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Wealth in Islam

المال في الإسلام

Al-Bahi holds that wealth is necessary to human life and that the drive to acquire it is innate, so banning private ownership is unnatural (p. 27). Wealth also carries temptation, so the believer guards the means of getting and growing it (p. 28). God is the true owner and the human a steward (pp. 69-70); spending for God's cause means the public interest (pp. 37-38). Zakat, public spending, inheritance division and the prohibition of riba are, in his account, the means that stop wealth piling up (p. 138). This is the author's own reading, presented as his view.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
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Trade and finance

Overview

Muhammad al-Bahi argues in al-Islam Fitrat Allah that wealth is necessary to human life and that seeking and owning it belongs to the fitra — so banning private property outright is no natural course 1. Yet wealth carries temptation and trial: the Muslim takes care in how he earns and grows it, avoiding what harms him and others 2. The first principle: real ownership is God's, man is His trustee — bound by God's limits in acquiring and spending, giving freely in His path 3 4, and God's path is the public good of the community.

Connections

Explore the connections

Has part
Economy and balance in the Qur'an· Islamic inheritance system· Taxation in Islam· Zakat (alms tax)

People and things also explored

Legitimate saving (al-iddikhar al-mashru)· Extravagance and waste (israf)· The cooperative society (al-jamiyya al-taawuniyya)· The economic enterprise (al-mashru al-iqtisadi)· Popular enterprise (al-mashru al-shabi)· Public ownership (al-milkiyya al-amma)· Natural and unnatural economic activity· Unnatural activity: intermediation and extraction

Sources

  1. Islam, God's Fitra — Muhammad al-Bahi , p. 27
  2. Islam, God's Fitra — Muhammad al-Bahi , p. 28
  3. Islam, God's Fitra — Muhammad al-Bahi , p. 69
  4. Islam, God's Fitra — Muhammad al-Bahi , p. 70
  • The Qur'anic Method in Economics — Ziyadan Abd al-Fattah Qa'dat
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Wealth in Islam”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/wealth-in-islam/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Legitimate saving (al-iddikhar al-mashru)