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Islam and Greediness

  • Every religion of the world, especially Islam condems greed and warns its followers to run away from it. Due to the fact that all the atrocities and problems we witness in the world today are primarily caused by excessive greed. However, a greedy person is never satisfied. Once he satisfies his greed for a particular thing;then ,he grows new greed for another thing. Thus he remains unsatisfied till his last breath.

Meaning

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  • Greediness according to the Oxford Dictionary simply means being excessively or inordinately desirous of wealth, profit, etc.
  • Meanwhile, In Islamic point of view, greed is any condition which makes man dissatisfied with whatever he possesses and makes him yearn for yet more. Greed is one of the most destructive vices, and is not limited to worldly possessions. Rather, it covers other desires of mankind like food, sex and similar things.[1]

Signs of Greediness

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Greediness appears in various ways, but the most common signs are:

  • Excessive or uncontrolled desire for possession or pursuit of money [2]
  • Insatiable and intemperate desire for more and more wealth. [Quran 102:1-2]
  • Greed is a permanent slavery. [3]
  • The greedy man will never becomes rich (whether spiritually or materially) [3]
  • A greedy man is bound by disgrace.[3]
  • A greedy man will always humiliate and lower himself before the wealthy and powerful people.[3]
  • There is a perpetual feeling of being poor, even if he own the whole world as a property. [2]
  • A greedy man has great fears about his future and seeks to accumulate endless wealth in preparation for it. He is so afraid that he sacrifices his today for tomorrow. But, the morrow never comes. [2]

Causes of Greediness

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  • The root cause of greed is described as a psychological addiction to material possessions. [4]
  • Fear of Poverty and future occurrences. [5]


  • Material inclination arises from uncontrollable greed. [6]
  • Excessively greedy individuals derived their main feeling of pleasure from the accumulation of money and material possessions. For the greediest individuals, there is no endpoint to the gathering of wealth, and no set amount of money can ever be satisfactory. Gaining wealth creates a release of dopamine in the brain, causing these individuals to relentlessly desire more money and more possessions. [4]

Greediness in the light of Quran

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  • Allah, the Most Wise, has warned against the dangers of greed in several verses of His noble Book. Some of those verses are:
  1. “Abundance diverts you, until you come to the graves”.[7]
  2. “Surely man is created of a greedy temperament being; greatly grieved when evil afflicts him, and niggardly when good befalls him, except those who pray….”.[8]
  3. “And yet he desires that I should add more”.[9]
  4. “And you love wealth with exceeding love”.[10]
  5. “And verily, he is violent in the love of wealth”.[11]
  6. “Surely man is created of a hasty temperament”. [8]

Greediness in the light of Hadith

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In the same vein, greed has been condemned and discouraged in Hadiths, here we shall mention some of these traditions:

  • The Messenger of Allah in this regard said: “(As) man becomes old, two attributes in him turn young - greed and lofty aspirations”. [12]
  • Imam Ali also said as follows: “Greed is a motive for evil”.[13]
  • He also said:“He who adopts greed as a habit devalues himself; he who discloses his hardship agrees to humiliation; and he who allows his tongue to overpower his soul debases the soul”. [3]
  • In another tradition , he was quoted to have said: “One whose greed increases, his wretchedness (also) increases”.[13]
  • Imam Abu Ja'far al-Baqir said: “The greedy man in his love of the world is like the silk-worm: the more it wraps itself in its cocoon the less chance it has of escaping from it, until finally it dies of grief.” [1]
  • Talhah ibn Zayd, from Abu ‘Abdallah, Imam al-Sadiq reported to have been said: “The example of the world is that of sea water; the more a thirsty person drinks from it, the thirstier he becomes until it kills him”. [14]
  • Imam Hasan Mujtaba said: “The annihilation of people lies in three things: Arrogance, Greed and Envy. Arrogance causes destruction of the religion and because of it Shaitan (Satan) was cursed, and greed is the enemy of one’s soul, and because of it Adam was expelled from Paradise, and envy is the guide to wickedness, and because of it Qabil (Cain) killed Habil (Abel) - the two sons of Prophet Adam”.(www.ezsoftech.com/stories/mis13.asp)

Consequences of Greediness

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  • The Messenger of Allah explained the afflictions and calamities which arise from greediness. He said: “A greedy person faces seven acute problems:
  1. Worrying, which harms his body and is disadvantageous to him;
  2. Depression, which is endless;
  3. Exhaustion, from which death is the only relief-and with that relief the greed shall be more exhausted;
  4. Fear, which uselessly disturbs his life;
  5. Sadness, which uselessly disturbs his life;
  6. Judgment, which does not save him from Allah’s torture unless Allah forgives him;
  7. Punishment, from which there is no escape or avoidance.” [15]
  • Greediness commands people to stingy, alienation and sins. [16]
  • Greediness brings about other vices. [17]
  • Greediness brings about worry and Fear for future. [18]
  • Greediness pollutes the soul,corrupts religion and destroys youthfulness.” [6]
  • Greediness devalues human dignity. [19]
  • A greedy heart is always attached to Unremitted sadness, unfulfilled desire, and unachievable hope. [20]
  • On the authority of Hafs ibn Qurt, Abu ‘Abd Allah is reported to have said: “The greater one’s involvement with the world is, the greater shall be his regret at the time of parting from it”. [14]
  • According to Dr. S. M. Caughaust said: “Stealing stems from greed. Thieves steal that which they do not own because they covet it. He who steals a pair of socks from a merchant, or a bicycle entrusted to him, only does so because of the influence of covetousness to possess things. Thus, the thieves motive for stealing is covetousness”. [6]
  • In other quotation ,Dr. Mardin also said: “Certain thoughts which arise from greed, covetousness, and all other psychological reactions not only adversely affect the body but also the soul. They, therefore, deprive us of a good living and change the path of harmonious living. Greed and covetousness destroy all natural human traits in us". [6]

Remedies

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The follows are recommended remadies for this dangerous psychological and spiritual disease:

  1. We must always strive in improving our religious beliefs (i.e. the five principles of Iman [faith]) on a daily basis, because moral maladies usually result from weakness in faith. [1]
  2. We must believe that Allah Alone is the Provider. [21], [22]
  3. We must struggle and fight! against our desires and lusts, and we must strive in the attainment of good temper and moral excellence[Quran 29:6],[23]
  4. We should train ourselves to be moderate in living, spending and earning.[24]
  5. We should be humble in our struggle for life, not be lazy or greedy. [24]
  6. We should be know with certainty that we cannot achieve all of our desire in this life and cannot exceed our destiny. [25]
  7. We should be seeking for Spiritual help through prayers and Patience.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Muhammad Mahdi Ibn Abi Dharr al-Naraqi. Jami'al Sa'adat(The Collector of Felicities. Islamic Propagation Organization.
  2. ^ a b c http://http://www.ezsoftech.com/stories/mis13.asp
  3. ^ a b c d e Muhammad Ibn Al-Husayn Sharif Al-Radi (1984). Nahjul Balagha. Tahrike Tarsile Quran. ISBN 9780940368422.
  4. ^ a b https://www.reference.com/ world-view /causes-greed-fb33eedf366efe34//
  5. ^ Nadzri, Farah Aida Ahmad, Rashidah AbdrRahman, and Normah Omar (2012). "Zakat and Poverty Alleviation: Roles of Zakat Institutions in Malaysia.". International Journal of Arts and Commerce.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b c d Sayyed Mujtaba Musavi Lari (2005). Youth and Morals. Foundation of Islamic C.P.W. ISBN 964-5817-21-8.
  7. ^ Quran 102:1-2
  8. ^ a b Quran 70:19
  9. ^ Quran 74:15
  10. ^ Quran 89:19
  11. ^ Quran 100:8
  12. ^ Sayyid Ali Akbar Sadaaqat (2014). Anecdotes for Reflection. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781312496347.
  13. ^ a b Ali Ibn Abi Talib (2012). id=XAb6ZH5xjH8C&pg=PA88 Exalted Aphorism and Pearls of speech. Ansariyan. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing pipe in: |url= (help)
  14. ^ a b Thiqatu Al-Islam Abu Jafar Al-Kulayni (2015). Al-Kafi,English translation. Islamic Seminary Incorporated. ISBN 9780991430888.
  15. ^ Mustadrak al-Wasa'il, p. 435.
  16. ^ Hui, Lim Kim, and Wai-Mun Har. "'Political Volcano'in 12th Malaysian General Election: Makkal Sakhti (People Power) Against Communal Politics,'3Cs' and Marginalization of Malaysian Indian.".{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Hussaini,Hamza Abubakar. "Morality in Islam: A solution to Nigeria Political corruption.".
  18. ^ Shefrin, Hersh. Beyond greed and fear: Understanding behavioral finance and the psychology of investing.
  19. ^ United States (2002). U.S.News and world report. U.S. News publishing corporation.
  20. ^ Ahamed, Zaherali K (2013). The Spirit and Insights of the Axial Flowerings: A Paradigm for Conflict Resolution?. Diss. George Mason University.
  21. ^ Quran 51:58
  22. ^ Quran 35:3
  23. ^ Nahjul-Fasaha, p. 230.
  24. ^ a b http://https://www.al-islam.org/ahlul-bayt-ethical-role-models-sayyid-mahdi-sadr
  25. ^ Muhammad Ibn Al-Husayn Sharif al-Radi. Nahjul-Balagha. Tahrike Tarsile Quran. ISBN 9780940368422.
  26. ^ Quran 2:153
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