When the early Muslims emigrated from Mecca to Medina in 622, many arrived with nothing. They had left their homes, their businesses and their savings behind. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) paired each emigrant with one of the people of Medina as a brother.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf was paired with Saʿd ibn al-Rabīʿ, one of the richest men in Medina. Saʿd made an astonishing offer. I have more wealth than anyone here, he said. I will give you half of everything I own.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān thanked him warmly and said: I do not need all that. May God bless you in your family and your wealth. Just show me where the market is.
Saʿd pointed him to the market of the Banū Qaynuqāʿ. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān went there and began trading, buying and selling butter and cheese. Before long he was on his feet, and in time he became one of the wealthiest and most generous of the Companions. (Bukhari 2048)
Both men are honoured in the story: Saʿd for his openhanded offer, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān for his dignity. Both knew where real riches come from.
Judaism
“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, And toil addeth nothing thereto.”
Proverbs 10:22 · JPS 1917
Proverbs says: “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and toil addeth nothing thereto.” It does not mean work is pointless; Jewish teaching values labour highly. It means the final source of wealth is God.
The Bible tells of a widow at Zarephath who shared her last flour and oil with the prophet Elijah. She found that “the jar of meal was not spent, neither did the cruse of oil fail” (1 Kings 17:16).
Maimonides ranked giving on a ladder of eight levels. The highest is not a gift at all but a partnership, a loan or a job that lets a poor person stand on their own feet, so that they never need to ask again (Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 10:7).
Christianity
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 · WEB
Paul encouraged the Christians in Corinth to give generously. He promised that “God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.”
Jesus told his followers to seek God's kingdom first, “and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). He warned against storing up treasure that moth and rust destroy.
John Wesley, founder of Methodism, summed up his sermon on money in three rules: gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can. Each May, churches of many traditions knock on doors for Christian Aid Week.
Islam
“And that He it is Who enricheth and contenteth.”
Qur'an 53:48 · Pickthall (1930)
Al-Mughnī comes from the verb aghnā, to make rich: “And that He it is Who enricheth and contenteth.” (53:48, Pickthall). The Qur'an promises that when a marriage ends, God will enrich each partner from His abundance (4:130).
The Prophet said: wealth is not having many possessions; true wealth is a contented soul (Bukhari 6446). Muslims see zakāt as a way of purifying wealth and passing on what God has given.
Same and different
Proverbs, Paul and the Qur'an all teach that God is the source of wealth and that generosity does not leave the giver poorer in the end. Tzedakah, Christian giving and zakāt are close cousins. They differ in their rules and in how they connect giving to worship, each in its own tradition.
families / schoolsRoot nodule huntCarefully dig up a clover plant or a pea plant at the end of the season and wash its roots. Look for the pink nodules where bacteria live. Read Qur'an 53:48 and Proverbs 10:22.
neighbours / faith groupsShow me the marketHelp someone new to your area, such as a refugee family, find the practical things they need: the market, the library, the GP. Share the story of Saʿd and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān.
schools / faith groupsThe ladder of givingWrite Maimonides' eight levels of giving on separate cards, shuffle them, and ask groups to put them in order. Then reveal his order and ask: what would the top rung look like in our town? A CV workshop, a loan scheme, a lift to a job interview?
neighbours / faith groups / schoolsChristian Aid WeekEach May, volunteers from local churches deliver and collect red envelopes door to door for Christian Aid Week. Offer to help with a street, or hold a sponsored event together, and talk about giving that helps people earn rather than only receive.
Episode 1
