He was asked:
About a “Sufi” man who, during a conversation, said to someone, “The poor of the marketplaces.” The man replied, “Jews, Christians, and Muslims are in the marketplace. Allah Most High says: ‘And weigh with an even balance.’”
The “Sufi” said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Poverty is dependence on Allah; the allies of Allah depend on how their lives end; and the wretched are subject to the divine decree.’”
The Sufi asked the man, “Do you know what poverty is?”
“No,” he replied.
The Sufi said, “Poverty is Allah.” They objected to this statement.
The following day, a man said, “You said, ‘Poverty is Allah.’” The Sufi replied, “I read in a book that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Whoever saw me believed in me.’ I have seen poverty and believed in it, and poverty is Allah.”
He answered:
All praise is due to Allah. As for the hadith, it is a lie attributed to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Besides being a lie, it contradicts reason and religion, for not everyone who saw him believed in him. Indeed, many unbelievers and hypocrites saw him.
To say, “I believe in poverty,” or “I disbelieve in poverty,” is false speech; rather, it is