Most people love money intensely; does that affect their faith?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Most people love money intensely; does that affect their faith?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
Loving money does not affect faith or religion as long as it does not occupy one from an obligatory or recommended act. If it occupies one from an obligatory act, then engaging in it is forbidden. If it occupies one from a recommended act, then engaging in the recommended act is more preferable than engaging in money. It is necessary that a person’s dealings with money be in accordance with the Islamic Shari'ah; he must not deal in a transaction that involves injustice, riba (usury or interest), or deception, nor deal with people by claiming what he does not have or denying what he does have. A person’s love for money is a natural matter, as Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said:[Al-'Adiyat 100:1-8] meaning, due to the love of wealth, as He the Exalted said: [Al-Fajr 89:20] How many people Allah has enriched, and Allah the Exalted benefited through their wealth in jihad in the path of Allah, in spreading knowledge, in assisting the distressed, and in other such matters.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
Loving money does not affect faith or religion as long as it does not occupy one from an obligatory or recommended act. If it occupies one from an obligatory act, then engaging in it is forbidden. If it occupies one from a recommended act, then engaging in the recommended act is more preferable than engaging in money. It is necessary that a person’s dealings with money be in accordance with the Islamic Shari'ah; he must not deal in a transaction that involves injustice, riba (usury or interest), or deception, nor deal with people by claiming what he does not have or denying what he does have. A person’s love for money is a natural matter, as Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said:
(1) By the racers, panting, (2) And the producers of sparks [when] striking (3) And the chargers at dawn, (4) Stirring up thereby [clouds of] dust, (5) Arriving thereby in the center collectively, (6) Indeed mankind, to his Lord, is ungrateful. (7) And indeed, he is to that a witness. (8) And indeed he is, in love of wealth, intense.
وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا * فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحاً * فَالْمُغِيرَاتِ صُبْحاً * فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعاً * فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِ جَمْعاً * إِنَّ الْإنْسَانَ لِرَبِّهِ لَكَنُودٌ * وَإِنَّهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌ * وَإِنَّهُ لِحُبِّ الْخَيْرِ لَشَدِيدٌAnd you love wealth with immense love.
وَتُحِبُّونَ الْمَالَ حُبًّا جَمًّاThe questioner : May Allah reward you with good.