(Correspondence of Hazrat Mufti Mahmood Hasan Gangohi rahimahullah)
Letter: How must greed be eliminated?
Reply: Every person must have the conviction that whatever Allah Ta‘ala has destined for him, he shall certainly receive it and nobody can prevent it. And what is not destined for him, he shall never get it. Sustenance pursues a person just as his death pursues him. If a person hides in a very strong fortress, then his death will find him there as well. In the very same way a person’s sustenance will reach him wherever he may be. As long as a person has not received all of his sustenance, death will not come to him. Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) has said, “Behold, verily no soul shall ever die until it has received all its sustenance.”
Allah Ta‘ala alone knows what is the reality of the wealth in the possession of others – whether it is interest, a bribe, whether it was been usurped, is it charity or was it earned through earnings from an unlawful transaction. Allah Ta‘ala knows what punishment is destined for that wealth. Nevertheless when such wealth will come, it will come with its punishment as well. Just as a person who sees a snake or a scorpion somewhere and desires that he should have it and it shouldn’t be in his possession, the snake will come together with its poison and the scorpion will come together with its sting. Will any intelligent person desire such a thing?
May Allah Ta‘ala bless us with lawful sustenance which is full of blessing, and may Allah Ta‘ala grant us the quality of contentment. Otherwise, a person’s greed will never end. (Maktoobaat vol. 1, pg. 26)