Prohibition and denial of Abu Zar was directed to individuals like
Muawiyah, outside whose door, Abu Zar daily raised his voice and recited the
verse:
وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ (٣٤)
“And (as for) those who hoard up gold and silver and do not
spend it in Allah’s way, announce to them a painful
chastisement,”1
And [when he saw that wealth is gathered for him, he said]: Camels have
arrived loaded with fire.
And the like of Marwan who received Khums of Africa reaching to five
hundred thousand Dinars.
And like Abdur Rahman bin Auf, Zaid bin Thabit, Talha and…the like of
these persons, who were miserly regarding the religious community.
And…
Abu Zar saw that Abu Musa has come to the Caliph of the time with a
measure full of gold and silver and he distributed it among his wives and
daughters without caring about opposing the Sunnah; and he knows the extent of
gold and silver collected when they besieged his house and plundered it:
زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ ٱلشَّهَوَٰتِ مِنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ وَٱلْبَنِينَ وَٱلْقَنَـٰطِيرِ ٱلْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ ٱلذَّهَبِ وَٱلْفِضَّةِ وَٱلْخَيْلِ ٱلْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ وَٱلْحَرْثِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَٱللَّهُ عِندَهُۥ حُسْنُ ٱلْمَـَٔابِ (١٤)
“The love of desires, of women and sons and hoarded treasures
of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and tilth, is
made to seem fair to men; this is the provision of the life of this world; and Allah is He with Whom is the good goal (of life).”2
That is why he did not direct his denial to the contemporaries, friends and
wealthy companions, those like Qays bin Saad bin Ubadah Ansari, who other
than legal taxes obligatory on him, gave away thousand and you know his
wealth.3
And like Abu Saeed Khudri, who says: I don’t know of any family of Ansar
having more wealth than us.4
And like Abdullah bin Ja’far Tayyar, whose bestowals filled the atmosphere.
Ibne Asakir in his Tarikh,5 and others have stated about that in detail.
And the like of Abdullah bin Masud, regarding whom it is mentioned in
Sifatus Safwa, that he left ninety thousand in inheritance and…
And the world has not heard that Abu Zar ever condemned these persons,
because he knew that they had obtained this wealth through lawful means and
fulfilled obligatory rights, on the contrary more than that; and observed
generosity and he expected only this from everyone else.
Why Abu Zar, when he saw the Green Palace of Muawiyah in Damascus,
said to him: “Muawiyah, if you made this house through funds of Almighty Allah
it is dishonesty and if you made through your funds, it is prodigality,” and
Muawiyah fell silent.
And Abu Zar said: “By God, indeed such acts are performed which I don’t
understand and by God, these acts are not present in the Book of Allah and
Sunnah of Prophet; and by God, I see rights, which are destroyed, and see
falsehood reviving and the truthful person, who is falsified and nobility, which is
obtained through other than piety and righteous person, who is persecuted.6
And he saw Miqdad constructing his house in Medina with mud and plaster
it from outside and inside – according to Murujuz Zahab7 – but he did not
condemn him and did not forbid him and did not say anything to him; and it is
not, except because he noticed a difference between the owners of these two
houses.
As for what the liars have attributed to our master, Abu Zar, that he wanted
them to spend all excess wealth, is a calumny which Abu Zar has not claimed and
has not called to it; and how it should be as such, while Abu Zar heard from
Shariat of truth about obligation of Zakat and their Zakat did not have possibility,
except after excess of wealth over subsistence. And Allah, the Mighty and High
says: