Tradition

مَنْ يَكْسِبُ مِنْ غَيْرِ حَقِّهِ يَصْرِفُهُ فِي غَيْرِ أَجْرِهِ

Imam ‘Ali (‘a) is narrated to have said: “He who gains wealth through unlawful means will spend that wealth in a way which will entail no divine reward.”1

Brief Commentary

People oftentimes say that not just any money is worthy of being spent in positive ways and if someone wants to spend money towards good, that money must first be obtained through pure and lawful ways. This tradition shows the veracity of this common saying. How can people think that they can spend their unlawfully gained wealth and somehow attain positive results for themselves? How can any reward be expected when the source of that money was unlawful to begin with?

Such money may even end up having consequences that are completely opposite to what was originally intended. On the other hand, even a small amount of money gained in lawful ways, may end up having tremendously positive effects. Therefore, we should always keep in mind that the root of money and the way through which it is earned have an effect both on the end result, as well as the reward which is given for such actions.

• 1. Taken from the book: Tuhaf al-’Uqul, p. 63