The Rights of Wealth - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

The Rights of Wealth

Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and ask His help and ask His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He leads astray, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared. And you will not die except as Muslims.

O you who have believed, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it its mate. And He spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for help and mercy. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great triumph.

As for the rest, the truest words are the words of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are their innovations. And every innovation is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

We are accountable before Allah with regards to every single ni'mah of Allah Dhul Jalali wal Ikram. As He says:

That Day — the Day of Judgment — Allah will question you with regards to every single ni'mah. And one of those ni'am, those blessings and favors of Allah, is the wealth of this dunya. The wealth that Allah has blessed us with. The wealth of the dunya — it is something that has a strong link with the deen of Allah Dhul Jalali wal Ikram. And there are many, many rulings within the deen of Allah Dhul Jalali wal Ikram that are related to wealth directly. And in today's khutbah, briefly, I would like to highlight the rights of wealth.

The Rights of Wealth

Right 1: Earn Through Lawful, Halal Means

The first and foremost right of wealth is that we must earn the wealth of this dunya through halal means — lawful means. Not by deceiving, by cheating, by lying, or using any unlawful way. Allah says in the Quran:

O people, eat from this earth, earn and take from this earth whatever is halal and tayyib — pure — for you.

Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, said that Allah has instructed the believers what He instructed the messengers. Allah said to His messengers:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 1015 — narrated from Abu Hurayrah)

O messengers, eat from the pure and halal. And earning halal, consuming halal, eating halal, drinking halal, wearing halal, benefiting from halal — it is one of the core responsibilities and obligations of a believer. So this is the first right of wealth: that you never try to earn the wealth of this dunya through haram, unlawful means.

Right 2: Fulfill Your Obligations and Responsibilities

The second right of wealth is that you utilize your wealth in order to fulfill your obligations and your responsibilities. As a believer you have your responsibilities towards your family, towards your spouse, towards your children, towards your parents. Spend on them — spend your wealth on them. As Allah says in the Quran:

These people ask you what they should be spending. Say to them: whatever you can afford to spend — spend on your parents. So when it comes to spending your wealth, Allah in this particular ayah made mention of the parents first and foremost. Those who have right on your wealth, the first and foremost are your parents. Spend your money, your wealth, whatever you have earned, on your parents — even if they do not ask you. You should spend on them and look after them.

As we know, being dutiful towards our parents is one of the greatest obligations — such a great obligation that Allah has mentioned it alongside His worship in the Quran in many places:

Worship Allah alone, do not associate any partners with Him, and be dutiful to your parents. And your duty towards your parents is not that they should beg you or ask you to spend on them — no. Rather you yourself, as a son or a daughter, you should be spending on them.

Likewise, you spend your wealth on your family. Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked: What type of charity is the most virtuous? He said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1426; Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 1034)

Always start with those who are underneath you — those who are your dependents. Start with them. Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, has encouraged us to spend on our family to the level that he said that a person who spends one dinar or dirham on his children, on his wife, it is written as a form of sadaqah for him — you will get reward for that.

So this is one of the rights of wealth: that you fulfill your responsibilities and your obligations by using the wealth of this dunya.

Right 3: Pay Your Zakat

And then, after fulfilling your obligations and responsibilities, whatever is left in the form of your saving or surplus — and it reaches the threshold which is called nisab — then you have to pay zakat on it. Within the deen of Allah, we know that there are many rulings with regards to zakat. There are people who are eligible for zakat, as Allah has made mention of them in the Quran:

Spend your zakat on them. And do not consider zakat to be a tax. Do not consider zakat to be a burden. Rather it is only 2.5% of your saving — which in reality is very little. Give in the way of Allah whatever you are obliged to give, as zakat is one of the pillars of Islam. And if you do not fulfill your obligation and if you do not pay your zakat in the correct way, it will be as if you have not fulfilled — or have not maintained — one of the pillars of Islam.

When it comes to zakat, there are two points that I would like to highlight today.

First: Zakat has no single fixed time for all believers. Rather, every individual has their own time for paying zakat. Because one of the conditions for zakat is that once you have the saving and one whole lunar year has passed over that saving, then you have to pay zakat whenever that year completes. So it does not have to be paid in the month of Ramadan, as many of us think. Yes, it is permissible to give your zakat within the month of Ramadan if you want to give it in advance — for example, if your zakat is due one or two months after Ramadan, it is permissible for you to give it within Ramadan, because this is the time when the poor and needy most expect financial help from the wealthy. But if your zakat is due a month or even a week before Ramadan, it is not permissible for you to delay it.

Second: When it comes to paying zakat, something we often tend to forget or neglect is that those who deserve your zakat most are those within your locality — within the region and the country you live in. Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he sent Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, to Yemen, he gave him instructions — one of which was to call those people to the deen of Allah, and once they enter into the fold of Islam, to let them know that Allah has obligated the five daily prayers, and then to inform them that Allah has made zakat obligatory upon them:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1395; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 29 — narrated from Ibn 'Abbas)

The zakat is to be taken from the rich and distributed among the poor. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, never instructed Mu'adh to collect the zakat and bring it back to Madinah al-Munawwarah. Rather he instructed him to spend the zakat and distribute it among the local people. This is the most correct way — which does not mean that you cannot give zakat overseas. A portion of your zakat can be given to other countries, but never neglect and never ignore those who are in need within your own community.

That is why, alhamdulillah, this masjid has a zakat service. We collect the zakat and we spend it locally. And I would like to encourage all of you that whenever your zakat is due — whether in Ramadan or before Ramadan or after Ramadan — try to give your zakat to your masjid. Not for spending on the masjid itself — rather, the zakat is spent on those who are in need within the community.

Right 4: Give Beyond Zakat — Sadaqah and Charity

The next right of wealth is that after paying zakat, Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 659 — narrated from Fatimah bint Qays; also referenced in Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Quran 2:177)

In your wealth there are more rights other than zakat as well. So it is not sufficient for a believer to give zakat only once a year and then give nothing else in sadaqah or charity. Rather, he, peace and blessings be upon him, has encouraged us that after paying zakat you still have more obligations within your wealth. You should be giving in the way of Allah — helping the poor and needy, giving towards the houses of Allah, spending in sadaqah and charity.

Right 5: Do Not Waste Your Wealth

One of the rights of wealth is that you do not waste it. As Allah says in the Quran:

Eat and drink, consume and benefit from your wealth — whatever it is. And do not waste it. Because Allah does not love those who waste their wealth.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said that Allah dislikes wasting your wealth. And Allah says in the Quran:

Stay away from extravagance. Because those who waste their wealth and spend their wealth carelessly — they are the brothers of Shaytan. And remember that Shaytan was ungrateful to Allah. Which means that if you do not use or spend your wealth carefully, or you waste your money and your wealth, then you will be seen as a brother of Shaytan — and it will be seen as you being ungrateful to Allah. Allah has blessed you with the wealth of this dunya to benefit yourself, to benefit those who are your dependents, and to benefit those who are around you — the people within the community.

May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to understand our religion and to fulfill our obligations and our duties. May Allah forgive us our sins. You are the Forgiving, the Merciful. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions.