Hoarding wealth and not making use of it, even if it is not prohibited and regarded as wasting the wealth, is still making it idle and missing out on the interests that could be served by putting this money to work for its owner and for others.
Putting money to work serves many interests in general, whereas leaving it idle causes these benefits to be lost, in addition to what could happen because of the wealth being consumed by zakah and spending.
Hence ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
Whoever takes care of an orphan who has wealth, let him do business for him [with his wealth] and not leave it to be consumed by zakah.
Narrated by ad-Daaraqutni (2/109) and al-Bayhaqi (11301); classed as saheeh by Ibn al-‘Arabi in ‘Aaridat al-Ahwadhi (2/99).
Al-Bayhaqi (11303) narrated that al-Hakam ibn Abi’l-‘Aas said: ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me:
Do you deal in trade, for I have the wealth of an orphan that is about to disappear because of zakah.
I said to him: Yes. So he gave me ten thousand, and I stayed away from him for as long as Allah willed, then I came back to him and he said to me: What happened to the money?
I said: Here it is; it has reached one hundred thousand.
Read More: Wealth should be invested and not let to stagnate, but only after taking a lot of precautions
Discover more from Debunking Misguidance
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.