The Truth About Wealth in Islam (Most Muslims Get This Wrong)

Did you know that you could purchase Jannah?

Can you buy Jannah? You can't, but you can when you. I tell our brothers in Da' wah to go and watch sales videos. Personally, I hate sales. Don't think, oh, those are kuffar. And who cares about their skill set? No, learn the skill sets needed their Netflix subscription and their Amazon prime and their Disney Plus. You're wasting your wealth.

What was the Prophet saying about people who could work but instead would just ask for a handout and beg?

He went with a stick and he hit those people and he said, those people are better than you. Throughout Islamic history, the model that was successful for Islam, it is when people go out and are innovative and they're successful in their business matters. But.

Did you know that you could purchase Jannah?

What?

There's a sahaba who purchased Jannah, and you'll talk to us through it.

Allahu Akbar. What a beautiful intro. We're going to talk about a sahabi that not just once, but three different times, purchased Jannah.

He bought Jannah.

He bought Jannah.

How did he know that he bought Jannah?

Because the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam told him that you have purchased Jannah from his sadaqah, from his sacrifice, from what he gave. He reached that level that repeatedly.

Subhanallah. I have so many questions now. Who was it? How did it go? Let's go through it.

We'll kick into it. Inshaallah. Uthman IBN Affan is the gold standard for charity and generosity. You know, he used to call a Ghani, the one who was rich but used to give. Uthman Radian, who in his life, at minimum three different times, was told by the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that Uthman has bought Jannah.

Subhanallah has bought Jannah.

Bought Jannah.

Not granted Jannah.

Not granted Jannah. Purchased Jannah.

Subhan Subhanallah.

How so can you buy Jannah?

You can't.

But you can when you give true Sadaqah for the sake of Allah. Subhanahu wa ta'.

Ala. What's the Sadaqah he was the most known for?

There's a few.

Okay.

All right. We're gonna have a fun episode today.

All right, let's go.

Was not just a businessman, but he was known to be a very intelligent trader. Okay, so one thing is that, yes, he had caravans. Yes, he had trade goods. Yes. But he was known for his intelligence. He would make amazing deals. And I'm going to show you An Islamic one that just rocks it, right?

You got my attention.

I got you right. Before even moving to Medina, he used to be very good in business. When he went to Medina, he lost all his wealth. And like we've seen this before, he made hijra. He left everything behind. The Quraish, they kept it. He had to leave everything behind. He just came with the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam. But Allah blessed him that in Medina he was back at it. He started getting good with business and growing his business, getting land and real estate, getting business deals, trades, farmland and so on. One of the amazing incidents that happened is there was a man from a people who are still very financially oppressive. Let's just leave it at that. You can get the hint. And he had a well. And he would not let the people drink from the well and he would overcharge them for the well. And he was very greedy and he was very oppressive, especially against the Muslims. So Uthman Radhihan, look at his business acumen. He went to him and he said, look, I'll buy this well from you, but I'll buy it half, meaning I'll buy half the rights to it. So one day is yours and one day is mine. So this man, the Yehudi, he said, okay, I'm going to make money off you right now. I'm going to take this capital from you and I'm going to keep making money within my days. There you go. So Uthman Adyan said, okay, so instead of paying a large amount to buy the wall outright, he paid a much smaller amount to buy half the rights. All right? On the days of Uthman Radianu, he made the water free. So what happened is nobody would go and get water on the day of the Yehudi. Everybody would go on Uthman Radian's day and you would take the water out for free. Yeah, why would I pay for the water? Exactly. Just get two days of water out. So then they owed you, like, what the hell, you know, Like, I'm not making any money off this water anymore. So he came to Asmara. He said, what should I do with this well? Because you made it free on your days. I'm not making any money. He said, just sell me the other half for a small amount.

This is genius.

Genius business acumen, Subhanallah.

This is genius.

Now what did he do? Now he bought this well all outright because the OD then sold it for a very small amount for less than half what he would have had to buy the well For. And that shows his business acumen, his skill set in business. And then he made the whole well Waqf Subhanallah. He said, it's free for anybody that wants to drink. And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam at this said Uthman has bought. He has purchased Jannah Subhanallah.

That's an amazing example of how you can use wealth to increase your deen and the ajar you're getting. Subhanallah.

I want to point something out. Many people who, who may be generous would have just got and bought the well outright.

He actually was smart about it, but he was intelligent.

He had that business acumen. And that's why brothers and sisters who are watching this, learn those business skills. Learn from this brother and what he's teaching you so you can take those skills on YouTube.

Not just myself, learn, get the skillset,

get that skill set and benefit the Ummah from it. Then you know us in Dawah. Many times I tell our brothers in Da' wah to go and watch sales videos. Personally, I hate sales, but I think

you'd be an amazing salesman.

The skill set there would definitely be very good for Da'.

Wah.

Right? So learn those skill sets. Learn customer service skill sets for da' wah for if you want to go and run a Hajj group or Umrah group, learn customer service. Learn the skill sets needed. Don't think, oh, those are kuffar. And who cares about their skillset? No, Osman Radian didn't learn that business skill set in a madrasa. Yeah, he learned it in the business field and then benefited the Muslim Ummah with it. But that's not the only time he was given the glad tidings of Jannah. This is why I'm telling you.

So that's the first time.

This is the first time.

The first time he purchased the will by being smart about it, made it free. And the Prophet told him, you bought Jannah first time. What was the second time?

Second time when a battle that was the biggest and most expansive battle was being prepared for Tabuk and it was very difficult time and a need came for the army that people like. We were talking about Abu Bakr Adyan giving everything he had.

And did they have resources to prepare for the battle?

They didn't. And they were going against the Romans and it was going to be the furthest who had resources and it was going to be the furthest away. At that time, the Prophet encouraged the Sahaba to equip the army. So at a time when it was very harsh and very difficult. Uthman Radian came and in some of the narrations, mentions equipped one third of the entire army just by himself. You know, that is like, you know, if you take a hundred people, Sadaqah would not match that of Uthman to the point that he gave away so much. Now, what's amazing, what's amazing at this time, during this time where he's giving that much Sadaqah and that much right, there is a man who's in need. He comes to Madinah. He says, look, I have a need. Who can I speak to? They said, the most generous man in Medinah is Uthman Rudyan. Go to him, he will help you. So a man comes to the house of Uthman Ruan. And while he's waiting, he hears Uthman Radian yelling at his children for leaving a lamp lit in a room. There's nobody.

One of the richest man in Medina,

wealthiest man, generous man. So this man sitting in the guest room, because they don't bring them or the women. And he can hear Uthman Radian yelling at his children for leaving a lamp lit. And he said, you know what? This man is worried about the oil burning in a lamp. He doesn't have money to help me. So he starts to walk out. He doesn't want to ask. Atman comes to the guest room. He sees him. He tells him, what did you need, brother? He says, it's okay, never mind why. He said, I needed this much money, you know, for taking care of this. But I don't think you can help. Uthman said, come here. He opened up a bag. It was filled with gold dinar and dirham, silver dirham. He said, take what you need. He said, if you have this much oats, why are you worried about this lamp? He said, I'm not worried about spending. I'm worried about wasting. Okay, he didn't waste today. Many people say, I don't have money to start a business. I don't have. I don't have capital, I don't have this, I don't have that. I can't save, I can't buy a house. I can't pay for my own education. I. I need a loan. But then you look at their cell phones, you look at their lifestyle, you look at how much money they spend on coffee and how much money they spend on going out and their Netflix subscription and their Amazon prime and their Disney plus, and you realize you're wasting your wealth. You have subscriptions to gyms you don't go to. You have Subscriptions to services that are streaming Haram. You're not using your wealth for business. You're not using your wealth for Sadaqah. Use it wisely. So Uthman Radian, when he equipped third of the army, when he give that much, Rasulullah said, once again Uthman has purchased Jannah Subhanallah.

That was the second time he purchased Jannah.

Third time, when Masjid Al Nabwi became too small for the growing Muslim Ummah, there was a piece of land next to it and at that time it was very expensive. Now Majd Al Nabi had become the center. So the population growth had begun to grow. And the mushrikeen and the polytheists and others realized that that land is expensive. They were hiking up the prices to sell to the Muslims. At that time, the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, who will purchase this land to expand my Masjid, Masjid Al Nabui so that people can pray and comfort and so on. Uthman Radhiyan purchased the whole land and funded all the construction and the expansion for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'. Ala. And the prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam for the third time told them that he has purchased Jannah Subhanallah.

Would he have been able to do this if he was not wealthy?

Of course not. Look, Ibn Al Qayyim has a very long and beautiful discussion on who is better, the righteous poor servant of Allah or the righteous rich servant of Allah. And in the end, Ibn Al Qayyim, the great scholar Al Hafid, the student of Netaymiyya, he says that the rich righteous, not the evil rich, but the rich righteous servant is better in the sight of Allah than the poor righteous servant.

But why is that?

See, many people look at Ahadith for example, that the poor will enter Jannah 500 years before the rich.

But the Prophet lived a simple life and was poor and so forth.

The problem is many wealthy people get distracted from the deen. That is a problem.

But we can see if they don't get distracted and they do the right things.

Now they can do a lot that the poor righteous person cannot. They can help in Sadaqah, they can help in projects, they can donate to things that would not be able to be done if Allah didn't bless them to be able to be the means. Right? So this is why Uthman Radianu and Abdurrahman Ibn Auf Radianu and other Sahaba had such a high standing in front of the messenger Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. What? He would say, they purchased Jannah. Why? Because they were rich. But they were righteous. They were pious.

They were keen for the sake of Allah.

Exactly. Just like Suleiman and Dawud. They were prophets. They were also kings. And they had mansions and wives and power and armies and gold and silver. But they were righteous. They used it for the sake of Allah. Subhanahu wa ta'. Ala. So go make money in halal way and then spend it for the sake of Allah. Subhanahu wa ta'. Ala. That's better than you sitting around and begging people.

By the way, as a prophet says. Was the Prophet poor?

The Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam was not poor, but he lived a life of zuhud, meaning that wealth would come to him, but he would give it away.

Okay, but so he could have wealth. If he could have, he was making

money and he had alayhi satu salam, some precious things. The Prophet had a thobe that was made out of a Yemeni cloth that was very expensive. He had a over thobe, which we call the bisht or the mishla tre or an abaya. Right. That he used to wear specially for Eid and Juma', ah, that was expensive. So he had things that were nice. It's not that, you know, he was living just, you know, with nothing to eat and think, because a lot of

people associate being poor with being pious. They think the poorer you are, the more pious you are.

If you look at Dawud, if you look at Suleiman, they were the wealthiest people in history. Suleiman had a kingdom like nobody else, but he was successful. It's not about rich or poor. It's about your inner piety.

Yeah. What was the Prophet saying about people who could work, but instead would just ask for a handout and beg?

Many ahadith, not just one. Many ahadith forbid this. And even in the time of Umar IBN Khattab, for example, there were some people that had just decided to live in the masjid. They left this dunya. They didn't want to work, they didn't want to do anything. And so some of the people who had wealth would bring food to them. When Umar saw this, he went with a stick and he hit those people and he said, those people that are working outside and bringing you food are better than you sitting here and making dua and reading Quran all day, but not working. He said, go outside, work, make your risk, and then come in your Time and make your dua. The Prophet, in many hadith, he forbid us from begging people. And he disliked somebody asking people for things. And he told us, the hand that gives is better than the hand that takes. So the poor that's taking and the rich that is giving. Which one is better there?

The one that's giving.

Exactly. I mean, if somebody doesn't have wealth and they're poor and they're trying to, then there's no fault, then that's wonderful. May Allah protect them. But if you could work and you can make money and then you can help people with that money, and you're not, what are you doing? If you look at the example from the Salaf as saleheen and from the Sahaba, I think you'll see this example that they worked. Even the Ashab al Sufa, it's not that they didn't work. It's that they had just made hijrah and they had nothing and nowhere to stay. So they would stay there. But then when they were able to, they would go out and they would work. Throughout Islamic history, when we look at the model that was successful for Islam, it is when people go out and are innovative in their worldly matters and they're successful in their business matters, but they keep the deen as their top priority. It makes them successful. In Dunya and Akhirah, yeah, we say

the wealth is in the hand and they control it. It's not in their heart.

Exactly. That is beautiful. And Uthman Radian is one of the shining examples of how wealth can be used for the deen of Allah. Subhanahu wa ta'. Ala. I'll give you one last example from Uthman Radian, who from his khilafah, when he was the Khalifa, when he was the Khalifa, it was one of the wealthiest times for the Muslim Ummah, where the Ummah had spread and many treasures were at their hands. Uthman Radian's child would at time go to the Bayt ul Mal and he would pick up, for example, a date. And Uthman Adyan was so strict that he would tell them, mark that date under my account so I can make sure that even a date would be put, even the pit of a date, you know, the chewed pit. If his son was to, as a baby, as a child, would pick it up, he would say, mark that to make sure that it's returned.

Subhanallah.

That is how observant he was regarding the laws of Allah. Subhanahu wa ta' ala and the Amana Umar IBN Khattab he would tell his wife, I don't like for you to weigh the musk that is coming to Baytul Mal because that smell will get on you and then I'll smell it on you. And I'm benefiting from the maal of the Muslimeen. That's how careful they were. And with that, Allah opened up so much wealth for him. Now one last thing I'm going to say about Uthman IBN he gave away so much for the sake of Allah. He helped so many of the needy Muslims. He gives sadaqah to so many people. But look at the honor that Allah gave him. He is called Dhul Noorayn, the one, the possessor of two lights. Why? Because he was married to the daughter of the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. When she became sick and she from natural causes died, passed away from the hardships she had endured in Mecca before the Prophet Sallallahu alaihisalam married a second daughter to him. Imagine, nobody else in the world in history has that honor as Uthman IBN Affan has that he was married to two of the daughters of the Prophet Dhu Nurayn. And the Prophet in many a hadith said that if I had more daughters and he was in need, I would marry them one after the other to Uthman. And the Prophet said about him that the closest of my companions to me in my akhlaq in my mannerisms is Uthman Mashaallah. How beautiful is that?

That's amazing. You topped it off.

Told you it's gonna be a banger. This one.

That one is sick. The man who purchased Jannah.

Allahu Akbar.

Three times.

Three times Masha Allah.

That's amazing. I don't even think we need the summary, do we?

You're always good with the summaries, man. Hit us.

In summary, the story is beautiful if you have been blessed with wealth regardless how much you have give for the sake of Allah. And I'll have a personal advice for this one on how much to give. A lot of people give in their comfort zone. They don't know how much to give or they feel like even they can't give a lot because they don't have a lot of wealth. And if they want a practical step on how much to give and how to give, I have a personal way. Alhamdulillah. So far, while growing my business, I have been handling charity. That Alhamdulillah has blessed me with so much more Alhamdulillah. I have what I call three Zones, the green zone, the orange zone, and the red zone. Let's say somebody, his net worth is a thousand dollars. Usually the green zone, he could donate $10 to charity. And the green zone is something you would give. And you'll be like, yeah, I don't care about it. I probably won't even notice it.

Right?

Something that's very easy. I'll buy someone a sandwich. I'll do whatever. And that is proportionate to the wealth you have. The orange zone is when you would consider it. You would have to think about it, and you could come to a conclusion that it would make sense. Maybe you have a thousand dollars. You would give $100. You would give $200. You won't do it impulsively, but you would think that person really needs it. I could make it, but I'll go forward and I'll give it. That zone is great. That zone, you always get rewarded for every zone. You feel good. But the best zone, the zone that Subhanallah personally propelled my business so much, is the red zone is you give in a way that when you ask, when you're asked to be given, you always give, regardless of your current situation. And you give up to a point where when you gave, you think, did I just make a mistake? Did I just go too far? That is the exact amount you should have given. And subhanallah multiple times through my journey. When I was very, when subhanallah, at times I didn't have money at all. I was very, you could call it broke. I had maybe 300, €500 to my name. I would go and give. I mean, what at the time was a lot of money for me. I would give €100, €300 out of 500. And that would be something that makes me feel like, did I really give most of what I have? Alhamdulillah, by the father of Allah, it always came back, Always way more came back. And one thing I developed through it is that I can only rely on Allah. That's one of the ways of not just saying, I have tawakul or feeling like you have tawakkul. You're proving that you have tawakul. You're taking your wealth and what you think you can rely on, and you give it for the sake of Allah and you say, oh, Allah, I am at your mercy. You can do whatever you want with me because you own me and you're the one who provides for me. I. I trust you. This person needs it. I will give it for them, and I will hope that you will take care of me. That's the true proof of Tawakkul.

Allahu Akbar. That's beautiful.

And that's a wrap for this amazing episode. If you want to become wealthy, learn from the sahaba. Give in. Charity don't count when you give. Give when it's needed. Help the people, and Allah would help you. And that being said,

see you again

and we'll see you in the next episode. Inshaham alaikum.