Is money good or bad?

Some people think a good Muslim should be poor, or that money is dirty. That is not Islam. Halal money is a blessing from Allah. Many of the Companions were rich, and they used their wealth for good.

• Allah says: wealth and children are the beauty of this life. But good deeds that last are better with your Lord¹.
• He also says: your wealth and your children are a test². The test is how you earn it, how you spend it, and whether it pulls you away from Him.
• So He warns: do not let your wealth or your children distract you from remembering Allah³.

Nabi ﷺ said: Allah loves to see the signs of His blessing on His servant⁴. Wearing nice clothes when you can afford them is not pride. Pride is looking down on people and refusing the truth⁵.

Who does your money really belong to?

Allah says: believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend from what He has put in your care⁶. The money in your account came to you from Allah. You hold it for a short time. Then it passes to others.

He calls it the wealth of Allah which He has given you⁷. And He says: there is no living creature on earth except that Allah provides for it⁸.

Looking after Allah's money for Him means:

• You may use it and enjoy it, in halal ways.
• Other people have a share in it: your family, the poor, and zakat.
• You will be asked about it, like a manager who reports back to the owner.
• It does not show your worth. Allah gives more to some and less to others, as a test for both.

The Quran tells of a man who forgot this: Qarun. He said: I was given this only because of my own knowledge⁹.

Is earning money worship?

Yes. Islam asks you to work and earn. Allah has made trade halal¹⁶, and most work in the world is halal. Nabi ﷺ said: nobody has eaten better food than what he earned with his own hands¹⁷.

Work and trust in Allah go together. A man asked Nabi ﷺ: should I tie my camel and trust Allah, or leave it loose and trust Allah? He said: tie it, and trust Allah¹⁸.

He also said: if you trusted Allah truly, He would provide for you as He provides for the birds. They go out hungry in the morning and come back full¹⁹. The birds go out. They do not stay in the nest.

Honest trade, fair pay, cheating, bribes, gambling and which jobs to avoid are all in Honest dealing, gambling and work. Please read it with this chapter.

What will Allah ask you about your money?

Nabi ﷺ said: a servant's feet will not move on the Day of Judgement until he is asked²⁰:

• about his life, and how he spent it,
• about his knowledge, and what he did with it,
• about his wealth: where he got it from,
• and where he spent it,
• and about his body, and how he used it.

Wealth is the only thing with two questions. Not "how much did you have?" But how did it come, and how did it go?

• Where it came from: a halal job, honest trade, a gift, an inheritance? Or riba, cheating, or something that belonged to someone else?
• Where it went: your family, your needs, charity? Or waste, showing off and haram things?

This is good news too. Every halal coin you earn and spend well can be a good deed on that Day.

Who should you spend on first?

Nabi ﷺ said: start with yourself, and spend on yourself. If anything is left, it is for your family. If anything is left after your family, it is for your relatives. Then for others around you²¹.

• Family comes before charity. Nabi ﷺ said: start with those you look after²².
• It has the biggest reward. Of all the money you spend for good, the greatest reward is what you spend on your family²³.
• Even a small thing counts, even the bite of food you put in your wife's mouth²⁴.
• Leaving them without is a sin. It is enough of a sin for a person to neglect those he must look after²⁵.

Who must pay for whom?

• A husband must pay for his wife's and young children's needs: food, clothes and a home, as much as he is able.
• A wife's own money is hers. Her salary, her mahr (marriage gift) and her savings belong to her. She does not have to spend them on the house. If she chooses to help, that is a kindness from her.
• Grown children must help their parents if the parents are in need and the children can afford it.

So do not give so much to others that your own family goes without. Charity starts at home.

How much should you spend?

Allah describes His good servants: when they spend, they do not waste and they are not stingy. They keep a balance between the two²⁶.

He gives a picture: do not tie your hand to your neck, and do not open it all the way, or you will end up blamed and with nothing²⁷. A tied hand gives nothing. A fully open hand keeps nothing. The good hand is in between.

Wasting money

• Allah says: eat and drink, but do not waste. He does not love those who waste²⁸. Those who waste are brothers of the shaytan²⁹.
• Waste today looks like this: food thrown away every week, buying things to show off, or a wedding that puts a family into years of debt.

Being stingy

• Nabi ﷺ said: beware of being stingy. It destroyed those before you³⁰.
• Every day two angels come down. One says: O Allah, give more to the one who spends. The other says: O Allah, bring loss to the one who holds back³¹.
• Stingy today looks like this: not giving your family what they need when you can, not paying zakat, or always letting others pay.

Things people think are wrong, but are not

• Enjoying halal things. Allah asks: who has forbidden the beauty Allah made for His servants, and the good things He provides?³²
• Nice clothes, a good home, a reliable car, a family holiday, if you can afford them without debt or showing off.
• Being rich. The problem is never the money. It is greed, pride, and forgetting that others have a share in it.

Should you make a budget?

Nabi ﷺ told of a man who heard a voice from a cloud: water the garden of so-and-so. The cloud rained on one garden. Its owner was asked: what do you do with this garden? He said: I give a third in charity, my family and I eat a third, and I put a third back into the garden³³.

That man had a budget. He gave every part of his income a job: giving, living and growing. And Allah blessed it. You do not have to use thirds. But a simple plan helps you keep the middle way.

A simple monthly plan

• Write down what comes in each month.
• Pay what you must first: housing, food, bills, and any debts you owe.
• Put aside a little for giving, even a small amount, every month.
• Put aside a little for saving, for emergencies and big costs later.
• Spend the rest freely on halal things, without guilt.

Stay out of debt if you can

Nabi ﷺ used to ask Allah to protect him from worry and sadness, from laziness, from being stingy, and from heavy debt³⁴. Spending only what you have is the best protection. See Debt and lending and The debt nobody talks about.

Can you save for the future?

Some people feel that saving shows a lack of trust in Allah. It does not.

• Nabi ﷺ himself sold the dates from the palm trees of Banu Nadir and kept enough food for his family for a whole year³⁵.
• Sa'd wanted to give away most of his wealth. Nabi ﷺ said no: it is better to leave your heirs rich than to leave them poor, asking people for help³⁶.
• Tie your camel, and trust Allah³⁷. Saving is tying the camel.

Saving or hoarding?

Allah warns those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of Allah³⁸. Scholars explain that your money does not count as hoarded in this sense if you pay its zakat and give others their share in it.

• Saving for a home, a wedding, your children, old age or hard times, while paying zakat: good.
• Hoarding out of love for money, not paying zakat, and turning away people in need: blamed.

Where to keep your savings, and bank interest, are in Banks, savings and Islamic banks. Retirement is in Shares, funds and pensions.

You may hear: "work for your world as if you will live forever, and for your next life as if you will die tomorrow". People often call it a hadith. But we cannot rely on it as a saying of Nabi ﷺ.

What brings barakah, and what takes it away?

Barakah (blessing) means Allah puts good into something. Money with barakah is enough, it lasts, and it brings peace. Money without barakah can look like a lot, but it disappears and is never enough. See Barakah: why money never lasts.

Nabi ﷺ said: this wealth is green and sweet. Whoever takes it without greed is blessed in it. Whoever takes it with greed is not blessed in it, like someone who eats and is never full³⁹.

What brings barakah

• Honesty. If buyer and seller tell the truth and make things clear, their deal is blessed⁴⁰.
• Charity. Charity does not make wealth less⁴¹. Whatever you spend, He will replace it⁴².
• Being thankful. Allah says: if you are thankful, I will give you more⁴³.
• Keeping family ties. Whoever wants more provision and a longer life should keep ties with his relatives⁴⁴.
• Taqwa (being mindful of Allah). Whoever has taqwa of Allah, He makes a way out for him, and provides for him from where he never expected⁴⁵.
• Asking forgiveness. Nuh told his people: ask your Lord to forgive you, and He will give you more wealth and children⁴⁶.
• Starting early. Nabi ﷺ prayed: O Allah, bless my people in their early mornings⁴⁷.

What takes barakah away

• Lies, hiding faults in what you sell, and swearing oaths to make a sale⁴⁸⁴⁹.
• Riba (interest). Allah destroys riba and makes charity grow⁵⁰. See What riba is.
• Greed: always wanting more, never full⁵¹.
• Sins. A person can be kept from provision because of a sin he does⁵².
• Being stingy, and keeping the poor out, like the owners of the garden in the Quran⁵³.

What does it mean to be truly rich?

Nabi ﷺ said: wealth is not having many things. Real wealth is the wealth of the heart⁶⁰.

Some people have very little and feel rich. Some have a lot and always feel poor. If a person had a valley of gold, he would want two⁶¹.

• Successful is the one who becomes Muslim, has enough to live on, and Allah makes him happy with what He gave him⁶².
• Whoever wakes up safe in his home, healthy in his body, with food for the day, it is as if he has been given the whole world⁶³.
• Do not stare at the shine of this world given to others as a test. Your Lord's provision is better and lasts longer⁶⁴.

Being content does not mean you stop working or hoping for more. It means your heart is at peace with what Allah has given you today, while you work for tomorrow.

Nabi ﷺ taught this dua: O Allah, let Your halal be enough for me, so I do not need the haram. And by Your grace, make me need no one but You⁶⁵. More are on the Duas page.

What if others have more than you?

Every day our phones show us other people's homes, cars and holidays. It is easy to feel that everyone has more. Islam gives a cure.

• Look at those below you. Nabi ﷺ said: if you see someone given more than you in wealth or looks, then look at someone who has less than you⁶⁶⁶⁷.
• Do not wish for what Allah has given some of you over others. Ask Allah for His bounty instead⁶⁸.
• Envy is forbidden. Do not envy one another, do not hate one another. Be brothers, servants of Allah⁶⁹. Envy means wanting someone's blessing taken away from them.
• The good kind of wishing: you may wish to be like someone Allah gave wealth who spends it rightly⁷⁰, without wanting it taken from them.
• Say "barakAllahu lak" (may Allah bless it for you). When you see something you like in someone else, Nabi ﷺ said: ask Allah to bless it for him⁷¹. See Is the evil eye real?

Practical help: mute accounts that make you feel poor. Do not buy things just to keep up with others. Each night, name three things you are thankful for.

What is zakat, in short?

Zakat is the third pillar of Islam⁷². It is a yearly payment on your savings. If you are a Muslim and your savings stay at or above a set minimum (the nisab) for a full lunar year, you give 2.5 percent each year to the people Allah has named. Allah says: pray, and give zakat⁷³. It cleans your wealth and your heart⁷⁴, and it does not make you poorer⁷⁵. The full rules are in the Fiqh Guide: Zakat basics, zakat on different kinds of wealth and who receives zakat. Work out how much you owe with the Zakat calculator. Extra giving, beyond zakat, is in Sadaqah, waqf and giving.

What else is in this guide?

The basic rule for the whole guide: trade and deals are halal unless something makes them haram. Riba, cheating and gambling are clearly haram. On many modern questions scholars differ, and each chapter shows the views fairly.

Common questions

Is it wrong to want to be rich?

No. It is good to want halal wealth to look after your family, stay out of debt and give to others⁷⁶. The danger is greed, and letting money distract you from Allah⁷⁷.

My family expects a very big wedding. We cannot afford it without a loan.

The Quran's rule is the middle way, not waste⁷⁸. A simple wedding fully follows the sunnah. Talk kindly with your family. Do not start married life in debt just to impress people.

I earn well, but the money is always gone by the end of the month.

Write down everything you spend for two months, and cut the waste. Check where barakah may be leaving: riba, debt, or holding back from charity. Give a little every month, say alhamdulillah, and keep family ties⁷⁹.

Is saving money a lack of trust in Allah?

No. Nabi ﷺ kept a year's food for his family⁸⁰. Just pay zakat on your savings once they reach the nisab (the set minimum) and a year passes.

My wife works. Does her salary have to go into the family budget?

No. Her money is hers, and the husband must pay for the home. Many couples agree to share costs, and that is fine when she is happy with it. Talk openly and agree together.

I have too little to give charity. Does it still matter?

Yes. Charity does not make wealth less⁸¹, and even a bite of food for your own family counts⁸². Give what you can, even a very small amount.