Build The Family Economic Strength With Dinar, But No Hoarding…!

Looking at this title maybe you are confused, how can we use Dinar or even reserve it but not hoarding? How? What is the limitation? Etc.

Regarding our responsibility to our property, I’ve written it in other article with the topic: “Our Property, Asset or Liability (in the hereafter)”. The point is it is our duty to fulfill the need for ourselves, family, anticipate emergency needs and leave strong children”.

Even Al Quran teaches us how to anticipate an emergency needs in Yusuf 47-48: “He (Yusuf) replied: ‘You will cultivate for seven consecutive years. During these years, you should leave the wheat you reap in the ear, except what may be sufficient for your food. Then, after that period, there will come upon you seven hard years which will eat away all that you had stored except a little which you may have specifically set aside”.

This verse is the basic and also method (minhaj) for Moslems to prepare themselves to face the difficult periods. What is the difficult period for the people in this era? Generally, difficult periods in this era such as monetary crisis that peaked in 1997-1998, a period of many dry seasons, earthquakes, floods - all are triggers of difficult periods for the people.

Individually, difficult periods can mean loosing job/income, pension, sickness, loosing the head of the family, etc.

Then how to anticipate those periods? Store some of your income in the “stem”. The meaning of leave the wheat you reap in the ear, is in order not to be rotten quickly or reduced in quality and value, so it can be a seed to plant again anytime.

The major property and income for people nowadays is not corn, it is money. Then how to preserve the money in order for the value not to be rotten from time to time? The answer is very simple – that is why money in Islam should have a real value (intrinsic value) such as gold, silver, wheat, dates etc.

From those commodities, of course gold in the form of Dinar is the most practical to store. Gold bar is also practical but not too liquid and do not have the flexibility to sum up and divide. For instant you have 100grams gold bar, and you need 10 grams, so it’s difficult to break it into that amount. If Dinar, you have 100 Dinar and you need only 10 Dinar, so just release the 10 Dinar and leave the 90 Dinar with you.

Storing Dinar just as needed - every one of us has the feeling to know how much is our actual requirement (ask your deep heart - and you will know it), we are given inspiration from Allah to know it “and inspired it with knowledge of what is wrong for it and what is right for it” (QS 91:8).

What are the consequences if we store property in whatever form such as banknotes, houses, cars, shares even gold in huge amounts and not spend it in Allah way? The threat is a painful torture for those who is hoarding. (QS 9:34-35)

So store property as needed to fulfill our responsibility for ourselves, family and next generation is something that is allowed and guided, because it is part of the people economic strength – in the Quran surah Yusuf that has been mentioned it is called Yukhsinun (Tukhsinun to refer to a second person).

In the contrary, storing more than needed and not spending it in Allah way is an act of hoarding and prohibited – in the Al Quran mentioned as Yaknizun !.

We should know the different between Yukshinun and Yaknizun, because we are inspired by Allah to be able to distinguish it. Wallahu Alam. (Muhaimin Iqbal, m-dinar, 11 Januari 2009)