The best financial advice....is the advice of Nabi ﷺ
Nabi ﷺ has said to this effect that: "The time is coming soon when the best wealth of a Muslim will be cattle/sheep/goats, that he takes into the mountains and the places where it rains, he will flee with his deen from the tribulations" (Bukhari)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
All praise is due to Allah ﷻ who completed His favor upon us and sent down to us the Qur'aan in which there is guidance for every aspect of our life. All praise is due to Allah ﷻ who sent to us the Final Nabi ﷺ, who came as a mercy for all the worlds, who was concerned about our welfare in dunya and aakhirat, who taught us the Qur'aan and the shariat and how to live our lives.
Allah ﷻ says in the Qur'an regarding the disbelievers and particularly those that regard themselves as financial experts and tycoons in the business world, who think they know how to make money, and the best way to invest it, and because of this regard themselves as higher than others, and therefore were not interested in listening to the warnings and advice of Nabi ﷺ:
يَعْلَمُونَ ظَٰهِرًا مِّنَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ هُمْ غَٰفِلُونَ
They know (a little) about the apparent things of the life of this world, but as for the matters of aakhirat, they are the ones who are completely heedless and unaware. (Surah Room: 7)
In the books of tafseer, this verse is explained, that these are such people who do not know the real inner workings of the system that Allah ﷻ has placed, and the after effect of mans actions. Instead they only look at the worldly means, money, resources, numbers etc. Their focus is on these means only and not the Creator of the means, Allah ﷻ Himself who is not dependant on the means and can bring whatever He wants into existence with means, without the means and even against the means. Some mufassireen say this is the case with the majority of mankind as only few are those who look towards Allah ﷻ and rely on Him instead of looking at the means and following the means.
The people referred to in this ayat were the same ones who used to say about Nabi ﷺ that why has he not come with wealth and other worldly bounties, in which case they would follow him.
In direct apposition to the nature of these disbelievers and hypocrites, were those who had firm Imaan in the unseen, they were not those who were waiting for the means and resources to be present, instead they recognised the truth of Nabi ﷺ's message and put their trust in Allah ﷻ knowing that the Creator of the means would bring them into existence when they were required.
These were people like the sahabi who bought a horse from another sahabi, and kept on pushing the price UP instead of down, until he reached the price that he felt was the right value for the horse, which he then paid to the seller. An observer astonished at the sight asked the reason, and he replied that he pledged to Nabi ﷺ that he would be a well wisher for all muslims, and this seller did not realise the true value of what he was selling so he pushed the price up until it was a fair price for the horse. For most of us today buying a car perhaps, we would call it a bargain to get it below its value, but this sahabi knew that there would be no barakah in such a deal. These were people who looked towards Allah ﷻ and trusted in Him.
These were also the muhajireen who migrated to Madeena and sacrificed and left behind their wealth and homes in makkah for the sake of preserving deen, not looking at what there is for them in Madeena and whether things are all set up and ready first, but rather trusting in the Creator of the means. This was also the example of the ashaab kahf, who decided to leave the city where their Imaan was at stake and retreat into the mountains, where there was no guarantee of resources, but they trusted in Allah ﷻ and according to the Qur'aan:
إِذْ أَوَى ٱلْفِتْيَةُ إِلَى ٱلْكَهْفِ فَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا
When they retreated to the cave they said: "O our Rabb, grant us from yourself a special mercy (so that we be saved from the fitnah in the city) and prepare for us in our affairs in the best of ways"
And between these two groups you also had other Muslims, perhaps being new in Islam their Imaan had not yet reached that level, and for this reason were sometimes swayed in one direction and sometimes the other, they were startled and frightened by a little tribulation and lack of means and they moved forward and got happy when they saw means and resources are present, but as time went on they learnt to trust in Allah ﷻ and not be swayed or influenced by the presence or absence of resources or the doubts created by the munafiqeen.
Even today these three groups exist,
There are those 'financial advisors', 'investment gurus' and 'tycoons' who are revered in the world of investment, business and finance and who offer apparently good sounding advice to people on how to grow their wealth and attain financial success, even if it is getting involved in haraam, doubtful and interest laced transactions. They are opposed to the clean methods of doing trade and investing according to the sunnah, with the claim that they hold too much risk etc, as they are always looking to eliminate and minimise risk, as they do not have reliance on Allah ﷻ. For this reason they also promote insurance to eliminate risk, which is a concept foreign to Islam and devoid of the trusting in Allah ﷻ that is part and parcel of Imaan.
They create negativity about the Islamic methods of investing and doing business even if it is established by the ahadeeth, and with these words turn people away from good works of deen, but they will be unable to stop whatever Allah ﷻ has already decreed and in the end they are the real losers as they have only thought about investing for dunyaa, and they have left their aakhirat barren and empty.
The middle group, which are the non-muslims and the majority of muslims today unfortunately, take the advice of these gurus as the final word and live their life accordingly. They are involved in interest based home and car loans from an early age, they take out haraam insurance policies and put their money where these enemies of Islam and munafiqeen tell them, and then still brag about what great investments they have made. They look for the means and resources to be present first instead of looking to Allah ﷻ because they have been trained to chase high returns and no risk, instead of barakah and the wealth of aakhirah by attaining the pleasure of Allah ﷻ
Then there are those special people who believe in the words of Nabi ﷺ without any doubt, they live their life, earn their wealth, spend it and invest it according to the words of Nabi ﷺ and put their trust in Allah ﷻ, staying away from the enticement of greater returns present in haraam and doubtful investment structures, and always looking instead to earn "barakah", the blessings of Allah ﷻ in their wealth, in spite of having less, instead of "kathara", which is only an apparent numerical increase.
These people have learnt from the Quraan and hadeeth via the Ulamaa, the way things really work in the world, and then they take action accordingly, even if apparently it seems that there is no benefit in doing so, and in fact it may even look like they will lose financially.
Their investing ethos and method of growing wealth is not based on the financial gurus and tycoons, but rather on the advice of the ulamaa.
They establish salaah and perform it with its due rights and concentration for the sake of Allah ﷻ, as salaah brings in ones life barakah and ease in acquiring rizq and neglect of salaah leads to difficulties in rizq
لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ
If you are grateful I will definitely increase for you,
but if you are ungrateful, most definitely my punishment is severe
They make istighfaar abundantly as doing so is a sure means to attract ones rizq and remove difficulties according to the Quran and hadeeth
They are the ones who spend repeatedly in sadaqa, for the sake of Allah ﷻ knowing that sadaqa does not decrease one's wealth, and in fact increases it.
They are the ones who maintain family ties, making sure to visit family even if they are travelling for business or work, believing with conviction that maintaining family ties gives increase in one's wealth and time, because this is what Nabi ﷺ has said according to the hadeeth.
They plan to go for hajj even without having the means and then when they get it they spend it all on the trip, trusting in Allah ﷻ and the words of Nabi ﷺ that:
'Perform Hajj and 'Umrah consecutively; for they remove poverty and sin as the bellows removes impurity from iron.' (Sunan Nasai)
They keep sheep and goats as it is a source of barakah according to many ahadeeth such as this one:
Sayyidatuna Ummu Hani (radiyallahu’anha) reports that Rasulullah (sallallahu’alayhi wasallam) told her:
‘Keep sheep/goats, for there is certainly barakah (blessings) in them.’
(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith: 2304)
They also engage in farming as they have learnt that there are many ayaat and hadeeth that encourage farming such as:
Sayyiduna Anas (radiyallahu’anhu) reports that Rasulullah (sallallahu’alayhi wasallam) said:
Any Muslim who plants a tree or vegetation will be rewarded for every bird, human or animal that eats from that plantation
(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 2320 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 3945-3951)
One narration in Sahih Muslim states that he will be rewarded even after his death, for all who eat from his plantation till the day of Judgement.
They don't rely only on the fiat currency, constantly being deceived into trying to grow their bank balances in those currencies, but they keep other real assets as they have learnt from the ulamaa what really holds value
The best financial advice for the times to come:
In the same way, Nabi ﷺ has also given us advice about what we need to do, and what will be beneficial wealth in the end times, which again will be learnt from the ulamaa, not the financial gurus, when He ﷺ said:
ليأتين على الناس زمان لا ينفع فيه إلا الدينار و الدرهم
A period will definitely come upon mankind when nothing will provide benefit (hold value) except the dinar (gold coin) and the dirham (silver coin) - Musnad Shaamiyin, Hadeeth 17664, Darul Kutub Al Ilmiyyah
And further it is apparent that a time will come when even the gold and silver will have less benefit as compared to fertile farming land, secure in the mountains where one can keep sheep and grow food, as is evidenced from this hadeeth:
عن أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه، أنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "يوشك أن يكون خير مال المسلم غنم يتبع بها شعف الجبال ومواقع القطر، يفر بدينه من الفتن"
It is narrated from Abu Saeed Khudri (RA) that he said, Nabi ﷺ said: Soon a time is coming when the best wealth of a Muslim will be cattle/sheep/goats that he takes into the heights of the mountains and the valleys where it rains, fleeing with his deen from the tribulations
Don't expect the financial advisors, investment gurus and tycoons to tell you to flee to the mountains with your sheep. Only the ulamaa will tell you this, based on the words of Allah's ﷻ Habeeb and most beloved Rasool ﷺ who has real concern for your dunyaa and aakhirat.
That same Nabi ﷺ who will be crying ummati, ummati on the day of Qiyamah, so that each person of Imaan can be saved from Jahannam has also said that:
ليفرن الناس من الدجال حتى يلحقوا بالجبال
The people (remaining muslims) will most definitely and undoubtedly flee from Dajjaal (and his fitnah) until eventually they settle in the mountains
The fact that this will occur is therefore definite and without doubt and these are the exact ahadeeth that inspired and guided us to begin the process of setting up a place of physical and spiritual safety for Muslims, who are of the type that look at Allah ﷻ first, and the resources second.
When the muslims first made hijrat to Madeena, it was not the Madeena as it later became, and very far from how it is today. Madeena was known first as yathrib, but Nabi ﷺ changed its name as this name was not a good name for his ﷺ city. There was a water shortage which I wrote about in the previous post and there was a sickness, for which Nabi ﷺ made duaa that it be moved to Juhfa.
Nabi ﷺ and the Muhajireen would yearn for Makkah, so Nabi ﷺ also made duaa for barakah in this city and that it becomes beloved to them just as Makkah was or even more. Nabi ﷺ settled in this city, the Masjid began first and the a'maal of the Masjid and over time Madeena became Madeena, and what it is today.
Alhamdulillah only with the acceptance and assistance of Allah ﷻ has the Jibalus Salaam project gone forward to the stage where we have now have more than 60 families who have committed to becoming residents and as a result the majority of the plots are reserved, we have put up the first Masjid structure in the main Masjid and Madrasah complex Alhamdulillah, and currently busy with the water infrastructure that will be ready within a few weeks ان شاء الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ, the hifz madrasah is slated to begin in Muharram ان شاء الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ and residents are now also preparing to start building.
Alhamdulillah we have now also identified a few natural springs in addition to the borehole from where we are going to draw the fresh drinking water from ان شاء الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ. We have also started works on the recreational activities and income generating activities for residents Alhamdulillah
We have also developed a protocol and support structure to get residents to safety should a sudden emergency situation occur in the country.
Alhamdulillah all of this is happening and falling into place in this zamaana as per the taqdeer of Allah ﷻ in its perfect measure and at it's perfect and most appropriate time as per the verse of Quraan:
إِنَّا كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَاهُ بِقَدَرٍ
Verily we have created everything according to our predetermination
The hadeeth of Nabi ﷺ also says:
كلُّ شيءٍ بقدَرٍ, حتَّى العجْزُ والكيْسُ
Everything occurs according to predetermination, even to the extent of inability/delay and ability/swiftness in doing actions
The words of Nabi ﷺ will always be true and nobody can stop them from becoming a reality, perhaps that is why the hadeeth of going to the mountains is mentioned with extreme emphasis, as if to say that there will always be naysayers but most definitely it will happen, and Alhamdulillah with the great fadhl and bounty of Allah ﷻ it is.
Conclusion:
Don't fall into the financial trap of following the investment advice of those who don't have complete yaqeen in aakhirat and the words of Nabi ﷺ. The best advice you can follow in planning for your future in dunyaa and aakhirat is in adhering to the Quran and the advice of Nabi ﷺ.
May Allah ﷻ grant all the hidaya and taufeeq to prepare prudently for the times ahead so that we can be safe from the physical and spiritual fitan that can detrimentally affect our future and the future of our progeny in dunyaa and aakhirat. Aameen.
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