MANAGING MONEY AS A MUSLIM

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim Alhamdulillahi rabbil-‘alamin was-Salatu was-Salam ‘ala Sayyidil-Mursalin wa ‘ala ‘Alihi wa Sahbihi Ajma’in. As Salamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

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Q1: What is the place of money in your life, what does it mean to you? Do you think we should save money regularly? What kind of expenses should we save for?

Indeed, money has a big role in people’s life. Place of it in our lives, as Muslims is also important thing that should be considered. We, Muslims, should use money as a tool that makes us closer to Allah (s.w.t.). Since even for fulfilling the Pillars of Islam (not all) we need sufficient amount of money to afford. Hajj, for example, Allah (s.w.t.) does not make it obligatory who cannot afford it; however, we surely know that it is a huge blessing for the ones who can afford it in order to understand and feel the Ummah.

Furthermore, Salah is the other pillar. So as to pray Salah, we need Masjids, which requires remarkably much money. Zakat can also be given as an example for the place of money in Muslim’s life. Even though they are not obligatory for those who do not have the ability to overcome the financial burden, all Muslim would love to be part of this blessed system as a part of Ummah.

Having said these, of course, primary and ultimate goal of a Muslim should not be pursuing money at every cost; it must be worshipping Allah (s.w.t.) instead. The key point is to find balance, as almost every cases in life. As we have discussed in earlier meetings “The best in the middle.” For that, we must seek the best for us from Allah, since not all the time we are aware of the good and the bad for us but Allah (s.w.t.) does.

An ayah would be enough to say all for the first question answer. Allah (s.w.t.) says in the Quran Surah Al-Qasas (28/77) “Rather, seek the reward of the Hereafter by means of what Allah has granted you, without forgetting your share of this world.”

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Q2: What advices are available about money management in Islam? How did Prophets and Companions save and spend money?

Financial management is the study of one's income, expenses, savings, and loans in order to live a long and comfortable life. Taking a close look at our finances also allows us to plan the resources we will need to achieve our long and short-term objectives. We need to know how much money we bring in each month and how much we need to budget for our expenses. We will have more control over our finances and will know where our money is going as a result of this.

This appears to be simple and straightforward. However, it is difficult in practice, especially when we are burdened with numerous financial responsibilities. As a result, it is more important than ever for us to be aware of our financial situation. We should do our best to manage our finances to the best of our abilities.

Islam always encourages us to strive for the best in our lives. Being in the best possible health allows us to maximize our ability as Muslims to contribute to our families and communities. Furthermore, Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) taught us that the giving hand is superior to the receiving hand. He said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is one that gives and the lower hand is one that takes.”(Sahih Al-Bukhari).

Thus, as Muslims we must be careful about our wealth. For that, four steps have been discussed in our meeting:

1. Our money must have been earned in a legitimate way,

2. We must be diligent in our work,

3. Our wealth must never distract us from our duties,

4. We must not exploit our money to do wrong to others.

In addition, 10% rule has been presented, which says “If you have 10x saved money, you can only touch x amount of money to buy for your needs.” Moreover, sometimes we must be brave enough to ask ourselves this following question “Do I really need this?”

There is a one story narrated by Abu Hureyre Radiyallahu Anhu in Sahih Muslim. There was a man walking out in the wilderness. And as he’s walking he looked up and realized that there was a cloud all by itself. It was following him all the time. Interestingly, suddenly he started to hear some voices from the cloud. Cloud basically was telling that go and irrigate the garden of so and so. The man followed this cloud and it stopped at some certain area and started pour down the rain to that area and irrigated all garden. The man worried about the situation and found the owner of the garden. He asked the owner name and he told that it’s the same name that he heard from the cloud. After that, he told the all story to owner, and asked him what do you do with your money and this water? He replied that I do all this garden jobs and I gave in charity one-third of it. Then, me and my family we eat from a third of it. Then I take the last third to reinvest and put back into the garden.

Some story points:

• Nothing happens without Allah permission as cloud and rain case in this story even it was in desert

• Doing goods is important. The money you own it’s not your indeed. You should take care of people in need all the time.

• Third and last point is the owner was a simple man. It shows that charity and donation do not belong to only rich people. If you’re not grateful to what you have right now, you would not be grateful when you get 250K next year.

To sum up, proper financial management is critical for every Muslim. It should not be taken for granted and should not be undervalued. Manage your finances and strive to be a financially sound Muslim, as this will enable you to assist anyone in need of financial assistance. As Allah says in the Quran Surah Al Ibrahim (14/7) “And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely my punishment is severe.”