In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Hasan, the son of Abul-Hasan, entered upon Abdullah bin Ahtam, visiting him during his illness. He saw Ibn Ahtam point his finger toward a box in his house. He went to the box and asked Hasan, “O Abu Sa’eed, what would you say about one hundred thousand in this box, of which I have never paid Zakat and from which I have never joined ties of relations.” Hasan replied, “May your mother lose you. For whom were you gathering this wealth?” Ibn Ahtam explained, “I gathered it for difficult times, or the harshness of a cruel ruler, or for an increase in wives and children.”
Shortly after this meeting, Ibn Ahtam died and as he was being buried, Hasan said to those present, “Look at this pitiable person. Satan came to him, making him fear poverty and kept him from spending of that which Allah (the Exalted) gave to him. And now he has departed from this world, empty-handed and miserable.” Hasan then turned to the inheritors of the deceased and said, “Let not this wealth deceive you as it deceived this companion of yours. This wealth has come to you in a Halal manner, so do not let it be your destruction. For indeed the greatest sorrow on the Day of Judgment will be to see your wealth, which you toiled to gather (from both Halal and Haram sources), in the scales of your inheritors – if they do good with the money (charity, etc.), the good deed is with them, and the sin of that wealth is upon you.”
Gems and Jewels
Compiled by: Abdul-Malik Mujahid
Publisher: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam
ISBN: 9960-897-59-1
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