Wealth Between Allah's Abundant Gift and Our Hoarding: In Our Hands or in Our Hearts?

Occasion: a khatira delivered at Bayt Al-Karim on May 11, 2026.Source: a transcript of a recorded khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif, watch the original video on YouTube

Today, God willing, we have a short talk about what we studied a few days ago: what is the difference between two words that look alike, and yet are worlds apart?^[1]

The first word describes something that comes from Allah, glory be to Him, from His side. The second is our own effort: we try to increase the amount of what we already have, to make it bigger and more. What comes from Allah is already abundant, even when it shows itself in a single thing. When I raise my hand right now, it is one action, but think how many muscles and how many movements take place in the raising of that hand. That abundance does not come from me; the power comes from Allah, exalted is He.

The numbers game

Allah speaks of what comes from His side, and then we, as much as we can, try to multiply what we already use through our days and nights. But for most people the main goal becomes the numbers. And Allah, glory be to Him, describes in the Quran a state of mind: a few words that together show someone parading himself before others, saying "Who are you? We are here, and we have." Each side sets itself against the other; it is a competition between two camps.^[2]

Allah, glory be to Him, is saying to them: What are you doing? What are you looking for? What are you counting on, your existence, your blessings, what you hold? The piling up of wealth in your hands has distracted you from the one way we must travel, the one goal we must reach, the one straight path. Otherwise we are distracted by a thousand things around us.

The money is a boat

When Allah gives people money, He gives it as one of the means of crossing this world and reaching the other side. It is like a boat or a ship that carries us over the ocean, and when we reach the shore we leave it behind. We cannot take the boat with us and put it in the living room, or keep it beside the bed; that makes no sense. The boat stays in the water there. Money in this world is that ship: use it until you have crossed to the other side. That is the philosophy of money in our lives.

For this reason Allah says that the piling up, the counting of numbers, has distracted you from the safe position, until you visit the graves. There are two opinions here. One is that it means you actually visit the graves and see the condition of the people there. You say, "Wow, what will we do when we are in their position?" Some feel regret at that moment and remember Allah and resolve to do better; then they get busy again, jump back into the world, forget everything, and return to the graveyard to bury someone else. The second opinion is that it means until you yourself are buried. At that point you have no control over this world and no way to change the decision about your life; it is too late to do anything else.

You will know

Allah then says that you will certainly know the reality, one time. When will that time come? Only Allah knows. But do we have a chance to know the reality from now? Yes, we do. How? By reading in the Quran the stories of earlier peoples who have all passed away, and by looking at the righteous who spent their lives in the way of Allah. Look at the examples: Nuh, peace be upon him, spent nine hundred and fifty years purely for the sake of Allah, in da'wah. There are Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and all those prophets, peace be upon them. I will make the story short, but think how long each of them struggled with his people. And yet at the end Allah tells me: you will know the reality one time.

Then Allah emphasizes that if you knew it with certainty, you would see the punishment right in front of your eyes. One time you will be asked about everything you had in your hand. One of the Companions asked the Prophet ﷺ: O Messenger of Allah, what will we be asked about? We have nothing. It was a hard period in the life of the Prophet; everyone was in poverty. They came to him and said: what is there for us to be asked about? And he told them that it would surely happen. Think how the Prophet ﷺ wanted them to understand their real situation.

What is the value of being able to speak to you? What is the value of opening my eyes and having sight, to see the people in front of me? What is the value of all that we have? These gifts come to us without limit from Allah, glory be to Him, and no one can deny them. We have to remember the One who gave them.

Hands or hearts?

The main question, and then I will end: can we have money, or will we leave everything behind us? The real point is how we control the money in our hands. Is the money really in our hands, or is it in our hearts? Do we love the money more than Allah, or do we love Allah more than the money? When Allah asks us to give money to someone, will we give it, or will we say, "It is mine, I cannot give it to anybody"?

Allah gave us the chance to hold this world in our hands, even to be among the richest people. Don't worry about that. The point is whether we become slaves and servants of money, or whether we keep making money a servant for us.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The two Arabic words and the verses were missing from the transcript. The context (piling up, visiting the graves, "you will know", "you will surely see the Hellfire", being asked about blessings) points to Surat al-Kawthar and Surat al-Takathur. The verses are not quoted in the body because the transcript did not preserve them. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The intended passage is unclear in the transcript, so only its meaning is given, without the text of the verse.