Don’t Live for the Sake
of Wealth

Wealth is a human need, not a person’s purpose in life. Those who are content can make spiritual progress and reach great heights of intellectual development.

According to a tradition, the Prophet of Islam once observed: “That person was successful who obeyed God and who received sustenance or provision according to need, and whatever God’s blessing he received he was graced by God with contentment for it.” (Sahih Muslim 1054)

In this world the secret of success does not lie in having more and more but rather in contentment with what one has. There is no limit to the desires of a greedy person but a person who is contented has his limits. When he reaches a certain point, he becomes satisfied. But the greedy person always lives in a state of discontent. On the contrary, one who knows contentment always lives a life of satisfaction.

Who receives provision according to his needs? It is that person who does not devote all his efforts to acquiring wealth but rather leads an intellectual and spiritual life along with practical endeavours. His spirituality and his intellectual development become a guarantee that he will not regard money as all in all. Such a person, thanks to his temperament, learns the reality that wealth is for him and that he is not for wealth. When he sees that a limited amount of wealth is enough for his requirements, he loses craving for unlimited money. His life is one of peace, contentment and satisfaction.

It is necessary for a person to have enough wealth to meet his needs, but it is not necessary for him to have so much wealth that he does not even know where to spend it.

Wealth is a human need, but it is not a person’s purpose in life. This is the secret of a peaceful life in this world and those who are content to lead such a life are destined to make exceptional spiritual progress and reach great heights of intellectual development.