The 365 · Tazkiyah · Day 322 · Money
Iʿtimād ʿalā al-Māl · Trusting Wealth Instead of Allah
The disease
الْاعْتِمَادُ عَلَى الْمَالِ
Iʿtimād ʿalā al-Māl
The story
When the Prophet ﷺ migrated to Madinah, he had nothing. The Companions of Madinah brought wealth to share. The Prophet ﷺ did not refuse, but he never placed his trust there. He lived on dates and water for stretches; he gave away whatever came to him. His tawakkul was not theoretical; it was structural.
Why it's named first
The believer says 'I trust Allah' but his heart trusts his bank balance. Tawakkul is a tongue-state and a heart-state; when the two diverge, the disease has set in. Allah names this in the Qārūn (Q 28) and the Two Owners of the Garden (Q 18): they trusted their wealth, said it would never end, and lost it.
In the Qur'an
وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ (الطلاق 3). 'Whoever places his trust in Allah, He is sufficient for him.' (al-Ṭalāq 65:3). Allah names the alternative trust in Q 18:34-36, where one of the two garden-owners said: 'I do not think this will ever end... and even if I am returned to my Lord, I will find something better than this.' His arrogance is named: he trusted the orchard, not its Owner.
In the Sunnah
«تَعِسَ عَبْدُ الدِّينَارِ، وَعَبْدُ الدِّرْهَمِ... إِنْ أُعْطِيَ رَضِيَ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يُعْطَ سَخِطَ». 'Wretched is the slave of dinar and dirham; if given he is pleased, if not given he is angry.' (Bukhari 2887)
The cure
Move your tawakkul deliberately. When you receive a paycheck, say aloud: 'this is from Allah, not from my employer.' When the bank balance is large, say: 'this is amanah, not security.' When the bank balance is small, say: 'this is enough, because al-Razzāq is my Lord.' Train the heart to recognize the actual source.
What is at stake
The heart that trusts wealth becomes anxious when wealth is threatened. Every market dip becomes an existential crisis. The believer's peace was outsourced to a fluctuating number. When wealth eventually departs (and it always does, at death if not before), the trust collapses, and the soul finds itself with no foundation.
A du'a for this day
«حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ». 'Allah is sufficient for us, and the best of guardians.' (Āl ʿImrān 3:173)
The door of mercy
Al-Razzāq, the Sole Provider; al-Ṣamad, the One every creature turns to.
A reflection to carry
Wealth is a tool the believer is given. The disease is when the tool becomes the foundation. Tools wear out; foundations should not.
Read the longer reflection
There is a verse pair in Sūrat al-Kahf that diagnoses this disease exactly. The garden-owner said: 'I do not think this will ever end' (18:35), and 'even if I am returned to my Lord, I will find something better than this' (18:36). His error was not having a garden; his error was trusting it as the actual source. The Qur'an then narrates the garden's destruction overnight. He cried: 'Would that I had not associated with my Lord anyone' (18:42). The Money believer's task is to enjoy what Allah gives, to invest wisely, to provide for family, all while keeping the tawakkul fixed on Allah Himself. The day the bank balance drops should not be the day the believer's mood drops. May Allah make us trust Him in our wealth and in our want, and may we never be the slaves of dinar.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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