The Want For More
By Abdul Nasir Jangda | 2026-01-19T07:39:27.578129+00:00 | Topic: General
The Want For More
A Khutba by Abdul Nasir Jangda
2013 ICNA-MAS Convention
Opening
(اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، بِسْمِ اللهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - Arabic)
(وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ)
Allah is the Greatest. In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and upon his family and companions altogether. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The Sacred Concept of Barakah
So I'd like to start off this discussion by talking about this idea of more. You know, we have a very sacred concept in Islam called Barakah. It's a word we're all familiar with.
It's a word we use very commonly, Barakah. And it's often normally translated as blessing. What's really fascinating even about the linguistic meaning of this word Barakah and blessing that is used throughout the Quran.
Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent.
Blessed is the name of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor.
This word is actually used to describe Allah. So this word Barakah, even the root, the linguistic root of the word lasts, (البقاء - al-baqa), something that lasts for a very long time and something that increases. So therefore when we talk about Barakah, we talk about blessings.
These are blessings that are perpetually increasing, exponentially benefiting blessings. And then furthermore, when we talk about the Islamic concept of Barakah and blessing, the Islamic concept, there's a dua of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), it's called (دعاء القنوت - du'a al-qunut), it's a dua that was related, taught by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to his own beloved grandson الحسن رضي الله عنه and I always try to point this out.
The Beautiful Example of Family
A big focus of these conferences and these settings and for a lot of people that are here is family. Family is a big focus. Think about it, we don't pick up on this quite often but think about how beautiful it is for a grandfather to pick up his grandson, sit him in his lap, hug him and kiss him, and then say, repeat after me son:
(Sunan at-Tirmidhi 464)
This little part of this dua, concept of Barakah in Islam.
Let me translate this for you. (وبارك - wa barik) and oh Allah put blessing, put huge, unbelievable, never ending blessings. (لي - li), for me, (فِيمَا - fima) in that which (أَعْطَيْتَ - a'tayt) you have already given.
That's the past tense. It's the past tense (أَعْطَيْتَ - a'tayt) meaning what you have already given. I'm not asking for more Allah.
The True Meaning of Barakah
What I'm asking for is that what you have given me is more than enough. It suffices. What I already have is more than enough.
I'm just now asking you Allah to inject the element of Barakah and blessing into that which you have already given me. That is the concept of Barakah.
Barakah is not more.
Barakah is not about more. Barakah is about the ability to do more with less. Barakah has nothing to do with quantity.
It has everything to do with quality. The quality of what you have. I don't need more, ya Allah.
I just need blessing on what I have. The ability to do more with less. And this is something very interesting, very profound.
The Example of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
You know, more and less and blessed and not blessed and quantity versus quality. And if you really get to thinking, if you do some deep soul searching, it'll hit you like a punch. It'll really knock the wind out of you.
Because you read a narration about the Prophet of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم), you know, the day that he passed away there were a couple of mats, there was one or two jugs, there was a mule tied outside the
house, there was a sword, there was a shield, and a couple of pairs of clothes. That was the sole possession of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم), the greatest human being to ever walk the face of this earth. That's all he had.
And he had nine homes, which is another topic for another day. But just to put things into perspective, you got to chew on that for a second. Today we got one home, five people within the home, everybody's got a job, everybody's working, and we're still in debt.
Something's wrong, something's missing. And this is where I want to get down to the core of the issue.
The Reality of Our Financial Obsession
Dr. Altaf talked about it. I feel like Dr. Altaf was still being a little nice. Even though it's not a fundraiser, you ain't got to be nice to them. Alright? He was still being nice. That's because Dr. Altaf is Dr. Altaf. By the way, Dr. Altaf is like my own personal man crush. You should know that.
Alright? You should know that. Alright? Just putting that out there. It's very embarrassing for my wife right now, but I'm putting that out there.
So... But anyways, getting back on topic. I'm just gonna lay it down. And I'm gonna apologize before I lay it down that if I do offend anyone, or I do... If I cross any lines, just please forgive me.
Meet me in the bazaar, I'll buy you a hot dog. A halal hot dog, alright? Alright? So just come to the bazaar, I'll feed you a hot dog, alright? Don't be mad at me.
True Sharia Compliance
So, I'm just gonna say it like it is. We have a lot of discourse, we have a lot of conversation, we have a lot of discussion in the Muslim community today about sharia compliant financing, halal this, sharia compliant that. And I'm not criticizing, you know, the people that are providing these services. They are very good beneficial services for those people that need them.
But I am keeping it real with you all for a minute. We are obsessed with the conversation about how can I take something that I don't need, I have no reason to have, there is no explanation for me having it, and find a way to somehow make me feel better about having it. We are obsessed with this conversation in the Muslim community.
You wanna know what sharia compliance is? You wanna know what halal is? You wanna know what the Islamic financing, banking, financial, monetary system is? If you can't afford it, don't buy it. That's Islam. That's sharia compliance.
If you never buy anything you don't need, you are living a sharia compliant lifestyle. That's as simple as it is. And I know it sounds oversimplified, but it's really not.
Wallahi, it's not. We gotta understand this. Let me explain something to you all.
Living Within Our Means
In some places for some people, there is even some legitimacy to a conversation about needing to buy a home, even though I personally don't agree with it, but to each his own. Maybe I don't live in your shoes, I don't know your circumstances. I'll tell you by the way, we talk about, oh, but we have to have a home, we have to live somewhere, I have to raise my family.
I lived my entire life in an apartment complex. I lived my entire life in an apartment, and I feel like I turned out okay. You understand? I'm trying to be real with you all for a minute.
You can drive a used beat up old car. I talked about the car I drove last year, I talked about it over here. First car I ever drove, the doors have different colors.
And you know what I did when I graduated past that car, when I could actually afford to buy a nicer car? We had a simple rule, if we don't got cash in the home, we don't buy it. If you ain't got cash, you don't buy it. I know that sounds oversimplified to some people.
But that's how you live your life, that's how you live a responsible life. So even when I bought another car with cash, mind you, that other old car with the different colored doors, I didn't sell it. You know why? Because I had a little brother.
It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. And I made him drive it until he drove the wheels off of it. I actually had to pay somebody to take that thing out of my driveway.
But that's just how it works. If you can't afford it, you don't buy it. It's a very, very simple, straightforward philosophy.
The Crisis of Credit Card Debt
Let me tell you, let me talk to you about the consequences of living beyond our means. Let's talk about it. Credit card debt.
So like I said, I'm not gonna harp too much on homes and cars and all that stuff because somebody might get their feelings hurt. And somebody might get upset with me. I'm talking about credit card debt.
I'm talking about when you're going and buying your 18th pair of shoes. And you can't afford that and you're swiping that card. I'm talking about when you're buying a latte, when you're broke.
Black coffee will wake you up just as much as that latte will. You won't look as cool, but that's fine. You're already Muslim, man. You're already as cool as it's gonna be.
But I'm being very serious. So credit cards are when they get out of hand, right? The average amount of credit card debt in the US, these statistics are from May 2013, right now.
These are current statistics. The average, a household that only has one credit card, which is very rare. Imagine a home, entire home, the entire family there's only one credit card.
In that home, per credit card, per household, the average amount of credit card debt in America right now is over $15,000. I had an accountant. I was talking about this in a lecture and you know there was like some super accountant listening there.
And his brain like lit up and he started doing math on the back of a flyer. And he came to me afterwards and he said that if you tried to pay this off by making like minimal monthly payments, he said it would take you 80 years to pay off $15,000 because of the interest that is accrued over time. I said, 80 (أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ) years to pay it off? 80 years? I only think I could think of is like, you know, the Laylatul Qadr is the reward of a thousand nights. That's like 80 plus something years or whatever. I was like, this guy's paying off credit card debt for 80 years.
It just struck me as the opposite. You know what the total... This number is just mind-boggling. This number is just... This is what it does so you don't even know what to say.
You know what the total amount of credit card debt in America, the total amount of credit card debt in the United States of America is right now as we're sitting here and right now, it is 846 billion dollars with a B. That is the total amount of credit card debt in the United States of America. I mean there is a disease, there is a plague that is raging on outside.
Spiritual Bankruptcy
And now let's talk a little bit about the implications of this disease, this plague. Let's talk about where it goes. It leads to spiritual bankruptcy, not just financial bankruptcy, it leads to spiritual bankruptcy. The Prophet of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
(Al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman)
Poverty is very close to being disbelief.
Self-imposed, decadent, laden, indulgent poverty leads to spiritual bankruptcy. That's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) after every salah, he used to make a du'a or at the end of the prayer, he used to make a du'a. That du'a, part of that du'a was:
(Sahih al-Bukhari 832)
Oh Allah, I take refuge with you from sin and debt.
He didn't say إثم، الإثم means a sin. مَأْتُم means any situation, any circumstances that could possibly lead to committing a sin.
مَغْرَم comes from غَرْم غَرْم in the Arabic language means a due debt, money that is owed to somebody, an overdue debt. مَغْرَم means any situation, any circumstances that could lead to me being in debt and being past the due date.
Oh Allah, protect me from... What is he basically saying in simple language? Oh Allah, protect me from ever getting even near debt. I don't want to live in the same neighborhood as debt. I don't want to walk down the same street as debt.
Keep me away from it. Please, Ya Allah, protect me from it.
The Power of Giving
You know we joke about it, and Dr. Attaf was seriously talking about sadaqah and charity and giving. The beautiful thing he shared about Ali bin Abi Talib (رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ) saying that if we gave, it would solve poverty. Subhanallah. It's become almost like a joke.
If you want to make fun of somebody for being like having a bleeding heart, you say, yeah, you probably want to solve world hunger, don't you? Ali bin Abi Talib (رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ) is saying, we can solve world hunger if people gave in the path of Allah. We would solve world hunger.
I was walking around in the bazaar ironically, I was walking around, and I walked by some of the booths like Ignite Relief and Islamic Relief and Helping Hands, and there's booth that was talking about the situation in Mali.
He told me 25,000 Muslims a year are leaving Islam for Christianity because they need a piece of bread, because they need antibiotics for their baby that is dying in their arms. That's on us, people. That's on us who just can't get enough.
The Impact on Our Community
I don't mean for this to be a guilt trip, but I have to tell you, spiritually we are bankrupting ourselves, family-wise we are destroying ourselves. Everyone's heard this statistic, leading cause of divorce in United States of America? Financially related issues. And realize when I talk about these US statistics, we're not immune to this.
We live here, you don't think we're affected by where we live? If you step out into the heat, you're gonna sweat. If you step out into the cold, you're gonna shiver. If this is going on all around us, you don't think we're affected by this?
I have a couple of students. I have a couple of students, brother Omar and brother Adam. From Qalam Institute, they started a project called Debt-Free Muslims. They're doing all this research.
They actually wrote an e-book. Go to debtfreemuslims.com. They wrote an e-book. This is no more talking about like, how can I make this halal for me? I want this even though I don't need this. I just need somebody to make me feel better about having it. No, no, no, no. It's about how to live your life, how to budget yourself.
If you're already in debt, how do you work your way out of it? Debt-Free Muslims. There's a free e-book, free. Please, for God's sake, just read.
And they talk about the same exact issue in there. They're talking about the same exact issue. And they've been serving Muslims, reaching out to Muslims. And you should read some of the stories of Muslims. If we think this is a kuffar problem, then we have no idea what we're talking about. This is in our homes.
This is within our homes. We're not able to give sadaqa and charity because we always got our backs up against the wall.
The Barakah of Living Within Means
Imagine if we lived within our means, we planned our finances, we spent only in cash, we never lived beyond our means. We might only end up giving a certain amount. But think about the barakah and the blessing in that amount. And think about how disciplined we would be in giving that amount.
I'm not saying this here to brag. Wallahi, I'm not saying this here to brag. I'm saying this as (تَحْدِيث النِّعْمَةِ) I'm saying this as mentioning the blessings and hopefully inspiring some other people. I'm not talking about myself, but I am talking about my parents. My mom and my dad.
They are my role models. They're my heroes. We had a very simple rule. If we can't afford it, we don't buy it. That's just how we roll. If we can't afford it, we don't buy it.
And the consequence of that was, sadaqa was like a lifestyle. It was systematic. It wasn't spur of the moment. I didn't need to be emotionally blackmailed. I'm just messing with you. But I didn't need to be emotionally blackmailed, like if you love your mother, you will give $5,000.
It's like, oh God. Mom, are you here? No? Alright, forget this. So, I didn't need to be emotionally blackmailed to give sadaqa.
It was the lifestyle. I just met, you know, I was walking by one of the booths downstairs and they were talking about the orphan sponsorship program. And I said, let me share a little story with you.
There was a simple rule in our house. That when you started earning money, because you didn't live beyond your means, so there was no issue about a credit card and all that kind of nonsense and buying
things you didn't need. It was very simple rule.
When you got your first paycheck, you got your first job, you signed up for an orphan sponsorship program. And every month you sponsored an orphan.
And I was telling them that alhamdulillah, now today for 18 years, I've been on an orphan sponsorship program. My younger sister, she's a school teacher, or she was a school teacher. Now her daughter who is like a little tornado, she can't go to school because of that no more. But, and I love my niece Zainab, she's amazing, she's beautiful.
She, when she first started teaching, she got her first paycheck from the school, signed up orphan sponsorship program. My younger brother who's sitting there somewhere, probably vlogging, may Allah forgive him. When he got his first paycheck, orphan sponsorship program.
That's how it works. Sadaqah becomes a part of your life.
The Consequences of Extravagance
And so, something very, very important we have to consider is the consequences of how we're living our lives, the choices that we are making.
Listen, this won't happen overnight. This won't happen overnight, but it is something we have to be conscious of. And so I talked about how spiritually it's bankrupting us, family, society wise it is destroying us, marriage, it's the leading cause of marriages failing is these financial issues.
Look at the level of decadence we have within our community. I don't wanna just alienate, I don't wanna demonize somebody who, you know, needed a nicer place to live or wanted a nicer car. I'm talking about the straight up stuff that there's absolutely no excuse for.
You know something I tell my students, the israf, extravagance, is actually subjective, it's relative, based on the person. What's israf for a millionaire is, you know, what's israf for a humble man is not israf for a millionaire. It's very subjective, but there are some things that are inexcusable.
The Wedding Extravaganza Problem
There are some things that are inexcusable, there are some things that just are beyond, just, I mean comprehension. They are reprehensible, it's just not permissible, especially in the times that we live, in the world that we live in. Marriages.
Look at the situation with weddings and marriages in our community today. Look at the circumstances with weddings, marriages. Ridiculous.
There are weddings, wedding parties that are thrown, that are put together, that are in the six figures today. People spending six figures, dropping six figures for a four hour event where you don't even personally know most of the people. And they're probably gonna talk bad about you and your food after they leave.
Like, man, the roti was kinda cold. They put the raita at the beginning of the line. Who puts raita and the biryani on top of the raita? They're bad-mouthing you.
They're making fun of you. And you drop like 200 bucks a plate. You pay 200 dollars a seat.
Because you had to have your wedding in the super-duper intercontinental intergalactic hotel. Right? It's got a launch pad on top where a spaceship can land. Just in case if any Martians wanted to come to your wedding.
We have relatives there too, you know? You know? I'm Naaman. We got relatives everywhere. Right? So, it's... That's the wedding.
I'm not lying to you. I wish I was lying. I wish I was joking.
I travel a lot. And it's not a lot of fun. I miss my family. I miss my babies. But I will tell you one thing. I'm grateful for traveling for one reason.
I have an easy out and an easy excuse from attending occasions that just would make me sad. I wanna congratulate those people. Really, sincerely I do. I don't wanna be that guy. I don't wanna be a party pooper. I don't wanna be Mr. Self-righteous.
But I just... I can't help it. I've been invited to an aqeeqah. The birth of a child. The feast of the birth of a child that cost like upwards of 40-50 grand. What are we doing? Are people starving and dying in this world? We're starting off our life. We're starting off our relationship in debt.
The Prophetic Guidance on Weddings
You know the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that the best of marriages, the best of weddings, the ones that are the most blessed, are the ones that have the least amount of these type of extravagant expenses made. You know the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)walima, the feast for after the wedding is a sunnah, a great sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). But you know what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us? He said:
(Sahih al-Bukhari 5177)
The worst walima is the one where the rich are invited and the poor are left out.
He said, the worst walima is the one where there is no place for poor people. Subhanallah. Think about our occasions now.
We wanna invite the cream of the crop. We want celebrities there. We want famous people there.
That's who we want at our occasions, at our parties. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is saying, that's the worst possible way to celebrate. You didn't make place for the ummah.
What were you ashamed of? What were you embarrassed of? Poor people? Abu Huraira (رضي الله عنه) was a poor man. Homeless people? Abu Huraira (رضي الله عنه) slept outside the masjid. You were embarrassed of like lower class people? Labor class people? Bilal (رضي الله عنه) was born into slavery.
You were embarrassed of having like some outsider there? That's not related? Salman al-Farisi (رضي الله عنه). And yet, what happened? Abu Huraira (رضي الله عنه) was the best student of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Bilal (رضي الله عنه) was the muezzin, the right hand man of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
Salman al-Farisi (رضي الله عنه)the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, Salman al-Farisi, your family brother, come on in. Bring it in for a hug, your family. We don't shake hands, we hug.
The Quranic Solution
So we really have to think about how we're spending money. We can't even get to the conversation of how we're earning money because we haven't even figured out how to spend money. I mean our problems right now are multi-layered.
But the solution is within reach. The solution is within reach. Very simple basic line.
The Prophet Allah told us:
Eat and drink, but don't cross that line. Why? Allah doesn't love people who cross that line.
Eat and drink, live life. I ain't telling you not to live life. I just had a hot dog. Eat and drink, live life. Don't tell my wife by the way. All right.
People who spend without need are the brothers of shaitan.
And finally Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us, if you keep playing this game of trying to one up one another:
Competition in worldly increase diverts you, until you visit the graveyards.
This has ruined you. This has made you useless. Take a look at where you're going. And see what you've prepared for where you're going. And it'll be a real wake up call.
Conclusion and Call to Action
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us all the ability to live within our means. I had a very quick announcement and a very simple suggestion and recommendation for everybody. Talking about these types of issues, learning from the example of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم,learning practically how to live life.
With this in mind, I dedicated a lot of my own time about three years ago to a project. And that project was to start conducting very in depth. I took about 10 to 12 classical sources, the premier classical sources on the seerah, the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and started doing a thorough study of them.
And started teaching a weekly seerah class, very in depth, very detailed, extracting life lessons like we talked about right now from it. And we started recording them and putting them online for free. Because we want everyone to know who Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is
I'd like for you all to check out this resource as you can see on the screens. You can find it in the iTunes, in the podcast app. If you have an Android device, may Allah forgive you.
In the Google Play Store, there's an app called the Qalam Institute Podcast. Some student developed it because they were listening to the podcast. Listen to it, download it, share it with others.
It is free, it is open. Everyone needs to learn how to live life from the man who taught us how to live life.
Closing
May Allah reward you with good. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.