Followers

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Money Talk Part 1 : What does the Quran say about Wealth$






This blogpost is now featured in the book, The Quran and I :)

7 comments:

WilYeo said...

You reap what you sow. GOD is fair and just. Enjoy your richness now, be it; in health, family life or material possesions. I bet Umi must be so proud of you now. The visual of 'Before and After' constantly flashing in her mind :)

PahNur said...

I watched too many Hindi movies and read just enough Mills and Boons love story books to make me dream of marrying a tall dark and handsome fler, all through puberty. Married one. Damn, I should have dreamed about getting rich instead....

Jenson said...

Everyone want to be rich, having afford to buy expensive clothes, big house, sports car and travel the world. I want to be rich too but I want my wealth to have meaning in it, the purpose of why am I rich, then I will be a trully happy rich man and able to live in abundance. I may not be just the bank account that is full but all those accounts that make us a good human.

samaritan said...

Dear Anas,Marina, Syed, Walski, and all your bloggers follower, in continuation with your Search for God the following chapters will be published two fortnights at time. Do enjoy on this spiritual banquet that lead to everlasting life in paradise on this earth.

Chapter 5
Hinduism—A Search for Liberation

Chapter 6
Buddhism—A Search for Enlightenment Without God

Chapter 7
Taoism and Confucianism—A Search for Heaven’s Way

Chapter 8
Shinto—Japan’s Search for God

Chapter 9
Judaism—Searching for God Through Scripture and Tradition

Chapter 10
Christianity—Was Jesus the Way to God?

Chapter 11
Apostasy—The Way to God Blocked

Chapter 12
Islām—The Way to God by Submission

Chapter 13
The Reformation—The Search Took a New Turn

Chapter 14
Modern Disbelief—Should the Search Continue?

Chapter 15
A Return to the True God

Chapter 16
The True God and Your Future

anas zubedy said...

Dear Samaritan,

I like your passion and your zest to spread the message of truth as you see it.

However, it will be good if you can learn to stick to the topic. Try to work within the context of the topic, if I write about money and wealth, talk about money and wealth.

In not doing so, your post may be irrelevant. You will look like stalker in the blogging world.

Keep up your zest, but work within the framework.

God Bless and Peace.
Anas Zubedy

samaritan said...

Hi Anas,
I apologise at stalking your blog. An uncontrolled tear did happen on reading one of your posting and I keep thinking that these does not end up when you are in a better life now for more unfortunate people out there which wanted to have a permanent solution. To be aligned to your discussion the following experience on Moses part are always in my mind. What prompted Moses to disown heir to Pharaoh Throne [riches & power]

It was then that Moses made the important decision of his life: “Choosing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin, because he esteemed the reproach of the Christ [God’s appointed servant] as riches greater than the treasures of Egypt.” Heb. 11:25, 26
Permanent solution under God government in a very short future from where we are standing right now is the only hope.

Agape Love

Anonymous said...

I would like to expand further on what you have said on wealth.

The high probability of a person getting rich is through trade, trade and trade.

This is evident in Surah Baqarah(Cow) 2:275 “Those who charge usury are in the same position as those whom the devil hath prostrated by (his) touch. That is because they say: "Trade is like usury whereas Allah permits trade, and prohibits usury. Thus, whoever heeds this commandment from his Lord, and refrains from usury, he may keep his past earnings, and his case is for Allah (to judge); but whoever returns (to usury) - such are the rightful owners of the Fire.’

So main point of 2:275 is trade is good for the well being of self and ultimately society and nation NOT usury (usury can also mean taking advantage and milking to the max to the disadvantage of others not necessarily in area of money lending). So getting rich and being rich is not a dirty word. No wonder communism failed.

He then also mentioned that whatever you have earned (assuming through trade) you should not hoard or nest it totally ‘coz there will be painful retribution if you were to hoard it.

This is evident in Surah At-Tawbah (Repentance) 9:35 “Those who hoard the gold and silver, and do not spend them in the way of Allah, promise them (O Muhammad) a painful retribution. The day will come when their gold and silver will be heated in the fire of Hell, then used to burn their foreheads, their sides, and their backs: "This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you have hoarded.’

So main point of 9:35 is you have to spend to have a multiplier effect on the economy. You don’t need P. Krugman or Milton Friedman to tell you that. Capitalism with a conscience (not raw capitalism) is the bedrock of Muslim economy.

So the unbelievable “Cash for Clunkers” program, where Obama astonishingly dishes up to $4,500 to people who buy a new car is not the unbelievable. It takes a leaf from Surah 9:35 perhaps?

Just a caveat – on an iron law in economics. Quality and quantity vary inversely...which is another way of saying that when you add more of something...each unit is worth less than the unit that preceded it (assuming everything else remained unchanged.) Certainly, this is true of money. The more money in a financial system, the less each unit of it is worth eg Zim Dollar. So wealth produced by individuals and society must be guarded by a good policy/people value. Anyway that is another story.

On the story on your mom, I have nothing but admiration for your mother and all mothers. If there is a DNA study, I think they would have found that Alexander the Great, today, has something like maybe 6 or 16 million male and female descendants perhaps, and I think one of them could be your mother, the fighter!

bindi