# Is it wrong to want to be rich?

*Is it wrong to want to be rich? Wealth in the hands, not in the heart*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/umpepyisc_g/s/1/
- Date: 2021-07-04 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Feeling bad about wanting to be rich? #Shorts (0:00–0:59)
- Status: latest answer on its topic; general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umPepYIsc_g&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/umpepyisc_g/

**Topics:** Money and finance; Motivation and purpose

**Question as asked:** Is it wrong to want to be rich, or to pursue becoming a millionaire, or to have an incredibly lucrative business?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Wanting to be rich or to build a lucrative business is not wrong in Islam. The balance is to hold wealth in your hands and not in your heart, keeping your purpose.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says there is nothing wrong in Islam with wanting to be rich or to have a lucrative business, so long as wealth is held in one's hands and not in one's heart and one keeps a purpose.

**Evidence, his words at 0:00:** “There's nothing wrong with these things in Islam. Allah is Al-Razzaq, yarzuqu man yasha. Set these dreams, become these things.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umPepYIsc_g&t=0s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth raises a question people ask him: is it wrong to want to be rich, to become a millionaire or to run a very lucrative business? He says there is nothing wrong with these things in Islam, since Allah is al-Razzaq and provides for whom He wills, and that a person with wealth can do many good things and help many people. The defining point, he says, is purpose, and he shares a dua he attributes to the Prophet in a hadith: O Allah, place the dunya in our hands and do not place it in our hearts. He calls this the perfect balance: having the resources while keeping one's purpose.

## Sources and names cited

- al-Razzaq (the Provider)
- report: allahumma ijal al-dunya fi aydina wa la tajalha fi qulubina
- dua
- dunya

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–0:59)

[0:00] People ask, is it wrong to want to be rich, or to pursue, to become a millionaire, or have an incredibly lucrative business? There's nothing wrong with these things in Islam. Allah is Al-Razzaq, yarzuqu man yasha. Set these dreams, become these things. And there's so many amazing things a person can do if they have wealth.

[0:24] There's so many people you can help. But here's the defining point in purpose. And there's a beautiful dua I'm going to share this with you. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said in a hadith, Allahumma ja'al id-dunya fi aydina. Oh Allah, place the dunya in our hands. Allahu Akbar. Wa la taj'alha fi qulubina. But just don't place it in our hearts. And that is the perfect balance right there.

[0:52] That you have the you have the resources, but you have purpose.

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment umPepYIsc_g/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/umpepyisc_g/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.