He Didn’t Fear for us Poverty but he Feared for us Wealth and Ingratitude

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It was narrated that ‘Amr ibn ‘Awf (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “By the One whose Hand is my soul, it is not poverty that I fear for you, rather what I fear for you is that worldly riches may be given to you as they were given to those who came before you, and you will compete for them with one another as they competed with one another, and you will be destroyed as they were destroyed.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2988) and Muslim (2961)

Shaykh Abd al-Kareem ibn Abd Allaah al-Khudayr [May Allaah Preserve him] said about this hadeeth;

If we look at the situation of the people today then we will realize that our relationship with wealth and money has never been seen before from the generation before us. This is because the treasures of the earth have been opened for us and Allaah has given us wealth that he hasn’t given to those before us but despite poverty is still present. If you read and study about the history of the Muslims, even if we look at the state of those in Baghdad before us then we will realize that these luxuries that we have in our lives today wasn’t given to those before us, including that of the black gold [oil]. If we look at Spain before us, you will find that the worldly luxuries were poured over them;

“And few of My servants are grateful” [Surah Saba’ 34:13]

They built palaces in Spain with parts of it made from gold, but if we look at their end, they were overcome by the Christians. They ridded of the Muslims, they killed them, took their place, used them as workers, they insulted their women and children because the luxuries they had wasn’t met with gratitude and thanksgiving to Allaah. So the conclusion was theirs;

“And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My Punishment is severe.” [Surah Ibraaheem 14: 7]

The meaning here is not to do acts of disbelief, rather it means to deny the luxuries and favours upon you by not giving thanks. Taken from Sharh Muqadimmah Ibn Maajah, Tape 2.