When Wealth Becomes the Real Test

Alhamdulillah. Continuing.

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In the fifth chapter of authored by the chapter of vigilance of Allah's observation We had arrived and began yesterday the sixth narration, the narration of with regarding the three individuals that Allah chose to test from amongst bi. So he said, that three individuals from amongst Ben is one a leper, the other a bald man and the third a blind man whom Allah wished to test. And so he sent to them an angel. and this angel not only was the cause for them to be healed from their respective illness, but each of them as well was given what he most desired or the beginnings of what he most desired with respect to wealth. So the leper was asked, "What would you desire?" the most. He said to have a nice complexion, clear skin, and that he asked for camels. And so he was given a pregnant she camel and his skin was cured. And the same with the bold man only he asked for cows and he was given a pregnant cow. And the third was cured of his blindness and asked for sheep. And so the prophet sallall.aii wasallam said foreign.

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And so time passed and each one of them was given a succession of wealth. The she camel had a baby and from the babies it continued to breed. He continued to breed this camel. The other continued to breed his cattle. The other continued to breed his sheep until ultimately each had a valley's fill of camels or cattle or sheep. So just based on this information here, how much time would have probably elapsed for a person to go from one camel, one pregnant camel to an entire valleys filled of pregnant camels or or camels, years, maybe even decades, right? We're talking about he continued to have he continued to have success through the years. This is this person was able to amass generational wealth from one camel, from one cow, from one sheep, enough to fill an entire valley. We're speaking about probably at least years, most likely decades, right? But the test wasn't over. All this was part of the test, right? All of those decades were part of the test. They were still being tested for that time. And so the test wasn't just the end. A lot of times we get we get hyperfocused on the end of the narration. Those of us who have heard this narration before, it's a well-known narration. We get hyperfocused on the conclusion. However, in truth, the test began from that faithful day. And the test began with that one camel, with that one cow, with that one sheep. And the test continued throughout those years. Is there we mentioned yesterday that the first two when they were asked for something, they wanted something to make them acceptable to others. Whereas the third man asked for something to make him be able to function amongst others. Very big difference. Number two, the first two did not reference Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at all. The third one when he was asked if you could have anything, he said, I wish that Allah would do this, would restore my vision for me. And so just on that based on that alone we see that they were then given wealth they were then given health. The question here is if somebody is suffering from problems of the heart. When I say when we say heart problems, we're speaking about the heart, the soul, the the spiritual heart. And when a person is suffering from a lack of morals, suffering from a lack of connectivity or fear of Allah subhanahu.

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If someone is just lacking in that department in general, as a matter of fact, most problems, most problems, does money help those problems? No. There are you can count them on your hands. The amount of issues that can be remedied with money. Most problems human beings have is not an issue of money. And this doesn't invalidate the value of money because those things that money does help are really big things. They're really big parts of our lives. But having sudden immense wealth, sudden health after illness, this is rarely good for a person who was already sick. Doesn't just fix the problems. Problems are far more complex than that. As we'll see in this narration, the prophet sallall.aii Wasam says, "Then the angel came back to the leper who's no longer a leper by Allah's miracle. And he came to him in his image and in his circumstance that he was found in decades earlier, that the angel found him in decades earlier. Foreign.

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He says, "And then after each of them had amassed this huge amount of wealth, the angel came to the first man who was previously a leper, he came to him and notice how the prophet sallall.aii wasallam, he didn't say he came to the man who used to be a leper." He said to him, "He came to the leper." Now, this could be for one of two reasons. Either because that's the only introduction we've had of this man. So, that's become his name or his title for us as far as this story is concerned. or because while this man superficially was healed, he was always very sick and he still continued to be sick. Even after the physical sickness went away, even after the physical poverty went away, he was still poor, he was still sick. That was just the superficial. And so he came to that man, the angel came to him in the form of a leper who was very poor and had zero connections. The same exact situation he was before. And he said to him, I am a very poor man and I am traveling and I have gotten cut off from my destination. All ropes have been severed. for me and I have no way of getting home except by Allah and then by you through you. So I ask you by the one who has given you such beautiful skin and the one who has given you such a beautiful com flawless complexion and the one who has given you all of this wealth. one camel so that I can get back to where I came from in my travels. Notice how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you the answers to the test as the test is being given. He didn't just let him forget. No, no, no. There's no excuse here. He's reminded you of everything. And those words, I'm sure, cut a scalpel to the core of his heart because he remembers exactly. Everyone else sees this man. He looks in the mirror and sees that poor leper that nobody wanted to touch or get close to or talk to or speak to or allow into their gatherings. The one who had zero say in anything. And now overnight everybody is saying, "Man, this is the guy." And he started to believe his own hype. But when this angel came back, he took him right back to where he started. Let's see if he's grown. And so he asked him this. And what was the man's response? He said, he said, "I've just got too many responsibilities. just can't can't afford this one camel. I too many responsibilities. Sorry. Every one of these camels is spoken for. Can't muster. Can't can't spare not even one. So the man then said, He said, "It's as if I know you from somewhere. I seem to recognize you. Weren't you a leper and then, you know, was well known that you got cured and you were very poor and then you became rich." You know, everybody knows that story. He wouldn't even admit that. What does he say? He says, So he says as if I know you weren't weren't you that guy? He said no I have this I have I actually inherited this wealth from my grand my my forefathers. This wealth has always been in our family. We've always been wealthy. He got me confused with someone else. It's not me. He wouldn't even admit that that's where he came from. Now, what is the point of this narration? Many people who read or have heard this narration, they get sidetracked by the greatest crime committed by this man. This is this is a criminal here. We are dealing with an ungrateful criminal. However, the question is, what is the greatest crime that he is guilty of thus far?

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Is not ascribing his fortune to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And I don't mean in a superficial way. I don't mean in a superficial way. in a superficial way. Everybody does that. Oh, I'm so blessed. Oh, God has blessed me. Everyone, even Kufo, everyone knows exactly what to say because they, you know, they know what's acceptable and what's unacceptable. However, if you listen closely, even if they say Allah, even if they say God, even if they use words blessed and so forth, and they're hard of hearts, and when you really sit down with them, you'll listen to their their war stories, their stories of heroism. I'm so smart. I'm so clever. No one could have done what I've done. I'm fantastic. I did this and I did that and I know this and I know that. And they carry around the arrogance of Pharaoh himself in their heart. Even if they use the right buzzwords, words mean nothing if they don't match what's in a person's heart. They mean nothing. If you were to go back and and and read in the Quran who has made some of the greatest proclamations in the Quran, the most greatest proclamations in the Quran, it is the hypocrites. Their proclamations are second to none. If you die, we die. We're here with you. If you go, we go. If you stay, we stay. You are the messenger of Allah. The greatest proclamations of all in the Quran are made by criminals and are made by hypocrites. proclamations of loyalty, proclamations of dutifulness, etc. However, the greatest actions, no, greatest actions are for the believers. And so it's not just an issue of Allah gave me this. No. If a person really believes Allah gave them this, not only would it reflect itself in their words, not just the proclamations and the subtlety of their words, the way that their words are put together. And we'll give an example of that tomorrow inshallah of a real life example of someone who is grateful to Allah truly and one who is feigning gratefulness from the Quran.

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Alhamdulillah.

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Give it a whirl.

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