Why Many Muslims Are Blocking Their Rizq

The Fear of the Prophet ﷺ for His Ummah

What was the last thing the Prophet ﷺ said before he died?

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3158; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2961)

"I am not scared that my ummah will become poor. What I am scared of is that the world will open its doors to you and you will become wealthier beyond imagination, and this wealth will kill you like it killed those before you, because you will compete and fight tooth and nail for it."

This is what he feared. He did not fear poverty for us. He feared too much luxury, too much wealth.

The Generosity of the Prophet ﷺ

The Prophet ﷺ was never asked for something and he replied saying no. He never replied saying no. Somebody said to him, "O Prophet of Allah, this one-fifth of wealth that you've been given — I need a sword, I need a camel." He would never say no. "Take it. If I have it, take it."

One day, a non-Muslim came to the Prophet ﷺ — a man by the name of Safwan ibn Umayyah. He came to him and said, "I am poor, I am needy. Give me from the one-fifth that Allah gave you — all of this wealth that you have, give me from this one-fifth." The Prophet ﷺ told him, "I have all of this wealth — it's in a valley between two mountains." Imagine a whole warehouse full of wealth. The Prophet ﷺ said, "This whole warehouse is yours. This huge amount between these two mountains — all of it is yours."

This man was shocked. He didn't expect that. He came to his people and said to them, "O my tribe — all of you, become Muslim from today." They asked, "Why? What happened? Did Muhammad ﷺ do magic? Did he do some spell? Did he put something in your food?" He said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2312)

"No. This man Muhammad ﷺ — he gives in such a way like he does not fear poverty."

This is the secret. To be giving. To be generous. One does not have to have everything — one has to just have one thing: the trust that Allah will provide.

We think to be generous, I have to be rich. Sometimes you realize the most shrewd and miserly people in the world are the richest people — they count every penny. And sometimes the most generous people are the people who don't have much to their name. Allah didn't give them much, so He gave them a big heart, so they are willing to give.

One day someone comes to the Prophet ﷺ and asks him, "I need something. Just give me anything from what you have." On that day, he said:

"Today I have nothing." The Prophet ﷺ on that day had nothing. But he said, وَلَكِنِ ابْتَعْ عَلَيَّ — "But come, let us sell something that I have, and if somebody comes and buys something that I'm selling, we can share it between us."

So Umar ibn al-Khattab said to the Prophet, "O Prophet of Allah, why are you doing something Allah did not oblige you to do? Allah didn't tell you — if somebody asks you, sell the stuff that you have at home and give them. Allah said give if you have; if you don't have, leave it."

Then one of the Ansar said to the Prophet ﷺ:

"Spend what you have and do not be scared that Allah is going to bankrupt you. He is going to provide for you."

The Prophet ﷺ smiled until his molar teeth could be seen — this beaming smile that would light up Medina — and he said, "By this, this is what Allah asked me to do." This was the giving nature of the Prophet ﷺ.

Generosity Begins at Home

But where did his generosity start? Was he generous to everybody who passed by and asked him something, but then when his wives asked him something he would say, "Sorry, I haven't got enough"? Where did his generosity start? It starts at home. Everything good starts from home.

If you want to develop the generosity of the Prophet ﷺ, the place to start is not with some person far from you. It is to start with the people closest to you. Allah says in the Quran — who are the first people we should give?

The people closest to you. Sometimes we are the most lovely, smiling, jovial people to people outside the house — but come inside the house, we come in like a storm entered. We go out with our friends and we are fighting at the cashier until there's like a whole brawl — the police is called, somebody's imprisoned, somebody's arm has been broken — just because you wanted to pay the bill. Us, we get it. You want to pay the bill.

You come home. Your spouse says, "Can you go out for some tea?" — "Don't we have the kettle?" Your child says, "Take me to this place. Can I please have some ice cream? It's a hot day." — "Ice cream? We have juice in the fridge. SubhanAllah, people are dying. People are dying and you want ice cream?"

This child is thinking — people are dying, people are dying — my dad is always saying people are dying.

So when we're at home we become tight, we become cowardly, we lose all of our good qualities. But that's the real you and me. That's the real you and me. Everything we do outside the house — it's a show. The real test is: who are we at home?

The Most Valuable Currency: Time

When the Prophet ﷺ would get some wealth, he would look at who he could spend on — starting with his family. But before spending his wealth, what was the most valuable thing in the life of the Prophet ﷺ — more than money? His time.

They say time is money — but time is more valuable than money. Can you get money back if you lose it? Yes, you can. If you lose money you can earn it back another way. But can you get time back when it's lost? Never.

Sometimes we are not miserly with our money — we are miserly with our time. And maybe I am the first to be a victim of this. How many times in a day do my own children say, "Baba, come play with us"? "I'm preparing for the Qur'an class." "Baba, play with us." "Later." "Baba, when is later going to come?"

All of us have to balance and juggle so many things in our lives. The psychologists say the average person spends on average 20 minutes a day of one-to-one time with their children — 20 minutes a day, and there are 24 hours in a day. What we have to start being generous with is our time.

The Prophet ﷺ at Home

Who can tell me what the Prophet ﷺ was like at home? One day the Prophet ﷺ enters the house and he sees people — they're not happy. So he would crack a joke to make them smile. He said one of the most beloved deeds to Allah is:

(Referenced in various narrations; see al-Mu'jam al-Kabir of al-Tabarani)

To make somebody smile. Have a sense of humor. Make them smile.

The Prophet ﷺ at home, in the generosity of his time — after Salat al-'Isha, there was no socializing outside the house of the Prophet ﷺ. After the 'Isha prayer, the time he would spend was only with his family — discussing with them the happenings of the day, letting them share their stories, him sharing his stories. Until one day — it comes in Bukhari and Muslim — the Prophet ﷺ was sitting with Aisha and she asked him after 'Isha one day, "What was the worst day of your life?" And he was recounting to her what happened to him in Ta'if. This is the conversation he would have with his family after Salat al-'Isha. He would not stay up for long and he would go to sleep, but he was generous with his time before anything else.

Such that the day he parted from this world, everybody he knew had a memory of time that they spent with the Prophet ﷺ. He may not have given them wealth, he may not have bought them a gift, he may not have given them cash — but he gave everybody time.

When we leave this world and are lowered into our graves, people will not remember the cars we bought, the branding of clothes we wore, the food that we fed them. But they will remember how we made them feel when we were with them.

Give Everything Today

If the Prophet ﷺ got some wealth — this one-fifth of income that would come to him — he would never leave anything for tomorrow. He would give it today. He did not know what a savings account was. He would invest it today, he would give it today, but he would not want to see it till tomorrow. This was the generosity of the Prophet ﷺ.

A Bedouin comes to the Prophet ﷺ. He grabs him by the neck and says, "I like this burda — I like this cloak you're wearing today." If you grabbed me by the neck and told me you liked this cloak, maybe you would leave the masjid without an arm intact. But this man ﷺ was differently built. Mind you, he was not a weak man — it is authentically narrated that he had the strength of 40 men. He could leave you with no limbs if he wanted. This is the trick: to have the strength but not to use it. To have the wealth but not to be lavish. To have no time but to still squeeze out the time.

This man squeezes him and says, "I like this cloak." The Prophet ﷺ takes off the cloak and gives it to him — because he was never asked something except he gave it away.

The Balance: Planning for Your Children

This is why the Prophet ﷺ, as he came close to his death, was worried that not a single item in his house should remain — everything should be given away so he could leave this world with no shackle to his name. Yet he is also the one who said — and this is where the balance comes in — Uthman ibn Talha, may Allah be pleased with him, came to him and asked, "O Prophet of Allah, I have a land — an investment, a property — and it is earning me wealth. Should I give it in charity or should I keep it as an investment for my children?"

The Prophet ﷺ advised him: "For your children — for you to die and your children are rich and they have wealth — is better than for you to die and your children beg after you."

We know that the family of the Prophet ﷺ had a unique status when it comes to wealth. However, this was what he advised people: do not try to be like me and give everything until you have nothing. Plan. Plan for the future. Plan for your children. Save. Invest. But when it comes to giving — be generous. Be generous like the person who knows that Allah — the One whose accounts are flooded with income until there is no restriction — is his provider. Give like that person.

The Illness of Hoarding

This was the generosity, the gentleness of the Prophet ﷺ. One of the illnesses, the sicknesses we suffer with today, is the illness of hoarding. Less than one percent of people in the world own more than 90% of the wealth of the world. And they call it the trickle-down effect — how much of that 90% of wealth even reaches us, we don't know. Us — the people at the bottom of the ladder.

And so you have this society where it has become dog-eat-dog. There's a competition — "I need the job, he can't have the job. Why did he get promoted before me?" And we start to fight and bicker over wealth like it's nobody's business.

What was the last thing the Prophet ﷺ said before he died?

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3158; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2961)

"I am not scared that my ummah will become poor. What I am scared of is that the world will open its doors to you and you will become wealthier beyond imagination, and this wealth will kill you like it killed those before you, because you will compete and fight tooth and nail for it." This is what he feared. He did not fear poverty for us. He feared too much luxury, too much wealth.

What did the Prophet ﷺ say about greed?

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6436; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1048)

"If you gave the son of Adam a valley of gold, he would ask for one more."

I was on the phone with a friend of mine. This friend of mine came to this country as a refugee five or six years ago. He had nothing and he dreamed of the day when he would own a house, when he would have papers, a car, and so on. I called him the other day catching up, and I said to him, "You have the house, you have the car, you have the wealth. How does it feel?" He said, "It's strange. I feel an emptiness — because I am looking for the next car and the next wealth and the next house." This is the nature of Bani Adam.

Give What You Have — Even a Smile

If you have no wealth to give, what can you give? Time. Energy. Does it cost anything to give a smile? Allah says in the Quran:

Sacrifice your wealth and yourself for the sake of Allah. Many of us start to plan for our retirement, plan for our children, plan what we are going to leave behind — what investments should we make, where should we save, how can I get the income, where should I spend it — but many of us don't realize that what people will cherish most after we are gone is the company we gave them and the way we made them feel.

What They Will Remember

When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, tells us that the first person to leave Medina — because he cannot stand the memory of the Prophet — is Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him. The man who used to call for prayer. He cannot stand to live in Medina anymore, because everywhere he looks — who does he remember? He remembers Muhammad ﷺ. He cannot stand it.

When the Prophet's companions were asked, "Why is it that you cry after his passing?" — did they say it was the camel that he bought? The house that he rented? The branding of shield that he used to have? No. They said it was the smile on his face, the softness of his hands, the presence of his body, the sweetness of his speech, the gentleness of his smile, the touch of his arm around your shoulder, the look in his eyes as you saw him gaze into yours, the way he would caress the head of the orphan and joke with the elderly, the way he would let nobody in Medina feel like they were alone — because they had his company.

This is what they will remember. Be generous. Be generous with yourself — your energy, your attention, your time, your love, your care, and your wealth. Because nobody will remember the money that you spent on your car. But they will remember the time that you spent with them.