To invoke God's protection for beloved things such as children, cars, and homes, believers should say MAA SHAA ALLAH, meaning this is God's gift.1
Khalifa reads Sura 16 as teaching that a rich believer is better than a poor believer, since both believe equally but the rich one can give to charity and spread God's word.1, 2, 3, 4
God controls every blood cell in your body and decides how much sickness, health, and money you get, and money is not always good for you.1, 2, 3
Disbelievers cannot be helped against God by their money or children, and they will be defeated and gathered in Hell.1, 2, 3
Disbelievers who seem rich and happy are not truly happy, because God makes their money and children a source of misery for them, and they die as disbelievers.1, 2, 3
Money, power, and fame do not guarantee happiness; all happiness and dignity are in God's hands.1, 2, 3
Loving anything too much invites a test from God; if a thing such as a baby keeps a person from Quranic study or prayer, that love is too much.1, 2, 3, 4
God chooses whom He wills for kingship and missions, and His criterion for distinguishing people is righteousness, not material wealth.1, 2, 3
Being poor means needing more, no matter how many millions a person has, and being rich means being content and happy with what one has, no matter how little.1, 2, 3
People will return to God and be questioned about their usury, their hoarding, and their excess wealth.1, 2, 3, 4
A rich believer has a better chance to give charity, help others, and fund things like publishing the Quran.1
The rich believer is better than the poor believer because God said so, though being a rich believer is harder and carries more responsibility, as Solomon's distraction by his horses shows.1, 2, 3, 4
It is perfectly all right to take a loan and pay interest on it to invest in a project that will grow your money, since a rich believer is better than a weak and poor believer.1, 2, 3
A rich believer is better than a poor believer, not in faith but because he can give to charity and further the cause of God.1, 2, 3
Do not be impressed by disbelievers' money and children, for God makes them a source of misery, and they leave the world as disbelievers.1, 2, 3
Spouses, children, property, and the ego can distract a person from God, for example by giving more attention to children than to God.1, 2, 3, 4
Material success does not bring happiness.1
Giving zakat purifies one's income, since about two and a half percent of earnings is likely illicit.1, 2
Fame and fortune do not feed the soul, and a person who serves only the body's desires neglects himself and his soul does not grow.1, 2, 3
God commands the believers not to be distracted by their money and children from remembering God.1, 2
Spouses and children can become your enemies by preoccupying you, and they are a test because you become attached to them.1, 2, 3, 4
Sura 7:190 describes a couple who prayed for a healthy baby and then made the baby their god by giving it more attention than God.1, 2
Your job, your spouse, or your money becomes your god if it preoccupies you more than God does.1, 2, 3
Idol worship can be subtle, such as idolizing money, family, children, or the ego; giving priority to anything over God or thinking another can benefit or harm us is idol worship.1, 2
Money is one of the greatest tests of faith, and God tests people through wealth, debt, blessings, problems, and requests to give to charity.1, 2
God sends provision precisely measured, and money He provides is not random but has a purpose.1, 2
People are responsible for the worldly blessings God gives them, the more they have the more they are responsible, and the wealthy shall be charitable to relatives, the poor, and immigrants.1, 2
Charity converts worldly money into spiritual capital for the Hereafter, and Zakat means purification, so money is a tool to work toward the Hereafter, not a possession to cherish.1, 2, 3
Money cannot buy access to Heaven, and those who die as disbelievers could not ransom themselves even with an earthful of gold.1, 2
Spouses, children, and money can be enemies and are a test that should not pull us from God, and we should pardon and forgive.1, 2
The rich should not be haughty or trust in uncertain riches but trust God, do good, and be ready to give and share.1
Our money and our children are a test from God.1
To invoke God's protection for beloved things such as children, cars, and homes, believers are enjoined to say This is God's gift, MAA SHAA ALLAH.1
Some money is essential for basic needs, but having more than we need does not necessarily make us happier, and material things eventually stop providing happiness.1, 2
Many of the problems people face today come partly from greed, dishonesty, arrogance, and exploiting the weak, which amount to setting up material wealth as a god besides God.1, 2
Money in itself is not bad; what gets people into trouble is idolizing it, greed, and the violation of God's laws that follows.1
Once money becomes an idol, people try to draw near it by hoarding, and they may backbite and slander others to get ahead.1, 2
Unlike Qaroon, Solomon kept God first in his mind rather than money, and the rich believer uses money in God's way instead of idolizing it.1, 2