I begin with the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
“And you love wealth with immense love.” Qur’an 89:20
It seems almost innate in the minds of most men to amass wealth either to maintain an elite status in the society or to compete with one another in luxury and grandeur or even simply and innocently as an instinctive survival strategy or to be able to extend a helping hand to the poor, the destitute and the impoverished. Be it as it may, wealth is an essential and integral part of human existence without which existence will be impossible. Every sane human society therefore, believes that for it to achieve and maintain an excellent consistent progress in all aspects of its human development, its citizens must recognize the importance of exploring all legitimate means of acquiring wealth which should be consistent with the universal moral standards as enshrined in all godly religions.
That humans live in this world and consistently are engaged in various endeavors which largely favors the modern narrative of consolidating political and economic power; there can be no limit to how far some will go to remain relevant in a highly charged materialistic world. But little do men realize that their existence in this world is a precursor to their existence in the hereafter, if there were no this world, there would have been no Hereafter because the actions of the world are reserved for ultimate Judgement in the Hereafter. So, the wise one is he who takes little (wealth) for this world and much (good deeds) for the Hereafter. Allaah Exalted be He, the Creator of all that exist including humans, the One who has perfect and penetrating knowledge regarding everything, states in an unequivocal terms that, “And you love wealth with immense love.” meaning in abundance.
Furthermore, it is incumbent upon humans to appreciate the fact that Allaah Exalted be He has promised to satisfy human need but not their greed. A lot are engulfed in the profession of amassing wealth by any means necessary, whether lawful or forbidden and when human lust for wealth reaches that level then nothing is impossible. Houses will be built without having genuine need for them, cars will be bought for no positive reasons, clothes, shoes, jewelry, private jets for no obvious economic value will dominate the atmosphere and trust and truthfulness will be substituted with theft and deceit. Man becomes a slave to his greed and he values not the much that he has gathered but always looking for more as though there is peace in more.
Interestingly, in Qur’an 104 Allaah Exalted be He says, “Woe to every slanderer and backbiter. Who has gathered wealth and counted it. He presumes that his money will make him immortal.” Alas! this has become the reality of most people today, such that the foundation of trust amongst people, governments and employees, religious figures and the masses has been grossly compromised by greed to have more than what is required. The society places much emphasis on financial status of individuals before according them the common courtesy of being fellow humans, by implication the less you have the less human you are and the more you have the more human you are. Where is the gift of sanity given to humans? This twist in societal opinion regarding who deserves respect and who deserves not has undoubtedly ignited the fire of greed to amass more wealth among the citizens of planet earth. The disease of greed takes over a man’s criterion to differentiate between right and wrong, hence Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave an amazing parable in this regard in a narration by At-Tirmidhi which has been authenticated by al-Albani in Sahih Jami’ that, “Two hungry wolves, if let loose amongst a flock of sheep, cause less harm than a man’s eagerness to increase his money and his prestige.”
Sometimes, it is amazing trying to decipher why this untamed nature of greed that causes shame in this world and unremitting sadness and regret in the Hereafter is allowed a space to breed. Maybe, if humans are exposed to the reality of the dangers that lie ahead, perhaps if there is a will to have an ethical reorientation then there is a way out of this retrogressive nature that has plagued different nations and pushed them along a slippery slope of self destruction. In a narration by At-Tirmidhi which has been authenticated by al-Albani in al-Sahihah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The two feet of the son of Adam will not move on the Day of Judgment in front of His Lord until he is asked about five things: about his life, and how he spent it?…….and about his money, how did he earn it? And what he spend it in?….”. This is scary especially as regards wealth, many, out of greed, take what does not legitimately belong to them and end up dying without even getting to enjoy the wealth they have illegally amassed, yet the wealth might be the reason for their condemnation in Hell (may Allaah save one and all).
Apparently in this world, he who travels with a light luggage faces less scrutiny by the immigration but he who has heavy luggage spends more time with them. Similarly, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said in a narration by ibn Majah authenticated by al-Albani in Al-Sahihah that, “The plentiful (the rich) will be the lowest on the Day of Judgement, except he who distributed his money left and right (at all times), while he earned from pure (means).”
Whoever takes anything that does not rightfully belong to him from the government, from individuals and the society must hasten to return it back before it is too late. In a narration that enjoys the status of double authenticity (Bukhari and Muslim), the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,”If the son of Adam had a valley full of gold, he would want to have two valleys. Nothing fills his mouth except dust, and Allaah will forgive whoever repents to him.” An-Nawawi in his commentary of Muslim said, “A person continues to be greedy for the worldly life until he dies and his stomach is full of the dust of the grave.”
I conclude on this note, a poor man sleeps comfortably underneath a bridge in the busy hours of the day while a greedy rich man suffers from insomnia on the most expensive waterbed in the silence of the night. Our hopes and greed will soon be frustrated by death. To some, whistle blowing is already frustrating their hopes and greed.
