“And those who had envied his positions the day before began to say on the morrow: ‘Alas, we had forgotten that it is Allah Who increases the provision of those of His servants whom He will and grants in sparing measure to those whom He will. But for Allah’s favour upon us, He could have made us to be swallowed too. Alas, we had forgotten that the unbelievers do not attain success.”
(Al Qur’ān – 28:82)
The expansion and/or contraction of a man’s provisions is dependent on God’s Will. God’s Will, however, is linked to a number of beneficent considerations. When God grants affluence to someone, it does not necessarily mean that He is pleased with that person or that He has necessarily granted him that affluence by way of reward. At times, God confers an abundance of wealth on those who have aroused His wrath. In such cases, it is precisely because of their wealth that they incur God’s punishment.
Likewise, if the provisions of some are reduced, it does not necessarily mean that God is angry with them, that He has reduced their provisions in order to punish them. Often, people of very good character are given meagre provisions and this paucity turns out to be the means by which they attain God’s Mercy. In short, it is actually they who are God’s favourites.
It is a sheer lack of understanding of this basic reality that often leads people to envy the rich and the affluent. Yet it is they who have earned God’s wrath.