligence based on scores from the US Armed Services Qualification Test, a general aptitude test used by the Department of Defense.
I believe this...cause everything is from Allah subhanahuwata'ala
only Allah(SW) gives wealth.
I knew it! I am a genius but a poor one at that one!
Thank you Allah for blessing me with bright mind but empty pocket. Surely therein I may find greater blessings than I will ever know.
It'll be nice if someone could create a thread on wealth according to perspective of islam.The economic perspective found in the Qur'an has been summarized in a number of places (e.g., Mannan 1970 and Ahmad 1986). The key element of the Qur'an from the economic point of view is its stress on moderation (see, e.g., verses 7:31-32, 18:46 and 17:29). Consumption is permitted ("O ye people! eat of what is on earth lawful and good...." 2:168) while niggardliness (35:29), wastefulness (6:141) and extravagance (17:27) are condemned. The desire for a livelihood (4:5), for comfort (42:36), even for ornament and adornment (18:46) or protection from future uncertainty (4:9) in this world is never called evil. Instead the Qur'an insists that its precepts are the means for achieving success in these things without trading it in for failure in the life to come. The Qur'an "not only permits the Muslims to disperse in the earth and earn their livelihood after Friday prayers (62:10) but also advises the holy Prophet to cut short the morning prayers in order that economic activity is also not hampered (73:20). It also allows its followers to continue their trade during their journey for Hajj (2:198). Along with these incentives to earn, it repeatedly asks man to satisfy his wants and demonstrate his prosperity (4:37, 82:20), without going to the extent of ostentatious extravagance" (uz-Zaman 1981). The only line drawn is overspending (isrâf) which is prohibited even in charity (17:29).
Question
Dear Sir/Madam,
My question concerns the suffering of many good people in the world. It is said in the Qur’an that those who believe in Allah and do good, Allah will make their paths easy.
Yet, for most of my life, I have seen that those decent, good people are always suffering in some way. The bad people usually get away with what they do. Why is this the case if Allah say's He will make their way smooth?
Answer
Salaam dear Saira,
Thank you for raising such a question, which I am sure storms within every single Muslim mind and heart, specially in our present circumstances.
I believe that the confusion usually takes place as a result of our understanding of the concept of “smoothness” as opposing to the concept of “suffering”. I think our minds instantly interpret these two concepts in terms of materialistic gains, such as wealth and luxury … etc.
If wealth and luxury are the indicators by which suffering or smoothness of life are measured, then you have to realize that Allah has warned us here. We should not be mislead by the glamour of these pleasures, if possessed by those who are not on the straight path. Ibn Hanbal reported that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said in a hadith:
“If you see that Allah sends His gifts to you while you are insisting on disobeying Him, then you have to know that it is only a trap, which you are gradually attracted to.”
In fact, this hadith supports many verses, in Qur'an, that stress the very same meaning. They all warn us against admiring the material goods that Allah gives, unconditionally, to those who do not obey Him:
Surah 43, verses 33 – 35:
*{And were it not that all people had been a single nation, We would certainly have assigned to those who disbelieve in the Beneficent Allah (to make) of silver the roofs of their houses and the stairs by which they ascend.
And the doors of their houses and the couches on which they recline,
And [other] embellishments of gold; and all this is naught but provision of this world's life, and the hereafter is with your Lord only for those who guard [against evil].}*
Surah 9, verse 54 – 55:
*{And nothing hinders their spendings being accepted from them, except that they disbelieve in Allah and in His Messenger and they do not come to prayer but while they are sluggish, and they do not spend but while they are unwilling.
Let not then their property and their children excite your admiration; Allah only wishes to chastise them with these in this world's life and (that) their souls may depart while they are unbelievers.}*
Surah 5, verse 100:
*{Say: The bad and the good are not equal, though the abundance of the bad may please you; so be careful of [your duty to] Allah, O men of understanding, that you may be successful.}*
Moreover, the idea that such pleasures are associated with happiness and inner peace is doubtful… Saira, please explain to me – and to yourself - why the rates of suicide is much higher in societies, which enjoy wealth and welfare… not in our underdeveloped ones?! Why should they resort to bizarre and eccentric ways to attain happiness after they have exhausted the normal ways, like all sorts of weird sex and sexual fantasies, though normal sex is open to them without restriction or incrimination?
The reason is that it has simply ceased to satisfy them any more! On the other hand, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the happiest of the happy, in this world and in the world to come. This is as `Aisha, his wife said, that he (pbuh):
"... died in a state that there had been nothing in my wooden tub, which a living being could afford to eat, but a handful of barely therein." (Narrated in the book of authentic hadith by Muslim.)
Many other details of the prophet’s life show us that this used to be the style of his life. Yet, he never considered it to be suffering because he was aware, that as he said:
“The world is a prison-house for the believer and paradise for a non-believer.” (Narrated in the book of authentic hadith by Muslim.)
Let me please add that sometimes we question fate and God’s will, while we should be questioning our own efforts and what we really deserve accordingly! I belong, as you do, to one of those Muslim countries, which are stuffed with what you call “good people”. Regretfully speaking, I found out that the last statistics, of our actual working hours per citizen - in average - are no more than 37 minutes per day! This figure is from official statistics indeed!! This, in fact, makes me reconsider the actual sense of the concept of “good people”.
Please do not blame this backwardness on lack of resources because Allah has not endowed any other nation with the wealth he has endowed us. Still, please don’t ask me where and how this wealth was spent, because... ... ... we all know!
If the successive defeats, which our umma (nation) suffers from, is what you mean by your question, then before you claim that God does not fulfill his promise of victory, just have a deep look at our life-style. Consider our mode of consumption; along with the hours we spend watching dish satellites aimlessly. This is while the Palestinian children are fighting with bare hands and mere stones! Then, you can decide whether we are actually the “good people” God has promised to grant victory!
Of course, it is never too late. What is important, is that we should get start moving towards fulfilling the requirements of being *{the best umma dedicated to mankind}* - as God said in the Qur’an - before we ask Allah to fulfill His promise of a “good life”!
Thank you.
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Last edited by syilla; 04-30-2007 at 02:15 AM.
makes sense to me. also intelligence is not related to education.
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