Reframing Muslim Money

Do you have a scarcity salary or money with purpose?

They say “money makes the world go round.”

Yes, money definitely helps.

Part of the reason the Muslims are not as influential or as powerful as they could be IS the fact we’re still in a poverty mindset and haven’t mastered making money.

“If you don’t master money, you become its slave.” Sh Muhammad AlShareef

But it’s bigger than that. You can have all the money in the world, and still be a loser.

Think about what often happens to lottery winners. More often than not, they waste it all away and often end up depressed and broke.

We need to reframe the way we as Muslims think about money.

More important than money, is money with PURPOSE.

As Muslims, there’s no point being rich and wealthy if you do nothing with it except feed your own desires.

“Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.” Phineas Taylor Barnum

The Two Types of Muslim Money

There are two types of “Muslim Money”

1. A Scarcity Salary

2. Rizq with Impact - Money WITH Purpose

Which one do you have?

Let me explain.

What is a Scarcity Salary?

A Scarcity Salary is what 95% of Working Muslims have today.

Alhamdulillah, all sustenance is from Allah and we are grateful for everything.

Even a scarcity salary. But here’s what it often looks like:

• Giving your best hours and best years to a job that drains you, to get a monthly income which just about covers your bills and gets you a few luxuries

• You often have to compromise your values, and significantly must sacrifice your time, mental health and family to make ends meet

• You do not have freedom over all of the following - where you work, who you work with, how you work and when you work

• You have a boss to answer to and a limited period of time you can take off per year.

• Your money for some reason, doesn’t last. You end up living paycheck to paycheck, (or at least relieved when payday comes) even if you’re on a handsome salary.

• You give to charity, and regularly alhamdulillah. However it’s often passive, you just give whatever you have that you can spare, to one of the many charities who are forever fundraising. Your money often doesn’t have the impact it could have, as it just goes to one of the same humanitarian causes.

• For this scarcity salary, it comes at a price of exchanging your dreams, your aspirations and quite often your purpose in life.

• A scarcity salary is too scary to give up, you have too many costs, too many people depending on you to give it up to do something new and risky.

• So you compromise one thing after another, unfulfilled but hey, at least some money is coming in, and that’s part of you fulfilling your responsibilities, right?

What is Rizq With Impact, then?

Rizq with Impact, on the other hand is different. Here’s what RWI looks like:

• RWI is money WITH purpose. Money that has huge barakah and huge impact. It doesn’t even have to be a huge amount, but it’s money that has so much power that it can move mountains.

• RWI is more than money. It’s money that comes with ambition for a cause greater than yourself. It’s money that not only sustains you and your family but goes beyond. It’s more than enough to satisfy your needs and it keeps growing.

• It unlocks your true potential, you don’t recognise who you’ve become, full of possibilities, full of drive, full of growth.

• You have freedom over everything - where you work, how you work, who you work with and when you work and indeed, how much you work (and get paid).

• You answer only to Allah. And there’s no limits on annual leave (but you actually WANT to work more!)

• You may not have a huge amount of money, from a worldly sense. But what you have is MORE THAN ENOUGH. It gives you everything you desire, and you’re not left in need.

• You are fulfilled by your work like never before, and your passion, commitment and ihsan shines through the work you do, inspiring others around you.

• The Ummah is benefitting beyond survival mode - and your rizq is going towards something that is genuinely uplifting and elevating the collective.

• Rizq means more than just your money. It means all the blessings you have been given, your skills, your expertise, your resources. All of them are being used in the right way for a cause greater than ourselves.

So I’ll ask you again.

Which one do you currently have?