Hypocrites seek Wealth but are Stingy with Alms

Allah says, some hypocrites give Allah their strongest oaths that if He enriches them from His bounty, they will give away alms and be among the righteous. However, they did not fulfill their vows or say the truth with their words. The consequence of this action is that hypocrisy was placed in their hearts until the Day they meet Allah the Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection. We seek refuge with Allah from such an end. Allah said,

بِمَآ أَخْلَفُواْ اللَّهَ مَا وَعَدُوهُ

The second verse: وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّـهَ (And among them there are those who made a pledge with Allah - 75) is also connected with a particular event which has been reported by Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwayh, Al-Tabarani and Al-Baihaqi on the authority of a narration from Sayyidna Abu Umamah Bahili ؓ . According to this report, a person called Tha'labah ibn Hatib al-Ansari presented himself before the Holy Prophet ﷺ and requested him to pray that he becomes rich. He said, ` Is it that you do not like my way? By the Being that holds my life in his His hands, if I had wished, mountains of Madinah would have turned into solid gold following behind me on my walkways. But, I do not like being that wealthy.' The man went away. But, he returned later and repeated his request for the same prayer with the pledge that, should he get the wealth prayed for, he would give every deserving person his share from it. The Holy Prophet ﷺ made the prayer. The effect of the prayer showed up in an unprecedented increase in the number of goats he owned. When the number increased further, the space in Madinah became too small for him. So, he moved out into the outskirts from where he used to come to Madinah where he offered the Sa1ah of Zuhr and ` Asr with the Holy Prophet ﷺ As for the rest of the prayers, he used to perform these in the wilderness where his herd of goats, his prized possession, was located.

Then, this very flock of goats became so large that even that area on the outskirts became insufficient. He moved farther away from Madinah coming there only on Fridays for the Jumu'ah Sa1ah. As for the five daily prayers, he did them where he was stationed. Then came further increases in his wealth and he had to leave that spot too, only to go far away from Madinah where he sat deprived of his Jumu'ah and Jama'ah both.