'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.