Summary of Letter:
باسمه تعالى
Respected Mufti Saheb
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
The letter was not published. Apparently the writer complained that upon seeing the wealth of others, he desires the same for himself. Hence he requested a remedy to clean one’s heart from the greed of this world.
Summary of Reply:
باسمه تعالى
Respected Brother/Sister
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
…Have a firm conviction that whatever Allah Ta’ala has decreed for you, you will most certainly receive it. Nobody can ever stop it. Likewise if Allah Ta’ala has not decreed something for you, you will never ever acquire it. One’s sustenance seeks one in exactly the same manner that one’s death pursues one. If a person hides away in a secure fortress, death will find him there as well. Similarly one’s sustenance will reach one wherever one may be. Until one has not received one’s decreed sustenance, death will not overtake one!
As for the wealth in the possession of others, one does not know whether it is the income of interest, bribery, or whether it was earned from a haraam transaction, etc. One is also totally unaware whether there is any azaab (punishment) hovering above that wealth (if it was earned in a haraam manner). It is clear that if such wealth comes to one, it will bring along the azaab with it. Thus it is akin to seeing a snake or scorpion in someone’s pocket and to desire that the same comes into one’s own pocket. It is obvious that the snake will come together with its poison and the scorpion will come along with its sting.
Which intelligent person will ever desire such a thing? May Allah Ta’ala grant you halaal sustenance and may He bless you with qana’ah (contentment). Without qana’ah, one’s greed will never cease.
(Maktoobaat, vol.1: pg.26)