HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? What is “the Excess”?

Here we must take a pause and ponder upon the question “How much is enough”. How much should I be earning? We cannot give a specific quantity to how much we should earn to be in the category of the upper hand as referred to in the hadith we discussed earlier by Abdullah Ibn Umar who reported that the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH) said

“The upper hand is better than the lower hand, the upper hand is the one that gives, and the lower hand is the one that takes.”

Source Sahih Al- Buhkari 1429, Sahih Muslim 1033

Why can we not give a specific amount to “how much is enough”,  because each individual is in different circumstances and has different parameters to work with. The coordinate point is different for each person on the Wealth Map, only you yourself can determine your coordinate points. In Surah Baqarah Ayah 219 Allah (swt) says:

Pay attention to the middle of the ayah where Allah (swt) says “And they ask you what they should spend. Say “the excess (Beyond needs).

So, each person should individually decide on what is considered as ‘Needs:  and what is considered “The excess”

Being financially secure does not mean having a lavish lifestyle, but instead a lifestyle where you have enough for yourself and are able to support the needy in the society. There is no methodology through which someone else can measure what is enough for another person. This is something where one has to use one’s own judgment within the guidelines mapped out by our Deen. So there are guidelines that can guide us and by using estimates we can determine our own coordination point on the wealth map.

It is not in our control?

Know for a fact that being dependent on the society is not something under anyone’s control, this is the Qadr of Allah, and this is how the society functions. Not everyone is financially on an equal scale but imagine if everyone depended on the society for their needs, then how would the society work, how would there be circulation of wealth to keep the society functioning. Allah has through HIS divine wisdom provided us many tools to keep the circulation of money, we will discuss these tools later.

Of course we question our mind, we wonder how much should we strive to be independent and become the upper hand as referred to in the hadith above. We reflect for a moment on the lives of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them all), many Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them all) were very well off and gave financial strength to the newly emerging Islamic society, Abu Bakr (ra), Uthman bin Affan (ra), Abdur Rahman bin Auf (ra) they all supported those in need, they were also the ones given the glad tidings of Jannah. Even though Allah had blessed them with wealth they never lost sight of the hereafter and all their efforts were only to please Allah (swt).

When we talk about being financially secure, we cannot forget to mention our mother of the believers Khadija bint Khuwaylid (ra), the wife of the Prophet (pbuh). She was a successful merchant/ businesswoman, she would hire trustworthy tradesman to carry out her trade. She supported the weak and those who did not have anything, her home was famous in Makkah for the needy where they were sure to receive assistance.

These examples of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) are our guiding star through the financial journey.

As mentioned earlier, each person must decide and be the Judge as to how much is enough for them since everyone lives in different circumstances, so where do we begin our journey. To start off we can develop a Budget which will require an audit of the previous years and forecast for the coming years.

To learn how to do this wait for our next Post:

 Want to Be Notified, Please Subscribe at the end of this page.