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