In the Qur’an, God explains the desire for property as an aspect that ties people to the life of this world. There is no doubt that having property, earning an income and living a good life with this income is a perfectly legitimate right; God created the blessings of this world for His servants. However, it is something different if a person lays claims to property, which actually belongs to God. A person who lives a life forgetting all about God and the hereafter and spends everything for his own, ignoring all the blessings God bestows upon him and the people in suffering and need, points at a moral disease; a person like this almost never thinks about the closeness of death and how temporary life actually is. The purpose of man’s creation is to earn the good will of God but when this acquisitive mentality takes hold of him like a passion, he forgets this main purpose. The passion for material things besieges his existence like a rage and causes him to lead an unwary life. God reveals this truth in the Qur’an as such:
Fierce competition for this world distracted you until you went down to the graves. (Surat at-Takathur, 1-2)
Some people believe that the only way to be rich is to put up a running battle for this cause. They assume that their success or failure on this path is a consequence of their own actions. The reason for this false belief is that they do not know – or believe – at heart that God is the sole Owner of all things.
The main reason behind the economic crises in the world today is this fallacy. Since the enormous monetary power that builds up in big capital owners is safely tucked away in banks and private safes, meaning it is not being put to any use, such as transferring it to manpower, new investments and activities that would increase people’s level of welfare, there is great economic instability. As a result of this, in almost every country in the world, on one side there is a segment that continuously accumulates wealth and on the other, there is a segment that sleeps on the streets and large masses that live at the threshold of starvation. The damage untrammeled capitalism did to the world is blindingly obvious thanks to its horrific outcomes. These huge differences among people’s life standards are the result of a life removed from the moral values of the Qur’an.
The resources of the Earth are more than enough for all human beings to live in comfort. However the evil mentality with its boundless desire to collect and accumulate possessions, as revealed in the Qur’an, prevents people from using these means in a just way and according to people’s needs.
For an individual who does not believe that power and possessions come from God and think that his gain is his own success, it is a nightmare to spend his money. So for this reason, he piles up his earnings, hides it in every way possible and constantly stockpiles not only his money, but possessions as well. Such a person prefers to save his money under his pillow instead of opening a new factory, and thus providing employment opportunities for more people, or making new investments that will increase his country’s production capacity and advance the industry, or perhaps using his money in charitable activities that will benefit all. In such a self-centered worldview, the poor become poorer and the rich become richer.
Today approximately 842 million people live under the hunger threshold. According to the IMF’s predictions for 2014, while Luxembourg has the highest domestic income per capita with 105,995 dollars per annum, in India this number is only 1,483 dollars per annum. As can be seen, the imbalance in distribution of income per capita, which varies from country to country, are actually one of the consequences of not living the moral values of the Qur’an. People knowingly or not knowingly contribute to this wheel of oppression by piling up their money and not using it for anyone or any useful purpose.
One of the most important reasons that many people pile up their possessions is a “fear of poverty”, which satan inwardly suggests to people. A large mass of people who live without completely trusting in God fear that something horrendous is going to happen in the future; that they will be broke, grow old all alone, become dependent on others or be forced into bankruptcy or penury. Therefore, they spend every moment making plans for the future. However, many of the same people who are otherwise so concerned about their future do not prepare for the life after death, which is sure to come one day. They almost never think of what they will say in the presence of Almighty God on the Day of Reckoning or how to prepare for that day.
Future plans are generally in the form of saving up some money for possible future hardships and troubles. However, God is the One Who creates all the difficulties and blessings a person would face in the course of his or her life. If God so wills, no matter how much money someone saves or how much he invests, this could never protect him or her from what is to come. Every person lives what is in his or her destiny; if someone does not face any difficulty, this is not because he guarantees his future with his own actions but because God favored him. In the same way, a person who lives in difficulty despite all the precautions he has taken (in his own view) is in that situation not because he did not take enough precautions but because God has so willed it. There is no meaning in falling into despair or saying, “Had I taken more precautions, this would not have happened”, and such thoughts are not appropriate according to the Qur’an. If the same incidents happened one thousand times, it would still happen in the same way and the end result would still be the same.
In this case, the most reasonable thing to do for a person is to submit to God, to be sure that God will protect him and give the best return in the hereafter. This is only possible by using one’s capital in the ‘halal’ way, continuously hoping for the good pleasure of God, and not by piling up possessions for possible future situations. A person who starts a task with the name of God and spends his money and possessions in the way of, and for the good pleasure of God, is always under God’s protection. He knows that God helps him every step of the way. He is aware that God creates all things, even those which appear to be negative, for his well-being. Therefore there is a great benediction in everything a sincere Muslim does by putting his trust in God. The success and possessions, which non-believers covetously want to have, reach Muslims non-stop.
It must not be forgotten that Almighty God has created everything in the best and most impeccable way. Living with the comfort of knowing this fact is a privilege that belongs to Muslims who trust in God with all their heart.
Adnan Oktar's article on Wadsam Afghan Business:
