Zia Sheikh – Is wealth inherently evil Find out hearing the story of Qaroon Day 19
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Before we start, just an announcement.
Brother Fazal, he works for a travel agency
called Ria Travel.
He requested a dua from his father who
passed away in Sri Lanka yesterday.
Please do remember him in your duas, may
Allah SWT grant him Jannah and forgive his
sins.
Also, many of you will remember an elderly
gentleman who comes here for a few months
at a time.
Very jovial and talks to everybody.
His brother passed away in Pakistan.
We requested to also pray for him.
Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah.
Today, inshallah, I'm going to be talking about
some verses towards the end of Surah al
-Qasas.
They talk about a person whose name was
Qarun.
This Qarun was from the people of Musa
alaihi salam, as the Quran says.
According to some riwayat, he was actually related
to Musa alaihi salam.
He was his cousin.
According to other riwayat, he had the same
father as Musa alaihi salam, but they were
born from different mothers.
Different riwayat that talk about who he was.
Allah SWT says that he was from the
people of Musa alaihi salam, meaning he was
from the Bani Israel.
He was from the Israelites.
But the problem with him was that he
was a wealthy person, and because of his
wealth, he decided to side with the wealthy
and the more powerful side, which was the
side of Fir'aun.
That's why Allah SWT tells us in the
Quran that Allah
SWT sent Musa alaihi salam to Fir'aun,
Haman, and Qarun, but they all said that
he was a liar and a magician.
So Allah says that Musa alaihi salam was
sent specifically to these kinds of people, Fir
'aun, Haman, and Qarun.
Even though, like I said, Qarun was from
the people of Musa alaihi salam, but he
became astray and sided with the people of
Fir'aun.
According to Biblical traditions, the name of Qarun
is Qohra.
And he was also, according to what the
Quran says, he was swallowed up by the
earth.
Inshallah, we'll listen to the Quranic narrative to
see what the Quran says, inshallah.
So Allah SWT says, Inna Qaruna kana min
qawmi Musa fa bagha alaihim.
Indeed, Qarun was from the people of Musa
alaihi salam, and he transgressed against them.
Wa aataynahu minal kunoozi ma inna mafatihahu latanoo
'u bil'usbati walilquwa.
And We gave him such treasures whose keys
were carried by strong men.
Meaning that, you know, if you have a
treasure and it's carried by strong men, that's
a person who's rich.
But not the treasures themselves, the keys to
the treasures.
The keys to the treasures were so vast
and so strong and so big or so
many, they had to be carried by strong
men.
So when the keys are like this, you
can imagine how much treasure and how much
money this person had.
So his people said to him, gave him
some advice.
And this advice is actually for anybody who
has any type of money or Allah SWT
has given him some kind of status.
Because these are the things that are golden
pieces of advice that we should all keep
in mind.
Many people, they assume that wealth is evil.
And it can be evil if a person
does not fulfill the right of that wealth.
If a person is not earning it in
the right way and he's not spending it
in the right way, then it can be
regarded as evil.
As Allah SWT says about those people that
just accumulate wealth and do not give zakah
on it.
وَالَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ الذَّهَبَ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ
اللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُمْ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٌ Those people that accumulate
gold and silver and do not spend it
in the path of Allah SWT, give them
the news of a painful punishment.
What is the painful punishment?
يَوْمَ يُحْمَى عَلَيْهَا That gold and silver is
going to be basically melted down and they're
going to be branded on their faces, on
their backs and so on.
This is the punishment they're going to get
for not spending that wealth.
But Allah SWT throughout the Quran, He does
not refer to wealth as being evil per
se.
Allah SWT uses the word fadl for the
wealth.
وَابْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ Seek the fadl of
Allah SWT.
So if it's fadl, it's a blessing of
Allah SWT, how can we say it's evil?
And this is not in one place in
the Quran.
Throughout the Quran Allah SWT uses the word
fadl for the wealth that people earn.
So how can we differentiate from a person
making that wealth evil and the person who
is not making that wealth evil?
This piece of advice is for that person.
And we can gauge ourselves to see whether
we fit into that category or not.
So his people said to him, لا تفرح,
do not be arrogant.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَرِحِينَ Because Allah SWT
does not like arrogant people.
So one of the first things that happens
to a person when he becomes wealthy is
that he came from humble beginnings and maybe
he was living on a very sparse income,
on a low income.
And then suddenly money started coming in and
that led to him becoming arrogant and now
he starts looking down at the people around
him who have less than him.
And this is the first sign of arrogance.
He forgets where he came from, he forgets
his humble beginnings and he starts looking down
at people who have less than him.
This is arrogance.
So Allah SWT says, do not be arrogant
because Allah SWT does not love the arrogant
people.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَرِحِينَ This is the
first piece of advice for the people who
have wealth.
The second piece of advice people told Qarun
was, وَبْتَغْيثِ مَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةِ Seek
from what Allah SWT has given you the
abode of the hereafter.
So this is the second thing that we
do, that Allah SWT gave us the wealth.
The purpose of our existence should be that
from what Allah gave me, I should be
trying to invest it in the hereafter by
giving my zakat, by fulfilling my obligations of
the zakat, and making sure that I do
whatever I can to help the poor and
the needy so that it is being invested
for myself in the hereafter.
So seeking the hereafter through the wealth that
Allah SWT has given me, after all it
was given to me by Allah, why cannot
I give a portion of it back to
Allah SWT?
It is like the father who gives a
bag of candies to his son and says,
can I have one of those candies back
please?
And if the child gives back one, how
happy the father becomes that the child is
actually thinking of me and he is caring
for me and he wants to give the
candy back to me.
So this is the same thing that Allah
SWT gave us the wealth, why can we
not use it for pleasing Allah SWT who
gave us the wealth in the first place?
So this is the second advice, seeking the
hereafter through the wealth that Allah SWT gave
us.
But at the same time it doesn't mean
that a person just takes all of his
wealth and spends it in charity and there
is nothing left for himself, nothing left for
his family, there is a balance that Allah
SWT allowed us to have.
And this is what Allah SWT says in
Surah Bani Israel, that do not spend your
money in charity so much that you have
nothing left for yourself.
We are a medium Ummah, we tread the
middle path, we don't go to extremes either
way.
the third piece of advice is that remember
to use that same wealth to fulfill your
own worldly needs too, to fulfill the needs
of your family, it's not that you spend
everything in charity.
So this was the third piece of advice.
And do Ihsan, do good just like Allah
SWT did good to you.
So what's the difference between this and the
second piece of advice where Allah SWT says
that seek the abode of the hereafter.
Ihsan is above and beyond the obligations.
So a person has fulfilled his Zakat, he
has fulfilled all of his responsibilities in terms
of the obligations that Allah SWT has given
him, but on top of that he does
more good to people, he gives more, he
gives more in charity, even though he is
not legally or Islamically liable to do that,
he is not obligated to do that, but
he does that, this is called Ihsan.
And also Ihsan could be that a person,
people give him a hard time, and this
happens among so many relatives, that relatives give
you a hard time, and then when the
time comes for them, when they are needy,
they ask you for a handout, they ask
you for some help, you know, at that
point you can have sweet revenge and say,
well, what about the time when you gave
me this, you were giving me a hard
time for so many years, and now you
expect me to turn around and help you
in your time of need, go away from
here, I am not going to help you.
But at that time, to do good to
that person, that's Ihsan.
That is, even though he may not deserve
it, but you do good to him, this
is Ihsan.
So Allah SWT says, وَأَحْسِنُ كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ
إِلَيْكَ Make Ihsan to people, just like Allah
SWT favored you, make Ihsan to the people.
وَلَا تَبْخِلْ فَسَادَ فِي الْأَرْضِ And do not
spread corruption on the earth.
And this is one of the first and
foremost things that happens to many people, that
when Allah SWT gives them wealth, they use
that wealth for the haram activities, they spend
it on haram, consumption of haram.
And all kinds of wrong things are done
when a person has wealth.
And we hear all of these horror stories
about these princes that go from the Middle
East and they spend in casinos millions in
one night.
We hear these things all the time.
So Allah SWT says, this is fasad, this
is corruption.
To use the wealth in these illicit ways,
this is a wrong thing to do.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُفسِدِينَ Allah SWT does
not love the people who spread this type
of corruption.
So these pieces of advice are for those
people that have wealth.
I won't count them again, hopefully you remember
all of them, because I have many ayahs
to go yet.
So the point is that if a person
fulfills the right of the wealth and follows
these steps, he is on the right path.
And then that wealth becomes fadl for him.
And if he is not, then that wealth
is evil.
And he is doing wrong with the wealth
that Allah gave him.
So what was the response of Qarun?
Qarun says, إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عِنْدِي The
wealth that I have, it was given because
of my knowledge.
Many people, when they start getting the wealth,
their business is flourishing, they say that I
am very smart.
I have the right business plan.
I planned everything out good.
And because of that, I am making a
killing and I am making a lot of
money.
It is because of my knowledge.
And this statement is actually very powerful because
it goes against all of the pieces of
advice that were given to him.
Firstly, the statement, it reeks of arrogance.
He is showing arrogance by saying that it
is because of me that I got the
wealth.
Secondly, it means that if I got it
because of my knowledge, why should I give
it to anybody else?
Why should I spend it in the path
of Allah?
Why should I make Ihsan to other people?
And why don't I have the choice to
spend it however I want?
I can spend it on haram things if
I want because I got it from my
knowledge.
So this statement, this small statement, it goes
against all of the other pieces of advice
that were given to him.
So you don't even need to count everything
off that statement basically says it all.
That I have been given it because of
my knowledge.
And another meaning of the same statement is
that Allah SWT gave it to me because
He knows that I deserve it.
That's another meaning.
Because He loves me and because He favours
me, that's why He gave it to me.
So that's another sentiment that many people have
is that if Allah has given me wealth,
that means He loves me.
And that's not necessarily the reason that Allah
gives a person wealth.
We have so many examples, Qarun himself, who
were given wealth but Allah SWT was displeased
with them.
Fir'aun was also very rich and very
powerful but Allah SWT was displeased with him.
So having wealth is not necessarily a sign
that Allah SWT is pleased with a person.
So Allah SWT says, وَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ
قَدْ أَهْلَكَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مَنْ هُوَ
أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ قُوَّةً وَأَكْثَرُ جَمَعًا Did he not
see that Allah SWT destroyed many generations that
came before him that had more wealth than
him, that had more power than him and
yet Allah SWT destroyed them.
وَلَا يُسْأَلُ عَنْ ذُنُوبِهِمُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ And the criminals
are not asked about their sins.
So what does this last statement mean?
That the last person you ask about the
crime is the criminal himself.
The criminal will always try to justify his
actions in some way or the other.
Or he might say that I'm innocent.
So we have many people, for example, who
serve life sentences for murdering many, many people.
But they have a huge fan base.
Why?
Because the fans, they think, for example, first
of all, they think that maybe he's innocent.
Secondly, they think that there was some kind
of...
he has some kind of excuse and they
start interacting with that person, even exchanging letters,
sending letters to each other.
And on many occasions, women go and marry
these criminals in prison.
So Allah SWT says the last person that
you need to ask about their crime are
the criminals themselves because they will always whitewash
it and they will try to justify their
actions.
So in this case also, Qarun is not
the one that should be asked or would
be asked about his crime.
His actions basically speak louder than words.
So what happened to Qarun?
He came out in front of his people
in all of his luxury, in all of
his beauty, with his army and his horses
and laden with jewelry and everything.
And the people that were desirous of a
worldly life, what did they say?
We wish that we could have what Qarun
has been given.
This is exactly what happens to all of
us, right?
When somebody sees a nice car pulling into
the driveway of the parking lot of the
masjid, immediately we wonder who this person is
and we wish that we could have the
same car.
Or if we go to somebody's house and
it's very palatial and a huge mansion, we
wish that we could have the same thing.
And this was exactly what happened to the
people that saw the wealth of Qarun.
They said that we wish that we could
have what Qarun was given.
He has a huge share.
Allah gave him a lot.
He has a huge share.
We wish we could have the same thing.
But the people who have knowledge, what did
they say?
The people of knowledge, they said that alas,
for you, the reward of Allah is better
for those people that have iman and they
do good deeds and this was only given
to those people that have sabr.
Sabr, basically, it is a very loaded word.
It has a lot of meaning.
Sabr means steadfast upon obedience.
It means to stay away from sins, to
be patient at the time of adversity.
All of these things, they qualify as sabr.
And having all of these qualities makes a
person sabir and Allah SWT says about that
person, Indeed, Allah SWT is with the people
who have sabr.
Many people just assume that sabr is that
if you have difficulty, then you are patient,
that is sabr.
But sabr is much, much broader than that.
It is to be steadfast, to stay away
from sin and to remain patient in adversity.
All of these things combined are sabr according
to the definition given by the scholars.
So the person who recognizes that the wealth
is a temporary thing, he recognizes that the
real abode is the abode of the hereafter
are the people that have this true sabr.
So what happened to him, this Qarun?
We sucked him and his whole house and
his belongings into the earth.
And according, this is not, there is no
detail in the Quran itself as to when
that happened.
But according to the Israeli riwayat, Qarun actually
escaped with the Israelites when they ran away
from Fir'aun.
But then Qarun, he took a bunch of
men, 250 men and tried to conspire against
Musa a.s. after escaping from Fir'aun.
And it was at that point that Allah
swt swallowed him and his abode completely into
the ground.
So, Allah swt says, We sucked him and
his house into the earth.
I am not sure if you know that
these kinds of things happen a lot in
Florida.
Sinkholes.
Have you heard of sinkholes?
That these, basically, suddenly, a huge hole appears
in the earth and it goes down hundreds
and hundreds of feet.
And people basically get sucked into it.
Whole houses, property, cars, basically, they disappear into
it and you can't even find those things
anymore.
So, we see examples of that even to
this day.
So, Allah says that the same thing happened
to Qarun.
Allah says, Nobody could help him at that
time.
No army could help him when Allah swt
had decided to do this with him.
Now, the people that were wishing that they
could be like Qarun yesterday, what are they
saying today?
Allah swt says, وَأَصْبَحَ الَّذِينَ تَمَنَّوا مَا كَانَهُ
بِالْأَمْسِ يَقُولُونَ وَيْكَأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ
مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَوْلَا أَمَّنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا لَخَسَفَ
بِنَا وَيْكَأَنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَ Those people that
were yesterday wishing to be in the place
of Qarun, they started saying that alas, Allah
swt gives the rizq to whom He wants
and He tightens the rizq to whom He
wants.
And that person they realized that really the
rizq is from Allah swt.
He gives more to whom He wants, He
gives less to whom He wants and it
doesn't matter that situation, the financial situation of
the person that is not an indication of
the pleasure of Allah swt.
Then they said if it wasn't for the
favor of Allah swt He would have swallowed
us too.
لَخَسَفَ بِنَا If we were with Qarun, if
we had his riches, if we would have
sided with him, we would also be in
the same predicament as he is today.
So we thank Allah that we are not
in that situation.
وَيْكَأَنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَ Disbelievers or people that
are ungrateful can never be successful.
تِلْكَى الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا
فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا وَلَا عَاقِبَةٌ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ Allah
swt, we finish off with the whole section
Allah swt declaring that the abode of the
hereafter تِلْكَى الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ We have made it
for those people that do not wish to
have any aloo, any arrogance in this world
and do not spread corruption in this world.
So if you want the abode of the
hereafter we cannot be arrogant in this world.
We cannot spread corruption in this world.
وَلَا عَاقِبَةٌ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ The final, final abode the
end, meaning the successful end is for the
people who have taqwa.
So that is the thing that we need
to strive for.
Whether we are rich or whether we are
poor.
If Allah swt has blessed us with wealth
we need to use the wealth according to
the advice that was given here.
If Allah swt has not given us wealth
we should be patient with what Allah has
given us and try to live within the
means that Allah swt has provided us understanding
that if we continue to live our life
in honesty and abstaining from haram abstaining from
haram earnings Allah swt has reserved a place
for us in the hereafter.
وَلَا عَاقِبَةٌ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ The real end, the good
end is for the people of taqwa.
I pray that Allah swt gives us sufiq
to understand and practice what has been said
in the hadith.