With the Hadith
People of Faith and People of Materialism
We greet you all, dear friends everywhere, in a new episode of your program "With the Hadith," and we begin with the best greeting: Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
It was mentioned in Fath al-Bari, Explanation of Sahih al-Bukhari by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani - with modification - in the chapter on urging charity and intercession for it:
Sadaqa bin Al-Fadl narrated to us, Abda informed us from Hisham from Fatima from Asma, may God be pleased with her, she said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to me: "Do not withhold, or it will be withheld from you."
"Do not withhold": meaning do not count, for a person withholds the vessel, meaning he tightly closes it, meaning do not prevent what is in your hand.
"Or it will be withheld from you": that is, that will be the reason for the Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, to withhold His provision from you.
Dear listeners:
Even though the words were directed to Asma, it is a message to the nation, and it is a clear message in which our noble Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, asks us not to be stingy and not to count, and to leave the matter to God so that blessings descend. Our noble Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, went through this situation, where there was blessing in his food and drink. He did not count and calculate, but rather he would start with the name of God and end with praising Him, so there were blessings. This is faith in the unseen and in God's decree and in God's provision, unlike those who are content with tangible things and material things only; where they do not know blessing, do not believe in provision, and do not know the meaning of the unseen.
O Muslims:
This is how we differentiate between the people of faith and the people of materialism. The people of faith believe in the apparent and hidden causes, in the material and moral causes, and in the visible and unseen causes. They take the means and trust in God. To the people with a materialistic view, we say: This belief is not only in the matter of livelihood, but in every matter of this world and the hereafter. Therefore, if people with a materialistic view believe that the food of two is not enough for three and the food of three is not enough for four or five, then it is more appropriate that they do not believe that a small group will triumph over a large group. If they see their accounts and trades as numbers, then how can they understand the meaning of the descent of angels to fight with the people of faith? How do they understand "I was supported by terror from a distance of a month's journey"? How do they understand supplication and its effect? How do they understand blessing? How do they understand "Do not withhold, or it will be withheld from you"? There is no doubt that they will realize this when they see God's victory has descended upon the believers, despite their small number and equipment, soon, God willing.
O God, hasten for us a righteous caliphate on the method of prophecy, in which the scattered affairs of the Muslims are gathered, and lift from them what they are in of affliction. O God, illuminate the earth with the light of Your noble face. O God, Amen, Amen.
Dear loved ones, until we meet you with another prophetic hadith, we leave you in God's care, and peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
Written for the radio: Abu Mariam