Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Financial Sacrifice- 3

 


'Say, My Lord extends provision for whomever He wills of His servants and He restrains (it). And anything you spend (in His Cause) He replaces it, and He is the Best of providers.' (Surah Saba, 34: 40)


Today, Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, I am continuing my sermon – series of sermons – on Financial Sacrifice.

 

Like I read before you, Allah is [initially] addressing Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) in Surah Saba, Chapter 34, Verse 40, and telling him: Qul! (Say!)Tell them that your Lord, your Rab increases provisions for whomsoever He wants and He decreases provisions for whomsoever He wants. And Allah puts emphasis on spending in His path, for His Cause, and He says that each spending that His servants do for Him, for His Cause, then He takes upon Himself to replace this by a better reward for His servants, because it is Allah Who is the Best Provider – and it is to Him alone that people must turn to and put forward their requests.

 

That is why in connection with this, Allah has established for His servants patience – they should have patience.

 

In a Hadith, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has mentioned that patience is a light. (Muslim). It illuminates the soul of a person [believer]. It gives him the ability to be pleased with his state or condition and he places his trust in Allah that it is Him alone Who will be able to help him to help His Cause. In the little or the great extent of wealth that he possesses, he gives in the path of Allah – and he does not hesitate to do so. On the contrary, he spends happily with a pleased/ contented heart.

 

But we should bear in mind that, be it in times of prosperity (happiness) or affliction (sadness), a believer should take patience and not lose his trust in Allah and he continue to thank Allah despite the losses he incurs in life.

 

There was a Sahabi (companion) of the Promised Messiah [Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)] who was very rich and enjoyed great prosperity in his business as he formed part of a very wealthy family experienced in trade (a family of businessmen). Their business flourished for many generations, but out of the blue the said business began to incur losses and the situation deteriorated. So, in a very humble way, he wrote to Hazrat Massih Ma’ud (as) to invoke/ pray Allah for him (duah) and the latter received the revelation that Allah is All-Powerful and He can put together a fallen business [make it prosper] and He can ruin a running [prosperous] business – In other words, a well-established business. Nobody can tell him anything.

 

The Promised Messiah (as) understood that whenever Allah wishes, He can destroy a well-established work/ business and nobody can ever tell Him anything [why He did it!]. Nobody can command Allah on the decisions He takes, and one cannot question Allah as to why He did such a thing! And the other person [who wrote the letter] also understood that it was what Allah has decreed, and he thus submitted to the will of Allah. And he took patience and underwent the loss. When the business was fully destroyed afterwards, He did not object to the will of Allah. On the contrary, He showed His pleasure [with the decision of Allah]. He felt peaceful and the Promised Messiah (as) also mentioned the person in meritorious terms [full of praise], with lots of love.

 

In fact, it is this kind of spirit which has been mentioned in this verse. Allah increases the provisions for whomsoever He wills and He decreased provisions for whomsoever He wills [and one should submit to the will of Allah]. Afterwards Allah says [i.e. tells the prophet and the believers] to bear in mind that all that they spend, it is indeed Allah Who is the final decision-maker. He will decide whether to accept this financial sacrifice or not for He verily knows who are those who truly spend for His Cause, and who are those who are forced to do so, or do it only for show only.

 

Allah did not state that for people who spend in His path that their provisions will definitively increase. Allah is saying that it is Him alone Who shall have the last word on each and every matter. Many times, your works require some trials to test your endurance or your sincerity in the Cause of Allah. So, the result who depends on how you take that trial when it falls upon you, and it will depend also on your actions: whether you will restrain your wealth from the Cause of Allah just because of the trials you are facing, and thus, when you think and does so, you display your ingratitude to Allah.

 

Allah is making you understand that spending in His Cause is a never-ending spending, meaning that the reward which will come from it will be never-ending. It may be that all of a sudden you incur a loss in your wealth, but Allah looks at how you will deal with the problem without ever lose your courage as well as your faith and sincerity for Him. Sometimes when a person goes beyond limit, despite being rich and he does not make any provision to spend in the Way of Allah, therefore for such a person, a punishment awaits him. The punishment that he will receive is – what we may say – a waking call [whereby Allah wakes up his conscience] to make him realise his errors and encourage him to spend in His path. Spending in the path of Allah is a purification of your wealth – money and properties, and one of the spending which Allah has put much emphasis upon – like mentioned in the Holy Quran – is Zakaat, and after Zakaat (which is obligatory upon each Muslim who possess the Nisab (the minimum of taxable wealth), there are other spending which Allah is watchful about, to see whether His servants are accomplishing them in His path or not. For example: Helping the poor voluntarily [through their own will], and spending in His Cause, in His Deen-e-Islam and today, for the progress of Islam, Sahih al Islam – the Divine Manifestation of this era, therefore Allah looks at all this, to see with what heart, what intention you do all this [spending in His Cause – whether you are doing happily or forcefully without feeling any pleasure in spending in His Path, or for ostentation].

 

So, the loss of money, riches, houses, and other material goods is a form of punishment to awaken the conscience of the people, or it is simply a trial to test your faith in His path. If you encounter loss [stop having money], will you stop praying Him, or will you help the Divine Cause? Will you turn back on your heels if the situation stops being in your favour? Do you think that following the path of Allah will only bear fruits, and you will not be made to go through the pricks and thorns? There will be the thorns, and Allah will judge your faith and see how you deal with those trials.

 

A truly sincere person, even if he loses money, he does not despair. He does not lose trust in Allah. He perseveres in the path of Allah and he finds other means to help the Cause of Allah.

 

If the riches of a rich person fall, he must continue to turn to Allah and be patient. He must bear in mind that were him to be [financially] poor in the path of Allah, he in fact would have never been truly poor. On the contrary he would have been rich. That Sabr (patience) which he takes for the pleasure of Allah will become the means for him to accede to extraordinary riches in the hereafter – such riches which he would never have imagined receiving.

 

So, you need to submit to Allah, to His decisions – the decisions which He takes for your own good. It may be that you will not see the good result of His decision for you on the spot, but a time will come when you will see it, be it in this world, or in the hereafter (much more in the hereafter). When you are immersed and surrounded from everywhere with difficulties and your business is suffering and your efforts are not reaping any positive outcome, etc. then bear in mind that you should turn to Allah because it is Him Who is Best in providing for His servants.

 

When you establish a solid bond with Him and you fall into supplication before Him, then, like in the past – for past matters – He has the power to change the outcome of a situation and therefore, it is His decree which comes into motion and is finalised. That is to say, it is Taqdeer which becomes operational in the aftermath of your duahs (supplications). Now, I put some Hadiths on this subject before you. Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) narrated: The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, ‘O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,’ and the other (angel) says, ‘O Allah! Destroy every miser.’” (Bukhari, Muslim)

 

This subject in fact concerns all creatures who manage the universe of Allah, in the Heaven; such creatures which we call: angels. When it is said that two angels come down, it does not mean that they are coming down like two beings. When we study the Hadiths of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), and we ponder over them very well, we see that for each work, for each subject Allah has appointed angels. For example, there is a order in the management of the world and the universe, like when we reach morning.

 

In that case, darkness has receded and now the rays of the sun are illuminating everywhere forming the day, and with light come all sorts of hopes and desires. There are also many trials also which Allah has in store for His servants. So, for those occasions or moments, there are two kinds of angels who come down in connection with this subject. It means that for this subject, there are two kinds of angels who are specially dispatched – to take action. The first is the one who supports those who spends in the Path of Allah and he invokes Allah to increase the wealth of those people. He prays to Allah for those kinds of people. He asks Allah to create more people like him who will follow in his footsteps [i.e. do like him – spending in the Way of Allah].

 

As for the other angels, he will say: O Allah! Create trouble for the avaricious one, who depletes all his wealth (in wrong ways]. – This curse is in fact a natural result of the deed of that person. It is the result which comes into motion. And the angelic invocation is like an appeal which in fact represents the natural consequence of such deed [i.e. here, not spending in the way of Allah, being avaricious). Here we are informed that even the angels are against such people. There are times when people say that they have witnessed many a times that avaricious people do not receive any punishment, or that they do not incur any lost. On the contrary, they have indeed been ruined, but that ruin is invisible to your eyes, or kept from your knowledge. On many occasions, people do not reflect upon the fact that there are such rich people who are so avaricious that they hide their wealth in the banks or in safes. And they are so avaricious that they do not even benefit from that money! Therefore, what difference is there between them and the poor? The fact remains that their wealth (money) has destroyed them completely. They do not receive any benefit from that money [they do not use it even on their own selves!]. It is just a conception of the mind to think that those kinds of rich [but avaricious] people are very fortunate; fortunate to have safes whereby to deposit their wealth. But it should be borne in mind that the key of those safes are not in their hands [i.e. that wealth is far away from them and kept hidden by others who are guardians over it]. On the contrary, they are themselves guardians of that money and each time they fear lest that money is destroyed and is depleted. Thus, the fact remains that this is the result of the curse of the angels. The money of those kinds of avaricious rich people are under key and there is no guarantee of their protection. They are all the time plunged into worries.

 

So, don’t be stingy in the way of Allah. Do not accumulate wealth in such a way that this plays against you in front of Allah. Build your trust between you and Allah. Spend in His Path. This is a financial investment that will always prosper. A transaction with Allah is a profitable transaction not only for you but for your generation as well, whereby your children also will receive the blessings of your good works when you spend in the path of Allah.

 

Insha-Allah, may Allah bless His Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam and all the rest of the Muslims in the world, and make us all aware of the truth: that greed brings nothing [except chaos]. It is good to save for the future of your children, but when you spend in the way of Allah, it is Allah Who will provide for your children tomorrow. Insha-Allah. If they are also good like you, and they are sincere to Allah, then they will definitely be rewarded accordingly and your rewards also shall also be multiplied before Allah.

 

So, don’t hesitate to spend in the way of Allah. When Allah and His Prophet, His Khalifatullah tell you to spend, bear in mind that it is for your own good that Allah and this humble servant are telling this. Insha-Allah, you will never lose when you spend in the way of Allah. You will never lose the eternal reward, despite the fact that on earth you may have to endure, losses after losses. May Allah open your mind so that this truth is well absorbed in it and you make great sacrifices only for Allah, for the pleasure of Allah. Insha-Allah, Ameen.


----Friday Sermon of 22 September 2023 ~06 Rabi’ul Awwal 1445 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.