Why Money Weakens the Ummah

There's a narration reported by Al-Hafiz ibn Majah Rahimahullah ta'ala in his book of Sunan. In this narration, a companion by the name of Iyad ibn Himar radiyallahu anhu tells us that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, This is a very, very important narration and there are many verses of the Quran, other narrations that support and provide a similar meaning. But this narration really just kind of spells it out for us. Our prophet, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, warned his companions and said, "Every nation, meaning every messenger, their nation, every group of people throughout time, every nation has something that is a particular weakness to them. A fitna. A fitna meaning something that is particularly particularly s- something that will take them off of the path. Something that is a particular fitna. There are many fitan, right? There are many things that would lead to a person's misguidance. But there are certain things that are more prominent in that than others. Every nation has their weakness. And the fitna, the weakness of my nation is money, wealth, material things. Al-mal. Money. That is the weakness. I'll give you an example. Let's take an example. I I want you to not answer with your mind. I want you to answer with your feeling. What you feel when I ask this question. Okay? Let's have a scenario. Let's say a man went to the gas station and bought a scratch-off ticket. Lottery ticket, huh? And they scratched it off. What is this called? What do we call this in Islam? Gambling. Is there anyone here who doubts that this is haram? So, we all agree, right? Okay. He scratches it off. He bought it for a dollar. He won $5. Now, he goes to the cashier. He wants to cash it in. He has now turned $1 into five, right? See idea. Now, the cashier is going to give him $5. Those $5, what are they ruling in Islam? Mhm? Haram? So, the winnings, so the act itself is haram. So, the gain and profit behind it is also what? Haram. Is there anyone here who doubts that those winnings are haram? Okay. So, we're all on the same page, right? All right. Let me change the question. And this is actually a question that I've had asked before. This is a real situation. This is not a a fake you know, pie-in-the-sky imaginary thing. These are real things that happen. So, the feeling you got in your guts, in your heart, when you imagine standing in front of Allah, and that $5, anyone here feel that that $5 is haram? We all feel it is haram, right? Okay. Let's say that person bought that scratch-off ticket for $1. And they scratch it off, and they won $1 million. Not $5, $1 million. What could you do with a a million dollars? How much good could you do in the world with a million dollars? How many wells could you dig in Africa, and how many naked Muslims could you clothe, and how many a million dollars. How much did he spend? $1. And how much did he win? $999,999. That's how much he won. Don't answer with your mind. I want you to answer with what you feel in your gut. That happened. Where a person came to you and said, "This happened to me. Should I go and claim my $1 million?" What would you answer? So, this exercise here, this is not a fake scenario, by the way. This This This is something that really occurred a couple years ago with someone that I know. But, what gave you pause? What made you hesitate? That hesitation. That feeling of maybe I shouldn't get involved. Maybe I shouldn't give him a fatwa. Maybe I shouldn't answer. Or maybe that feeling in your heart that if that happened to you, Allah will forgive him. You know, it's just $1. I mean, come on, right? And it's a million dollars, and I'm going to do a lot of good with it. I'm just going to keep 100,000. I'm just going to keep 50,000 for myself, pay off my debts, and the rest I'm going to give in charity. I'm going to be a good person. I'm going to just do this one little little little thing. What changed? What changed between the scenario of $5 and the scenario of $1 million? And why did the ruling perhaps change in your mind? Why did you not hesitate at $5, but you hesitated at a million? Why? What about if it was 10 million? $100 million. $1 billion. Does that change the ruling? Does that change the command of Allah and the prohibition of Allah? No. We're answering with our minds, no. But our body and our heart is screaming, maybe. Maybe I could find a scholar that would give me a special fatwa. Maybe I should look it up online. Maybe I shouldn't make a decision until I ask. Maybe I should make istikhara. That's the meaning of the narration. Every nation has a weakness and the weakness of my nation is what? Money. That hesitation that you felt in your toes, that is why we are where we are today as a Muslims. And that is what we have to correct in order to advance. Our forefathers, the companions of the messenger, they didn't have that hesitation. Is it because they didn't comfort and and wealth? Is it because they didn't have the same feelings you have? Do you love your children more than they loved their children? Or do you have more of a hero complex than they did? Did none of them think they were the main character of the story? They all knew that before Islam. Every feeling that you've had, there are greater men on this earth with greater faculties and far more resilience and bigger dreams than you have. And that didn't give them any more right to live than you do. So, the question here is why did we hesitate and why did the companions never hesitate? They would never hesitate. As a matter of fact, the more the amount went up, the more sure they would be that that is haram. That is how the companions would see a question that. A million? Now it's definitely haram. 10 million? Now it is There is no way. I would rather take the $5 than the 1 million or 10 million or 1 billion or 100 million or whatever it is. I I know person came to me. They They made 100 They made $1 million in gambling. 1 million. And it was one incident that happened. And they want They asked me what what can I do? Look Look at the the question. What can I do? Not what should I do? What can I do? And now my job is what? To try to squirm and find a loophole for him so he can get the million. And then, you know, if you give the masjid a few dollars here, that wouldn't hurt either, you know? Right? And that's exactly how corruption is. If we have leaders that have that hesitation, we are doomed. We are doomed as a people. You want to say something? I was going to ask So, in the scenario that I gave you earlier, let's say for example most people would not do this. Somebody comes to ask for money in your store and you give them that money and they went and bought special with it. You have no idea about it. Then all of a sudden they find out and say, "Hey, brother, the $10 you gave me I used it on my own and I gave it to somebody else." You have no knowledge of it. How does that apply to you as a Muslim? Well, if they have it If if you if a person were to not know that this these were haram earnings, and they took it and spent it, then there's no blame upon that person if they don't know, because the neutral position of wealth is that is permissible. Right? But if the person comes and says, "Hey, remember that money you gave me? I won a whole bunch of money and here's your portion." That is categorically haram. It's out of doubt. What if they murdered someone and stole their money and came to give it to you? It's haram. The This way and this way is haram, no matter how you slice it. I'll give you another scenario. Would it be permissible for me to jump in my car and give my friend a ride to go buy drugs? Does anyone here have doubts about that? Just I'm being a good guy, you know. I'm giving them a ride, but he's going to buy some some drugs. Would that be permissible? What about if I were a taxi driver and he were paying me? Did you hesitate? This is the problem that we're talking about. Exactly. And in our minds, we're thinking, "Wait a minute, this doesn't make sense." That's exactly what the narration is speaking about. The only difference between this and that is introduction of money into the into the transaction. That's the only difference between the two scenarios. Nothing else changed. The exact parameters and dynamic of the situation are identical. The only thing that changed is you're getting paid or you're not. It's a lot of money or it's a little bit of money. It's legal or it's illegal. If I were to go to a loan shark, a loan shark, the mafia, okay? Guy's going to the mafia to get a a loan, and he's paying compounded 40% APR interest on that. And if he doesn't, Bubba's going to come and break his legs. Is that haram or halal? Haram, right? We all agree? What about if it's a company named, , you know, pay later? Or what about if it's a company that is approved by the United States government, and it's it is permissible because it is , IFC insured, and this is something that is permissible. We're going to call it we're we're going to call it, , you know, Vanguard. They're not a loan shark anymore, they're Vanguard, okay? And we're not going to call it compounded interest, and we're not going to call it a percentage, or we're not going to call it a vig. A vig is is, , a street term for interest. We're going to call it APR set by the Federal Reserve. Now, what's the answer to the question? See, and the only thing changing between these two scenarios is money. That's our weakness, and we have to be hyper vigilant of that weakness. Why did the prophet tell us this? Why? What do we do with it? What do we do with this information? Why did he use his precious breath to tell us this? Why did Allah, from above seven heavens, on his throne, send his angels to tell his messenger to spend his time telling us this piece of information? Why is that relevant? How do I employ that in my life? This is where we are. This is something that we have to think about, and we have to make sure that we work this out of our system. The only way to work it out of your system is to reject categorically anything that is haram. You have to see it through the lens of the Quran. If you look at it first and then try to put the Quran on it, you're going to try to fit the Quran into the narrative. It's the opposite. You need to look through the Quran first and see it. Anything in this dunya, you need to look at it from the perspective of the hereafter, standing in front of Allah, naked, barefoot, alone, without a single penny, standing to be judged in front of Allah. From that perspective, how would I view this decision I'm about to make? That is how the That's the difference between the companions and the latter generations. And the idea that we cannot be those people, we can. We can. The only thing holding us back is are these kinds of contraptions that a shaitan has put up to weaken our resolve.

[Silence]

What did I tell him? If maybe it's a little bit halal. What do you think? What do you think I told him? And do you think that he he listened to me when I told him? Or do you think he went to someone else with a bigger hat? Mhm? Yeah. Huh?