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"Is
possessing power, wealth, and grandeur incompatible with the essence of
Islam?"
Some
circles identify being a Muslim with poverty, underdevelopment, rustic manners,
passivity or the state of giving up all mundane interests. Many people believe
that a contrary model is somehow against religion. However, such convictions
stem from a totally incorrect understanding of the Qur'an. People develop such
false ideas, which are then reinforced by hearsay and various myths, because
they neither read nor ponder the Qur'an, although it is one of the main source
of accurate knowledge about Islam. As
Allah reveals in "The Messenger says: "My
Lord, my people treat this Qur'an as something to be
ignored,"
(Qur'an, 25:30) this flawed way of practicing the religion stems from people's
failure to refer to the Qur'an. When people actually refer to the Qur'an, it
immediately becomes clear that Islam does not suggest such a model. We can see
this in the splendid wealth and possessions that Allah granted to many of the
Prophets. Over the centuries, Prophet Sulayman's (Solomon) (pbuh) unprecedented
glorious wealth has become legendary. Sulayman (pbuh), a Prophet praised by the
Qur'an for his exemplary conduct, surely pursued nothing but earning Allah's
good pleasure and had no guide other than His religion. Indeed, before being
endowed with great wealth, he prayed the following prayer:
He
said: "My Lord, forgive me and give me a kingdom the like of which will never be
granted to anyone after me. Truly, You are the Ever-Giving." (Qur'an, 38:35)
If
praying for wealth was a practice to be condemned, then a Prophet praised by
Allah in the Qur'an would not have done so. Indeed, the Qur'an states that Allah
answered his prayer. As the verse below indicates, Allah always mentions Prophet
Sulayman (pbuh) with praise: And
to Dawud We gave Sulayman. What an excellent servant! He truly turned to his
Lord. (Qur'an, 38:30) Prophet
Sulayman (pbuh) is not the sole example, for Allah also granted authority and
power to his father, Prophet Dawud (David) (pbuh), as well as great wealth to
Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) and his family: Or
do they in fact envy other people for the bounty Allah that has granted them? We
gave the family of Ibrahim the Book and Wisdom, and We gave them an immense
kingdom. (Qur'an, 4:54) As
we see, Allah condemns any feelings of jealousy over the wealth He grants to
Muslims as a blessing. The Qur'an reveals that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was
also enriched by Allah, for: Did
He not find you impoverished and enrich you? (Qur'an, 93:8)
At
this point, the difference between wealth as perceived by believers and
unbelievers arises: believers are conscious that only Allah, the real owner of
property, gives wealth, while unbelievers perceive wealth as claiming ownership
over property, which is no less than rebellion against Allah, Who owns
everything in the universe. This divergence also emerges when it comes to using
property: believers spend their wealth for good causes, whereas unbelieving
property owners commonly seek to "cause
corruption in the land." (Qur'an, 28:77) Wealth,
glory, and authority are blessings that Allah bestows upon His servants. The
essential feature here is to use this wealth in the proper way in order to give
due thanks to Allah for them, to constantly remember His favors, and thus to
draw nearer to Him and seek ways to earn His good pleasure. Indeed, Prophet
Sulayman's (pbuh) words below makes his intention clear:
And
he said:
"Truly do I love the love of good, with a view to the glory of my Lord".
(Qur'an, 38:32) However,
we need to remember that this life is a test sent to us by Allah. The level of
people's commitment and patience shows when they are confronted with hardships
and difficulties, for their reaction reveals the profoundness of their faith.
Thus, Allah
may test people with such difficulties as death, fear, hunger, poverty, and so
on both to reveal their steadfastness and other superior qualities and to reward
them.
However, while showing patience, Muslims must pray constantly to Allah for
relief, increase, and an expansion of blessings. Furthermore, they have to ask
for these blessings not only for themselves but also for all believers, and ask
for vast resources so as to glorify Allah's name. This is the attitude that most
complies with the Qur'anic stance. However,
it goes without saying that the criteria used to judge people in Islam is not
wealth, for poverty or wealth does not determine a person's worth in Allah's
sight. What matters is that believers spend their means, whether abundant or
scarce, in compliance with Allah's good pleasure and ask for wealth only to
spend for His cause. Believers do not hoard possessions, for they avoid the fate
awaiting those who do, which the Qur'an describes in the following verse:
As
for those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in the Way of Allah,
give them the news of a painful punishment. (Qur'an, 9:34)
Believers
enjoy spending in Allah's cause just as they enjoy benefiting from His
blessings. From this stance, praying for wealth, possessions, and fortune is an
act of worship that brings rewards to sincere believers. Allah promises to
increase the believers' property provided that they thank Him for them and spend
it in His cause. True
believers who comply with the Qur'an are the servants of Allah on Earth. They
represent Allah. While stating that the real owners of Earth will be believers,
Allah mentions the attributes of those who will attain this blessing, as
follows:
Allah
has promised those of you who believe and do right actions that He will make
them successors in the land, as He made those before them successors, and will
firmly establish for them their religion, with which He is pleased, and give
them, in place of their fear, security. "They worship Me, not associating
anything with Me." Any who are unbelievers after that, such people are
deviators. (Qur'an, 24:55) *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links
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