The life of a Muslim is always combined with hardships and injustice. Therefore, you should believe that the Exalted Lord predetermined your sustenance when you were an embryo in your beloved mother’s womb.
There are many people who think that if they hold fast to their religion (Islam) and carry out its commandments, they will never be successful and prosper. This is an evil thought and misconception about their Lord and religion. May Allah protect us from such evil beliefs.
There are various and numerous ways that are a means for increasing our sustenance. Such means cannot be fulfilled or happen to any of us with weak faith in Allah (SWT). As Muslims, we all should have a strong and firm faith in our Lord, His beloved Prophet (PBUH), in the text that is in the Book of Allah and Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) and the promises that made by Allah and His Messenger (PBUH).
Among the many ways that increase our wealth and sustenance are the following 7 best:
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Asking Allah’s forgiveness:
Allah (SWT) says:
“I said (to them): ‘Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving; He will send rain to you in abundance; and give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.” (Nuh 71:10-12).
Obviously, if we repent to Allah, seek His forgiveness and obey Him, He will increase our provisions for us and provide us with water from the blessings of the sky. He will cause the blessings of the earth and crops to grow for us and increase our livestock animals for us and give us more wealth, children, and gardens with various types of fruits. He will cause rivers to flow among these gardens. To make it possible we truly need to repent to Him and seek His forgiveness.
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Keeping the ties of kinship:
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Whoever is pleased that he be granted more wealth and that his lease of life is prolonged, then he should keep good relations with his kith and kin.” (Al-Bukhari 5985).
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Worshipping Allah (SWT):
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Indeed Allah, Most High, said: ‘O son of Adam! Devote yourself to My worship, I will fill your chest with riches and alleviate your poverty. And if you do not do so, then I will fill your hands with problems and not alleviate your poverty.” (At-Tirmidhi: 2466).
If a person engages himself in worshipping his Lord and in fulfilling of His commands, Allah grants him contentment and exemption from wants and drives poverty and need away from him.
In case the person is heedless of Allah’s commands and neglects His worship, Allah deprives him of the wealth of contentment and fills the heart with materialism and greed, and robs him of the tranquility and peace of mind. Moreover, a Muslim should give great importance to daily worship.
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Putting trust in Allah:
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
“If you were to rely upon Allah with the required reliance, then He would provide for you just as the bird is provided for, it goes out in the morning empty, and returns full.” (At-Tirmidhi 2344).
Putting trust in Allah (SWT) does not mean that one should set at home aimlessly, he should engage himself earning his livelihood through lawful means, and then leave the result to Allah. This is exactly what the birds do. They go out of their nests early in the morning in search of food and pick it from wherever they possibly can and, at the end of the day, return to their nests with their bellies full of food. They never sit in their nests waiting for their foods and drinks to drop from the heaven.
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Performing Hajj and Umrah consecutively:
In common, people only understand that performing Hajj or Umrah expiates and removes sins, but it is also considered as spending in the way of Allah. Hence, they flourish one’s wealth and he gets rid of poverty and neediness.
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Alternate between Hajj and Umrah; for these two remove poverty and sins just as the bellows removes filth from iron, gold, and silver.” (At-Tirmidhi 810).
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Spending money in Allah’s way:
Whatever we spend in the ways that Allah (SWT) has commanded and permitted us, He will compensate us for it in this world by giving us something else instead and in the Hereafter by giving us rewards.
Allah (SWT) says:
“And whatsoever you spend of anything (in Allah’s Cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers.” (Saba 34:39).
And the Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Allah said: ‘O son of Adam! Spend, and I shall spend on you.’” (Al-Bukhari 5352).
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Being kind and charitable to the needy Muslims:
Allah, the highest and Exalted, wishes to provide subsistence to those weak and feeble folks and desires to do well to them. But since they are dependent on us in some ways, Allah (SWT) also provides subsistence to us in order to provide subsistence to them.
The Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Seek your weak for me. For indeed your sustenance and aid is only by your weak.” (At-Tirmidhi 1702).
Weak and downtrodden are those that, although less privileged in material prosperity and worldly glory, are honorable to Allah, thanks to the strength of their faith and the purity of their hearts. When they pray, they pray with full sincerity for the victory of the believers.
Allah, therefore, accepts their sincere petitions and devoted supplications and grants victory to the Muslims that bring in its wake the spoils of war, which has been made the sustenance of the believers.
The above-mentioned ways are the easy ones that one can fulfill them. Carrying them out in our daily life can bring success and prosperity both in this worldly life and in the Hereafter.
