Asceticism isn’t Equal to Poverty
Rich, but ascetic
وسئل الإمام أحمد عن الرجل يكون معه ألف دينار وهل يكون زاهدا قال نعم بشرط أن لا يفرح إذا زادت ولا يحزن إذا نقصت
One day, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was asked about a man who has 1000 dinars [1 dinar = 4,25 gr of gold], could he still be an ascetic man?
He replied, “Yes, he could, with two conditions, that he wasn’t joyous when his wealth increased, nor that he grieved when his wealth decreased.” (See: “Uddah ash Shabirin” by Ibn al Qoyyim page 226].
Sometimes we could find a man who has plenty of wealth, but at the time his wealth decreased, he wasn’t affected at all, he still could enjoy his food and his sleep as if there were no problems. In the contrary, at the time his wealth increased, he wasn’t joyous because of it. The ups and downs of his wealth amount were just the same for him, because his eyes were set on the Hereafter life. He merely held the wealth in his hands to use it in advantageous matters for his Hereafter life.
This is an important matter that many people didn’t understand about. Many of them assumed that being ascetic means that a person should abandon his wealth and worldly pleasures that could benefit him in the Hereafter.
One day, al Hasan al Bashr got questioned, “What is an ascetic man?”
He replied, “An ascetic man is a person who, when he met another person, would say in his heart that that other man is better than himself.” (Mentioned by Baihaqi in his work, “Syuabul Iman 6/301).
This is a valuable insight delivered by al Hasan al Bashr. An ascetic man is the one who, at the time he meets another muslim, would assume that that person is better than himself in Allah’s side. It means that he doesn’t care about the world, feels humiliated at the side of Allah and is not arrogant towards others. This condition could only happened to someone whom Allah bestowed upon him graces thus he fills his heart with a longing for the Hereafter and avoids any dependency to the world.
We could conclude that asceticism is not equal to poverty, nor that it means that one must abandon his wealth. The true asceticism lies within one’s heart, by its dependency to the Hereafter and deterrence to the worldly matters. An ascetic man would place the world in his hand, not his heart. Thus all of his activities are intended to obtain benefits in the Hereafter.
When he indulged in business, he would use it to support goodness and affairs that were proven to be beneficial in the Hereafter.
Reference: “Syarh Arbain Nawawiyyah” by Shaikh Shalih alu Syaikh page 435-436, published by Dar Ashimah Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, first edition, 1431 H.
Author: Ust. Aris Munandar, S.S., M.PI
Article of www.WhatisQuran.com