Some companions of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) once came to him and complained that the affluent among them who are using their recourses in the cause of Allah would take all the reward. They lamented how their limited resources restrict their chances of getting as much reward as that earned by the wealthy. According to them, they lacked the capacity (due to poverty) with which to compete favorably with the rich in terms of using money to earn greater rewards for greater acts of righteousness.
However, the Prophet (SAW) informed them of the several intangible (non-physical) acts of worship which the poor could do to earn as much (if not more) reward as may be merited by the rich. They include, as mentioned by the Prophet (SAW): exchange of pleasantries; settling dispute between two individuals; helping someone to mount on to his beast or hoisting on to it his baggage; removing something harmful from the path and a good speech.
Imam Muslim relates in the twenty-fifth hadith of Annawawi’s collection of forty traditions that Abu Dharr said some people from among the companions of the Prophet (SAW) said to him (the Prophet): “O Messenger of Allah! The rich people take off all the rewards. They say prayer just as we do; and then they can give in charity out of the super abundance of their wealth (and thus surpass us in piling up meritorious deeds that will earn rewards for them)”. He (the prophet) said: “Has not Allah given you what you can give in charitable alms? Truly, in every tasbih (Saying “Subhan-Allah”), there is alms; in every tahmid (saying “Alhamdu lillah”), there is an alms; In every tahlil (saying “La ilaha illa-llah”), there is alms; in every exhortation of others to doing what is right or forbidding the doing of what is wrong, there is an alms; even when one of you martially approaches his wife, there is an alms in that;…..”
Today, some people believe that it is only the rich that smile, a position that also suggests the rich has no cause to experience hardships as if suffering is exclusive to the poor alone. The realities of the lives of those at the two extremes of surplus and paucity reveal that while the rich may sometimes cry regardless of their material comfort, the poor also have reasons to smile.
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In the same way that it is not always happiness with the rich who have all the comforts of life that money can buy, it is also not a rule of existence that unhappiness, misery and pain are should remain perpetual attributes of the poor. You may lack wealth; a good house to live in; a good car or none at all; yet, your mind may be at rest more than that of the rich who seemingly have little or nothing to worry about in life. Many people forget that uneasy lies the head of the wealthy. The rich could have so much to worry about than the poor. A philosopher once said, “The problems of many people begin as soon as their prayers are answered”.
With a large conglomeration of companies, ware houses, huge bank accounts, on-going contracts, employees’ emoluments; and assorted business ventures; the mind of the rich is under persistent pressure of how to make his business grow bigger, or in the least, sustain it. The larger a business enterprise, the heavier the psychological stress bore by the owner. While the rich may be worried about the security of his wealth and property, the poor who have no business interests to be secured or protected, is free from the anxieties of the threats posed by various business risks. Bankruptcy, when it manifests, is another crisis that burdens the heart of the rich. One finds in this a cause for the poor to smile even with depleted pockets.
Most of the worries that occupy the mind of the rich, which could sometimes be a source of heart diseases and other illnesses associated with worries, hardly visit the heart of the poor. A poor individual that lacks collateral with which to secure a bank loan is free from anxieties of unpaid banks loans, and therefore should have reasons to smile, laugh, and give gratitude to Allah.
Little do people remember that “not all that glitters is gold”. This reminds us of Khidr and his voyage with Prophet Musa (AS) during which Khidr, acting upon a divine authority, slew a young man who was an outlaw and whose parents were worthy pious people. Having slain the young man, it was desired as stated in Qur’an 18:81 that “Their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in purity (of conduct)”. There’s great wisdom in being left a barren than to have a child that would lead to one’s destruction.
There’s wisdom in everything Allah does. The rich did not get there because they have greater strength or intelligence just as the poor did not become indigent because they begged to be so. With a deep or depleted pocket, it’s always time to smile with acts of righteousness. “The poor,” they say, “also smile.” May Allah (SWT) grant us the blessings of a peaceful mind no matter our socio-economic situations, amin.
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