# What Your Spending Habits Say About You | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 5

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Servants of the Most Merciful
**Published:** 2025-12-23
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/uxjnbKLJtis
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/what-your-spending-habits-say-about-you-servants-ep-5
**Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia

## Description
Extravagant or intentional? How you spend your money reveals your character. Are you crossing the line into extravagance, and how do you stay humble when you have more? In this episode of Ibad ar-Rahman, Dr. Omar Suleiman talks about the people who remain humble even when their wealth, a test in...

## Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction to Wealth and Attitudes
- 1:17 Humility and Body Language
- 3:45 Balancing Hope and Fear
- 4:06 Spending Habits of the Faithful
- 7:21 Early Islamic Charity and Ethical Living
- 12:18 Sacrifice and Strength in Faith
- 16:13 Misinterpretations and Correcting Attitudes
- 20:31 Extravagance and Moderation
- 30:23 Impulsive Buying and Discipline
- 32:46 Gratitude and Contentment
- 33:32 The Prophet's Attitude of Gratitude
- 34:23 Defining Extravagance (Raf)
- 34:46 Living Within Your Means
- 36:13 Extravagance in Social Norms
- 40:42 Balancing Generosity and Responsibility
- 42:33 Spending on Family First
- 46:27 The Importance of Intentions
- 54:58 The Rule of Inheritance
- 55:48 The Prophet's Guidance on Charity
- 1:02:50 Pursuing Allah's Pleasure

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Money So tonight we get to everyone's favorite subject and something that's relevant to everybody, which is money.

**[0:18]** We're going to talk about wealth. And this will sting every single person in here, bi idhnillahi ta'ala, as it should. Because remember these ayat are meant to challenge us. And subhanAllah, I was thinking to myself how these ayat land with people in different circumstances.

**[0:36]** Like when Allah Azawajal warns the wealthy, and you can imagine people in Gaza reading the ayat about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala warning those who love their wealth so much that they become enslaved to their wealth. And those who sit in their palaces and those who do this and those who do that.

**[0:53]** It's so different from their actual circumstance. But still I guarantee you through tadabbur and tafakkur, through their introspection and reflection, they're able to take something powerful and meaningful from it. Because Allah is addressing attitudes, not circumstances.

**[1:11]** Attitudes, not circumstances. And so we get to the midpoint of ibadur-Rahman. And just to quickly recap since we're on the fifth halaqa bi idhnillahi ta'ala. We talked about why they're called ibadur-Rahman, the slaves of the Most Merciful.

**[1:26]** Why Allah referred to them specifically as that. They walk the earth lightly, which means body language. The most external suggests the deepest form of humility. The way they walk, the way they talk, how the ulama spoke about the way that humility should be carried in the external sense.

**[1:46]** Then I could have you all recite the ayat. And by the way, simple assignment, memorize these ayat. It'll be so easy as you're going through this exercise with Allah. wa idha khatabahumul jahiluna qaloo salama Now when it's put to the test, when the ignorant and the foolish address them, when people agitate them, they respond with salam.

**[2:07]** So it's not a fake humility. They actually live this humility and when that humility is put to the test, they respond with salam. Then we said, wal-ladheena yabitoona li-rabbihim And we stopped with this. Those that spend their nights at home with their Lord.

**[2:26]** And we talked about the importance of loving your home, al-bayt, yabitoon. The ibadur-Rahman enjoy their moments of loneliness with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Being alone with Allah Azawajal, loneliness in the sense of seclusion, khalwa, with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

**[2:42]** They don't seek to constantly be around others because they want to be with their Lord. So they find comfort in their homes. What do they do in their homes? Sujoodan wa qiyama They're in a state of prostration and they're in a state of qiyam.

**[2:57]** And Allah prioritized or rather started with sujood before qiyam because sajda, prostration, is more fitting to the characteristics of humility that are being mentioned here. Sujoodan wa qiyama And then we came to what are they saying in their sujood and their qiyam?

**[3:14]** Despite all of this, they still fear what? Hellfire wal ladheena yaqooloona rabbana asrif a'anna a'adhaaba jahannam O Allah, keep hellfire away from us. inna a'adhaabaha kana gharama inna ha sa'at mustaqarran wa muqama

**[3:32]** That verily its punishment is gharama. We said gharim is like a debt. It sticks to you. Doesn't leave you. mustaqarran wa muqama It is a miserable stopping place and a miserable abode to dwell in. So they're afraid. And last week we talked about how we balance hope and fear.

**[3:49]** And do you fear hellfire enough? Now, Allah Azawajal brings it to wal ladheena idha anfaqoo lam yusrifoo wa lam yaqturoo wakana bayna thalika qawama And we're going to spend time with every word insha'Allah ta'ala.

**[4:06]** And those who, when they spend their money, they are neither extravagant nor are they stingy, but they keep the balance between those two. Allah Azawajal speaks to the spending habits of ibadur-Rahman.

**[4:24]** The ulama here mention a few fawa'id, a few things of benefit to us. When Allah would use the word zakah, this is Meccan Quran and I want us to situate ourselves in that context. When Allah would say the word zakah, was there an institution in Islam of zakah 2.5%?

**[4:43]** No. This is Mecca. Zakah comes later. But zakah referred to the general application of charity, of sadaqah. So when you hear zakah used in that context, it is synonymous with sadaqah, with charity.

**[5:00]** It referred to the attitude of charity, that you purify your wealth with zakah. Okay. And then the institution of zakah came to be in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah. That's the first thing. The second thing is, you will not find in the Quran that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alludes to qiyamul layl,

**[5:20]** except in rare occasions, that he doesn't then mention sadaqah right after qiyam. yunfiqoona fin nahari yaqoomoona al-layl They spend during the day, they wake up at night.

**[5:35]** Allah Azawajal connects these two things together inherently, almost every single time in the Quran. Prayer at night, spending during the day. Why? Because from an attitude perspective, you give up sleep at night for the sake of Allah,

**[5:52]** you give up wealth during the day for the sake of Allah, the attitude that is being spoken to here is that your appetite for this dunya is decreasing. Your appetite for this world is decreasing. And instead, your appetite for Allah's pleasure and the hereafter,

**[6:10]** what He has promised is increasing. And so at night when other people seek comfort and sleep, you seek Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by pushing yourself to wake up and pray. During the day while other people seek to earn and earn and earn and earn, instead you are turning that into a means of earning Allah Azawajal's pleasure.

**[6:28]** And so as your appetite for Allah's pleasure increases, the things that other people seek in this dunya become means, not goals. So the Muslim tries to earn wealth, but they don't see wealth as a goal.

**[6:43]** They see wealth as a means of earning Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's pleasure, the goal being Jannah, right? So wealth turns into a means. Sleep turns into a means. How? Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiAllahu ta'ala anhu when he said,

**[6:59]** inni la'ahtasibu naumati kama'ahtasibu qawmati I seek the reward for my sleep the same way I seek the reward for my qiyam. Why? Because he sleeps so that he can gain energy, so that he can wake up and do for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

**[7:14]** So the appetite is now for Allah's pleasure. The appetite is not for this dunya. Now let's situate this again in a Meccan context. What is sadaqah to the early Muslims?

**[7:29]** Like when you talk about charity to the early Muslims, what did that even mean? Sadaqah. There was no institution. There was no baytul mal. There was no treasury to house this. There was no percentage or no key distribution point.

**[7:45]** It was very much so and undefined, and like the other laws still somewhat ambiguous or intentionally ambiguous value that was being instilled in the Muslims at this point. And it went hand in hand with ethical living, not cheating.

**[8:01]** So waylun lil mutaffifin, waylun likulli humazatin lumaza alladhi jama'a maalan wa'addada So these early verses in Mecca are ethical, how you act in the marketplace, how you act in your dealings, and how you spend in the general sense.

**[8:17]** So for them, if you're putting yourself in Mecca around the time of the revelation of the surah, let's say five years after the Prophet (ﷺ) receives revelation, ethical living, and the ulama mentioned one very, very key implementation of sadaqah,

**[8:34]** which I don't expect anyone to be able to say, but it was freeing the Muslim slaves. Freeing the Muslim slaves. So the tafsir will mention that the most specific and defined version of charity that existed back then

**[8:50]** was that there was an expectation that those Muslims who had money would go to the masters, the owners of those Muslims who were enslaved and would pay for their freedom. And this was considered of the most noble acts

**[9:06]** and subhanAllah it is at the highest part of the hierarchy of sadaqah till now. Even after sadaqah becomes very defined and you have small categories and large categories. This is still of the highest of the acts of sadaqah is purchasing the freedom of someone who has been enslaved.

**[9:25]** So it's a very specific element of sadaqah that is to them. And subhanAllah, because it's connected to ibadur-Rahman, there's a rahmah that they were expected to feel, a mercy they were expected to feel

**[9:40]** for a people that had otherwise been reduced to goods. Right? Like if you think about without the lens of iman, the slave is no different than a machine. We buy, we sell, we trade them.

**[9:55]** They have purchases, they have prices. We're not thinking about their value as human beings. We don't even really see them as human beings. Now they're your brothers. Now they're your sisters. Right? And there is a rahmah that you now have to feel, a mercy you now have to feel when you see them being dragged through the streets.

**[10:11]** It's not that slavery didn't exist or that this captivity didn't exist before Islam. Right? It's that now you're looking at the person in chains differently. And especially when that person in chains is being oppressed because they're Muslim.

**[10:27]** So a very specific element of sadaqah is being called to at this point. However, how many times does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tell us to give for the sake of Allah in the Quran?

**[10:42]** A lot, right? All right, this is the part now where I'm gonna have you guys start answering me. All right? Does Allah tell us to not give too much as often as he tells us to give for His sake?

**[10:57]** Like if you took all the ayat of sadaqah and you took all the ayat where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cautions against giving too much. Are they the same number? Which one is much more? Give, give. Anfiqu, anfiqu, anfiqu, anfiqu.

**[11:14]** Then you have a few verses not to give too much. Okay? Because which one is more common to the human condition? That you're stingy and you need to give more. But to a certain caliber of people

**[11:31]** they wanna give everything they have. And that's a rare group of people and the proportionality in the verses suggests just as much. And so you're in Mecca now and you're talking to people who don't have an atom's worth of nifaq amongst them.

**[11:48]** No hypocrisy amongst them. Your spectrum is Abu Bakr, Ali, Bilal. Like you're talking about a different caliber of people here. They need to actually be told not everything yet.

**[12:03]** Not everything yet. Because they belong to that rare caliber of people who are ready to give everything for the sake of Allah right away. And maybe that's not the best position right now. Okay?

**[12:18]** So here you have an attitude in Mecca that some people want to sacrifice more than what the situation actually warrants. And the Prophet (ﷺ) is saying

**[12:35]** wait until you're in a position of strength. I wanna go to the Kaaba and say Allahu Akbar! No. Uktum. Keep it to yourself. Go back to your people and call them to Allah Azawajal and wait till I call you back, ya Abu Dharr.

**[12:52]** Don't get yourself hurt. RadiAllahu ta'ala anhum. Not yet. Uktum. Slow down. Wait. When you have SubhanAllah, I forget which Sahabi it was that came to the Prophet (ﷺ) in Mina.

**[13:08]** And this was when they were taking the bay'ah of the Ansar. And one of the companions said to the Prophet (ﷺ) Alright, like people of Mecca are not paying attention now. We can go out and we can take over. We can do this now. And the Prophet (ﷺ) is saying No, not yet.

**[13:23]** Don't. This isn't wise. So the attitude of wanting to sacrifice is appreciated. But hold on. Okay? Either we're not ready or this is not what the situation calls for.

**[13:38]** And Wallahi, this is something it's a very specific sliver of tazkiyah and it'll hit you if you really pay attention to it. Sometimes you want to do a good deed more to satisfy something within you rather than it being actually

**[13:53]** the most beneficial thing for the deen. Sometimes doing something that is boring is actually better for the da'wah. Sometimes you utilizing your talents in something that maybe you don't enjoy as much as something else.

**[14:08]** Like someone comes up to me and says I want to quit my job and I want to go become an imam. Okay. But in your position with your talents with your strengths we don't need you to be an imam.

**[14:23]** I understand it's enjoyable for you to cut the cord and go study for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You should still read Quran. Ilm is still a fardh. It's still mandatory upon you. But no, you need to not forsake the position of strength that you have

**[14:38]** for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You need to hold it because that's where you're more beneficial. And sometimes the Prophet (ﷺ) has to have these very difficult conversations with the companions because when you're from that caliber of people

**[14:53]** As-sabiqoon al-awwaloon, the firsts you're ready to go all out right away. So either we're not ready yet or the situation actually doesn't fit your incredible desire to sacrifice everything.

**[15:08]** Wait, hold on, collect yourself get to a position of strength. Like can you imagine what it means for them to hear Al-mu'minun qawiyy khayrun wa ahabbu ilallah min al-mu'minun da'if wa fee kullin khayr that the strong believer is better than the weak believer. Al-yadu al-ulya khayrun min al-yadu al-sufla

**[15:24]** the upper hand is better than the lower hand. Like get yourself to a position of strength. Abdurrahman ibn Auf (رضي الله عنه) has that mindset. Get yourself in a position of strength. Don't accept this stuff. Get yourself in a position of strength. We need you to be strong. We need you to be in that situation. So these are hard conversations

**[15:40]** that have to be had with a very specific caliber of people. Now subhanAllah, when the hearts deviate, then the hearts can start twisting things. Or when attitudes change because hearts deviating, right? Hearts deviating is a very extreme condition

**[15:56]** that we're speaking to. Attitudes changing can start to look at these same ayat and you start to read them different. So for example, when you're reading the ayah, wa anfiqu fee sabeelillah wa la tulqoo bi-aydeekum ila tahlukah

**[16:13]** Spend in the way of Allah and don't throw yourself into destruction. I'm gonna ask you this question. You're reading this ayah, it's Ramadan, you're doing your khatm. When you hear, spend in the path of Allah and don't throw yourself into destruction, what comes to your mind? Can anybody tell me?

**[16:29]** And be very honest, like when you read this ayah, there's no wrong answer because we're having a conversation about what naturally hits. What do you naturally go to? Can anybody tell me? Raise your hand, don't mumble, I can't. Anybody, it's okay, just guess. You all read the Quran in Ramadan, when you come to this ayah, what happens?

**[16:46]** Yes. Don't spend it towards sins. MashaAllah, beautiful answer. Not necessarily. Anybody else wanna give it a shot? Yeah. Yes, tafadhal.

**[17:03]** MashaAllah. Did you know the tafsir of the ayah though, is that why? That's why. Because you know the tafsir of the ayah. The average person might read this and think that Allah is saying, don't spend everything fee sabeelillah. Don't throw yourself into destruction, like don't spend everything fee sabeelillah.

**[17:21]** Al-Bara' ibn A'azib (رضي الله عنه), and he's a great companion of the Prophet (ﷺ), who was with the Prophet (ﷺ) fee shidda in some of his most difficult times. He said, at-tahluka here, don't throw yourself into destruction, actually is the opposite of what you people are saying. At-tahluka here is holding back when Allah tells you to go forth.

**[17:40]** And then you destroy yourself. So he's saying you're reading it entirely opposite of what Allah Azawajal means by this. That when Allah Azawajal calls you to spend, to sacrifice for His sake, and you hold back, you're actually throwing yourself into destruction.

**[17:56]** Okay? So you can hear an ayah, and the ayah can be recited appropriately, but it's, no, wait, you're not getting exactly what it's saying. So that's why Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضي الله عنه), when he heard the people saying, alaykum anfusakum la yadurrukum man dalla idha htadaytum

**[18:13]** O you who believe, worry about yourselves. You will not be harmed by those who go astray so long as you're guided. He saw people using this ayah as an excuse to not correct, to not enjoin good and forbid evil amongst them. Why? Because, you know, everyone to themselves.

**[18:29]** Everyone to themselves. I don't give nasihah, I don't give da'wah, I don't try to correct. No amr bil ma'ruf, an-nahi al-munkar, no enjoining good and forbidding evil. Alaykum anfusakum, just focus on yourself. la yadurrukum man dalla idha htadaytum You don't need to worry about those who will go astray so long as you're guided.

**[18:46]** And he said, Ayyuha an-nas, O people, I hear you reciting this verse. Wa inni sami'tu Rasulullah (ﷺ) yaqool Inna an-nasa idha ra'oo al-munkara la yughayyiroon aw shakan ya'ammuhum Allahu bi'iqabi I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say, that if people see evil and they don't do anything about it,

**[19:03]** it may be that Allah Azawajal will surround them all with His punishment. You're not reading the verse correctly. You're taking it into a different direction. So, again, it's the caliber of the people that are being spoken to. And some people need to be told,

**[19:21]** don't do it all at one time. That don't actually give all your wealth for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Don't throw yourself into a situation where you now actually compromise your position of strength, which could be beneficial to the deen. Some people need to hear that message,

**[19:37]** and they're a very select group of people. It's like, you know, when I talk about the story of, this will be my last tangent because I need to get back to the ayah. The story of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-As (رضي الله عنه). Whose father, Amr ibn Al-As, came complaining to the Prophet (ﷺ),

**[19:53]** my son prays too much qiyam al-layl. My son, the night he got married, he read the whole Quran. And the two rak'ahs, praying with his wife. My son fasts every single day. Every parent is like, I wish I could complain about my child this way.

**[20:09]** Ya Rasulullah, you know, talk to my son. Why? He prays too much. He fasts too much. He gives too much charity. It's a rare group of people. Most of us, when you come and complain, you come and complain that my son's not praying.

**[20:24]** My son's not doing this. My son's not doing that. So it's the attitude that's being spoken about here as well. So the idea here is that they don't spend extravagantly, nor do they withhold in a way that's harmful.

**[20:41]** They don't spend extravagantly, nor do they withhold in a way that is harmful. The ulama here mention that to the salihin, to the righteous, the first place they think about, when they think about spending and withholding, is actually opposite of other people.

**[20:59]** Allah Azawajal switches it as well. How? The famous story of our mother Aisha (رضي الله عنها), where a beggar came to the house, and he asked for the lamb, the kharoof that they had, and she gave everything away except for the shoulder.

**[21:15]** Why? Because it was the favorite part of the Prophet (ﷺ). So when the Prophet (ﷺ) came home, what does he say? She says to him that a beggar came and I gave everything from the lamb, except for I saved the shoulder. It's an act of love. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said,

**[21:32]** rather you gave away the shoulder and you saved everything else. Spending and withholding become entirely different. Why? Because what you gave stays with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and is repaid. What you held back being the shoulder, even if it was an act of love,

**[21:48]** then you simply consume it in this dunya and it's gone. So Allah Azawajal switches, because your priority switches from akhira to dunya. The hereafter becomes your goal. The dunya becomes secondary. The world becomes secondary.

**[22:04]** Still important, but secondary. So the akhira becomes what colors your lens. And so we go back to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضي الله عنه) once again, early Mecca. And Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) was freeing slaves, because that was the act of sadaqah at the time,

**[22:20]** was freeing slaves. And he freed so many of them. And the most famous one that he freed was our master, who was freed by our master, as they would call him. Our master Bilal, who was freed by our master Abu Bakr. May Allah be pleased with them all. And when Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) went to free Bilal (رضي الله عنه),

**[22:38]** and Umayyah kept raising the price. And Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) gave him everything he asked for, huge amount of money. Umayyah said, law a'taytani dinaran, if you gave me one dinar, I would have given him away, like I don't care about him.

**[22:54]** Giving a parting word of digging at the self-esteem of Bilal (رضي الله عنه), like I didn't care about him, I would have given him to you for a dinar. Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) said, and if you asked me for a hundred, I would have given it to you. He means something to me that he doesn't mean to you clearly.

**[23:12]** Now Abu Quhafa, who's the father of Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه), Abu Quhafa became Muslim later on in Fath Makkah (رضي الله عنه). He said to his son, Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه), he said, ya bunayy, he wasn't hostile to him. He said, look, like people, when they purchase slaves,

**[23:29]** they purchase slaves that offer them a particular benefit, strong and they can perform certain tasks. And you're going around and you're just freeing everybody. You're purchasing, because basically the sadaqah was, purchase them and then free them, purchase them and then free them, purchase them and then free them.

**[23:45]** And Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) responded, and he said, ya abi, inni la arju bi itqihim ma'indallah. Oh my father, I'm seeking by freeing them what is with Allah. I'm not seeking anything worldly, like there isn't a hidden agenda here.

**[24:00]** I'm seeking something from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is the revelation of [Al-Layl 92]. illa b'tiqaa wajhi rabbihil a'la wa lasawfa yarda that the only thing that they're spending for is the pursuit of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's pleasure.

**[24:16]** So an important part here, once again, is that the sahaba were not asked to give up everything. Right, the Ansar, as generous as they were, as beautiful as they were, they weren't asked to give all their wealth. They were asked to give, but not to give everything.

**[24:33]** And that's an important part of the early da'wah of the Prophet (ﷺ). The ulama also mentioned a beautiful connection here to ar-Rahman, ibad ar-Rahman. Remember every quality here connects to ar-Rahman, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahman. So how does ar-Rahman show up in the way that we think about sadaqah?

**[24:51]** No one will enter Jannah by virtue of their deeds. They will enter by the rahmah of Allah, the mercy of Allah. And so this is to correct a mafhum, to correct an understanding that when someone becomes Muslim and they fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so much,

**[25:06]** and they fear their past, and these are people that have done horrible things, some of them, before they became Muslim. They might think the only way I can become forgiven by Allah is if I do everything now in order to be forgiven and to avoid hellfire and to enter into Jannah. Right?

**[25:22]** But because He is ar-Rahman, you don't have to feel like you have to undertake deeds that are impossible. He is the Most Merciful. So don't feel like you have to destroy yourselves in order to get His pleasure. That's not the way ar-Rahman deals with His ibad.

**[25:40]** So here to move on to the next part, the prompt of sadaqah, the prompt of giving charity is far more common because the condition of greed is more common. The prompt of don't give everything is far less common

**[25:56]** because the condition of wanting to sacrifice everything is far less common. Do you all understand that concept? Insha'Allah ta'ala. So with that, we move on. Allah Azawajal says, wa kana bayna thalika qawama that there's somewhere between that. The Prophet (ﷺ) said,

**[26:12]** that is al-hikmah, wisdom. They have wisdom in the way that they spend their money. Now I'm gonna move on to this part insha'Allah ta'ala. Let's define here. This is the part that I said is gonna sting everybody. Israf. What is israf?

**[26:29]** What is being extravagant? What does that actually mean? Because if you don't actually define it, it can become very, very subjective because what's israf to you is not israf to the other person that you know, right? So there has to be some objectivity to this, some boundaries to understanding

**[26:45]** what's considered extravagant. Some people go to the mall, buy everything, but it's not extravagant because I know someone else that buys the whole mall, right? There's someone different from me that spends more than me. Therefore, if I compare myself to that person,

**[27:00]** mashaAllah, I'm a zahid, right? Like I'm a true ascetic. That person, because I know this person spends this, spends this, spends that. So you got someone with this car that's looking at someone with that car and saying, haram israf. But someone else is looking at your car

**[27:17]** and saying that that's israf, right? And then someone is riding a camel and looking at someone having a car and saying, that's all israf. So there has to be some level of boundaries, some sort of definition here that exists. So the first thing that we established as a principle,

**[27:35]** when Allah talks about money, He's not just talking about money. When Allah talks about money, He's not just talking about money. He's talking about what's behind the way that you see money. What's behind the way that you see money.

**[27:51]** Like Allah never really talks about just money by itself. There's always the attitude. Are you doing it so you can be arrogant? Is it a takathur? Is it to have more? Is it that you'll cheat people so that you can gain a little bit more? Allah always accompanies an attitude with money.

**[28:09]** And that's why subhanAllah, Muhammad al-Shaybani rahimahullah ta'ala, one of the two greatest scholars of the madhhab of Imam Hanif rahimahullah, one of the two sheikhs of the Hanafi madhhab. He was someone who used to speak a lot about tazkiyah, spirituality, suluk.

**[28:24]** And he was asked, how come you never wrote a book on tazkiyah? Like you never wrote a book like madarij saliqeen or ihya ulum ad-din, the books that we know of tazkiyah, like spirituality. Why did you never write a book on tazkiyah? And he said, I did write a book on tazkiyah.

**[28:39]** It's called kitab al-buyu', the book of transactions. Because if a person deals with their money right, that's how you know that that person is sincere. Money tells you a lot about who you are. The way you approach your money tells you a lot about who you are on the inside.

**[28:55]** And so let's connect the habits. What does living on a budget mean? It means restricting your shahawat, restricting your desires. Are you capable of restricting your shahawat, restricting your desires or not? So you create budgets for yourself, you create means.

**[29:12]** Not because you can't spend more, but because you want to be disciplined and not be someone who just acts upon shahwa, acts upon desire, right? So remember, these are people of high standards. When Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه)

**[29:27]** saw Jabir ibn Abdullah (رضي الله عنهما), Umar and Jabir, I mean, this is the top of the top of the top. These are the best of the companions. And Umar (رضي الله عنه) saw Jabir (رضي الله عنه) walking home and he had bags of meat, luhum.

**[29:44]** And Umar (رضي الله عنه) said, ma hatha ya Jabir? What is this, oh Jabir? He said, shtaraytu lahma. What's the issue? I bought meat. He said, Jabir awa kullama shtahayta shay'an shtarayta. Every time you want something, you go buy it?

**[29:59]** Calm down, like discipline yourself. I know you can buy meat, alhamdulillah. But some days, why don't you not buy it? Not just because you have the money, but why don't you just hold yourself back so that you don't become a person who just acts whenever they feel like it. I feel like buying this, I don't have to worry about it.

**[30:15]** Buy, buy, buy, buy. Then that means that your shahwa can become uncontrollable. So there's an attitude. The second thing, avoiding impulsive shopping, impulsive shopping, impulsive buying.

**[30:31]** I can already see some of you are getting very uncomfortable. Al-ajalatu minash-shaytan. Hastiness is from the devil. Khuliqa al-insan, ajula, you're too fast. The attitude of being impulsive,

**[30:48]** you want something, you take it. You want something, you buy it. Is not a praiseworthy attitude in the shari'ah. There's haram, and then there is not good. Right, there's an attitude that can lead to haram, it's not necessarily there, like, okay, I'm buying everything halal,

**[31:04]** but still like, check your attitude. Remember, ibadur-Rahman are people who are aiming higher. They're aiming for ihsan, they're aiming for al-firdaws, the highest level of jannah. So if I'm an impulsive buyer, that must mean that I just don't have patience. Al-ajalatu minash-shaytan,

**[31:20]** because I'm impulsive as a whole. Researching before you buy something. Some people don't want to research anything. Don't tell me this is on the boycott list because everything is on the boycott list. Right, why'd you have to ruin it for me? Okay, or is this good for me or is this not good for me?

**[31:37]** Or is there a badil, is there an alternative where I'm not going to spend as much money? MashaAllah, you've got enough money to where you can afford it. But if you can buy it from another marketplace for 20 less riyals, alhamdulillah, do it. Save that 20 riyals and give it in sadaqah, right?

**[31:55]** Okay, what's the attitude here? Allah Azawajal teaches us to avoid doubtful matters, right? Avoid shubuhat, shubuhat, something isn't doubtful. I don't know if it's halal or haram. Okay, I'm going to buy it and I'm going to assume it's halal.

**[32:11]** And I don't want to ask too many questions. It says gelatin on it. Are you going to go see if it's halal or not? Or is it pork gelatin or is it haram? Let me just not ask questions. Inshallah khair. Right? Avoid shubuhat. That's the attitude that's being addressed here. Avoiding triggers of spending.

**[32:33]** Triggers, environments that make you spend too much. Okay, is the same thing. The attitude is avoiding the triggers of sin. And the last one is the most important one, the fifth rule that I'm going to mention here. Practice gratitude with what you already have.

**[32:51]** Practice gratitude with what you already have. wa la'in shakartum la'azeedannakum If you are grateful, I will increase you. The barakah of it, the blessing of it. It doesn't have to be that I feel left out because everybody now has this so I want to have it.

**[33:07]** I don't know the difference, right? Is there really a difference between the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 17? But everybody else has it and it came out boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Gratitude. Alhamdulillah I have. Alhamdulillah I have. So practice gratitude with what you already have and Allah will increase it.

**[33:25]** Otherwise you always feel left out and you always try to buy happiness by buying the next thing. The attitude has to be there. la'in shakartum la'azeedannakum How is the Prophet (ﷺ) like so pleased with what he has?

**[33:41]** Right? Ar-ridha bil-qaleel So pleased (ﷺ) with a loaf of bread. SubhanAllah you serve the Prophet (ﷺ) a loaf of bread. Wallahi you read the shama'il of the Prophet (ﷺ), the description of the Prophet (ﷺ). When a loaf of bread comes in front of him, fresh bread and some vinegar or something to dip the bread in,

**[33:59]** like he was so happy (ﷺ). That was like luxury to him. He's grateful (ﷺ). Anything that's in front of him. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. So the attitude is what is being spoken about. Now that's ihsan.

**[34:15]** We want to aim for ihsan. But what is like the bare minimum here? Like what is israf actually mean though? So I'm going to define israf in terms of categories. Number one, to spend even the smallest amount of money.

**[34:34]** In haram is israf. One riyal, one dollar in haram is israf. Do you all understand? That's category one. Okay. To spend even one dollar, one riyal in haram is israf.

**[34:50]** It counts as israf. It's spending extravagantly. Number two, to live beyond your means even with halal is israf. What does that mean? You can't afford it. Don't buy it.

**[35:06]** You understand like subhanAllah, when people talk about like Islamic finance and riba and is this riba and finding a way to box ourselves out of riba, right? The whole notion of credit cards. I'm not getting into the fiqh of how many credit cards you can have and what's bank islami and what's not bank islami and just talking about the

**[35:24]** concept of you run up your debts and then you take money that you don't actually have to pay it off and you keep drowning in imaginary money. Right? So to spend beyond your means is israf. Right? So we are as believers not supposed to incur a dayn for the sake of it.

**[35:45]** Debt is not a good thing, right? The Prophet (ﷺ) used to seek refuge in Allah from debt. Now, sometimes it comes from necessity. That's different. That's different. You know, there are some situations that happen and because of that you fell in debt. That's different than someone that just keeps spending that they don't have money.

**[36:03]** They don't have and then ends up in debt. That's israf. Even if everything you bought is halal, everything you did is halal, right? Technically, that's israf. So that's number two that the ulama define it as. Number three, to spend money in riya', showing off, is israf.

**[36:24]** And you really have to check yourself in a society of vanity. Why do you want to dress that way? Why do you want to drive that? Why do you want to live in that? Why do you want to do this? Why do you want to do that? So anything that is pursuing the sight of other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is israf.

**[36:40]** Okay, and we have to be very very very careful. And again, break out of societal standards. I'm looking to Allah's pleasure. That doesn't mean I don't want to dress nice. That doesn't mean I don't want to drive a nice car or have what's comfortable, but I really need to constantly check my intentions.

**[36:55]** And if I know I'm doing it so that someone else can say this, that's israf. Right? So one of the worst things we have done as a community is we have corrupted the pure institution of az-zawaj, of an-nikah, and we've turned it into a show.

**[37:14]** Where people go in debt and they start their marriage in debt to put on a wedding for people that aren't going to see them past that night. Why? Why? I don't care if it's halal for you to get that big ballroom and for you to get that decoration and things of that sort. Did you really need to do that?

**[37:31]** Did you really need to do that? Did you really need to start your life off with debt? Why are we putting that pressure on our youth to where they can't get married now? They've got to wait to get married. So now you're incentivizing zina for them. You're incentivizing haram relationships because you're making it impossible for them to get married in halal.

**[37:47]** Because you're setting these standards, these standards of vanity. Break the mold. Break the mold. I don't need all this. Alhamdulillah. I don't need it. Right? How pure are the people of Gaza? Look at their happiness when they have their weddings a hundred people at a

**[38:04]** time. I'm not saying you have to have your weddings a hundred people at a time. Have your special night. But look how happy they are walking in the rubble. A hundred grooms, a hundred brides. Alhamdulillah. So sometimes if you start buying into standards, you actually incentivize

**[38:22]** haram and you make it hard for yourself and you make it hard for your children. We have to break this. We have to get out this mindset. If it comes to the mahr and the wedding versus getting married and potentially making haram more easy.

**[38:37]** I'm going to choose halal every single time because this is for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is for vanity. Careful. Govern yourself. So israf, when it starts becoming and I'll tell you exactly the easy way, the easiest way for you to check yourself.

**[38:54]** You look so uncomfortable right now. Alhamdulillah. That's good. I want to make us all uncomfortable. So many of you look very uncomfortable. And if you fell into this in the past, astaghfirullah. Some of you are like, I already got married 20 years ago. What can I do now? Say astaghfirullah. All right, it's over. Not because you married the person that you married 20 years ago, but because

**[39:11]** maybe you spent a little bit too much on your wedding, right? But no, here's what I want you to think about and I want you to think about it deeply. The easiest way to check yourself in this category of israf is if it comes out of your mouth, what will people say?

**[39:27]** What will people say? What will people say? Who cares what people will say? Who cares what people will say? If a thousand people laughed at you, but Allah Azawajal looked at you and smiled at you, who cares what people will say?

**[39:43]** Because you had something closer to the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ). You had barakah in your mahr, you had barakah in your wedding, you had barakah in these things. Who cares what people will say? They're going to talk about your dress. Who cares? What does that matter? Allah Azawajal will talk about it too, but in a way that's pleasing.

**[39:59]** Alhamdulillah, right? That Allah Azawajal looks and says, look at abdi, look at the slave of mine, setting a good standard. Man sanna fil islami sunnatan hasana. Making it easy for other people, putting a good sunnah. Because now someone else will be able to say, you know what?

**[40:14]** I can let my kids get married that way too. Someone broke the mold of society. Who cares? So when you start saying, so that people don't say or so that people can say, that is a disease of the heart. You've got to purge that out of you like an evil that is fatal.

**[40:33]** You have to purge that out of you. Everyone understand that? Alhamdulillah. I'll move on and I won't keep you uncomfortable here. Okay, back to the ayah. How do we balance between the two? Allah Azawajal says,

**[40:55]** One of the verses where Allah Azawajal uses the balance, again, it's a rare occasion. Don't keep your hand fastened to your neck nor outspread it fully so that you'll be left in a situation where you're being rebuked or you're destitute. Where you're being rebuked or you're being destitute is you gave so much

**[41:12]** that people are asking you now and you don't have anything left to give because you gave it all away. Right? Or your family needs something from you and you didn't give anything to your family. Like that's what this is speaking about. It's very clear, right? You'll be blamed either by Allah or you'll be blamed by the people. So,

**[41:30]** They keep themselves between those two things. All right. So that is the word israf. We define the three categories of israf. To understand the word israf, we'll compare it as well to another word that's used for spending in the Quran. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,

**[41:53]** Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, And spend upon your closest relatives and the poor people and the homeless people.

**[42:09]** And don't spend extravagantly. I'm using the English translation and then because we'll define the difference between the two. Verily, the extravagant are the brothers of the shaytan. And verily the shaytan is to his Lord extremely ungrateful. Kafura, shakura, kafura, right?

**[42:26]** These are the opposite. Very grateful, very ungrateful, right? To his Lord. So let's break down this verse. Number one, Allah Azawajal said, your family. The first people you should spend on are your family. Not with israf, because there can be, you don't want to spoil your children

**[42:44]** to a point that, right? No, you spend on your family generously with karam. Being kareem is a good trait in Islam. Being kareem with your family, being generous with your family is a very good trait in Islam. And you have to think about what you are teaching your kids with your karam, with your generosity towards them, right?

**[43:02]** Uthman (رضي الله عنه) was blamed by some of the people. They said, you spend on your relatives too generously. Uthman (رضي الله عنه) was ghani, very rich. Uthman has a lot of money. And some of the people of fitnah, they accused Uthman (رضي الله عنه). They said, you're stealing from the charity, baytul mal, and giving

**[43:19]** to your family. He said, no, no, everything I spend on my family is from my personal wealth. And they said, but Umar (رضي الله عنه) didn't used to do that. Umar (رضي الله عنه) did the opposite of what you do. He held back from his family. Umar (رضي الله عنه) saw his kid running around the house with a piece

**[43:34]** of batikh, watermelon, right? And he said, Grabbed the watermelon from him and said, how can you be eating this when the people are starving? Right? And what did Uthman (رضي الله عنه) say? He said, I spend on my family and I do it to please Allah.

**[43:52]** And Umar (رضي الله عنه) held back from his family and he did it to please Allah and we're both right. We're both doing the right thing. So there is a place, a time to act in a certain way in these different situations. However, Allah Azawajal prioritized family, that the people you should

**[44:10]** spend on first are your family. Then miskeen refers to a poor person from your locality. In the tafsir of this verse and then ibn sabeel refers to a musafir, a person who's traveling through that requires help. And so I want you to think about what this means, right?

**[44:27]** Allah Azawajal is saying start with those that are closest to you, you spend on them and then you spend on those that are around you in your locality and then you spend on those that are passing through, right? But then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Don't spend extravagantly and He says,

**[44:42]** verily those who spend this way are the brothers of the shaytan. All right. All right. This is a beautiful thing in the Arabic language. I'm going to try to paraphrase. I'm not even going to look at my notes because if I do then I'm going to end up going to the rabbit hole again. Ikhwan ash-shayateen versus abna ash-shayateen.

**[44:59]** There's a deep tafsir actually. In the Arabic language, when you say the brothers of the devil, when you say the sibling of someone in the Arabic language, the mufassirun explain it to say that there is a subtlety, a shibih, a subtlety that's

**[45:16]** not very obvious, but it comes from the same place. So when you say ukhtah, like when Bani Israel said to Maryam (عليها السلام) ya ukhtah Harun, oh sister of Harun. Mufassirun mentioned that they looked at Harun (عليه السلام) as someone

**[45:31]** who fell from grace. And so they're looking at Maryam ya ukhtah Harun, like you fell from grace, not actually the sister of Harun, right? Because some of the antagonists to Islam will say that Muslims got their history all mixed up. But actually Allah Azawajal was speaking to the attitude, ya ukhtah Harun.

**[45:47]** So when you say akhu or ukht in the Arabic language, there's a shibih. Imam Baghawi rahimahullah has a beautiful explanation of this. There's a subtlety, but it comes from the same place. That's number one. Number two, when you say abna, right? When you say the sons of something or the daughters of something, what do

**[46:06]** children do? They extend the legacy of someone. Right? So the children of Fir'awn extend the legacy of Fir'awn on this Earth. Right? They're acting upon his legacy and they're extending his evil legacy on Earth because your children outlive you and they extend something that in

**[46:25]** the very same mold in an obvious way. So it's when you say ikhwan or akhawat, there's a subtlety. It's not as obvious. The connection is not as obvious. Like you're not a shaytan because you spent extra on your wedding. You understand? I'm like alhamdulillah, I'm not a shaytan, right?

**[46:42]** But there's an attitude that's shaytani about spending too much. There's an attitude that's satanic about spending too much. Okay, whereas if you are the son of someone or the daughter of someone, you're doing exactly what they did and you're extending their evil legacy on Earth or their good legacy on Earth.

**[46:59]** Right? So that's just to make that part clear. So why would you be the brothers of the shaytan? Right? This is where we come to the difference between israf and tabdhir. Israf is extravagance and it can include the domain of the halal and

**[47:16]** the domain of the haram. So you can pursue israf, like you could be extravagant even with halal things. Tabdhir is only in haram. Tabdhir is only in haram. And it's precisely the attitude of using a ni'mah that Allah subhanahu

**[47:34]** wa ta'ala gave you to disobey Allah Azawajal with it, the same way shaytan did. I'm going to say that again very slowly. To use a ni'mah that Allah gave you, a blessing that Allah gave you to disobey Allah with that same blessing. Is tabdhir. And that's exactly what shaytan did.

**[47:50]** Allah gave him a position and he used that position to disobey his Lord. So if Allah Azawajal put you in a place, gave you this wealth, gave you this health, gave you whatever it is, and then you use that to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that's when you become ikhwan ash-shayateen.

**[48:09]** May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from being those people. Allahumma ameen. Okay. So let's go back to the ayah now and how we break this down inshallah in conclusion. Okay, how the ulama mention these things. The first recipients of your rahmah have to be your family.

**[48:26]** Attitude. Ibadur-Rahman. Allahumma ja'alna minhum. May Allah make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. The first recipients of your mercy have to be your family and that has a wealth component and that has another component as well. But your family should feel it first because if you're merciful with the foolish, these are the same people. Idha khatabahumul jahiluna qaloo salama. They say salam to the most foolish of people.

**[48:47]** But then you're cruel to your family, then that's a sign of nifaq. That's a tell sign of hypocrisy. That you're showing that you're taking the higher road when other people are around is not because you're actually taking the higher road, it's because you want to reap the benefits of being known as someone who took the higher road.

**[49:03]** Okay. So rahmah starts with the family and that means first and foremost spending as well. The Prophet (ﷺ) says in the authentic hadith from Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) qal. Dinar anfaqtahu fee sabeelillah. Wadinar anfaqtahu fee raqaba.

**[49:20]** Wadinar tasaddaqtabihi ala miskeen. Wadinar anfaqtahu ala ahlik. Prophet (ﷺ) said a dinar that you spent in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, meaning in battle. A dinar that you spent in raqaba, meaning freeing the slave, which again shows you the hierarchy, right?

**[49:38]** Wadinar tasaddaqtabihi ala miskeen. And then a dinar that you spent on a needy person. And then dinar anfaqtahu ala ahlik. A dinar that you spent on your family. Qala (ﷺ) a'adhamuha ajran alladhi anfaqtahu ala ahlik.

**[49:57]** The one that has the greatest reward is the one that you spent on your family. This is the default. Are there exceptions? Of course. Like buying my child this thing that they want that's halal and within bounds is not going to be more beloved in some situations than sadaqah, especially to someone that's in dire need.

**[50:17]** The Prophet (ﷺ) is setting the default hierarchy that you start with your family. And by the way, that's why this is such a technicality but it's a beautiful one. And it just puts you in the reality that these people have. The Prophet (ﷺ) said a son can never repay his father except in one situation.

**[50:37]** Can anybody tell me what that situation is? Anybody? How can you repay your mother? Never. Can you repay your father? One situation the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned. And that's just like the bare baseline of being a son and a father.

**[50:55]** The hierarchy of son and father. It's a hadith in Bukhari. He said (ﷺ), unless you found your father as a slave and you freed him from slavery. SubhanAllah. Like your mother brought you into existence period, you'll never be able to pay her.

**[51:10]** Wala bi talqatin wahida. Not even with one shot in labor. Your father, you have one situation where just the bare... By the way, that doesn't include all the other karam of a father, the generosity and the goodness of a father. But one situation where you found your father as a slave and you purchased his freedom. You freed him from slavery.

**[51:26]** And there are deep connotations to that. Why do I give this example? Because if your family member has the situations that are mentioned here, your family member is poor, your family member is oppressed, your family member is in debt, then they become the best person to get out of debt,

**[51:46]** to get out of oppression, to get out of poverty. So much so that zakah, zakah can be given from a wife to her husband. Not from a husband to his wife. Because a husband is responsible for spending on his wife anyway. But a wife can give her zakah even to her husband.

**[52:02]** Right? Voluntarily. From her charity. Because who's more deserving than that person that is closest to you? And this is now where, SubhanAllah, you find the beautiful messaging of the Prophet (ﷺ) to his companions.

**[52:17]** Alhamdulillah ala ni'mat al-Islam. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (رضي الله عنه), he said, I got sick during Fath Makkah. This hadith, SubhanAllah, I remember I read this hadith for the first time after studying the seerah of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas.

**[52:34]** And I said, SubhanAllah, it blew my mind. This is the difference between studying fiqh and studying seerah. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas said, I got sick in Fath Makkah. And he thought he was going to die. And the Prophet (ﷺ) came to visit his tent in Makkah.

**[52:50]** Are you all following the story? Why is this hadith so amazing right off the bat? Because Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas lived decades after this incident and became the commander of the Muslim army that opened Persia.

**[53:07]** RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu. But he thought he was going to die. The Prophet (ﷺ) came to visit him. And Sa'd (رضي الله عنه) is asking the Prophet (ﷺ) advice for his wasiyyah. Rasulullah (ﷺ) who's visiting him is going to die in a few months.

**[53:22]** Right? Or not long after Fath Makkah. Not in a few months but after Hajjatul Wada' by a few months. Right? So the Prophet (ﷺ) is going to die way before Sa'd (رضي الله عنه). But it seems like Sa'd (رضي الله عنه) is about to die and the Prophet (ﷺ) is visiting him. And Sa'd (رضي الله عنه),

**[53:37]** he says, Ya Rasulullah, I have a lot of money. But I only have one inheritor being my daughter. So what should I do with all of my money? Another fa'idah of this hadith

**[53:53]** is that the narrator of the hadith is the son of Sa'd who wasn't born when this conversation is happening. Amir ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas who's narrating an abihi from his father. So at that time, Sa'd (رضي الله عنه) is saying, Ya Rasulullah (ﷺ) I only have one daughter and I have a lot of money.

**[54:10]** So what do I do with my wealth? He said to the Prophet (ﷺ) Can I give all of my wealth away? My daughter is going to get married. She'll be fine. She'll be taken care of. Should I give all of my wealth?

**[54:25]** Prophet (ﷺ) said no. He said, Ya Rasulullah Can I give two-thirds of my wealth? No. Ya Rasulullah, can I give half of my wealth? No. Ya Rasulullah, can I give one-third of my wealth?

**[54:41]** Qala (ﷺ) Ath-thuluthu kathir One-third is the maximum that you can give of your inheritance in charity and even that is a lot. So he maxed it out, (ﷺ) for Sa'd (رضي الله عنه)

**[54:57]** and then he died, (ﷺ) and Sa'd (رضي الله عنه) had more kids and sons and this became a rule for the Ummah to apply. Ath-thuluthu kathir That you can give one-third of your inheritance in charity but even that is a lot.

**[55:12]** And he said to Sa'd (رضي الله عنه) Ya Sa'd, it is better that you leave your inheritors without having to beg than to leave them waiting for a morsel of food. That's more beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that your daughter doesn't find herself in a situation where she has to beg

**[55:28]** than you giving it all fee sabeelillah. The Prophet (ﷺ) is the one telling Sa'd (رضي الله عنه) just hold some of it. Think about that. It's actually incredibly beautiful. Now here's the end of the story.

**[55:44]** Here's the end of this lecture inshallah ta'ala because I want to leave you with a concept. The Prophet (ﷺ) would not let the sahaba give all of their wealth for the sake of Allah. As a rule, the default he won't let them give all of their wealth

**[56:00]** for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Abu Talha (رضي الله عنه) when he heard the verse laysa al-birra la ilaha illallah lan tanalu al-birra hatta tunfiqu mimma tuhibbon [Ali 'Imran 3:92] You will not achieve al-birr

**[56:17]** or the reward of righteousness being jannah hatta tunfiqu mimma tuhibbon until you spend of what you love. Abu Talha (رضي الله عنه) said Ya Rasulullah, I thought of what I love it's this beautiful garden that's right in front of the masjid of the Prophet (ﷺ)

**[56:33]** and the Prophet (ﷺ) used to walk into that garden and he used to drink from its wells and he used to bask in its shade All of it is fee sabeelillah because when I heard the verse hatta tunfiqu mimma tuhibbon I thought about what I love most

**[56:49]** and I want to give it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Prophet (ﷺ) said ara anta ja'alaha fil aqrabeen leave some of it leave it instead for your relatives give but give for your relatives as well don't just give all of your wealth for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

**[57:05]** that's the rule you all heard the story of his tawbah the tawbah of Ka'b ibn Malik who thought he was going to be destroyed and when the Prophet (ﷺ) received the revelation that he has been forgiven

**[57:21]** Ka'b ibn Malik received the news he comes running to the Prophet (ﷺ) and Ka'b had a lot of money he was so happy that the basheer the one who came to give him the glad tidings that Allah had forgiven him the basheer, Ka'b took off his shirt

**[57:37]** and gave it to him and he wanted to give all of his money for the sake of Allah so he came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he said to the Prophet (ﷺ) when the Prophet (ﷺ) said abshriya Ka'b bi khayri yawm glad tidings oh Ka'b for the best day of your life since your mother gave birth to you

**[57:53]** Ka'b (رضي الله عنه) said everything I own is for the sake of Allah Prophet (ﷺ) said no you can keep it don't do that don't give it all for the sake of Allah so the rule is you can't give everything for the sake of Allah right? Ok but then there's a narration

**[58:09]** the narration is one that many of you have heard Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) said the Prophet (ﷺ) was soliciting funds for one of the expeditions and Umar (رضي الله عنه) said every time I tried to beat Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) in something I lost so I said to myself

**[58:25]** today I'm going to beat Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) so I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and I brought half of my wealth I want you to imagine right now going to your bank account half of it fee sabeelillah half of everything I own fee sabeelillah Umar (رضي الله عنه) came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and gave half of what he owns

**[58:42]** for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Prophet (ﷺ) says what did you leave for your family? he said this is half of my wealth and for the rest Allah and His messenger (ﷺ) Ahsan to you Umar good job amazing

**[58:58]** Umar (رضي الله عنه) walks away feeling good about himself then Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) comes Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) gives more Rasulullah (ﷺ) says what did you leave for your family?

**[59:14]** Allah and His messenger this is everything I own Ya Rasulullah Umar (رضي الله عنه) says I can't beat this guy every single time I try to do something good Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) beats me in it

**[59:30]** I can't beat him in khair subhanallah he always wins the race to good ok but doesn't the Prophet (ﷺ) not allow people to give everything that they have this is where the ulama mention that the Prophet (ﷺ) understood the level of his companions

**[59:46]** the iman of his companions Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) was of a different level the Prophet (ﷺ) knows that level and Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) is a man who is Siddiq, truthful he is blessed he will come and give everything for the sake of Allah

**[1:00:02]** then he will go work in the marketplace and he will go home and he will earn enough to spend once again for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because he is of a spiritual maturity and of a rank that other people are not to that level and it's ok the rule doesn't change

**[1:00:18]** but the rank is noted that Abu Bakr is different so when you hear of a sahabi for example every day of the year except for the two Eids and the Prophet (ﷺ) told Abdullah ibn Amr that stop at the siyam of Dawood (عليه السلام)

**[1:00:34]** just fast every other day, don't fast every day Prophet (ﷺ) knows who he is talking to and he knows the level of certain people that they can push themselves beyond what is normal what's the rule for everybody else so he allows that (ﷺ) right?

**[1:00:50]** so it's not like Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) is going to give everything for the sake of Allah then go home and say what did I do right? no he's of a rank likewise and I give you this last story inshallah ta'ala you all heard the story of Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها)

**[1:01:07]** and Ammar ibn Yasir (رضي الله عنهم) the family of Yasir Yasir, Sumayyah, Ammar Yasir and Sumayyah may Allah be pleased with them the first martyrs of Islam Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) being the first

**[1:01:23]** the first shaheed of Islam is this woman Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) she is the first shaheed and shaheedah the first martyr in the history of Islam is Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) she refused to curse the Prophet (ﷺ) Abu Jahl is standing on top of her

**[1:01:39]** mocking her with an idol hitting her in the face with an idol making all sorts of derogatory comments she spits she chooses death over saying something bad about the Prophet (ﷺ) and we praise that

**[1:01:55]** about her (رضي الله عنها) Ammar ibn Yasir (رضي الله عنهم) Ammar (رضي الله عنهم) it got to him and he said something from his tongue about the Prophet (ﷺ) that he didn't mean from his heart and he felt guilty

**[1:02:11]** and what did the Prophet (ﷺ) say to him if they do it to you again then do it again because if you take that hadith in isolation you'd say Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) then she was mistaken by insisting, no she wasn't mistaken

**[1:02:27]** Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) took the path of azeemah, of determination Ammar (رضي الله عنه) took the path of rukhsah of a concession, and they're both right but Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) certainly her reward is unmatched the first martyr in Islam think of all the shuhada' that you see

**[1:02:43]** every single day the very first person is this woman Sumayyah (رضي الله عنها) so what should we be pushing ourselves to as Muslims a person who pursues Allah, pursues azeemah they pursue determination

**[1:02:59]** they push themselves because they want Allah's pleasure that back, so they expand, expand expand, expand a person who's always looking for an excuse will do tiba' ar-rukhas, follow

**[1:03:16]** the concessions take this concession, this shaykh said this is halal this shaykh said this is halal this shaykh said this is halal I don't follow a single shaykh and what he says halal and haram but I found this website says this is halal chatgpt said out of the four opinions

**[1:03:32]** it's a problem that you're asking chatgpt for a fatwa in the first place right, but of the four opinions one shaykh, this shaykh said halal and you just follow easy, easy, easy, easy halal, that's a disease of the heart something is wrong there because you're treating Allah Azawajal with the lowest of standards but you're asking Him

**[1:03:48]** for the highest of Jannah something is wrong with this discrepancy if you're asking Allah for al-firdaws act like it, act like it act like a person who pushes themselves to the point that the shari'ah holds you and says don't go further than this, it's ok

**[1:04:04]** Allah Azawajal is ar-Rahman and He's pleased with it don't be a person who tries to skewer the shari'ah and try to find the loopholes in your business, in your consumption, in your spending may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us people of ihsan and taqwa with our wealth

**[1:04:20]** with our health, with every ni'mah that He's given to us and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to pursue Him with everything that He's given to us and may He make us amongst ibadur-Rahman, Allahumma ameen

## Other Episodes in "Servants of the Most Merciful"
- [Du’a for Marriage and Children | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 10](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/servants-of-the-most-merciful-episode-10-dua-for-marriage-and-children.md)
- [How To Really Revere the Qur’an | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 9](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/how-to-really-revere-the-quran-servants-of-the-most-merciful-episode-9.md)
- [Silence In The Face of Sin | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 8](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/servants-of-the-most-merciful-ep-8-silence-in-the-face-of-sin.md)
- [How To Wipe Out Your Sins | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 7](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/how-to-wipe-out-your-sins-servants-of-the-most-merciful-episode-7.md)
- [Understanding Major Sins in Islam | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 6](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/understanding-major-sins-in-islam-servants-of-the-most-merciful-ep-6.md)
- [How Believers Protect Themselves from Pride | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 4](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/how-believers-protect-themselves-from-pride-servants-of-the-most-merciful-ep-4.md)
- [Those Who Bow When the World Sleeps | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 3](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/those-who-bow-when-the-world-sleeps-servants-of-the-most-merciful-ep-3.md)
- [Training Your Temper and Responding to Insults | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 2](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/training-your-temper-and-responding-to-insults-servants-of-the-most-merciful-ep-2.md)
- [Those Who Walk on the Earth Humbly | Servants of the Most Merciful Ep. 1](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/servants-of-the-most-merciful/those-who-walk-on-the-earth-humbly-servants-of-the-most-merciful-ep-1.md)