Wealth and poverty are both predestinated
13-9-2003 | IslamWeb
Question:
How come God give some people allot of money and some people work and try every thing and they can't make it and they stay poor. Is God has some thing to do with it or it's really luck?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Allah distributes His sustenance among His slaves to test them. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {As for man, when his Lord tries him by giving him honour and gifts, then he says (puffed up): "My Lord has honoured me." But when He tries him, by straitening his means of life, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me!" Nay!… }[89:15-17].
Imam al-Qurtubi said: 'Nay' is an expression to refuse their idea. Being rich is not for any merits and being poor is not due to any humiliation, but richness and poverty depend on Allah's predestination .
The reason is to examine people and put them to test. Imam Ibn Jareer wrote in the explanation of the above verses: Whenever Allah tests a person and grants him richness and pour upon him His favors, he says happily that Allah has honoured him. If Allah does not make one rich and does not give him something generously, he says that Allah has humiliated him and does not show gratitude for many other blessings Allah has granted him such as good health, sound body, etc. .
Therefore, it is apparent that the rich and the poor are both under the examination of Allah. A rich is tested through his richness, Allah wants to see whether he thanks Allah on wealth He granted him and whether he spends His money in good cause, while a poor is also under the trial of Allah, He wants to check him and see if he will be patient or not, and whether he is satisfied with the decision of Allah or not. If a rich thanks Allah, and a poor remains patient on hardship then they both will get good reward from Allah; otherwise, they will be punished.
Know that being rich or poor is a predestination of Allah and all matters happen according to His predestination. It is totally wrong to believe that such matters depend on one's luck and are not related to the destination of Allah. In fact, that every good, bad, benefit, loss and all other matters, take place only by the Will, and the Decree of Allah. Believing so is among the pillars of faith. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said in the Hadith of Gabriel: And you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil . [Reported by Imam Muslim ].
Allah knows best.