Accountability – Islam teaches that whenever someone is blessed with abundant favours, such as knowledge and wealth, then they would be held accountable differently to those that have the average blessing in that aspect of life.
With the name of Allah most Beneficient ever Merciful
If these people use their favors to do good then they would be rewarded twice as much as a normal person would be rewarded for the same act and if they use it to do wrong then they would be punished twice as much as an average person would be punished for the same sin. It is for this reason that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has said;
“The worst evil consists in learned men who are evil, and the best good consists in learned men who are good. Mishkat Al Masabih – Book of Knowledge.
Knowledge and wealth can lead us to the two extremes, depending on how we use them. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has said, that there is no envy except for two persons: “One whom Allah has given Knowledge according to which he conducts himself and teaches it to people and secondly one whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in good deeds. Bukaharie, Muslim, Ihya Ulum id Deen.
The reason for being rewarded or punished twice is because knowledge and wealth are blessings of Allah Subhanatallah that gives power to people with which they could influence people towards good or evil.
People generally look up to wealthy or knowledgeable people. The way people greet a ‘moulana’ or a wealthy man is generally different to the way they would greet an ordinary person.
These people are role models and if they do something wrong then others are more likely to follow. This, in reality, is committing two sins: One doing wrong and secondly, influencing others to do wrong.
“The people (in general) will say, ‘Our Lord! we obeyed our leaders and our great ones but they led us astray from (Your) path. Our Lord! give them (their) punishment twice over, (for their own evil deeds and for their misleading us), and deprive them totally of your grace.” Al Quran 33:67
When they do good then they also influence others to do good and in this way they are rewarded twice.
Sometimes we are in jobs through which we can make things easier for others or we can exploit others or make things difficult for them. Let’s serve our Creator by serving others. Let’s do our best in the work place too.
Even the wives of the Prophet ﷺ will receive twice the rewards for good deeds and twice the punishments for their bad deeds. This is so because they were blessed with a close relationship with the Prophet ﷺ from whom they learned so much more and they rose in rank to be the “Mothers of the believers.”
They therefore exerted a certain amount of influence over the people because of their relationship with the Prophet ﷺ. “O wives of the Prophet! if any of you be guilty of manifest improper conduct you will receive punishment twice over.” Al Quran 33:30
As Muslims of today we are blessed with both knowledge and wealth, both individually and collectively as a community. Poor people and communities are looking at the way we live and the way we conduct ourselves and they want to follow.
Our homes, our places of worship, our cars and our attitude all display signs of luxury and affluence. Most of us use our knowledge and wealth to exploit people and situations so that we could amass more wealth and build a greater empire.
Poor people see the luxury and want it too but they do not have the knowledge of acquiring wealth nor do they have the opportunity because the rich have exploited every opportunity and left none.
Sometimes they resort to crime to acquire what we have. We are worldly and we are indirectly teaching people to be materialistically inclined.
Islam is totally against materialism because it inculcates in us greed, selfishness, ruthlessness, pride and all other spiritual ailments. One of the most common topics in the Holy Quran is the ill effects of materialism. There are more verses concerning this than there are verses concerning prayer.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ set the perfect example. Everything about him was simple. He was not known for amassing wealth but on the contrary, he was known for his charity, kindness, generosity and most importantly, his contentment, inner peace and deep understanding and knowledge of life.
He sacrificed, loved, forgave and shared and this is what people learned from him. We pray that Allah guides us towards using our resources to uplift those around us. End.
Peace and blessings be upon Muhammad Sallallahu Allayhi Wasallam.
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi 2014.
Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi was founded by Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saab RA).
Author: Mahomed Hassan Gaffoor WhatsApp: +27 84 910 1486