How should be a Muslim viewpoint on fortune and wealth?
Being rich is lawful for every Muslim. However, if it would not be achieved, torturing the soul with greed and enmity of fortune is meaningless. Comfort can only be achieved by the acceptance of the destiny. Having fortune does not always bring comfort and peace, but it is certain that enmity of fortune annoys human beings.
Therefore, fortune should be evaluated as a Muslim and according to Islam. The right of having personal possessions in Islam is allowed only with the condition of making money in legal ways. Forestalling, fraudulent sales, gambling, burglary, racketeering; in brief, is an encroachment to the individuals rights.
Anyhow, bare necessities of life like fire, water, and spare grassland are exempted from personal possessions. Zakat (Almsgiving) became one of the five pillars of Islam; charity and benevolence are always encouraged.
If I possessed gold to the extent of mount Uhud, I would wish to spend it in the way of God, leaving not a farthing behind. (Hadith)
And the most important of all: Dissipation is considered Haram (religiously forbidden)
If a wealthy person complies with all these principles, he is propitious, and in the way of serving his community; if not, he is deceiving himself and threatening his own eternal happiness.
Fortune is made either in lawful ways, it is earned by hard work and provided with the following hadiths good news, "An honest and trustworthy merchant (in the hereafter) will be with the prophets, the truthful ones and the martyrs," (Tirmidhi Hadith) or it is unlawful, unjust, and there is a torture mark sealed on it. As Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi puts it, Possessions of an atrocious person seem nice from far, but it is the blood of an aggrieved person, and consequences of an atrocious persons evil actions.
If the earnings of a person are lawful, it cannot become an enemy to him; if it is unlawful, it is not desired. That is to say, we have nothing to do with others fortune. We have to mind our own business, strive both for worldly, and ethereal happiness of our selves.
A wisdom holder says, A person, who does his own thing, cannot find anything to envy because it is something that cause you to become a vagabond. Instead of keeping you home, lets you wander about.
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