By Ustadh Dr Adekunle Mikail
” There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance depends on Allah: He knows its resting place and and temporary deposit: all is in a clear Record ”
The glorious Qur’an
Exalted is He, who has created everything and knows its constituent! He had in actuality created man from the sounding clay, the Jinn from fire and the angels from light!
” We created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape; and the Jinn race, we had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind.” Qur’an 15 vs26-27
The creation of man, its structure and sustenance, therefore, belong and depend on the Creator, Allah. Nothing then happens in creation except by the Word of Allah and with the knowledge of Allah. Not a leaf stirs but by His will . Its maintenance in every sense is dependent on His will too!
Despite this, and many words of affirmation and assurance in the blessed tradition of prophet Muhammad salla-llahu alehi wasalam, to the effects that human sustenance and the manners of his maintenance, preceded his creation five hundred thousand years before his creation, man has not desisted from seeking sustenance by all means crooked and dirty!
It needs to be stated from this beginning that, the religion of Allah (swt), has not debarred nor hampered man from pursuing his sustenance in any of its sources. Rather, what it has done is regulating, guiding and pointing to the legal forms and means of livelihood while it warns him from earning his provision from the illegal ones.
Indeed, the prophet salla-llahu alehi wasalam, has also praised good money and property in the hands of a righteous being, in one of his tradition as follows :
” Blessed is good property in the hands of a righteous man ”
, as he knew that the possession of a legal means in the acquisition of wealth or property will make the wealth or property legal. And peradventure, if a man of integrity has in his possession, a legal sustenance, he will deploy it to positive and beneficial ends!
At the same time, it is instructive to inform the esteemed readers that there is no debate in Islam on the pursuit of sustenance. It is even a religious duty in Islam to seek one’s needs from every available legal ends. And the glaring fact is that ,the glorious Qur’an has even encouraged and commanded man to ‘enjoy the sustenance God Has furnished the earth with’ as follows:
” It is He who has made the earth manageable for you ,so traverse it through its tracts and enjoy its sustenance which He furnishes ; but unto Him is the Resurrection”
The prophet salla-llahu alehi wasalam, has even said in one of his hadith :
” No one has ever earned a good sustenance than the one who eke out a living from the product of his toiling as prophet Daud alehi salaam, had eked out a living from what his hands wrought ”
However, what is discouraged in the religion of Islam is the love of the material things until they befuddle one sense of reason and until one loses his spirituality and superimposes the love of this passing world above the love for Allah, thereby having no desire for the life of the hereafter, which is enduring and the real life in actual sense of living with no ailment, labour and death for the dwellers of Paradise.
It is the pursuit of wealth like that of Qarun which is doubtless, of the people of Moses and who had acted insolently towards them and in the Quranic words, ” such were the treasures We Had bestowed on him, that their keys would have been a burden to a body of men. Behold, his people said to him: ” Exult not , for Allah loves not those who exult in riches ”
The glorious Qur’an persists in the story of Qarun as follows:
” But seek ,with the wealth which Allah has bestowed on you ,the home of the Hereafter, nor forget your own portion in this word: but do good (to others) ,as Allah has been good to you, and seek nor mischief in the land : for Allah loves not those who do mischief ”
The message is clear enough from Allah’s exhortation to Qarun about the seeker of wealth or sustenance who had found it . That is, ‘ spend your wealth in charity and do good works. It is Allah who has given it to you, and you should spend it in Allah’s cause. Nor should you forget the legitimate needs of this life, as misers do, and most people become misers who think too exclusively of their wealth’!
The Misers And His Thinking
Miserliness prods man to think exclusively of their wealth, as if , like Qarun, he has gotten the wealth with him solely, and entirely on his own merits such as a result of his knowledge, experience and effort!
For when Qarun was advised to use the sustenance endowed him with sense for the benefit of God’s religion , himself and humanity at large, he became bigoted , blinded and arrogant that he thought that his own merits, knowledge , and skill or cleverness had earned him his wealth ,and that now , on account of it , he was superior to everybody else and was entitled to ride roughshod over them. Hear the glorious Qur’an on Qarun’ s insolence, once more :
” He said: ” This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge which I have .” Did he not know that Allah Had destroyed , before him, whole generations, – which were superior to him in strength and greater in the amount of riches they had collected ? But the wicked are not called immediately to account for their sins ”
” So he went forth among his people in the pride of his worldly glitter. Said those whose aim is the life of this world : ” oh! That we had the like of what Qarun has got! For he is truly a lord of mighty good fortune!”
The Examples Of Those Whose Aim Is The Life Of This World
And in this our time too, the examples of those whose aim is the life of this world; this fleeting world that has no customer which she respects for the bargain of the past, nor friend which she so much love that she does not visit him with ailment, desolation and finally death ; like some people among the people of Qarun will envy every wealthy man without thinking and thanking God for what He Has done for him in terms of creation, good health and for being a Muslim!
And like them ( Qarun’s people), whenever the riches go out in all their wealthy splendour, the worldly people of this age will envy them too and thought how happy they would be if they are in their places nor minding or realizing that shoes do pinch the wealthy too!
Not so, the people of wisdom and discernment. They know a more precious and lasting wealth, which is having faith in God, worshipping Him sincerely and hoping for His rewards in the hereafter, as portrayed by their words in view of Qarun’ s people as follows :
” But those who had been granted true knowledge said: ” Alas for you! The reward of Allah in the hereafter is best for those who believe and work righteousness : but this none shall attain, save those who steadfastly persevere ”
Eventually, when Qarun did not heed the advise of God through prophet Musa, ” we caused the earth to swallow him up and his house ; and he had not the least party to help him against Allah , nor could he defend himself ”
The rabble , that admired Qarun’ s wealth when he was in worldly prosperity , now see the other side of the question and understand that there are other gifts more precious and desirable, and that these may actually be withheld from men who enjoy wealth and worldly prosperity. In fact, it is false prosperity, or no prosperity in the real sense of the word, which is without spiritual well-being!
The noble Quran had this to say about them :
” And those who had envied his position the day before began to say on the morrow: ” Ah! It is indeed Allah who enlarges the provision or restricts it , to any of His servants He pleases! Had it not been that Allah was gracious to us, He could have caused the earth to swallow us up! Ah! Those who reject Allah will assuredly never prosper ”
What Becomes Of The Miser
What became the Quranic Qarun, will undoubtedly become of every miser, no question about that! But before he will met his waterloo, three things will happen to him, according to ‘Allama Yusuf Aliy ( Rahimahu-llahu) , he says :
” if wealth is not properly used, there are three evils that follow:
” (1) its possessor may be a miser and forget all claims due to himself and those about him; (2) he may forget the higher needs of the poor and needy, or the good causes which require support; and he may even misspend on occasions and cause a great deal of harm and mischief. Apparently Qur’an had all the three vices!
As for the do-gooders, their rewards will be made to be good than their deeds according to the verse of the glorious Qur’an :
” If anyone does good, the reward to him is better than his deed….
The glorious Qur’an.
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