Saidina Umar al-Khattab whose conquest extends geographically more than one million square km, once saw the abundance of wealth (from the fallen Persian Empire including fine carpets) brought back by his lieutenant, Sa’ad bin Abi Waqas. Umar suddenly wept. When asked about the reason of his sadness in that supposedly cheerful occasion, response, “This abundant of wealth has been the cause of down fall of the Persian Kingdom, and now it come to us to indicate our downfall”.
The philosophy of wealth reflected in these words of Umar is indeed the gist of how Islam views the possession of wealth. Islam obviously is neither against any material pursuit nor it opposes the accumulation of wealth. The only caution Islam put forward is the danger of obsessive preoccupation in accumulating and conglomerating wealth either in the individual or in the societal and governmental level to the extent sidelining the most essential parts of his self, his spirituality. Without sufficient spiritual defence, man will easily be deluded by the deception of wealth. Wealth according Imam al-Ghazali is like a snake which inherent in it both poison and cure, danger and benefit. Whoever knows both of them in regard to wealth he can avoid the danger of wealth and gain benefit of it. But just like the snake, most mankind is rather near to the danger of wealth rather than its benefit.
Hence, this is the very reason Al-Quran warns us about the danger of piling up wealth to the extent it influences our psychology and worldview:
“Woe to every scandalmonger and backbiter Who pileth up wealth and layeth it by Thinking that his wealth would make him last forever By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into that which breaks to Pieces” (Al-Humazah 104: 1-4)
And since business and trading are the best manifestation of piling and accumulating excessive wealth, the Quran repeatedly warns those who are involved in business and trading concerning the danger being drawn towards the love of material profit to the point of giving more priorities to their business than to God. In Surah al-Taubah (9), verse 24, Allah swt says,
“Say, if it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred, or the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you are fear a decline, or dwellings in which you are delight, are dearer to you than Allah or His Messenger, or striving in His cause, than wait until Allah brings about His decision; and Allah guides not to the rebellious,”
And in Surah al-Nur (24), verse 37, trade and business are specifically mentioned by Allah swt as deluders of man from the remembrances of Allah swt:
“In houses, which Allah has permitted to be raised so that His name be remembered in them, there extol His limitless glory in the mornings and the evenings, by men whom neither trade nor sale can divert from the remembrance of Allah, nor the regular prayer, nor from paying zakat. Their only fear is for the day when hearts and eyes will be turned about.”
The tendency of being swayed by the temptation of material wealth is indeed very strong in man. The love of wealth according to Prophet saw is the everlasting inspiration for man to think that he will not leave the world:
“The children of Adam will definitely be getting old but two things in him that will be always young, his hope and his love of wealth.”
Why does the Quran repeatedly remind us about the danger of business and trading?
It is because this kind of trading will make man heedless of another more profound business with a most noble business partner, a business with God Himself:
“O ye who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from the grievous penalty? That you believe in Allah and his Messenger, and that you strive in the cause of Allah with your property and yourselves. That will be best for you if you but know” (Al-Saff 61:10-11)
This kind of business is a spiritual business that promises not only a more satisfying profit but also will avoid mankind from falling to a state of utter lost, the lost that is graver than any other material lost that man ever experience in this world, as reminded by Allah swt in Surah al-Asr:
“By time. Verily man is in utter loss. Except such as have Faith, and (join together) In the mutual teaching of truth, and patience and constancy”
Let us be reminded that to deal with this spiritual trading is not always easy as been said. It needs a real, continuing struggle and effort and everlasting battle with our own animal self. The struggle is getting more profit in this trading become more difficult when it somehow against the material profit that we gain in this world. How strong are we to follow the model depicted by Saidina Abu Bakar, a promising businessman with 400,000 dirham, capital flow before converted into Islam, but left with him 5,000 dirham when he made hijrah with the Prophet saw and finally give up all his wealth in the war of Tabuk. When asked by the Prophet saw what he left for his family, he convincingly replied, “I left them Allah swt and You”.
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