The Devils Deception by Imam Ibn AL-Jawzi

Chapter Eleven: The Devils Deception of the $Ufts
of a troop. May Allah keep you safe and give you much booty."
1Amr answered: "I did not become a Muslim for the sake of wealth,
but for the sake of submission to Allah." The Prophet () replied:
"Honest wealth is good for an honest man."155
There is also a badith going back to Anas Ibn Malik (rat/!JAl/tihu
'anhu) according to which the Prophet () invoked various blessings
upon him, saying at the end of his du'a': 0 Allah, multiply his
wealth and his offspring and bless him!
1Abdullah Ibn Ka1b Ibn Malik said: I heard Ka1b Ibn Malik
(rat/!J.Allahu 'anhu) telling the story of his repentance, in which he
said: I said: 0 Prophet of Allah, part of my repentance is to deprive
myself of my wealth as an offering to Allah and His Prophet. He
said; It will be better that you retain part of it.
These authentic badiths go against the $ii.ft belief of having a lot
of wealth as a form of punishment, and that saving it goes against
proper reliance on Allah.
I cannot deny that many people avoid money because of its allure.
It is difficult to gather money from a lawful source and for the heart
not to get attached to it. It is also unlikely for a person to remember
the Hereafter while having too much money.
It is a must for someone to collect enough wealth to survive.
However if he aims at gathering a lot of money beyond that, then
we need to look at his intentions. If his intention is to showoff, then
what a bad intention this is.
But if his intention is to sustain his family, to save money for hard
times, to help his brothers and to give the poor; then he will be
1 55 Musnatl Al)mad 4/197 and lbn l:libban #1089.
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