I recently met up with one of my oldest and dearest friends for coffee. The conversation often comes to Islam, because he was very upset and angry with me when he first found out I converted to Islam.
Anyway, the talk turned to charity, and I was recounting tales of some of my Muslim friends who are, masha'Allah, [b]extremely[/b] generous with their money. I was explaining to him how important kindness and giving is in Islam, because we believe that everything we give in this life will be repaid to us, many times over, in the next life.
He then asked me why I don't then give away [b]all[/b] my excess money to good causes? Why did I have nice shoes on? If I was so sure of the rewards, and if I truly believed that the next life is 
real and (b) far beyond the pleasures and delights of this world, why would I be happy having nice thing in this life at all?
At this, I was a bit stuck. Apart from a meek 'I'm not a strong enough Muslim yet' I was unsure as to what I should say. I explained how it wasn't a sin to be rich, in fact it was seen as a blessing from Allah (swt), and the Prophet 
used to make du'aa to be free from poverty. But this still left questions unanswered. The Prophet Isa (as) had only two possessions: a cup and a comb. One day he saw a man straitening his hair with his fingers, so he gave away his comb. Then he saw a man drinking water from a stream using his hands, so he gave away his cup too.
I think it was Imam Hanifah who was asked if a man could enter Jannah if he had 1000 dirhams in his pocket. The imam answered 'yes, as long as the money remains in his pocket and doesn't enter his heart'. One of the things we will be asked by Allah (swt) about on the Day of Judgement is how we spent our money.
I ended up saying that there is a hadith that states that the best charity is that given to your family, and I was saving my money for when, insha'Allah, I get married, so that I am able to support my wife and any kids I may have.
May Allah make us all decrease our love for money and worldly pleasure, and forgive us for our selfishness and greed. [b]Ameen![/b]
Comments
"And proclaim the blessings of your lord and rejoice" should cover that. If we have been blessed by allah (swt) in some way, as long as we cover what is required of us there is no need to feel guilty over it.
Islam may ask us to take care of of society, but it is not socialism.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Salaam
If you want something and its Halaal, you should go for it. Enjoying wealth, if it gives you Halaal enjoyment is fine. It is the blessed Sufi's, who are always in the company of their Lord SWT, who give everything away because they get more enjoyment giving than spending on themselves.
These people have have a massively high spiritual station that came through mercy and hard work. Most of us are not those people and so we should spend a little/lot on ourselves. How much?
Well thats my next point. "Keeping the balance!"
One of the most important aspects of Islam that I have found is its emphasis on balance and not being extreme. We are always reminded to take the middle way, and that's really hard because man, by his nature, tends towards extremes. Just look at a child:
"I want that big cake."
"I can't afford that, but we could go for the smaller one instead."
"Forget it."
"Come on I'm sure you'd enjoy it."
"It's okay. Really, I'm not hungry anymore."
Yeah right! The kid's sulking. Extreme1 = The big cake. Exreme2 = I don't want any cake.
My point is that we are told to not become overly ascetic because its how previous peoples went astray. I understand that to mean, extreme ascetesism is unsustainable becasue its an extreme and God SWT likes us to be people of consistant and sustained action. Now the real Sufis can sustain their level of ascetesism but if we can't, we should stick to what we can sustain. This is how progress is done. In 'baby steps', you do a small thing and stick to it and when it has become an unshakable part of you, you add something else small and stick to that (whilst retaining the first thing). It's the spiritual 'tortoise and the hare': slowly but surely wins the race.
[b]To summarise and conclude, your stance should be: "I believe in the reward and paradise but I have an ego that desires immediate gratification. My religeon teaches me that I should give it some gratification from time to time AND I should also work for the future reward. With 'working for the reward' being the ideal. However!!! Any gratification I give it is only what God SWT has permitted for it, and I never compromise with what God SWT has forbidden for it. So that even if I gratify my desires, it is done with God-consciousness, so that God-consciousness consistantly and sustainably pervades my entire life."[/b]
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
You could have said to him if he drinks alcohol or smokes that you know that all the smoking and drinking will eventually lead to illnesses, why dont you stop?
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
Because the strength of an argument is not the weakness of one's interlocutor.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
But he, like most atheists, accept the fact they're going to die, and want to 'enjoy' this life as much as possible.
Living a completely teetotal existence because it might add a few years onto the end of your life doesn't do that. Especially because they are the years of you life when you can't remember who people are and you wet your bed.
Don't just do something! Stand there.