Muslim and Money

In the darkness of night, from a very far distance, they heard a voice of a young man screaming. He was imploring and demanding help. His weak and scrawny camel had remained behind the caravan and lagged entirely. He finally, exhausted, stretched out and slept. He did what he could for moving his camel, but it was in vain. Helplessly standing beside the camel, he was yelling for help. Meanwhile, the Holy Prophet, who usually moved behind – in the end of the caravan so that a weak and helpless person who parted from the caravan, would not remain alone or helpless – heard the yelling voice of the young man. As the Prophet approached him, he asked: “Who are you?”

“I am Jabir.”

“Why were you kept waiting and wondering?” 

The family of Imam Ja-far al-Sadiq, a great grandson of Prophet Muhammad, increased in number. And so did the cost of living. The Imam decided to do trading to increase his income through investing capital so as to meet his family expenses. He arranged an amount of one thousand Dinars and told his servant Musaddif to take that amount of one thousand Dinars and get ready for a trade journey to Egypt.

Musaddif, with that money went and purchased a type of goods usually exported to Egypt. He went and joined with a caravan of traders who were taking the same type of merchandise to Egypt and left for Egypt. 

The summer heat had become intensified. The sun rays beat down Madinah”s city, garden and farms around it. In such a critical weather condition, a man named Muhammad ibn Munkadar – identified himself as one of the ascetics, pious and anchorites – arrived in Madinah. His eyes cast over a corpulent man who had obviously come out to visit and inspect his farms at that time. Because of his fatness and tiredness, he was treading by his side with the help of a few persons, certainly his friends and relatives.

He thought: “Who is this man in this hot weather of the day leading a busy worldly life?” He came nearer to this person. To his surprise, he was Imam Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn (Imam al-Baqir)! 

As usual, the Prophet was sitting in his place in between his Companions. They formed a circle around him and it seemed to be as if the Prophet was a bezel of a ring in between them.

Suddenly one of the Muslims, a poor man dressed in rags, came in through the door. According to the Islamic tradition, regardless of his status, anyone who enters in an assembly should sit wherever he finds an empty place, not considering whether the particular place is suitable for his social status. Therefore, that man looked around, found a vacant place, went, and sat there.

Incidentally he settled down next to a rich and wealthy man. The rich man gathered the edges of his dress and shifted on to another side away from him.

The Holy Prophet was watching and observing the behavior of the wealthy person.

He turned towards him and said: “Are afraid that something of his poverty would transfer to you?”

“No, O Messenger of Allah!”

“Did you fear that some of your wealth might adhere to him?”

“No, O Messenger of Allah!”

“Perhaps…”

“No, O Messenger of Allah!”

“Then why did you draw yourself aside and shift away from him?”

“I confess that I committed an error and made a mistake. At present, in order to compensate my error and to expiate the sin, I am ready to grant half of my wealth to this Muslim brother towards whom I have shown disrespect.”

The man in rags replied: “But I am not ready to accept this offer.”

The Companions asked: “Why?”

The man said: “I fear that I may become arrogant and ill-treat one of my Muslim brothers in the same way that this man did towards me today.”

Source: Murtada Mutahhari, THE NARRATIVES OF THE VERACIOUS, Story 17.

Financial Lesson of the Story:

1. Preservation of one’s self-esteem and personal integrity.

****