Zia Sheikh – Why Allah does not make everyone rich. Ramadan Khatira Day 9
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Last night we completed a major portion of
Surah At-Tawbah and one of the things
in, one of the main things in Surah
At-Tawbah is the constant mentioning of the
Munafiqeen, the hypocrites.
Surah At-Tawbah was one of the last
Surahs to be revealed, so the exposure of
the hypocrites was essential so that they could
be differentiated between the believers, there should be
a difference between the believers and the non
-believers before the Prophet A.S. left this
world.
So that's why Allah SWT in Surah At
-Tawbah mentions the hypocrites again and again, their
qualities, what they were doing and their plans,
their plots and so on.
Today I'm going to be talking about some
verses about a person whose name was Tha
'alaba Ibn Hatib, Tha'alaba Ibn Hatib and
other scholars have given other names like Jadd
Ibn Qais or Hatib and so on.
The story goes that this person Tha'alaba
came to the Prophet A.S. and said,
oh Prophet of Allah, make dua that I
become wealthy, make dua that I become wealthy.
The question is that, you know, why would
he make this kind of commitment with the
Prophet A.S.? The commitment was that if
Allah SWT makes me wealthy, then I would
fulfill all of the rights of the world.
Allah says, wa minhum man a'ahad Allah,
wa minhum man a'ahad Allah, la'in
aata'ana min fadlih, la'na sadaqanna wa
la'na koonnanna minas salihin.
Amongst the munafiqin, there are some people that
make a commitment with Allah SWT.
So how would a munafiq, why would a
munafiq make a commitment with Allah SWT?
There are two answers to this question.
One is that just like the munafiqin used
to make it a habit to come for
Salat, not because they wanted to, but because
if they didn't come for Salat, they would
get exposed.
So this commitment to Allah SWT was just
for show.
It was just for show and he never
really meant it.
And the other answer is that he was
just testing out the Prophet of Allah that
if he is a Prophet, then he would
be able to fulfill what I'm asking him.
If he makes du'a, then the du
'a from Allah SWT would be accepted.
So he was just basically testing the Prophet.
So these are the answers that the mufasireen
have given about the person making a commitment
with Allah SWT.
So the Prophet of Allah when he was
approached by this person Ta'alaba and asked
for this du'a, the Prophet of Allah
said, Ya Ta'alaba, qaleelun tuaddi shukrahu khayrun
min kathirin la tutiquh.
A small amount that you're given and you
are grateful to it, to Allah SWT, is
better than a great amount that you cannot
handle.
But he persisted and the Prophet of Allah
on another occasion told him that why don't
you become like the Prophet of Allah or
don't you wish to be like the Prophet
of Allah.
And he went on to say that if
I wanted these mountains around me, I could
have them turned into gold and silver and
they would go along with me and I
would give them in charity and so on.
But I prefer myself, the Prophet of Allah
said, I prefer to remain in a state
of poverty rather than in a state of
richness.
So after this person pushed the Prophet of
Allah, the Prophet of Allah raised his hands
and made du'a for him and said,
O Allah, give Ta'alaba wealth.
So Ta'alaba, he started off with a
few goats, a few sheep and they started
growing.
And the riwayat say that they grew like
doodh, doodh means worms or insects basically, they
just started spreading and growing like insects.
So much so that Medina was not enough
for him, there was no space in Medina
to basically keep his sheep and goats, so
he had to leave and live on the
outskirts of Medina.
When he lived on the outskirts of Medina,
he started coming less and less for Salat.
The riwayat say that he came for Dhuhr
and Asr only.
After coming for five Salats, he started coming
for Dhuhr and Asr only.
And then the flock got bigger and bigger,
he had to move even further away.
And when he moved further away, he then
only started coming for Jum'ah prayer.
And still it continued to grow.
So in any case, Allah SWT revealed in
the course of this a verse, Khud min
amwalihu sadaqatan tu'tahhiruhum, take from their wealth sadaqah
that purifies them.
So the Prophet of Allah sent a group
of people to collect this sadaqah and in
the case of Tha'alaba, he sent a
couple of men and he said, go to
another person from Bani Salim or Sulaym and
Tha'alaba and collect the sadaqah or the
Zakat that is due from their flock or
their animals.
So they first approached Tha'alaba and they
told him that this is what the Prophet
of Allah sent us with, this is the
order that the Prophet of Allah sent us
with and he basically told them that this
is, it looks like this is a form
of Jizya.
Jizya is basically the tax that is imposed
upon non-Muslims for living under Islamic rule.
Minimal tax, but he started complaining.
Then he said, go collect your sadaqah from
the other places and then come back and
I'll give it to you.
So they went to the Sulami and that
person, when he knew that this was the
order from Allah SWT, he went into his
flock and he picked the choicest of the
camels and he gave them so that they
could be taken for the Baytul Mal.
They came back to Tha'alaba and Tha
'alaba then insisted, okay, show me the letter
from the Prophet.
He read it and then he complained again
and he said this is a form of
Jizya and he outright refused to give any
sadaqah to the Baytul Mal.
They went back and when they approached the
Prophet SAW, the Prophet SAW knew immediately what
had happened and he said, oh Tha'alaba,
you didn't listen to me.
And then one of the relatives of Tha
'alaba was waiting and listening on the side
and he came running to Tha'alaba and
said this is what happened, the Prophet SAW
is so upset with you and it's better
that you do what you're supposed to do.
So he brought the animals, he kind of
got worried, he brought the animals and he
tried to give them in charity, the Prophet
SAW refused to take them.
And he, the rest of his life he
tried and tried again, the Prophet SAW continued
to refuse.
Then the time of Abu Bakr RA came
and Abu Bakr RA refused to take from
him.
Then the time of Umar RA came, Umar
RA refused to take anything from him.
The time of Uthman RA came and Uthman
RA refused to take any sadaqah from him.
He continued and tried, nobody took anything from
him until he died in the time of
Uthman RA.
So the point from the story is really
that we, first of all, we should never
assume that what Allah SWT has in store
for me or the fact that I have
difficulty in my life in terms of the
provisions that I have, a person should not
feel that Allah SWT is not taking care
of me.
There are reasons that Allah SWT gives wealth
to some people and He doesn't give wealth
to others.
He realizes that Allah SWT knows that some
people, they do not have the ability to
handle wealth.
And once they get the wealth, they will
use it in ways which are against the
commands of Allah SWT and they may use
it in ways that are inappropriate.
Look at these pop stars that seem so
innocent, you know, one day and then they
start getting riches and getting their albums sold
and so on and all of a sudden
they start doing crazy things, taking drugs and
racing cars in streets, doing things which a
normal person thinks that are completely out of,
you know, unnatural for a young man or
a young girl to be doing.
So this is because of the fact that
they are getting this wealth and fame that
they cannot handle and they are basically acting
out because of the fact that they cannot
handle that kind of responsibility that comes with
the wealth and the position that they've been
given.
So this is the first thing, a person
should never assume that Allah SWT, He has
made me poor or I'm basically having difficulty
with my wealth or I'm not rich.
A person should think, be grateful for what
Allah has given because Allah knows better what
is better for me.
And the other thing is that if we
make a commitment with Allah SWT, that commitment
needs to be fulfilled.
This is called nathar in Arabic and in
Urdu we call it mannat, mannat manna.
If a person makes a commitment with Allah
SWT, this is tantamount to making an oath,
a qasam.
So if a person for example says, if
I pass my exam, I promise to give
$100 in charity.
He makes his commitment with Allah SWT.
And once the exam has been passed, that
nathar has to be given.
If it's nathar mu'ayyin, mu'ayyin means
that it has to be, if he said
that I get it, within a week I
will give that $100 in charity, then and
if he doesn't do it in a week,
then the kafara of yameen applies.
Basically a person needs to give kafara of
breaking an oath because he didn't do it
on time.
And if it's nathar ghayr mu'ayyin, it
can be done at any time, it still
needs to be fulfilled.
So this is the importance of making commitments
with Allah SWT.
It's something that needs to be fulfilled.
This person made a commitment but he didn't
go through with it and this was the
result.
I'll just go through the verses inshallah and
we will, we've already heard the story, you'll
understand from the translation inshallah.
Wa minhum, there are from them, meaning from
the munafiqeen, man ahad allaha, who made a
ahad with Allah SWT, who made a commitment
with Allah SWT, layin atana min fadlihi, if
he gives us from his fadl, from his
wealth, remember the wealth has been called fadl
throughout the Quran.
Many people assume that wealth by itself is
evil or it's bad, no it's not evil.
If it's earned in a halal way and
the rights of the wealth are being fulfilled,
then it is a fadl, it is a
blessing from Allah SWT.
So this person says layin atana min fadlihi,
if Allah SWT gives me from his fadl,
lanas sadaqanna wa nanakunanna minas salihin, there's a
lot of emphasis here, there's a lot of
stress.
Most certainly I'll give sadaqa, for sure I'm
going to give sadaqa and most certainly for
sure I'm going to be from the salihin,
from the pious people.
Falamma aataahum min fadlihi bakhilubi, when Allah SWT
gives him from his fadl, he becomes stingy
with it.
Watawallau wahum mu'ridun, and he turns his
back to the command of Allah SWT or
the Prophet, so he turns away, he doesn't
want to fulfill that commitment that he made,
that pledge that he made with Allah SWT.
Fa aqabahum nifaqan fi qulubihim ila yawmi alqawnahu
bima akhlafullaha ma wa'duhu wa bima kanu yakthibun.
Allah SWT follows up, follows them up with
hypocrisy, meaning that they were already hypocrites but
this emphasised and fortified this hypocrisy that was
already there.
Allah SWT puts more hypocrisy in their hearts
and they become stronger in their hypocrisy.
Fa aqabahum nifaqan fi qulubihim in their hearts
ila yawmi alqawnahu until the day that they
meet him, bima akhlafullaha ma wa'duhu, because of
the fact that they went against what they
had promised him, wa bima kanu yakthibun, and
because of the fact that they were lying.
Alam ya'lamu anna allaha ya'lamu sirrahum
wa najwahum wa anna allaha allamul ghuyub.
Do they not realise that Allah SWT knows
their secrets and their discussion wa anna allaha
and the fact that Allah SWT he is
knowing of the unseen.
Allah SWT knows the unseen meaning what is
in their hearts and what their intention was,
Allah SWT is fully aware of it.
So these are the lessons we learn from
these verses.
If Allah SWT has given us the wealth,
we should fulfil the commitments that we have,
the zakat and the sadaqat.
If we don't have the wealth, we should
be grateful and understand that maybe it's some
wisdom of Allah SWT behind it.
If we make commitments to Allah SWT, we
should fulfil those commitments and if we cannot
fulfil those commitments, then there are kuffarat that
need to be fulfilled because of that.
I pray that Allah SWT gives us tawfiq
to understand and practise what has been said
and heard.