The Garden of Knowledge

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 01 Ramadan 1444/24 March 2023

All praise is due to Allah, the Cherisher, Sustainer, Nourisher and Provider of the entire creation.

Verily the blessings bestowed upon us by the Almighty Allah are countless. Wealth being one of the greatest blessings that we have been bestowed with by the Almighty, we have a responsibility to ensure we spend our wealth in a correct manner, meaning we should not waste our wealth on that which goes in contradiction to the Shariah. There is no harm in us spending our wealth on ourselves or our loved ones however we should be mindful when spending our wealth.

Allah alone knows why we may have been blessed with the wealth which we have however one can assume that one possible reason is so that we can use that wealth as a means to do good and get closer to Allah.

Allah makes mention in Surah Aal-e-Imran, verse 92:

لَن تَنَالُوا۟ ٱلْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنفِقُوا۟ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِن شَىْءٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌ

“Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah ] from that which you love. And whatever you spend indeed, Allah is Knowing of it.”

According to Ibn-Kathir Al-Birr refers to spending from the best of one’s wealth. Amr bin Maymun makes mention that “Never will you attain Al-Birr (the good reward)” is in reference to attaining Paradise.

One of the best ways to spend from the best of one’s wealth is buy giving in charity.

It was narrated Umar (R.A) came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said:

فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنِّي أَصَبْتُ مَالاً لَمْ أُصِبْ مِثْلَهُ قَطُّ كَانَ لِي مِائَةُ رَأْسٍ فَاشْتَرَيْتُ بِهَا مِائَةَ سَهْمٍ مِنْ خَيْبَرَ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا وَإِنِّي قَدْ أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَتَقَرَّبَ بِهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏ “‏ فَاحْبِسْ أَصْلَهَا وَسَبِّلِ الثَّمَرَةَ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

 ‘O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I have acquired some wealth the like of which I have never acquired before. I had one hundred head (of livestock) with which I bought one hundred shares of Khaibar from its people. I wanted to draw closer to Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, by means of it.’ He ﷺ said: ‘Retain the land and donate its fruits.’” [Sunan an-Nasa’i 3604]

From the above we learn that spending from the best of your wealth is a means to get closer to Allah. When Spending we should not spend to show others but rather to get closer to Allah. Sometimes we find that we buy things that we don’t need with many that we don’t have to impress people we don’t need to impress. We do not need the approval of anyone, the only approval that matters to us is the approval of Allah and His Rasool ﷺ.

We ask Allah to make us of those who spend our wealth on our family, friends and on those who need solely for the pleasure of Allah and to attain close to Allah and His Rasool ﷺ. May Allah accept our efforts from us and grant us understanding In Sha Allah!