The religion of Allah, Islam, has mandated the true believers among Muslims to believe that everything belongs to Allah. Because wealth also belongs to Allah, money should be used responsibly. It is also believes that Muslims must be compassionate because everyone is a special creation of Allah.
In Islam, money has no intrinsic value – money, therefore, cannot be sold at a profit and is permitted to be used as per Shariat only. Islamic banks work on the principles of an interest-free banking.
“The parable of those who spend their substance in the way of Allah is that of a grain of corn; it grows seven ears and each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He pleases; and Allah cares for all and He knows all things.”
The Prophet (PBUH) said, “the Lord’s commandment for every one of His slaves is, ‘Spend on others, and I will spend on you'”(Bukhari, Muslim). It helps remove the problems of ordinary life and beyond. The Prophet said, “verily charity appeases the wrath of Allah and eases the sufferings of death” (Tirmidhi)
Those who spend their wealth [in Allah’s way’] by night and by day, secretly and publicly – they will have their reward with the Lord. And no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. Sutrat Al-Baqarah 2:274
Muslims are warned in the Quran to be on guard against greed. A Muslim should not save and hoard great sums of money, but should distribute it to those who are in need of it.
However, In suratul Hadid, Allah reflects on the virtue of Spending in Islam, including the benefits that awaits those who spend on course of Allah and the punishment that awaits the disbelievers.
In suratul Hadid, Allah said;
﴿ءَامِنُواْ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَأَنفِقُواْ مِمَّا جَعَلَكُم مُّسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ فَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمْ وَأَنفَقُواْ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ – وَمَا لَكُمْ لاَ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ لِتُؤْمِنُواْ بِرَبِّكُمْ وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَـقَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِينَ – هُوَ الَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ ءَايَـتٍ بَيِّنَـتٍ لِّيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ – وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلاَّ تُنفِقُواْ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ لاَ يَسْتَوِى مِنكُم مَّنْ أَنفَقَ مِن قَبْلِ الْفَتْحِ وَقَـتَلَ أُوْلَـئِكَ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِّنَ الَّذِينَ أَنفَقُواْ مِن بَعْدُ وَقَـتَلُواْ وَكُلاًّ وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَى وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ – مَّن ذَا الَّذِى يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضاً حَسَناً فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ وَلَهُ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ ﴾
(7. Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend of that whereof He has made you trustees. And such of you as believe and spend, theirs will be a great reward.) (8. And what is the matter with you that you believe not in Allah! While the Messenger invites you to believe in your Lord; and He has indeed taken your covenant, if you are real believers.) (9. It is He Who sends down manifest Ayat to His servant that He may bring you out from darkness into light. And verily, Allah is to you full of kindness, Most Merciful.) (10. And what is the matter with you that you spend not in the cause of Allah And to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth. Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the conquering. Such are higher in degree than those who spent and fought afterwards. But to all Allah has promised the best. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.) (11. Who is he that will lend Allah a handsome loan: then He will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have a honorable reward.)
Allah the Exalted and Blessed orders having perfect faith in Him and in His Messenger, and that one should persist on this path adhereing firmly to it. Allah encourages spending from what He has made mankind trustees of, the wealth that you – mankind – have, that He has lent you. This wealth was in the hands of those before you and was later transferred to you. Therefore, O mankind, spend as Allah commanded you from the wealth that He entrusted to you for His obedience. Otherwise, He will hold you accountable and punish you for your ignoring what He ordained on you in this regard. Allah’s statement,
﴿مِمَّا جَعَلَكُم مُّسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ﴾
(of that whereof He has made you trustees.), indicates that you – mankind — will surrender this wealth to someone else. In this case, those who will inherit from you might obey Allah with their wealth, and thus acquire more happiness than you on account of what Allah has granted them. They might disobey Allah, and in this case you will have helped them commit evil and transgression. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin Ash-Shikhkhir said, “I came to Allah’s Messenger as he was reciting and saying,
﴿أَلْهَـكُمُ التَّكَّاثُرُ ﴾
يَقُولُ ابْنُ آدَمَ: مَالِي مَالِي، وَهَلْ لَكَ مِن مَالِكَ إِلَّا مَاأَكَلْتَ فَأَفْنَيْتَ، أَوْ لَبِسْتَ فَأَبْلَيْتَ، أَوْ تَصَدَّقْتَ فَأَمْضَيْتَ؟»
((abundance diverts you.)( The Son of `Adam claims, “My wealth, my wealth.” But is there anything belonging to you, except that which you consumed, which you used, or which you wore and then it became worn or you gave as charity and sent it forward) Muslim also collected with the addition:
«وَمَا سِوَى ذلِكَ، فَذَاهِبٌ وَتَارِكُهُ لِلنَّاس»
(Other than that, you will go away from it and leave it behind for other people.) Allah’s statement,
﴿فَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمْ وَأَنفَقُواْ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ﴾
(And such of you as believe and spend, theirs will be a great reward.) encourages having faith and spending in acts of obedience. Allah the Exalted said,
﴿وَمَا لَكُمْ لاَ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ لِتُؤْمِنُواْ بِرَبِّكُمْ﴾
(And what is the matter with you that you believe not in Allah! While the Messenger invites you to believe in your Lord;) meaning, “what prevents you from believing, while the Messenger is among you calling you to faith and bringing forward clear proofs and evidences that affirm the truth of what he brought you” And we have reported the Hadith through different routes in the beginning of the explanation on the chapter on Faith in Sahih Al-Bukhari, wherein one day the Messenger of Allah said to his Companions,
«أَيُّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعْجَبُ إِلَيْكُمْ إِيمَانًا؟»
(Who do you consider among the believers as having the most amazing faith) They said, “The angels.” He said,
«وَمَا لَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ وَهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ؟»
(And what prevents them from believing when they are with their Lord) They said, “Then the Prophets.” He said,
«وَمَالَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْوَحْيُ يَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِمْ؟»
(What prevents them from believing when the revelation comes down to them) They said, “Then us.” He said,
«وَمَالَكُمْ لَا تُؤْمِنُونَ وَأَنَا بَيْنَ أَظْهُرِكُمْ؟ وَلكِنْ أَعْجَبُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِيمَانًا، قَوْمٌ يَجِيئُونَ بَعْدَكُمْ، يَجِدُونَ صُحُفًا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا فِيهَا»
(What prevents you from believing, when I am amongst you Actually, the believers who have the most amazing faith, are some people who will come after you; they will find pages that they will believe in.) We mentioned a part of this Hadith when explaining Allah’s statement in Surat Al-Baqarah,
﴿الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ﴾
(who believe in the Ghayb (unseen).)(2:3) Allah’s statement,
﴿وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَـقَكُمْ﴾
(and He has indeed taken your covenant,) is similar to another of His statements,
﴿وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمِيثَـقَهُ الَّذِى وَاثَقَكُم بِهِ إِذْ قُلْتُمْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا﴾
(And remember Allah’s favor to you and His covenant with which He bound you when you said: “We hear and we obey.”)(5:7), which refers to giving the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet . Ibn Jarir said that the covenant mentioned here, is that taken from mankind, when they were still in Adam’s loin. This is also the opinion of Mujahid, and Allah knows best. Allah said,
﴿هُوَ الَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ ءَايَـتٍ بَيِّنَـتٍ﴾
(It is He Who sends down manifest Ayat to His servant) clear proofs, unequivocal evidences and plain attestations,
﴿لِيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ﴾
(that He may bring you out from darkness into light.) from the darkness of ignorance, disbelief and contradictory statements to the light of guidance, certainty and faith,
﴿وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴾
(And verily, Allah is to you full of kindness, Most Merciful.) by revealing the Divine Books and sending the Messengers to guide mankind, eradicating doubts and removing confusion. After Allah commanded mankind to first believe and spend, He again encouraged them to acquire faith and stated that He has removed all barriers between them and the acquisition of faith. Allah again encouraged them to spend,
﴿وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلاَّ تُنفِقُواْ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ﴾
(And what is the matter with you that you spend not in the cause of Allah And to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth.) means, spend and do not fear poverty or scarcity. Surely, He in Whose cause you spent is the King and Owner of the heavens and earth and has perfect control over their every affair, including their treasuries. He is the Owner of the Throne, with all the might that it contains, and He is the One Who said,
﴿وَمَآ أَنفَقْتُمْ مِّن شَىْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ﴾
(And whatsoever you spend of anything, He will replace it. And He is the best of providers.)(34:39), and,
﴿مَا عِندَكُمْ يَنفَدُ وَمَا عِندَ اللَّهِ بَاقٍ﴾
(whatever is with you, will be exhausted, and whatever is with Allah will remain.)(16:96) Therefore, those who trust in and depend on Allah will spend, and they will not fear poverty or destitution coming to them from the Owner of the Throne. They know that Allah will surely compensate them for whatever they spend.
Credit: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Suratul Hadid
