What is istidraj?

It is when Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ gives fortunes to someone whereby Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌ ﺎﻟﻰ is not pleased with him. This is what's called istidraj.
Prophet Muhammad (salaLlaahu 'alayhi wasalam) said :
"When you see Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ gives good fortunes to His slaves who are always committing sins (disobedient), know that the person is being given istidraj by Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ."
(At-Tabrani, Ahmad and Al-Baihaqi)


However, those disobedient people who keep on committing sins are clueless. They think that they received the fortunes because Allaah is with them and they feel that Allaah is kind to them in spite of their wrongdoings. Then again the people who know that we must follow the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad (salaLlaahu 'alayhi wasalam) and hold on tight to Islam in order to obtain happiness in this dunya (world) and akhira (afterlife), are still doubtful.
Why is it that people who pray 5 times a day, who wake up in the middle of the night to offer tahajjud, who fast not only in the month of Ramadan, but also on Mondays, Thursdays and other voluntary fasting, live an ordinary life... some are even living in difficulties. Why? And how about the people who never pray in their whole life, nor fasting, yet they are living a prosperous and affluent life? Their houses are conspicuously built, their expensive cars are parked from end to end and they have a lot of money in the bank.
When asked if they are not afraid of death? They would say mockingly; 'hey, others would die as well, if we go to hell, we'd all go together in multitudes. So what!' How arrogant they are...


Men with "istidraj - Men who forget their lowly origin. Despite indulging in sins, they feel that Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ love them. They look with disdain at people who practice religion. "He goes to the mosque every day and night, but he can't afford to buy even a bicycle, whereas I go the nightclubs driving my expensive car. There is no need to practice religion, fortunes will still come like the rains. If he reduces his time worshipping he would be able to become rich like me," he said arrogantly. In reality, sometimes Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ gives a lot of fortune to someone in order to destroy that person.

Prophet Muhammad (salaLlaahu 'alayhi wasalam) said: "When Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ intends to finish off a termite, He would make that insect flies with its wings." (Kitab NasaibulIbad)
Termites stay quiet under the rocks or crawl beneath the dead leaves while they do not have the wings, but when Allah wants to end their lives He gives them wings. Then they would turn into winged termites. When they have acquired the blessings (wings), the winged termites would fly and try to resist the fire. Likewise, when a human being acquires good fortunes, he would try to resist Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ .

We have the Pharaoh (Fir'aun) as a proof. His riches was beyond measure, he was never sick, not even a sneeze because Allaah gave him the blessings of good health. Other people got sick many times, but not Fir'aun, other people died, but he still never showed any sign that he was going to die, until the feeling of arrogance and pride came into him and straight away claimed himself God. But it was with that "blessings" that Allaah destroyed him.

King Namrud tried to burn Prophet Ibrahim ('alayhi salam) who was termed khaliluLlaah (Friend of Allah), still Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ gave him status and great kingdom. It made him more and more arrogant and in the end he met his death in a humiliating way. He was killed simply by a mosquito that entered him through his nostril.

No human today can match Qarun in terms of his richness. The key to the warehouse that stored his wealth alone, had to be carried by 40 camels. In the end, due to his arrogance he was swallowed beneath the earth together with all his wealth. So if we are rich, don't be swollen with pride and think that Allaah loves us... Qarun was even richer but he was destroyed in the end.
Therefore if we reflect and examine properly, we will find the answers to all the questions that have been lingering in our minds. How could people who disobey Allah seem to be happy and triumphant? Why do people who deny Allah live comfortably and prosperously. The answer is that; those comforts and prosperities that Allah imparts on them are not something that He's pleased with. In truth they are meant to destroy them. What is the point of living without Allaah's pleasure?
However if we see rich people practice religion and use expensive cars to go to mosques, don't say that it is istidraj. We see our friend got promotion at work and call it istidraj. We see people in high position and status, and say that it is istidraj. DON'T! People who use their good fortunes for goodness, for worshipping Allaah does not fall into istidraj (meaning, we should not let ourselves reject wealth at the same time).


A hadith that needs to be mentioned here is;
Abu Hurairah ﺭﺿﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻨﻪ narrated, RasuluLlaah (salaLlaahu 'alayhi wasalam) said: "Charity does not decrease wealth." (Muslim)

This applies to both the believers and the disbelievers. The more we give away our wealth for charity the more rizq we get in return (note: the subject of rizq is very encompassing, it is not limited to material wealth only but it includes everything beneficial to humans, eg. good health, happy marriage, stress-free life, etc.). When this happen to non-muslims who are generous and not arrogant, it is not istidraj; it is the good that Allaah pays them with in this world as per another hadith, but that was just it... since they disbelieve in Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ the benefits do not extend to the hereafter.
From Anas bin Malik ﺭﺿﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻨﻪ reported the Prophet (salaLlaahu 'alayhi wasalam) said:
"Verily Allaah ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﻭﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ does not diminish the welfare of the believers. He will be paid in this world and rewarded in the hereafter. On the other hand, the disbelievers will be given livelihood and welfare in accordance with what they work for in this world. When it comes to the hereafter there will be no more good to be rewarded for them."
(Sahih Muslim)

If we want to be safe, we should have the understandings and live by certain principles.
It is not wealth that we are looking for and it is not poverty either. The purpose of life is to seek Allaah's pleasure via our worldly and religious deeds, because the reward of the hereafter is "what no eyes has seen, no ears has heard it, no soul has ever thought of how enormous it is" . How can we determine if the good fortunes we receive please Allaah? One can recognize the real blessings when he shows gratitude to Allaah upon the gifts. If he uses them in the right way for the purpose of goodness and it makes him more sincere in his commitment to Allaah , then all the gifts he received is a real blessing from Allah that He's pleased with. When the purpose of life is to seek Allaah's pleasure, undoubtedly we will be safe in this dunya (world) and akhira (hereafter).

So to speak, MMM is an illegal (Haram) scheme of acquiring wealth for Muslims as both scholars, teachers and preachers of Islam has explained to us all

Allaahumma anta maqsuudee waridaaka matluubee
"O Allah, I want You and Your Pleasure only"
Wallahualam.



#Copied with few addendum
Asalamu 'Alaykum wa RahmatuLlaah

MMM is super Haram. Riba If I may say

God is great.

Allahu Akbar

you are on your own. MMM is here to wipe out poverty. The UN, world bank and IMF should emulate this scheme if they genuinely want to eradicate poverty.

bigmo1:
you are on your own. MMM is here to wipe out poverty. The UN, world bank and IMF should emulate this scheme if they genuinely want to eradicate poverty.

what is this one saying

Nice piece, the mosque is the very last place schemes like MMM will be promoted in. Receiving usury (Riba) is a huge sin before Allah and all Muslims should desist from such.

abuayman:
MMM is super Haram. Riba If I may say

super hamaram ke boko harassment ni

*sighs *

Allah Akbar thanks brother in Islam

May Allah help us........

May Allah SWT help us and take away every of our hardship. Nigeria situation has led many Muslims to haram ways.

The consequences of acquiring wealth through Ribaa is evil both in duniya and akirah. I pray that our muslim brothers and sisters could resist the temptation of Ribaa in any form and stay away from it.

@op, Nice piece. MAY ALLAH REWARD YOU FOR THIS.

The economy is bad. There's price hike in almost everything. Salaries are no longer enough cater for the needs of the family. The government should focus on how to make life better for the masses, so that people won't have to rely on Riba.

is it prophets mmm...if no
den let the people sin in peace

I dnt even blvt once I was introduced by my friends bt I said nah I wouldn't cos my mind wasn't there and dnt av mind there

I'm a Brooklyn boy bt Allah is surficient for me

Alhamdulilah I haven't embark on the MMM of thin

Kingsweb377:

SCAM ALERT!!!!why re u people so stupid like this all in the name of looking for money, cant u learn from what this post teaches? well if u dont stop deceiving people with this scam u will die in a shameful nd mysterious way. Animal

bigmo1:
you are on your own. MMM is here to wipe out poverty. The UN, world bank and IMF should emulate this scheme if they genuinely want to eradicate poverty.

Let them know. Je ko mo. Please what is riba in MMM?

Banking system nko.. No b same logic?.. Make una dey there make poverty dey whine u jst got my 100k today. If you are interested in MMM chat me up will guide you 08062522014

Am a muslim and if any imam says mmm is a scam then d imam is not to blame cos he does not know how it works. D INTEREST on mmm does not come from d owner but from people. If mmm is a scam den savings (adashi ) as d hausas call it is a scam tooo. Dis is people helping each other. Not dat ur money is used to do buisness and u are now given interest. Pls understand dis mmm. My frend and I had an agument. I seek advice from a powerfull imam. He said intetest is haram. I now explained to him how d interest is gotten dat is from other people giving u. Provide help and get help. Lika a community of people he said if dats how d interest come about den its allowed. Do wats will all dese D problem wit d muslim broders and sisters is dey refuse to investigate were d 30% come from. Make I go mosque come back. I need challengers please. Jummat mubarack

Haram bawo ? So those muslims with fixed deposits are also into haram.

judeibro:
I am not suprised, Islam Encourages poverty and idleness, that is why more Muslim are beggers in Nigeria. MMM Haram, MMM Boko. Make una no go clear poverty from una life dey write epistle here. MMM is Haram, but Suicide bombing is Jihad. Keep deceiving urselves.

My broda, u will lived long in life, ur accoun will increase

maaji:
Am a muslim and if any imam says mmm is a scam then d imam is not to blame cos he does not know how it works. D INTEREST on mmm does not come from d owner but from people. If mmm is a scam den savings (adashi ) as d hausas call it is a scam tooo. Dis is people helping each other. Not dat ur money is used to do buisness and u are now given interest. Pls understand dis mmm. My frend and I had an agument. I seek advice from a powerfull imam. He said intetest is haram. I now explained to him how d interest is gotten dat is from other people giving u. Provide help and get help. Lika a community of people he said if dats how d interest come about den its allowed. Do wats will all dese D problem wit d muslim broders and sisters is dey refuse to investigate were d 30% come from. Make I go mosque come back. I need challengers please. Jummat mubarack

So how will you give that money back to that your brother? Because for corperative savings, you have to pay back. If for example everyone has registered for this mmm, how will the last to register get their own "helper"?