Chapter 9: The Prophet on Worldly Desires
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had no interest in worldly desires and Allah SWT mentioned in the Quran: ‘Verily, we have granted you (O Muhammad) al-Kawthar.’ (Quran, 108:3)
‘Wretched is the slave of the dinar and the slave of the dirham and the slave of the khameesah’ (a luxurious garment). (Ibn Majah)
‘By Allah it is not poverty that I fear for you, rather what I fear for you is that worldly riches may be given to you as they were given to those who came before you, and you will compete with them for one another as they did, and you will all be destroyed because of that as they were destroyed.’ (Bukhari, Muslim)
When Umar ibn al-Khattab saw the Prophet’s living conditions, he began to cry and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked: why are you weeping? Umar replied: O Messenger of Allah, Khosrow and Caesar have what they have, but you are the Messenger of Allah. The Prophet said: Does it not please you that they have this world, and we have the hereafter? (Muslim)
When the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sat with Angel Jibril, an angel descended and Angel Jibril told the Prophet: this angel has never come down since he was created before this hour.
The angel said: O Muhammad, my Lord has sent me to ask you, should he make you a king or a slave and a Messenger.
Angel Jibril said to the Prophet: Be humble before your Lord, O Muhammad.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: Nay, rather a slave and a Messenger. (Ahmad)