Note: This is the 5th post in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.
In our last post, we talked about how the human race does taghaa if they see themselves as self-sufficient. Living in western societies, we see this all around us–people racing, fighting, stealing, overworking, to make a few more dollars so that they can “make it.” They buy lottery tickets so they can “make it” and be rich, rich rich!
Did you know, the Prophet Dawud (alayhi salaam) used to make du’a:
اللهمّا أعوذُ بِكَ مِن غُنَن يُطغِي و فِقرٍ يُنسِي
Allahumma a’oothu bika min ghunan yutghee wa fiqrin yunsee
Translation: O Allah, I seek refuge in you from wealth that makes one tyrannical, and poverty that makes one forget. [Recorded in Kitaab ad Du'a by Abdullah ibn Abu Shaybah]
What does this du’a mean? Ghunan yutghee means wealth that makes one tyrannical–because if humans see themselves as self-sufficient, this is what happens!
And “poverty that makes one forget?” If you’ve ever seen people in a bad financial position, struggling to overcome debts, credit-card payments, interest loans, sometimes out of the pressure of the moment, they forget ALL of Allah’s favours on them, and it makes them into a tyrant.
Action Items:
- Memorize this du’a. It’s very short and easy; if you remember the gist of it, you just need to remember “ghunan yutghee wa faqrun yunsee.”
- Reflect. Are you falling into the trap of seeking wealth? Are you so sure it will benefit you? Is it already making you creep towards the edge of tughyaan?
Wallahu ta’ala ‘alam.
References:
- Touched by an Angel: Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma. By Muhammad Alshareef. 2009.
JazakAllaho khair for this nice post. But I was wondering what the source of the mentioned hadith is?
@abu salman, I don’t know the source. Muhammad Alshareef mentioned it in tafseer of Juz ‘Amma; I did a quick search, but didn’t manage to find the source. If you (or someone else) knows what it is, please comment on it insha’Allah.
Not the exact words… but…
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/bukhari/075.sbt.html#008.075.387
Volume 8, Book 75, Number 387:
Narrated ‘Aisha:
The Prophet used to seek refuge with Allah (by saying), “O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the affliction of the Fire and from the punishment in the Fire, and seek refuge with You from the affliction of the grave, and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of wealth, and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of poverty, and seek refuge with You from the affliction of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal.”
I didn’t find the source but I wanted to say JazakAllaho kheir to Sister Umm Hurairah for the link.
wassalamunaleykum
May Allah bless the brothers and sister who are involved in this blog
what is meant by Al-masih ad-dajjal?
@Umm Hurairah: it’s close, jazakumullahu khayran; but not the exact one.
@ammate rabbani: it means the false masih (messiah?), the Dajjal, the one-eyed beast who will come near the end of time and cause great, great fitnah on the believers. Insha’Allah we’ll talk about him soon.
May Allah reward you for taking up the responsibility for explaining juz amma and its arabic grammer.
Could you please find out the reference for the hadith asap so that i could memorize it and tell others about it confidently without the fear that it maybe a weak hadith.
JazakAllah
@Umme Yusuf: Wa iyyakum insha’Allah. I cannot find the source; with regards to da’eef ahadith, I’m not sure how much that applies to du’a, since a good du’a is a good du’a–whether it’s in the Qur’an and Sunnah (the best), or reported unauthentically (da’eef ahadith), or from a scholar, or an imam, or a layperson today. So insha’Allah if you want to memorize it, go ahead, if not, there are plenty of authentic du’as in the Sunnah that we should all memorize.
Allahu ‘alam, I don’t think I’ll be able to find the source.
Assalamu alaykum,
I found this hadith in Sahih Bukhari alhamdulillah:
Narrated ‘Aisha: The Prophet used to say, “O Allah! I seek refuge with You from laziness and geriatric old age, from all kinds of sins and from being in debt; from the affliction of the Fire and from the punishment of the Fire and from the evil of the affliction of wealth; and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of poverty, and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of Al-Mesiah Ad-Dajjal. O Allah! Wash away my sins with the water of snow and hail, and cleanse my heart from all the sins as a white garment is cleansed from the filth, and let there be a long distance between me and my sins, as You made East and West far from each other.” (Book #75, Hadith #379) and also (Book #75, Hadith #387)
Oops sorry that’s the same as the one that’s already mentioned. It’s not in the four books that you can search at http://www.searchtruth.com so as Ilm Seeker said there’s nothing wrong with making that dua. If you fear that it’s da’eef just don’t tell people it’s a hadith.
salamunaleykum…Well I guess it would be very easy to ask Muhammad Al-Shareef himself. The thing is, I don’ t have his email. Maybe IlmSeeker is able to do that. I am pretty sure Sheikh Muhammad would be happy to tell us inshaAllah.
The reason I am asking is that if you know for certain that this du’a is from the prophet (saw) himself then the taste of making this du’a would be much better.
Allahu Alim
@Aysegul, there are many similar du’as in authentic ahadith … perhaps it’s not worth getting caught up on the one quoted in this post? Allahu ‘alam.
@Abu Salman, I don’t have access to him either. I saw a post on the AlMaghrib forums yesterday or the day before about this, but I didn’t see any replies.
Here’s a comment from the AlMaghrib forums that sheds some light on this:
The du’aa in arabic:
اللهم إني أعوذ بك من غنى يطغي ، ومن فقر ينسي ومن هوى يردي , ومن عمل يخزي
The du’aa is of Prophet Da’wud alayhis Salaam.
You find the du’aa in Kitaab ad Du’a by Abdullaah bin abi Shay’baah.
JazakAllaho kheir Ilm Seeker. Then I would suggest to correct the original post, so everybody knows that this du’a is from Prophet Dawud (as) and so that you don’t ascribe anything to Prophet Muhammad (saw) which he (saw) did not say.
BarakaAllaho feekum
Jazakumullahu khayran Abu Salman, I have indeed updated it.