Muslims in Materialistic Age

Materialistic worldview denies the existence of God, angels and spirit. It also questions the notion of a soul, if taken to be immaterial entity separable, in principle, from the human body. This makes it incompatible with the Islamic worldview.

Now money, or wealth in general, is a material thing which can be pursued moderately. Many of those people who love money excessively or those we now call materialists are very rich. Muslims also want to be rich. The dilemma now is that: should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do so that they may become wealthy like others?

Admin wrote:Materialistic worldview denies the existence of God, angels and spirit. It also questions the notion of a soul, if taken to be immaterial entity separable, in principle, from the human body. This makes it incompatible with the Islamic worldview.

Now money, or wealth in general, is a material thing which can be pursued moderately. Many of those people who love money excessively or those we now call materialists are very rich. Muslims also want to be rich. The dilemma now is that: should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do so that they may become wealthy like others?

If I may give my opinion, I'll say no, they should not. Aside from the true purpose of creation, any other purpose is void and meaningless. Those materialists may indeed be extremely rich but it is very unlikely that their hearts are in tranquility. No, their hearts are definitely filled with anxiety. Even if they owned everything that belongs in this earth, they will not be content. And if you're not even pleased with the outcome, then what is the point of pursuing it in the first place?

Money may seem really appealing to us but we mustn't forget our true purpose. And Allah has said that "Whoever seeks the rewards of the Hereafter, we multiply the rewards for him. And whoever seeks the materials of this world, we give him therefrom, then he receives no share in the Hereafter" [42:20]. Those who pursue Jannah will also receive more wordly benefits (which includes wealth). Maybe not to the extent of the ridiculously enormous wealth that some materialists have, but it will still be enough to satisfy us. Plus, we have Jannah to strive for, and the bliss of Jannah makes all of their wealth look lower than dirt. And the eternity of Jannah for those who dwell in it makes the duration of this wealthy life seem less than a milisecond.

Even if you're considering this world alone and ignore the Hereafter for a moment, it would still be the wiser option to avoid making it our objective to get rich. Because, as someone once said, "All humans ultimately chase happiness". And those that think that money alone would bring them this happiness are truly deceiving themselves. And if we become happy in this world, with or without wealth, then why should we even care about any other material things?

tl;dr - No, even if you are only considering the benefits of this world.

Islam motivates followers to make good earnings and spend them accordance to God’s will. Muslims must be rich and prosperous in order to serve all the five pillars in Islam and Muslim also must be motivated to pursue wealth and prosperity in order to conquer the economy (rather than letting the kufur to conquer ) so that Muslim could develop wealth for the Muslim ummah. So i think there's no problem for Muslim to pursue wealth as long as Muslim did not forget the true purpose of life and avoid being a materialistic.

2030_17_Hasan wrote:Islam motivates followers to make good earnings and spend them accordance to God’s will. Muslims must be rich and prosperous in order to serve all the five pillars in Islam and Muslim also must be motivated to pursue wealth and prosperity in order to conquer the economy (rather than letting the kufur to conquer ) so that Muslim could develop wealth for the Muslim ummah. So i think there's no problem for Muslim to pursue wealth as long as Muslim did not forget the true purpose of life and avoid being a materialistic.

I agree but I think the dilemma here is about...

Admin wrote:Now money, or wealth in general, is a material thing which can be pursued moderately. Many of those people who love money excessively or those we now call materialists are very rich. Muslims also want to be rich. The dilemma now is that: should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do so that they may become wealthy like others?

...following in the footsteps of the materialists as far as money is concerned, since we're still human and love money as well. If you're talking about the legal ruling, then yes, we can pursue wealth provided that both the means of earning it and the way it is spent are halal. But I think they should avoid thinking materialistically even if they fulfill both those conditions.

As what is we know that everyone loves money and being wealthy and Allah -subhanh wa ta'allah- said:{ المال والبنون زينة الحياة الدنيا } which mean that the money and having children are what make life beautiful. and Allah give us rules about how to use them such as spending them in saqah which can make everyone wealthy and avoiding being jealous from others Muslims brothers and improve the Islamic nations, there is a story about Omar Bin Alkatab that a prophet from Kesra came for Omar to give him a massage when he was looking at him he found him sleeping under the tree on his slops , the prophet was surprised how could a king like Omar sleep like this and with out any guards then he said you believed and fair so that you sleep because he knows that no one will come for him and trying to kill him because Omar was so fair. being wealthy has many negative aspect if we don't use it in the way where we have to spend. so Allah also said:{إنما أموالكم وأولادكم فتنةٌ} which mean money and children are fetnah for testing u and see what will you do with it. being wealthy with out being profuse is much better than being poor and couldn't do anything.

so that its not necessary that being wealthy is bad so some of nations can be friends of Islam when they see them rich because every nations like to be like other wealthy strong nations so they will find that we are wealthy because of Allah blissing.

Well.. i think there are some sort of error in the question.. "should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do ? " I mean.. We are Muslim.. We do everything exactly like what had been told to us by Allah and the Prophet, We do everything in the way that every Muslim should do. If we do something by following the others, then we are being irrational as a Muslim. Then why do we even call ourselves as a Muslim if we doing something (not only in the issue of pursuing wealth) by following the others ??

Bismillah...to me, a Muslim who know to distinguish between halal and haram will pursue wealth in the way according to the shariah of Islam. It’s obvious that muslim should not pursue wealth in the way others do because such earnings will only harm themselves. We can see that some people with a lot of money (who earn money in prohibited way) can’t find true happiness in their life. They have problems with their family, kids, and sometimes they never satisfied with the money they have earned. They never feel enough. However, it’s good to be wealthy Muslim (who earn money within the syariah of Islam) because such people will give a lot of benefits to others. Wallahua’alam

I agreed with Sajed's opinion. Allah has said in the Quran,

"Whoever seeks the rewards of the Hereafter, we multiply the rewards for him. And whoever seeks the materials of this world, we give him therefrom, then he receives no share in the Hereafter" [42:20].

So, even though those people who love money are rich, they only get the advantage in this world. Yet, in the Hereafter, they will be among those people who utterly lost. That’s what Allah said in His Book.

Actually, money is also a kind of test from Allah. Mostly, when people have a lot of money, they start to show off and forget how to show their gratitude to the creator of this world.

As we can see, these kinds of people are normally tried with serious diseases which are no cure. At that particular moment, they will start to realize that even their money cannot help them and will not prevent them from death.

So, as my conclusion, Muslims should not be too materialistic in order to be rich because money is not everything. Muslims should balance their worldly life and their eternity life. It's no wrong for Muslims to think about money and earn it so long as it's in the right way and with the blessing of Allah.

from my view,'others' from the question reflected those who believe in materialistic worldview. and we know that muslims do not believe such thing,so,the conclusion is clear that muslims should pursue wealth but not in the same way as others do.being matearistic may help muslims to achieve high performance and to puruse wealth bur as aisha said,they should not be too materialistic.

To answer this question, it is mandatory to understand the principle of al-istikhlaf in money in Islam.

First of all, al-khilafa is the duty of Man on Earth. It means to substitute Allah SWT in executing his commandments on Earth. Hence, the principle of al-istikhlaf in money is based on two truths:
-The money is the money of Allah SWT: وَءاتُوهُم مِّن مَّالِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي ءاتَاكُمْ _النور/33
-Man is the vicegerent of Allah SWT in money: ءامِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَأَنفِقُوا مِمَّا جَعَلَكُم مُّسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ فَالَّذِينَ ءامَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَأَنفَقُوا لَهُم أَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ _الحديد/7

It goes without saying that the principle of al-istikhlaf set up essential rules:
-Give a good understanding of al-milkyah and al-‘hiyazah
-Insist on the concept of al-tassarouf al-moukayad (restrictive behavior): As long as Man is the trustee of Allah’s money, he does not have absolute freedom to do what he wants with it. He is then in obligation to abide by Allah’s orders in all his monetary matters that are how he gets the money and how he spends it.

Man by nature loves money and wants to be rich as mentioned in Al-Qur’an: زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاء وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالأَنْعَامِ وَالْحَرْثِ ذَلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَاللّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ _سورة آل عمران/14
It is a strong inclination testified by the Prophet SAAWS: لو كان لابن آدم واديان من مال لابتغى ثالثا ، ولا يملأ جوف ابن آدم إلا التراب ، ويتوب الله على من تاب _أخرجه البخاري في صحيحه
However, Islam warns from the fitna of money: أَنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلاَدُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَأَنَّ اللّهَ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ _الأنفال/28

This is why Islam sets a panel of judgments that states the limitation and rules to obtain, spend and manage money.

Therefore, the Muslim can follow the way westerners make money only if the means of making it does not contradict with the principles of Islam. For example, he can have a company of selling Hallal goods but cannot invest in an assurance company or casino clubs. Because westerners seek money whatever the means they should use, Muslims in the other hand are controlled by divine laws. Not to forget that the way of spending this money also differs from Muslims and non-Muslims. Muslims should spend their wealth on the path of Allah and in accordance of His wills.

Usually people says, "OMG!" (oh my God) when they are in difficulties or shock situation.

But today, it's like a new trend when people says,

"Oh my Gucci!"

"Oh my Prada!"

"Oh my Lamborgini!"

and many other.

It showed that how materialistic people today. The property and richness is their idol.

In my opinion, Muslim must has wealthy, but not to make the wealth as their main target in live. The wealth they pursued are not for their own selfishness but for the development of the ummah. Some people think that being rich could lead to takabbur and etc, so that they choose to live in poverty because it is 'zuhud'. But don't we realise that in this millenium era, most of the oppressed countries by the secularist is Muslim countries. We are not able protect our sisters and brothers because our economic is controlled by A.S. and we are afraid to them. If I'm not mistaken, Imam Ghazali or Imam Shafi'e said that "Do not put the wealth you own in your heart, but put the wealth in just your hand", in other word, we control our wealth not to be controlled by them.....

sadly, in reality, there are some RICH-MUSLIM country, who doesn't even bother to help other poor muslim country that were suffering because of war, starvation, etc. They only bother to build fancy building to show off to world without concerning about the fate of muslim all around the world.

I think this kind of materialism is a disease that exist in this ummah. like Rasulullah said >> "al-wahn"

where is the rich peolpe like Saidina Abu Bakr r.a, Uthman Ibn Affan r.a, etc..?
Ummah need rich people like Saidina Abu Bakr r.a who willing to contribute all his property for this deen. to help other muslim.

Salam, when people use "Oh My Prada" or "Oh My Gucci" does that make him or her a materialistic person??how about people who being a good muslim but when it comes to his or her property like expensive bags or shoes being an overly-protective person, does that makes him or her a materialistic person??javascript:emoticonp('')

I don't think this thread is about halal and haram earnings, because we obviously don't need any discussion thread to discuss whether we should follow halal or haram acts.

2030_17_Hasan wrote:Well.. i think there are some sort of error in the question.. "should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do ? " I mean.. We are Muslim.. We do everything exactly like what had been told to us by Allah and the Prophet, We do everything in the way that every Muslim should do. If we do something by following the others, then we are being irrational as a Muslim. Then why do we even call ourselves as a Muslim if we doing something (not only in the issue of pursuing wealth) by following the others ??

I don't think "the way others do" refers to the actual methods involved but on the WAY THAT THEIR MINDS WORK. It's a question of mentality. Is it okay to even THINK like them, or to view money in the same light that they do? Assuming, of course, that the intended methods of obtaining the money are halal (because this thread was specficially inquiring about Muslims, not people in general).

2030_17_afiqah wrote:Usually people says, "OMG!" (oh my God) when they are in difficulties or shock situation.

But today, it's like a new trend when people says,

"Oh my Gucci!"

"Oh my Prada!"

"Oh my Lamborgini!"

and many other.

It showed that how materialistic people today. The property and richness is their idol.

Perfect example here. This kind of mindset can be instilled inside even someone who has taken great pains to avoid the haram and to make his income as halal as possible. If I could rep this post, I would do it.

Anyhow, since I am now obligated to contribute (nobody likes it when somebody replies to other's posts without adding his own), I'll give some examples here. Abdur Rahman ibn Awf رضي الله عنه was like, the "billionare" during the time of the Sahaba. What I want to know is, did he have any trace of materialism in his mind? Considering that he's one of the ten who were given glad tidings of Al-Jannah while they were still alive, I'm going to say that the answer is... No. Even the greatest of all human beings after the Prophets عليهم السلام, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه was very rich. I'm pretty sure HIS mind was not attached to wealth...

My point here is that, the amount of wealth anyone possesses, Muslim or non-Muslim, depends entirely on Allah. We need to have tawakkal on Allah. Wealth can be a blessing or a curse on a man. If you are poor, it's possible that Allah deprived you of wealth because he knew it would be a great Fitnah for you. Or maybe he wants you to suffer to make you aware of your sins so that you can repent from them. We have absolutely no way of knowing why Allah would grant or deprive a specific person of wealth. There is no special status or quality or achievement (positive or negative) that allows you to gain this wealth. So, really, our minds should not even be concerned about getting rich and whatnot. It is entirely in the hands of Allah and for someone to have a materialistic desire for wealth can bring nothing but his/her own destruction. Even if you intend to earn it and spend it by halal means, the money itself should not be the object of our desire.

Well... A Materialist is a Materialist no matter he/she is rich or poor (believe it or not there's someone who is materialist but still poor, so sad) As a muslim you shouldn't be a materialist whether you are rich or poor.

So perhaps as a Muslim we shouldn't think too much about being a wealthy person. We have to work hard in order get earnings (رزق) and pray to Allah to provide us with sufficient رزق, and we should be grateful for whatever Allah had gave us and use it "wisely", for Allah knows the best who needs more and who dont.

i mean like sajed said "Even the greatest of all human beings after the Prophets عليهم السلام, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه was very rich".. MAYBE Allah gave Abu Bakr as-Siddiq more wealth than others because He needs more than others.. MAYBE because He got bigger responsible compare to the others.. We never know.

So "should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do so that they may become wealthy like others?" still no idea how to answer that question.. . But i wouldnt say that i want to become wealthy like others. But i do want to become wealthy, but as wealthy as Allah want me to be, just be grateful for whatever Allah rewarded us and pray to Allah so that the wealthy Allah gave us will make us a better Muslim and not "destroy" us. Amin.

I think that the question only questions about the means Muslims should become rich if they want. Whether is it good and worthy to become rich or not is another thing. Therein, many deviated from the real aim of the topic.

so what do you think about Muslims who died because of losing money from shares market is that mean they r materialistic


what i think about the question that even if we are rich or poor we have to think what to do with our money cause Allah decided for us to be poor becouse Allah knows that we may not spend it as what Alshary'ah told us to, so we have to understand the truth meaning of Qada'a and Qader

in which God has told us and in Islam there are ways for us to find the wealth with the right way. If we follow the way other people looking for properties such as the western most likely find the wealth we will deviate from the tenets of Islam which has been set. Islam does not forbid its followers to seek wealth in the world but we must stabilize our world is and the hereafter. if not, we may neglect the rich world full of suspicion. as a Muslim we must seize the wealth for the pleasure of living in the world, besides that we also can give zakat to help those in need, thereby to raise the prestige of the Muslims for not looked down upon by non-Muslims. real wealth of a person is when he gets out what he did, like finding treasure.

Assalamualaikum w.b.h….
In the name of Allah, most gracious and most merciful.
Regarding to the topic which has been posted by the admin, i would like to leave my comment or more on opinion towards this topic.
The first question to be answered is does Islam accept the theory of materialism as the same as the other religions? Or totally rejected to rely on this basis? Are there any nass (dalil or authority) stated in Quran and Sunnah opposed to this theory?
Legally and morally speaking, it’s not wrong to someone or focuses on Muslim community especially, to gain wealth as long as it is in line with Islam. In the eyes of law as well, Islam never prohibits its ummah to look for wealth as stated in a well known hadith “…….work as we will live 1000days more, and worship Allah as we will die tomorrow………….. ”. However, the dilemma is; as posted by the admin, “should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do so that they may become wealthy like others…?”
Respond to the above statement, we should realized that the major attack on Islam nowadays, does not come from the bombs bursting over Iraq, or the prejudice shown in various Western countries, it comes from the same source that it has always come from, which are the temptation of material accumulation and insatiable desire. The materialism of the Western culture has not only been extremely tempting, but it forces itself upon all peoples. The attack on Islam focuses on the core of its tenets, the existence of the unseen and the world to come, and attempts to lure Muslims into the world of the seen and its material pleasures. Materialistic worldview absolutely denies the existence of God, angels and spirit. It also questions the notion of a soul, if taken to be immaterial entity separable, in principle, from the human body. This makes it incompatible with the Islamic worldview.
It is not too wrong to say that money is the root of all evil. That love of money has been the undoing of many societies, especially Western societies. Now that Western thought has become the primary influence in the world, the entire world has fallen into the worship of matters material. The material conception of society and history, especially if it is given the false colour of Islamic authenticity, is a great danger to Islamic teachings and Islamic culture.
To sum up, Islam is the religion of moderation. It strongly rejects materialism but it does not reject material. Islam is about a religion which consists all aspects of life. We may possess wealth, money, luxury, and all sorts of things, but must be in different manner like western countries do.

Salam :
In my perspective being wealthy is important for all muslims, but it doesn't mean to pursue wealth in the way others do to become like them.
As allah subahanu wa tala said (المال والبنون زينت الحياة الدنيا) which mean money and children are adornment of life, So any rich muslim should spend his money in a way that make allah accept it from him, such as spend it in "Halal", give "sadaqah" charity and give the "Zakah" of it. Furthermore, allah subahanu wa tala said (لئن شكرتم لأزيدنكم) which mean if you thank me i will give you more. Therefore, all Muslims should be thankful to allah and don't pursue wealth in the way others do.

The haram is haram and the halal is halal. It can't get any clearer than that and this discussion wouldn't be about something so obvious. Maybe I should make my point more clearer...

Let's say there are two Muslims, A and B. A is someone who is devoted to serving Allah. Now, there are innumerable ways of doing just that and several of those involve money. A is perfectly aware of this and decides to try earning as much money as possible so that he can spend it in the cause of Allah. Naturally, he wants to earn it as fast as possible so that he can aid the ummah more, but he obviously doesn't resort to any haram activities in order to achieve that. He intends to earn as much money as possible and spend it for the benefit of the Muslims while avoiding transgression throughout the entire time.

But B's mind thinks a little bit differently. He really loves money. B <3 $. Just the thought of money alone is enough to make him go . It's his dream to become really rich. HOWEVER, he is still a devout Muslim and is aware of what's haram and halal. He wants to earn as much money as possible, while being careful enough to ensure that every penny earned is halal. No gambling, Riba, or any of that stuff. And he doesn't want to keep racking up money without spending them in the way that is criticized in Islam. He wants to spend them in ways that would benefit the Muslims. He still wants to contribute as much as possible to the ummah.

Now, for comparison's sake, let's just assume that A and B intend to follow the exact same steps as far as earning and spending money are concerned. None of them have any plans to indulge into the haram. And yes, I know that these are extreme examples but sometimes that's the best way of identifying a problem (since the problem gets magnified with extreme comparisions). The only difference between the two people is in the way they think. Notice that the topic here isn't about whether Muslims are OBLIGATED/PROGIBITED from DOING anything, because questions on whether we can do anything which is halal/haram are perfectly obvious and don't need any further discussion. I think this thread is about whether Muslims SHOULD or at least, COULD have some degree of materialism in their MINDSET, while assuming that they're still Muslim enough to avoid the haram. What do you guys think?

My opinion here is no, because while B might be doing something very noble, he's still more vulnerable to the corruption of money. The materialism hasn't manifested yet but it could destroy him later on. I'm afraid his chances of making it through the fitnah of money are much less than A's. And besides, his love for money doesn't improve his chances of getting rich one bit. It is Allah who distributes the wealth and therefore, these materialistic thoughts wouldn't be of any help whatsoever. It only endangers the person himself.

tl;dr - Just some extreme hypothetical example (probably boring). I stand by my point.

2030_17_Sajed wrote:The materialism hasn't manifested yet but it could destroy him later on.

Materialism doesn't mean love for money so how can a muslim who is tied to his religion but with the avid will to build a fortune (as you said) adheres to the materialism ideology that states only the matter exists...

2030_17_Ali wrote:

2030_17_Sajed wrote:The materialism hasn't manifested yet but it could destroy him later on.

Materialism doesn't mean love for money so how can a muslim who is tied to his religion but with the avid will to build a fortune (as you said) adheres to the materialism ideology that states only the matter exists...

So sorry, I didn't mean materialism in its complete stage. What I meant was for the tiny bits of materialistic thoughts in his head. Materialism is actually based on the love and attachment to material things. This ideology only originated to justify the materialists' purpose of life to satisfy their materialistic desires. A worldview that makes their unrestricted pursuit of wealth and other stuff seem perfectly fine. All of it stems from the attachment of these material things, which is the root of materialism.

Islam has a great prohibition in things such as amulets and lucky charms which are thought to bring blessings but Islam points out that it is nothing but material and it can do nothing for you, Allah alone can bless you....

O you who believe! Let not your properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whosoever does that, then they are the losers. (Quran 63:9)

Your wealth are only a trial, whereas Allah! With Him is a great reward (Paradise). (Quran 64:15)

The question posted by the admin is

The dilemma now is that: should Muslim pursue wealth in the way others do so that they may become wealthy like others?

So, my opinion about this question is we as Muslim can follow the way materialist to become wealthy like others. My judgments is based on this verse.

[Nahl 16:43] And We did not send before you except men, towards whom We sent divine revelations - so O people, ask the people of knowledge if you do not know. (* All the Prophets were men.)

As for these materialist , I’ll assume that they have the knowledge on how to seek for money and wealth. They know how to handle business, economics and others particulars about wealth. So it is not wrong for us to follow them as long as we follow our syariah rules.