Hearts of Gold

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) reports that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) mentioned the following incident to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum):

A man (from one of the previous Ummahs) once bought a plot of land from another person. (After the deal was concluded,) the purchaser discovered a jar filled with gold buried in the land. He thus came to the seller and said, “Take your gold from me, for I only purchased the land from you, not the gold.” However, the seller responded, “(I did not bury any gold in the land, nor was I aware of any gold being there. However,) I sold you the land as well as all that it contains. (Hence, you should take the gold)”

As none of the two parties wished to take the gold, they approached a third party and requested him to arbitrate and assist them to resolve the situation. The arbitrator asked them, “Do the two of you have any children?” One of them replied, “Yes, I have a son,” while the other said, “Yes, I have a daughter.”

The arbitrator then suggested, “Get the boy and the girl married, give them some of the gold, and spend some of it in sadaqah.” (The seller and purchaser were pleased with this suggestion and accepted it.)

(Saheeh Bukhaari #3472)

Lesson:

If a person’s heart is filled with love for wealth, then he will do anything to acquire more wealth. He will not hesitate to trample people’s rights and usurp their wealth, and many people will even be prepared to kill for wealth. However, the hearts of the pious friends of Allah Ta‘ala are not filled with love for gold, rather they have golden hearts. They fear Allah Ta‘ala at all times, abstain from that which is unlawful or even doubtful and give preference to others. They do not fear losing money so long as their Deen and imaan is safe and secure. Hence, while disputes normally arise due to acquiring wealth, this was a beautiful incident, whereby a dispute occurred because neither party wished to take the wealth.

Source:Alhaadi (amended)