Al-Irshad ila Sahih al-Itiqad - Salih Al-Fawzan - (125)

Al-Irshad ila Sahih al-ItiqadSalih Al-Fawzan

‘May he be ruined and relapse; and if he is pricked by a thorn, may he find no one to remove it.’ This is the condition of one who, when some misfortune strikes him, never manages to extricate himself or prosper; having been ruined and overturned, he attains neither what he seeks nor deliverance from what he dreads. Such is the state of the worshipper of wealth. The Prophet ﷺ depicted him thus: if he is given something he is pleased, but if he is denied he becomes resentful—exactly as the Most High said: “And among them are those who criticize you concerning the distribution of charity: if they are given a share of it they are satisfied, but if they are not given any, they grow resentful.”1 Their pleasure is not for Allah’s sake, nor is their displeasure for Allah’s sake.

The same applies to anyone whose heart is attached to power, outward appearance, or any other whim of the soul: if he attains it he is pleased, and if he does not he is resentful. He is therefore a slave to whatever he covets, held in bondage to it, for true bondage and servitude reside in the heart; whatever captivates and enslaves the heart becomes its master.…

He went on to say: Likewise, the one who pursues money finds that it enslaves and subjugates him. Such matters fall into two categories.

First: what the servant genuinely needs—his food and drink, spouse, lodging, and the like. These he should ask of Allah and turn to Him for; money, then, is simply a tool he employs for his needs, like the mount he rides or the carpet on which he sits, without enslaving him so that he becomes frantic and grasping.

Second: what the servant does not actually need. His heart should not be attached to it; should he attach his heart, he becomes its slave. He may even become enslaved to something other than Allah, so that true servitude to Allah and genuine reliance upon Him no longer remain with him. Instead, one strand of his worship is directed to other than Allah and one strand of his reliance is placed on other than Allah. Such a person is most deserving of the Prophet’s words: “Ruined is the slave of the dinar, ruined is the slave of the dirham, ruined is the slave of the fine cloak, ruined is the slave of the plush robe.” He is indeed a slave to these things; even if he were to ask them of Allah, he would still be pleased when Allah gave them and displeased when He withheld them. Only the true servant of Allah is the one whose pleasure aligns with what pleases Allah and whose anger aligns with what angers

(1) Surah at-Tawbah, verse 58.

قوله: "تعس وانتكس، وإذا شيك؛ فلا انتقش"، وهذا حال من إذا أصابه شر؛ لم يخرج منه، ولم يفلح؛ لكونه تعس وانتكس؛ فلا نال المطلوب، ولا خلص من المكروه، وهذه حال من عبد المال، وقد وصف ذلك بأنه: إن أعطى رضي، وإن منع سخط؛ كما قال تعالى: ﴿وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَلْمِزُكَ فِي الصَّدَقَاتِ فَإِنْ أُعْطُوا مِنْهَا رَضُوا وَإِنْ لَمْ يُعْطَوْا مِنْهَا إِذَا هُمْ يَسْخَطُونَ﴾ ١، رضاهم لغير الله، وسخطهم لغير الله، وهكذا حال من كان متعلقاً برئاسة أو صورة ونحو ذلك من أهواء نفسه، إن حصل له؛ رضي، وإن لم يحصل له؛ سخط؛ فهذا عبد ما يهواه من ذلك، وهو رقيق له؛ إذ الرق والعبودية في الحقيقة هو رق القلب وعبوديته؛ فما استرق القلب واستعبده؛ فهو عبده ... ". إلى أن قال: "وهكذا طالب المال؛ فإن ذلك يستعبده ويسترقه، وهذه الأمور نوعان: الأول: منها ما يحتاج العبد إلى طعامه وشرابه ومنكحه ومسكنه ونحو ذلك؛ فهذا يطلب من الله، ويرغب إليه فيه، فيكون المال عنده يستعمله في حاجته بمنزلة حماله الذي يركبه وبساطه الذي يجلس عليه من غير أن يستعبده فيكون هلوعا. الثاني: ومنها ما لا يحتاج إليه العبد؛ فهذا ينبغي أن لا يعلق قلبه به، فإذا علق قلبه؛ صار مستعبداً له، وربما صار مستعبدًا على غير الله؛ فلا يبقى معه حقيقة العبودية لله، ولا حقيقة التوكل عليه، بل فيه شعبة من العبادة لغير الله، وشعبة من التوكل على غير الله، وهذا أحق الناس بقوله ﷺ: "تعس عبد الدينار، تعس عبد الدرهم، تعس عبد الخميصة، تعس عبد الخميلة"، وهذا عبد لهذه الأمور، ولو طلبها من الله؛ فإن الله إذا أعطاه إياها؛ رضي، وإن منعه إياها؛ سخط وإنما عبد الله من يرضيه ما يرضي الله، ويسخطه ما يسخط

١ سورة التوبة، الآية ٥٨.