Exhortation to strive against the self and be sincere, with an explanation of the importance of wealth in the life of the Muslim, though knowledge is the best of acts of worship, for it is the realization of the reason for existence

The questioner : O Muslims, I see that we are all making a covenant with Allah from this moment and this hour that we will work for Allah and strive for Allah. Striving, my brothers, striving is an obligatory duty and one of the greatest duties that Allah has made obligatory upon humanity. No community has ever been rectified except through striving, and no community has ever abandoned striving except that Allah humbled them, for striving is a defense of the truth, not an aggression upon others. Yes, sometimes striving is the striving of the pen, and sometimes the striving of the word, and sometimes it requires the striving of striking, shedding blood. And sometimes this striving is perseverance. So it is obligatory upon us to persevere against the enemies, to persevere against the enemies of Allah, to correspond with them, to respond to them, to speak with them, and to argue with them in the best manner. We must discuss and be diligent, not yielding, and let not boredom take us, nor weariness, nor the periods that take hold of the weak. We must set out for Allah, light and heavy, and strive in the path of Allah. It is obligatory upon us [Tawbah:38], it is obligatory upon us to respond to Allah [Al-Anfal:24]. So fear Allah, O servants of Allah. O servant of Allah, you are responsible for yourself and your limbs, responsible outwardly and inwardly. Then you are responsible for your children, so it is obligatory upon you to proceed upon the methodology. And this does not happen except by your following knowledge, and by your purchasing the correct Islamic books, and leaving them as an inheritance for your sons, not leaving them the floors. May Allah, if the books are not obtained before them, perhaps your children will make the wealth you leave for them a ladder by which they ascend to poverty, and ascend by it until they anger Allah. And perhaps they will make it a bed by which they demolish everything you built in your life. What makes you think that perhaps your children are wretched criminals, as some of the Salaf said? And perhaps 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz or someone else was asked, "Why do you not leave your children... wealth in their hands?" He said, "If they are pious, Allah provides for the pious , and if they are criminals, I am not prepared to leave wealth with them that aids them, for wealth aids its owners in crimes. It is the ladder by which they ascend, and the mount that criminals ride. Wealth, and wealth prolongs its owner if he is a criminal. And if wealth is abundant before him, it prolongs the greatest crime, and he does the greatest of what angers Allah. Why? Because wealth is a means to obedience and a means to disobedience, a great means. So do not leave much wealth before you leave the great inheritance from the inheritance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which He distributed upon us. And the Companions would compete and rush and hasten to share in the Prophetic inheritance, which is the hadith, which is knowledge. So it is obligatory upon you. We said, this does not happen except with knowledge. Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. You must take knowledge. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made clear , so it is obligatory upon every one of us to know why Allah created him, to know how to stand before Allah on the Day of Resurrection? What will he present to Allah when he is asked? It is obligatory upon the person not to think that he has multiplied and not to be arrogant so that you may multiply. It is obligatory upon you to be patient for your Lord, and know that the first thing the Qur'an began with on earth, and the first verse that honored the earth, is , and the meaning of "Read" is learn and provision. So after he (peace and blessings be upon him) read and this was revealed to him, what was revealed after that? , after you read, stand and warn the people. What is in you... What is the matter after you read? It is not right for you to have passed the time of sleep, O Khadijah. If she said to him, "Sleep, rest a little of the night," he says to her , the covenant is not a covenant of sleep. So it was revealed to him [Al-Muzzammil:5]. And I know, and you all know, that there is no messenger after the Messenger of Allah, and you are all responsible for this message and will be held accountable for it on the Day of Presentation to Allah. You are all responsible for this message, what did you do with it? And you know the hadith , of these four? , so if you know, it is obligatory upon you to convey what you know, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said , so it is obligatory upon you. And his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) , so it is obligatory upon you to know, it is an obligatory duty. So if you know, you have no choice but to roll up your sleeves of effort and confront the people, whether it is a confrontation with the tongue, or a confrontation with the pen, or a confrontation with the sword. May Allah, we do not begin with people like this, we only present this call. So if we see one who is a consequence or an obstacle in our face, or a strong barrier between us and the servants of Allah to whom we want to convey this call, we remove it by any means. May Allah, if it is truly that it does not allow us to reason with people and speak to them, and may Allah send blessings upon our master Muhammad.