Poverty, Wealth and Faith
If we consider all statements about poverty and wealth in Islamic text together, we would have a more accurate understanding of the issue.
Sometimes it is asked which one is valuable according to Islam: wealth or poverty. A study of Islamic texts shows that answering this question is not that easy.
Poverty and wealth have not been portrayed as two completely concrete phenomena that are separated from mentalities. In Islamic texts, the two have been introduced as phenomena related to mankind and his historical dimension. The value of a poor or wealthy human being depends on the conditions he is in.
Islam’s view on this issue is an ontological one that is dependent on conditions and context. For example the person who is poor or wealthy. Or is this poverty and wealth related to this world or the next? And thirdly, is this poverty and wealth something sought or something materialized?
When we look at poverty as a this-worldly issue, we see that poverty can create conditions in which one may go astray from the path of the truth more easily. So in this sense, poverty is a bad thing. That is exactly why no one who wants to have better a situation in the world should ever pray for poverty.
On the other hand, when poverty is considered as something that has been reached actuality in someone, if that person can maintain his faith and ultimately die with his faith intact, he would have a high status in the Hereafter.
According to Islamic texts, the wealthy who take their faith to the Hereafter have a lower status compared to the poor who have maintained their faith. In some Hadiths, it has been said that these wealthy persons are among the last to enter paradise.
Another point is that being wealthy is less likely to create grounds for going astray than being poor. Although this is not always the case as the Quran says, “Indeed, surely the human is very insolent, that he sees himself sufficed.”
There is also the issue of Kifaf, about which little is usually said. Kifaf is a situation in which what one earns and his needs are equal. Islamic reports show that the best think one can pray for is Kifaf. That is to say, poverty should never be sought. Wealth is good to ask for, but better than that is Kifaf which will guarantee one’s faith the most.
