Photo: Collected
Almighty Allah says in the first verse of Surah Anfal, ‘(O Prophet!) People ask you about the spoils of war. Say, the authority (to decide on the matter) of the spoils of war belongs to Allah and the Messenger. So fear Allah and set right the relations among yourselves. And obey Allah and His Messenger, if you are true believers.’ (Surah: Anfal, Verse: 1)
The special beauty of the verse is this: the question was about anfal, or wealth, yet Allah gave the command to set mutual relations right.
What is a person’s greatest wealth?
Today’s world teaches people: save more money, increase more wealth. But Islam says: save relationships, protect the bonds of kinship, spend wealth to keep love alive. We stand today at a time when many are rich in wealth but poor in relationships.
Someone owns crores of taka, yet his father’s prayers are not in his fate. Someone has crores of taka in the bank, someone owns plot after plot of land, but his elderly mother silently sheds tears.
Think for a moment: if the father who taught one to walk holding one’s hand in childhood spends his days in old age waiting for his child, what is the value of that child’s wealth? If the mother who gave up her own sleep to raise her child is neglected in her last years, where is that child’s success?
The truth is, wealth gives a person affluence, but relationships give happiness. Wealth builds a house, and love builds a family.
Wealth can buy a bed, not peaceful sleep. Wealth can buy medicine, not a mother’s prayers.
So the question arises: one who has crores of taka but not the satisfaction of his parents, who has a big house but not the love of his brothers and sisters, who has land deeds but not the bonds of kinship; is he truly successful? Islam says a person’s greatest wealth is not his bank balance; rather it is his parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and the love in their hearts. For if money is lost it can be regained, but when a father is gone he does not return. When a mother is gone, no wealth in the world can bring her back. If a brother is lost, another brother cannot be bought even for crores of taka; if a sister is lost, no substitute for her is found in any market of the world. This is why the teaching of Islam is that relationships are more precious than wealth. Wealth is transient, relationships are priceless. Wealth is inheritance, and relationships are a special blessing of Allah.
A father cannot be bought with crores of taka
Let me ask a question: if the richest person in the world is told, give away all your wealth and I will return your dead mother to you; would he be able to? No bank, state, court, technology or science in the world can return a mother.
Then who was the real wealth: the money in the bank, or the mother? A mother cannot be bought for crores of taka, a father cannot be bought, brothers and sisters cannot be obtained. Paternal uncles, paternal aunts, maternal uncles and maternal aunts cannot be obtained either. Because these are not wealth.
These are such blessings given by Allah that have no market value. Islam has given so much importance to the ties of kinship (silatur rahim) that the command to preserve them has come again and again in the Quran and Hadith. The ties of kinship are linked with Allah’s mercy, and severing them has been strongly condemned.
Let us look at an example. The first person owns Tk 200 crore: a big business, countless plots of land, multi-storey buildings, luxury cars. But he has no father, no mother, no brother, no sister. On Eid day no one knocks on his door. When he is ill there is no one to place a hand on his head, no person to tell the news of his success. A lonely life.
The second person is an ordinary farmer. Money is little, the house is small. But his parents are alive, his brother is by his side, his sister prays for him. On Eid morning his mother waits, his father raises his hands and prays for his child. In danger his brother comes and stands by him, in hardship his sister weeps.
Now tell me, who is rich: the one who has money in the bank, or the one who has people to pray for him? Islam’s answer is clear.
A person’s real strength is not his wealth; it is his family, kinship and bonds of love. The Quran has commanded the preservation of the ties of kinship and has mentioned the severing of ties as a cause of social disaster.
So it can be said: one who has a mother is not poor; one who has a father is not destitute; one who has a brother is not alone; and one who has a sister has a heart to pray for him.
The astonishing declaration of Surah Anfal
The Battle of Badr is over. The Muslims have achieved one of the most glorious victories in history. Now the wealth of ghanimah came before them. The noble Companions wanted to know: whose is this wealth? Who will get how much? How will it be distributed? Allah the Exalted replied, ‘They ask you about the wealth of ghanimah. Say, the matter of ghanimah belongs to Allah and His Messenger. So fear Allah and keep the relations among yourselves right.’ (Surah: Anfal, Verse: 1)
Think deeply: the question was about wealth, but Allah’s first answer is not about wealth, it is about relationships. The question was: whose is the wealth? Allah said: set your relationships right.
The question was: who will get how much? Allah said: do not break your hearts.
The question was: what is the reckoning of the wealth? Allah said: preserve brotherhood.
It is as if Allah the Exalted is declaring: you are busy with the reckoning of wealth, and I am looking at the reckoning of relationships.
You are concerned about goods, I am concerned about hearts. You see the wealth piled up, I see the relationships broken.
The greatest lesson of the first verse of Surah Anfal is this: if you lose wealth you will lose something, but if you lose relationships you will lose everything. For wealth can be earned again, but if a brother is lost he cannot be bought again.
If a sister is lost she cannot be found again. When a father is gone, even all the wealth of the world cannot bring him back. When a mother is gone, even all the gold and silver of the world cannot equal one of her prayers. So the first call of the Quran is: relationships before wealth, hearts before reckoning, brotherhood before rights, kinship before wealth. This is the astonishing lesson of Surah Anfal, this is the civilisation of Islam: a civilisation not of wealth, but of relationships.
Writer: Mudarris, Jamia Rahmania Arabia, and Principal, Madrasatul Quran Lilbanat
