Islamic Finance - Principles and Character for Halal Living
By Joe Bradford | 2025-12-25T23:04:26.739511+00:00 | Topic: Purification
Islamic Finance: Principles and Character for Halal Living
Opening and Introduction
Bismillah wa alhamdulillah, salatu wassalamu ala Rasool Allah, wa ala alihi wa ashabihi wa man walahu wa ba'd. Allahumma a'allamna ma yunfa'una, wa infa'na bima a'allamtana, wa zidna ilman ya rabbil alameen.
O Allah, teach us what will benefit us, and benefit us with what you have taught us, and increase us in knowledge, O Lord of the worlds.
Ameen. First, I would like to thank all of you for attending tonight, and for coming out to hear any words of benefit that I may be able to impart this evening. As we know, the Prophet said:
(Whoever takes out on a path seeking knowledge, then Allah will make easy for him a path to Jannah) [Muslim 2699]. So may Allah make each and every one of your paths to Jannah easy from this evening and until the rest of your lives.
Speaker Introduction and Purpose
So my name is Joe Bradford. I am living and working in the greater Houston area in Texas. I am a graduate of the University of Medina, and I have been working in the area of finance for the last decade. I wanted to speak to you tonight about a few points that I think are important for us as a Muslim community to remember.
Now, we are going to have another lecture tomorrow morning with the seminary students on the history of Islamic finance. This evening I want to give some broad principles of character and akhlaq that the Muslim should have in order to be successful financially and remain within the realm of halal.
The Foundation: Proper Intention (Niyyah)
The first and foremost principle that we have to live by as Muslims is found in the hadith that every single one of us should know or we should be familiar with. If we want to remain financially successful, if we want to remain people that are cognizant of how we earn our wealth, where we spend our wealth and how our wealth is used, then we have to have our correct niyyah. We have to have a proper intention.
The Prophet said:
(Bukhari 1, Muslim 1907)
(Actions are by intention and everyone will have what they intended. So whoever's hijrah or migration was to Allah and His Messenger, then they will have Allah and His Messenger. And whoever's migration was for some wealth that they were seeking to earn, or some woman they were seeking to marry, then they will have that which they migrated for)
What Differentiates Muslims from Others
So if we are going to be people that are living in society, there has to be something that differentiates us between ourselves and the rest of creation. There has to be something that differentiates us as humans from the rest of creation. And there has to be something that differentiates us as Muslims from the rest of creation. And if that one thing has to be our niyyah.
Because we find that in the Qur'an, Allah at many times speaking about the ways of those that reject His message and do not live in accordance with His laws and His dictates. He says:
(They are like animals. No, they are even more astray)
Three Essential Questions for Financial Success
So it all starts, if you want to be a person who is successful in using their wealth, in consuming their wealth and allowing their wealth to be good for themselves and for others. You have to think to yourself, number one, why am I earning it? Number two, what am I spending it on? And number three, what is the legacy that I'm leaving behind from those things that I've spent on?
The Prophet says that when one of you dies, that everything leaves him except for three things:
(Muslim 1631)
(Some beneficial knowledge that people take advantage of. Or a righteous child who makes du'a for you. Or a charity given in perpetuity)
The Importance of Being Productive and Beneficial
In order for you to have those three things, you have to have had a proper niyyah. You have to have been a productive person. Whether that productivity was in teaching people Islam or that productivity was in teaching people how to deal with the modern world and with their daily lives.
The Prophet said:
(Tabarani)
(The most beloved of people to Allah are those of most benefit to others) Commenting on this hadith, the scholars have said, And from amongst the most beneficial things to mankind after the sciences or the disciplines of faith are the disciplines of engineering and medicine. And Alhamdulillah we have no shortage of engineers and doctors in our community.
The Need for Surplus and Legacy Building
If you want to be productive, you have to have a correct niyyah. If you want to have a child that you leave
behind as a legacy, then you have to raise that child with a proper niyyah. You have to instruct them and give them the proper education that they need. You have to make sure that they understand that they are carrying on a legacy after you. And lastly, if you want to leave a charity in perpetuity, a sadaqah jariyah, then you have to be a person that is productive in and of themselves. That generates a surplus. A surplus of time. A surplus of wealth. Some form of surplus that others can benefit from and that can be carried on from after you.
A Story of 700-Year Legacy
While I was a student in Medina, I got a call from one of my friends. He said, I want you to go and have iftar this Ramadan at my family's sofra. My family's iftar spread in the Masjid al-Nabawi. I said, sure, I'll go. So the first night, I actually, you know when you're in Medina and as you're walking, mashallah, people are pulling you, they're trying to make you sit, so I didn't make it. So he called me that night. You didn't make it to the sofra. I said, you're in Jeddah, how do you even know? He said, I know, brother. I want you to make it there the next night.
So when I started, why is this so important to you? Why are you insisting on this? He said, this is a tradition that we have kept in our family for the last 700 years. He's from the Ashraf. He's from the family of the Prophet. And he said, my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather had once did a very good business deal and made a lot of money. And he took a large portion of that money and he invested it in an endowment to fund iftar in Medina only. And it is running until today. And so alhamdulillah, we've been able to give iftar for thousands, if not more, of people that come every single year. And we want you to be one of those people.
Making Every Hour Count
The point in this story is, if you want to have success in this life and the next, you want to be wealthy in this life and in the next, then it starts with correcting your intention. Al-Imam Ibn Qudama Al-Hanbali, one of the great scholars of the Hanbali Madhhab, he says in his summary of Minhaj Al-Qasidin. Minhaj Al-Qasidin was written by Al-Imam Ibn Al-Jawzi, which was a summary of Al-Imam Al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum Al-Din.
He says that on the Day of Judgment, you should look at every hour of your life like a treasure chest. And that treasure chest can have three things in it on the Day of Judgment when it is opened for you in front of Allah. You can fill it with gold, and so on the Day of Judgment, you'll be very wealthy. You can fill it with coal, and so on the Day of Judgment, you'll be very sad. Or you can fill it with nothing, and on the Day of Judgment, you will be full of regret.
Daily Practice: Identifying Your Values
So have an intention for every single hour, every single minute, and every single second of your life. So
that on the Day, in this life and the next, you can see the success that Allah has written for you. So it's a good practice for you now to think to yourself, what are the three things that I value the most in this life? What are the three things that I value the most? Write those down, and every single day remind yourself of those things that you value.
And work towards them, because if you don't have them in mind and you don't work towards them, then, as the Prophet said:
(Tirmidhi 2396)
(Whoever finds good after his actions, let him praise Allah. And whoever finds other than this, then he can only blame himself) So you have to make conscious decisions about every single time and thing in your life.
The Principle of Wise Wealth Management
And through that niyyah insha'Allah, as the Prophet said, that whoever intended Allah and His Messenger, will have Allah and His Messenger. Another principle that we should abide by when talking about our wealth and our spending is, as the Prophet has mentioned, it's narrated in Sunan Ibn Majah, with a Hasan Isnad insha'Allah:
(Ibn Majah 2490)
(Whoever sold his home and didn't take the price and invest it in something similar, then it is more likely that Allah will not bless him in that thing that he invested in)
Understanding Investment Wisdom
Now think about this. In Medieval Arabia, in the time of the Prophet, one of the main prized possessions that a person could have would be a home. And in Medieval Southern California, it is still having a home, correct? One of the main things that you build equity in is your home. One of the main things that's considered part of the quote-unquote American dream is owning a home.
Now imagine that someone comes to you and they say, they say, No, man, I have the best idea ever. Sell your house and we'll take the money and we'll invest it in a halal cart that we're going to walk up and down Bria Sin. Is that how you say the road? That's how I read it.
And you say, great, but is the amount of equity in your home needed to just open up a halal food cart? No. So if somebody comes and tells you spend half a million dollars on a simple food cart, there's lack of parity in these investments. So if you're not wisely managing your money and making sure that your family is cared for and they have a stable domicile that they can feel safe and secure in, whether you're renting or whether you're buying.
Two Types of Foolish Financial Decisions
The message in this hadith is the wealth that we have, we have to use wisely. Your net worth, you have to use wisely. Don't allow yourself to make foolish decisions about your own finances. And foolish decisions are made two ways.
So in order to pay Zakat, what do you have to have? Surplus. In order to have a surplus, what do you have to have? Income. In order to have income, what do you have to have? Wealth. Well, income becomes wealth. You have to have a job. In order to have a job, what do you have to have? You have to have a skill. You have to have education. Right?
So before we talk about an entire pillar of Islam, let's talk about educating our community. Before we talk about how much people are giving, let's talk about how much we've given back to the community. How much we've prepared our children to become one of those three things that we leave behind. A righteous child that makes Dua for you. Or a charity left in perpetuity. Or some knowledge that's left behind.
Three Spheres of Legacy
Notice, knowledge, intellectual. Charity in perpetuity, Sadaqa Jariyya. It's financial. A child that makes Dua for you is social. You're affecting all spheres of life. When you have an intention and when you manage your wealth properly, after that, you have to ingrain in yourself and your children the importance of education and the importance of work. And the importance of time, of putting in time.
"(By time, mankind is in a loss) [Quran 103:1-2]. And that only comes about through you trusting in Allah. That if you put in the effort, that He will reward you."
The Balance Between Trust and Effort
(Tirmidhi 2344)
"(If you were to rely upon Allah as He has the right to be relied upon. Then He would sustain you as He sustains the birds. They leave their nests in the morning with empty stomachs, and they come back with full stomachs) [Tirmidhi 2344]."
Someone said to Imam Ahmed (رحمه الله - rahimahullah) What do you say about a person who says, I'm not going to work, I'm just going to sit here and wait for my rizq to come from Allah. He said هَذَا رَجُلٌ جَهَلَ الْعِلْمَ - hadha rajulun jahala al-'ilm) (This is a person who is ignorant of the knowledge that the Prophet was sent with).
The Prophet's Example in Business
Because the Prophet sold and bought. He traded, and he was a principal, and he was an agent. And he entered into partnerships, and he worked in the marketplace, and he worked as a shepherd. He went out, and he worked. And they said, What do you say about this hadith? They asked him, Well what about this hadith? We should just rely upon him like the birds. He said, Did you not notice the end of the hadith? They leave their nests, and then they come back.
A Story of Transformation Through Effort
Sometimes we don't think of the effort that it takes to be able to build a legacy. We want it to come to us easily, but sometimes all it takes is us to put our first foot forward. I'll tell you a story about a very successful brother that I know. This brother was incarcerated at one time. And you know that people who are incarcerated have very difficult times finding jobs afterwards. And he accepted Islam, but because of his past history, was unable to get a job.
So no corporate jobs for him. Nobody wanted to hire him. So he became a door-to-door salesman. And in six months, he became the top salesman on his team. And within one year, the top salesman in the company. Until he was given a nationwide position.
And we asked him, SubhanAllah, brother, how do you do this? He said, brother, I have a very simple principle. I wake up in the morning. I pray Salat. I make my dhikr. I drink my coffee. I put my right foot out the front door. I say, Bismillah, and I roll. And the rest is on Allah. He said, and that's every single day.
Building Wealth Formula
But notice, put the right foot first. Take the effort. Wealth only comes from a surplus times time. And a surplus only comes from income. But income minus what? Spending. But you have to put the first foot forward to be able to create an income. To become independent.
The Importance of Financial Independence
It's extremely important that we invigorate and revive the entrepreneurial spirit in our community. And Alhamdulillah, we have many people that are successful entrepreneurs. And doing a lot of great things in the community. It's extremely important that we stress the importance of financial independence. And especially for our young students that are going through faith-based religious studies. That we equip them with the skills that they need to be successful in life.
Sufyan al-Thawri's Wisdom on Financial Independence
So Sufyan Al-Thawri, the great scholar of Islam, of Hadith, and of Fiqh. He was asked, Why do we see you out in the marketplace doing business? Buying and selling? Aren't you worried that this money is going to distract you? And he told the person, Uskud. Quiet. لولا هَذِهِ الدَّرَاهِمْ لَتَمَنْدَلَ بِنَا الْأَمَرَاءُ - Lawla hadhihi ad-darahim latamandal bi-na al-umara) (If it weren't for these Darahim, if it weren't for this money, then the rulers would come and wipe their hands with us).
So when you have financial independence, you can be effective in life.
The Example of Prophet Yusuf
Notice the story of Yusuf. When Yusuf was in the jail, what was the first thing that those two people saw and said to him in the jail? I know there are a lot of Hafidh of Quran in the audience, so you'll have to
complete it for me. What did they say to him? إِنَّا نَرَاكَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ - Inna naraka mina al-muhsineen) (We see you to be a person of excellence, a person of Ihsan, a person who has something to give) [Quran 12:36].
So when you have something to give, people are naturally attracted to that. Why were the people naturally attracted to the Prophet? Because he had something to give. He was a Sadiq Al-Ameen. And tomorrow night inshallah at the Islamic Center of Irvine, we're going to talk about those characteristics of the Prophet. Al-Sidq and Al-Amanah and the ethics that we should have as entrepreneurs and businessmen and employees. But he was a Sadiq Al-Ameen. People were attracted to him for those things that he was able to do because of his independence.
The Importance of Budgeting
So when you have skills and you have earnings, what's the next thing that you need to do to be financially successful? Is not spend it all in one night. You have to have a budget. Somebody says, what is all of this stuff that you're talking to us about? Budgets aren't found in the Sunnah of the Prophet. Are they? Yes, they are.
(Bukhari 2389)
The Prophet said, "If I were to have the entirety of Mount Uhud, of gold in my home, I would not allow three nights to pass without giving it all out for the sake of Allah, except for some that I save to pay off debts) [Bukhari 2389]."
Notice, the Prophet was thinking about what he may incur in the future. He didn't say he had debts, but he may have a debt. So he saved a little bit. He budgeted for himself. Right? So not only working and relying upon Allah and putting the effort forward, but also having a financial plan for yourself. Thinking about where you'll be in the future.
Common Financial Planning Problem
Number one question that I'm asked when I do advisory services for people, the number one question that I'm asked is, I don't know what to do. My child is 17, 18, 19 years old going to college and I have no way to help them whatsoever. And I'm afraid that they're going to fall into the haram and have to take out loans. What do I do?
So if there's a Chinese proverb, what does it say? The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today. Right? So if you're not planning for your future regardless of your age, then start to think about the surplus that Allah has given you and what you want to do with it. Not just in this life for your own benefit, but also in the next life. What do you want to be said about you after you die?
Building Your Legacy
Henry Ford, everyone know Henry Ford? Right? Founder of the Ford Motor Company. He has a beautiful statement. They asked him, why do you make quick decisions on your own? And he said, because no city has ever built a statue of a committee. No city has ever built a statue of a committee. So sometimes you have to think, what am I leaving behind for the future generations? How will I be remembered in dua? Where will my children be? And how happy will they be with me in preparing them to be one of those three things that I left behind? What will my community think of me? How will they make dua for me?
Practical Budgeting Advice
So my suggestion is if you don't have a budget, do not go and get an app. Do not get an app. There are a lot of apps. And I'll suggest some to you. But for one month, I want you to do this. I want you to get a pen and paper. Okay? And I want you to write down every single thing that you own. I'm sorry, every single thing that you earn and every single thing that you spend.
It's difficult, but do it for one month. Write it down, pencil and paper. Why? Because when it's physically in front of you and you're doing the math yourself, you're going to say to yourself, I am spending a little bit too much on coffee. Right? I could have, you know, I wanted to give that $5 they asked for after Jummah, but I didn't have it with me because I had spent it already. Or you know what? I could reasonably save $200 a month and put that into a college fund for my child. But I'm not doing that.
When you have it physically in front of you, then you can follow that sunnah of the Prophet. Give and give generously, yes, but also plan for your future.
Priority One: Eliminate Debt
When you're planning, after you know your income, you know what you're spending, the number one thing after that for your budget is get rid of your debt. Many of us carry large amounts of debt. Roll it over to the next month, credit card debt, right? We have bills, right? The very first thing you need to do is get rid of debt. Pay off your debts.
And you may say to yourself, but no, no, no, I'm saving my money and I'm investing it. Guess what? Let's just say that you have a very good credit card that only charges you 10%, only 10% interest on your credit card, right? Many of them charge 15, 20, 25. Let's just say it's 10. And let's just say as well that your investments right now, the stock market is really only earning at tops 3%, okay? Let's just say for the sake of argument.
How much are you earning monthly if your investments are earning 3% and you're paying 10% interest? How much are you really earning? Negative 7, right? So you think, I'm investing, I'm doing good. But you're not. In actuality, you're putting yourself further into a hole. Pay off your interest bearing debts first.
You are effectively giving yourself a .7 or a 7 point lead into the future by not having to pay that much more interest into the future. So pay yourself first.
Planning Your Giving
The next thing that you need to do is plan out your giving. The Prophet said, مَا نَقَصَ مَالٌ مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ - Ma naqasa malun min sadaqatin) (Your wealth was never diminished because of charity) [Tirmidhi 2029].
صدقة - Sadaqah actually doesn't mean charity. Linguistically صدقة - Sadaqah comes from the same root word as صدق - sadaq. It shows some honesty and truthfulness from yourself. It shows that you have a duty to your fellow man. It shows that you care enough to make sure that others are cared for. And as we know that the Prophet especially in Ramadan was أَجْوَدُ مِنَ الرّيحِ الْمُرْسَلَةِ - Ajwadu mina ar-reehi al-mursalah) (more generous than the free-flowing wind) [Bukhari 6, Muslim 2308].
He was of the most generous of people. And he was very giving. But as we see, he also planned for himself and for his family.
Strategic Giving Plan
And what I advocate for each and every one of you is to have a wise giving plan. Meaning, don't take all of your money that you've earned here and never give back to the community that you live in. And we do that two ways. Number one, by not supporting our local institutions. And number two, by not supporting non-Muslims in our area. Many times we think that they're not worthy. But if they're not worthy, then who is? If they're not worthy and they can't see the light of Islam through you helping them through difficulty, then what's the purpose of claiming to be a Muslim? We have to be beneficial to all of those around us, our community and the broader community.
Optimizing Different Types of Charity
So we have to... What I advocate for... Now I know what you're saying. There are many crises throughout the world. First and foremost, one that's not in anyone's mind, Central African Republic. After that, Rohingya. After that, Syria. After that, Palestine. There are many others. We have a lot of crises that are happening around the Muslim world.
What I advocate for is that you look at the different types of Sadaqah that you have to or you can give throughout the year. So personally, I now make a conscious decision never to do Udhiyah or Qurbani in the United States. And I'll tell you why. Because when you take a huge bag of raw meat to someone's house, they open up their freezer and they say, we already got food stamps. We have food. Can you pay my electricity bill? I don't need the food, but thank you very much. It's going to go to waste because my house is small and I have a small refrigerator. I can't take all of this meat.
Personal Giving Strategy
So personally, my Zakah al-Mal, I use it locally. Zakah al-Fitr, a portion of it local, a portion of it overseas. Udhiyah, Qurbani, Aqiqah, almost always overseas. Where I know that, mashaAllah, every single trace of the animal is going to be used. Every single trace. Anyone who's lived overseas and seen how, Alhamdulillah, over here, Allahumma sta'an. You go to the Maslakh, you go to the slaughterhouse, right? And this is wasted and that is wasted, right? Unfortunately, we've lost the ingenuity of the early American pioneers where nothing was wasted. But overseas, Alhamdulillah, everything is generally cared for.
But I advocate that you look at every single form of Sadaqah that you can give, whether it's Zakah, Zakah al-Fitr, Qurbani, whatever it is, and find where it can be most effective and then spend it in that way. And don't forget your local Muslim institutions.
The Power of Collective Small Contributions
Even if it's something that you can give $5 a month, how many people are here right now? Let's say, somebody says, well, what good is my $5 going to do? $5 a month from 100 people on Jumu'ah is what? $500 a week. Times four? I might be in finance, I'm not good with math, so you guys have to, what, 500 times four? $2,000. $2,000 a month coming into an institution like IOK, coming into an institution like a local Islamic center, right? That does a lot to help with those who they are helping, and it does a lot to help with the basic expenses, and it does a lot to help build an endowment, a waqf, so where you do not have to give.
Addressing Community Affluence and Responsibility
We have a problem in our community, and Alhamdulillah, we have many affluent people in our community, but that affluence brings about a certain arrogance. And that we think that because I have a very large salary, I don't need to help the organization's plan long term. We shouldn't have to do fundraisers every Ramadan. We should just have, you know, Laylatul Qadr only, not Laylatul Qadr and Laylatul Maal. It should just be Laylatul Qadr, right? It should just be for du'a, right? Not for fundraising.
But that takes us building communities that understand this issue, understanding our goal, and understanding that we don't want to have to give every single year, because we want to do what we mentioned at the very beginning of this lecture, and that is leave these three things. What was the third
one? A charity in perpetuity. Meaning that if I can give $1,000, $2,000, $5,000, $10,000 once, and that remains until the end of time, why wouldn't I? That is a business deal that no one would give up on.
Understanding Riba and Investment Psychology
Notice when Allah speaks to us in the Qur'an. What's the one, what is the largest financial sin in Islam? Riba. What is riba equivalent to?
(Be alerted of a war from Allah and His Messenger) [Quran 2:279].
Right? But when Allah speaks to us in the Qur'an, what logic does He use with us when giving?
(Who will give Allah a good loan so that He may multiply it tenfold or manyfold?) [Quran 2:245]. Allah is using the logic of riba with you to encourage you to give because He knows that our psychology is that we like to take but we don't like to give. Right? We like to take but we don't like to give.
They say there was a man, very rich man, he was drowning and a boat came by and someone said, give me your hand. He said, no, I'm fine. He's drowning again. I can't swim, I can't swim. Somebody said, give me your hand. He said, no, I'm fine. Third boat saw the first two boats come by. He said, take my hand. He took his hand and he was safe. Allah speaks to us in terms that speak to our psyche.
(Man was created with this instability, this fear of losing) [Quran 70:19]. So, when you give, plan for your giving.
The Reality of Investment: No Black Boxes
And then seventh, the seventh point and the last point is that know that in planning and income and spending and budgeting and investing to take that surplus that you have of your income minus your spending and invest it, understand that there are no black boxes. There is nothing that you can, you know, a machine that you can stick a check in and then more money comes out. It doesn't work like that. If you have that friend that says, give me money now and I guarantee you a 99.9% increase, right, it's probably not true. If it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not true.
Seeking Expertise
The Prophet encouraged us to go to those people of expertise in their areas or to become people of expertise if we want to speak or work in a certain area.
(Ask the people of remembrance, the people of expertise, if you do not know) [Quran 16:43]. The scholars of fiqh and specifically in the area of qadha, they mention that this verse is a fundamental evidence in the use of expert witnesses in court cases. That you should always go to an expert in their field to determine what is right and what is wrong. And if you don't want to go to an expert, then you should become an expert. But you should not make haphazard decisions.
The Lesson of the Date Palms
The Prophet was walking through Medina and he saw people, the hadith is in Sahih Muslim, he saw people pollinating their date palms. Do you guys get dates in the palm trees that are here? You do? How do they come? Can you actually eat them or do they just come out bad? They're shees, huh? So in Arabic, when the date palm comes out, you can't eat the dates, it's called shees. When they come out ripe, they're called balah. But if they come out bad, they're called shees. That's because the pollination was bad. There's something that got mixed up.
The Prophet saw them pollinating the trees. How do they pollinate the trees? They take a portion of the male tree and they wrap it inside a portion of the female tree and it's pollinated. The Prophet said, what if you left it? He just asked them a question. What if you left it?
لَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا They thought this was a command from him, so they left it. That year they had a very low harvest of dates. So when they came to the Prophet, they said, you told us to leave it, we had a very low harvest of dates.
The Prophet said
(أَنْتُمْ أَعْلَمٌ بِشُؤُونِ دُنْيَاكُمْ - You all know the affairs of your dunya better) [Muslim 2363]. І was only asking a question. What if question. What if you left it? What would happen? But because of their reverence and their deference to the Prophet, they didn't follow up.Learning from the Battle of Badr
Notice the difference between this and the day of say Badr. And the name of the Sahabi is escaping me right now, if any of you recall it. Who was the Sahabi who questioned the Prophet placement of the armies? Placement of the battalions? Was it Rib'i? Habbab ibn Mundir. Habbab ibn Mundir said to the Prophet
(أَوَحْيٌ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَمْ حَرْبٌ وَمَكِيدَةٌ - Is this revelation, O Messenger of Allah? Or is this part of the stratagem of war?). He said (بَلْ حَرْبٌ وَمَكِيدَةٌ - He said in that case, your strategy is wrong). Put your battalions over there. Cut them off from the water. Right? But not all of them, not all of the Sahaba had the bravery, the audacity, right? To ask that question.The Importance of Understanding Before Investing
So that's what happened in this hadith. The point being is that if you're going to deal with something which needs expertise, you have to do one of two things. Speak to an expert or educate yourself until you become an expert. But never go and throw your money into an investment or even into a community project and it's not clear. And this happens all the time in our community. We have projects that come up. We're raising money for something we don't really know what we're raising for. And in the end of the day we have a huge burden on the community to take care of that, whatever it is that's built or made afterwards.
So if we're going to invest in our akhirah through sadaqah or in our dunya through investments, then we should understand it. Be the expert or go to the experts.
Closing Wisdom: Divine Knowledge and Human Planning
Allah says and I'll close with this. Allah says to the Prophet
(O Muhammad, if I truly knew the unseen, that I would only gather good for myself and nothing bad would ever touch me) [Quran 7:188].
Al-Imam At-Tabari commenting on this hadith said, I would gather crops during good years and store them for the bad years. And I would buy things when prices were low and save them for the times when prices were high. Right? So there is a logic to every single thing that you do. There's a logic to investment, there's a logic to employment. There are rules and there are sunnah that you should follow. And if you don't follow those rules of expertise, then you'll find later on that you will be at a disadvantage.
Real-Life Investment Lessons
Many times, in Houston, where I live, we are a big oil and gas town, right? Big oil and gas town. So everybody says, oh, Houston, I live in Houston, oil and gas, I'm gonna go and invest in oil and gas. I know somebody said, I put, you know, $50,000 into oil and gas. I lost it the next day. I said, well, why did you do that? Oh, my friends told me it was a good investment. Okay, but they tell you what to invest in, when to invest, why to invest, which companies, upstream, midstream, downstream, services, what were you going to invest in? Oh, I don't know, I just thought to invest.
Don't be that person. Be a person that when you invest, you have a niyyah, you have an intention. Number two, you understand your projected earnings and your projected losses. And number three, you have a budget and a plan for sustaining that and allowing it to be built.
Closing Du'a
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ أن لا إلهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ وَجَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا
I'd be glad to field any questions. If Sheikh Nouman will allow me. Of course, all questions are $9.95 and every question after...