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GOD GIVES INSIGHT TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIM
O you who believe! If you have fear
of God, He will give you a criterion [by which
to judge between right and wrong] and erase your
bad actions from you and forgive you. God's favor
is indeed immense. (Qur'an, 8:29)
Old Testament
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow His precepts have good understanding.
To Him belongs eternal praise. (Psalm 111:10)
NOT HOARDING WEALTH
... As for those who hoard up gold
and silver and do not spend it in the Way of God,
give them the news of a painful punishment. On
the Day it is heated up in the fire of Hell, and
their foreheads, sides, and backs are branded
with it: "This is what you hoarded for yourselves,
so taste what you were hoarding!" (Qur'an, 9:34-35)
[He] who has amassed wealth and hoarded it! He
thinks his wealth will make him live for ever.
No indeed! He will be flung into the Shatterer.
And what will convey to you what the Shatterer
is? The kindled Fire of God reaching right into
the heart. It is sealed in above them in towering
columns. (Qur'an, 104:2-9)
God expands provision to anyone He wills and restricts
it. They rejoice in the life of this world. Yet
the life of this world, compared to the Hereafter,
is only fleeting enjoyment. (Qur'an, 13:26)
Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty God
has given them should not suppose that that is
better for them. No indeed, it is worse for them!
What they were tight-fisted with will be hung
around their necks on the Day of Rising. God is
the inheritor of the heavens and Earth, and God
is aware of what you do. (Qur'an, 3:180)
New Testament
[Now listen, you rich people!] Your gold and
silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify
against you and eat your flesh like fire. You
have hoarded wealth in the Last Days. (James 5:3)
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on Earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves
break in and steal. But store up for yourselves
treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
Command those who are rich in this present world
not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth,
which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in
God, Who richly provides us with everything for
our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)
Old Testament
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever
loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so
do those who consume them. And what benefit are
they to the owner except to feast his eyes on
them? (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able
to save them on the day of the Lord's wrath. (Zephaniah
1:18)
The integrity of the upright guides them, but
the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness
delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:3-4)
This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise
man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast
of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this: that
he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord,
Who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness
on earth, for in these I delight," declares the
Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
SHUNNING AVARICE
God has made a metaphor for them
of a man owned by several partners in dispute
with one another and another man wholly owned
by a single man. Are they the same? Praise be
to God! The fact is that most of them do not know.
(Qur'an, 39:29)
To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted
in glowing colors: women and children, and heaped-up
mounds of gold and silver, and horses with fine
markings, and livestock and fertile farmland.
All of that is merely the enjoyment of the life
of this world. The best homecoming is in the presence
of God. (Qur'an, 3:14)
New Testament
No one can serve two masters. Either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24)
For the love of money is the root of all evil.
Some people, eager for money, have wandered from
the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance,
and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:10-11)
TO BE HUMBLE
O you who believe! If any of you
renounce your religion, God will bring forward
a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble
to the believers, fierce to the unbelievers, who
strive in the Way of God and do not fear the blame
of any censurer. That is the unbounded favor of
God, which He gives to whoever He wills. God is
Boundless, All-Knowing. (Qur'an, 5:54)
...Your God is One God, so submit to Him. Give
good news to the humble-hearted. (Qur'an, 22:34)
New Testament
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,
bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture
says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to
the humble." (James 4:6)
Old Testament
Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for
the Lord has spoken. (Jeremiah 13:15)
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you
who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek
humility... (Zephaniah 2:3)
ARROGANCE ON EARTH LEADS TO DEBASEMENT IN GOD'S
PRESENCE
He [God] said: "Descend from Heaven
[O Iblis(Satan)]. It is not for you to be arrogant
in it. So get out! You are one of the abased."
(Qur'an, 7:13)
Do not strut arrogantly about the land. You will
certainly never split the land apart nor will
you ever rival the mountains in height. (Qur'an,
17:37)
Do not avert your face from people out of haughtiness,
and do not strut about arrogantly on the land.
God does not love anyone who is vain or boastful.
(Qur'an, 31:18)
New Testament
The greatest among you will be your servant.
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and
whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew
23:11-12)
Old Testament
To the arrogant I say: "Boast no more," and to
the wicked: "Do not lift up your horns. Do not
lift your horns against Heaven; do not speak with
outstretched neck." No one from the east or the
west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it
is God Who judges: He brings one down, He exalts
another. (Psalms 75:4-7)
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