Mark 10:23
Jesus is telling his disciples that by just being rich you will not enter heaven. You have to be caring and giving to enter heaven. This quote also backs up Jesus’ teachings on wealth and poverty.
“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires that pull them down to ruin and destruction”.
Timothy 6:9-10
In Timothy’s Gospel it tells us that if you are rich you are likely to fall into temptation by sins such as Drugs, gambling and prostitution.
The following quote is attributed to the Catholic Church:
“True happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in fame or power, or in any human achievement”.
This quote is telling us that being rich, having power or fame, or having any human achievements is not true happiness. True happiness comes from helping your fellow man. Therefore the Catholic Churches view is clear that they think being self-centred and narrow minded is the wrong way to go about life. Catholics believe that you be able to realise the suffering of the other people around you and help those people.
To summarise, Christianity teaches us that we must share our riches with the poor and needy if we want to go to heaven. Greed and selfishness is unchristian.
Christians today still follow Jesus’ teachings by doing the following things:
- Giving clothes to charity shops such as Oxfam.
- Donating money to charity.
- Doing voluntary work to collect donations to charity.
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Funded races and other activities.
The Islamic religion teaches its followers to base their lives around the five pillars. One of these pillars is called Zakah, Zakah is meant to purify the money you leave so it cannot harm you in the future. Muslims have very strict rules, one of which is not to gamble. The reason being is because it is a sinful temptation and is against what the Islamic Religion teaches. Muslims are also encouraged to help the poor by refusing to charge interest on loans and by changing the loan into a charity gift if ever the poor are in too much difficulty to repay it.
Islam teaches that wealth is given by God to help humanity and to be shared between everyone. Muslims believe that the religious pillar Zakah purifies money you have left so that no harm can come to you from it. There is a book called the Hadith, which is about the life and work of the founder of Islam [Muhammad] that says “Protect your property by giving Zakah and help your relatives to recover from disease by giving to charity. You can use Zakah for projects such as building wells for future civilisations, building hospitals, and schools and for many other things that meet the publics needs.
Muslims pay Zakah annually on the basis of 2 and a half percent of all their income and savings above the level needed to keep their family. On the major festivals of Id ul’ fit’r and Id ul’ adha the Muslims pay a special Zakah to the poor.
This is a quote from the Qur’an telling us that people that give to charity will be with the Lord:
Those who in charity spend of their goods by night and by day, in secret and in public, have their Lord.
Qur’an 2:274
What this quote is saying is that the Lord will reward people who give up their possessions. The Lord will not reward people that don’t give up their possessions or do not help the poor. The reward if you do help the poor and give up possessions is to enter heaven.
This is a Hadith saying that no one should leave someone starving:
“He who eats and drinks whilst his brother goes hungry is not one of us”.
This Quote is saying that someone who does not help the poor is not worthy of being a Muslim. It also shows that all Muslims must help the poor.
To summarise Islamic beliefs on wealth and poverty, I would say that all Muslims should regularly donate money to charity. If a Muslim does not do this he or she is not worth being a follower of the Islamic Religion. And that paying Zakah is not a choice you have to do it and if. You don’t you will also be thought of, as not being a true Muslim.
By Josh Clifford
Miss Green
RE
Coursework
