Was Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH) wealthy?

The enemies of Islam selectively quote from Islamic sources to support the falsehoods they propagate. For example, they claim that, according to Qurʾān 8:41,¹ when “Muḥammad became a Prophet, he gained materially because Allāh bequeathed one fifth of all booty to him.” They either deliberately ignore or are genuinely ignorant of the fact that the Prophet (PBUH)’s share from the spoils never remained in his house for even a single night; rather, he would immediately distribute it among the poor. It was narrated that ʿUbādah ibn aṣ-Ṣāmit said: The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) took a single hair from the side of a camel on the Day of Ḥunayn and said: “O people, it is not permissible for me to take from that which Allāh has granted you as fayʾ (spoils of war) even as much as this, except for the fifth — and the fifth is returned to you.”² He (PBUH) lived on what was sufficient for his needs and passed away leaving behind only a few possessions. ʿĀʾishah [may Allāh be pleased with her] narrated that he (PBUH) departed this world while his armor was mortgaged to a Jew for thirty ṣāʿs of barley [ṣāʿ: a traditional Islamic measure equal to four double handfuls, approximately 2.6–3 kg, depending on the substance measured].³ ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith, the brother-in-law of the Messenger of Allāh (PBUH) and the brother of Juwayriyah bint al-Ḥārith narrated, “The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) did not leave behind at his death neither a dīnār nor a dirham, nor a male slave, nor a female slave, nor anything else, except his white mule, his weapons, and a piece of land that he had designated as charity.”⁴ ʿAbd Allāh al-Hawzaniyy narrated: “I met Bilāl, the muʾaḏḏin (caller to prayer) of the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) in Aleppo, and I said to him, ‘O Bilāl, tell me how the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) managed his expenditures.’ He said: ‘He did not possess anything;⁵ I was the one responsible for managing that on his behalf from the time Allāh sent him until his passing. Whenever a Muslim came to him and he saw him naked (i.e., inadequately clothed), he would instruct me to go and borrow (i.e., incur a debt on his behalf, PBUH) so that I could buy a cloak for him (the Muslim) and clothe him, and also provide him with food. Then a man from the polytheists met me [while on the way to borrow money] and said, “O Bilāl, I have sufficient means, so do not borrow from anyone except from me.” I did so. One day, I performed ablution and then rose to call to prayer, and the [same] polytheist came approaching along with a group of merchants. When he saw me, he said, “O Abyssinian!” I replied, “I am at your service.” He glared at me and spoke harshly, saying, “Do you know how much [time] remains between you and the [end of] month?⁶” He (Bilāl) said: I said, “It [the time] is near.” He said, “Only four days remain between you and it, and I shall then take you by virtue of what (the debt) you owe [to me] and return you to tending the sheep, as you were before.⁷” [Bilāl said:] “So, I felt in my heart what people feel in their hearts [in such a situation].⁸ When I prayed the night (i.e., ʿishāʾ prayer), the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to his household. I sought his permission [to meet him], and he granted it to me. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allāh, may my parents be sacrificed for you, the polytheist from whom I had been borrowing [money] said such-and-such to me, and you do not possess anything to pay the debt on my behalf, nor do I, and he will publicly disgrace me. So grant me permission to flee to some of these tribes that have [recently] embraced Islam until Allāh provides His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with means to pay the debt on my behalf.’ So I set out until I reached my home, and I placed my sword, my leather bag [in which one carries one’s belongings], my sandals, and my shield [that protects against sword strikes] near my head [ready to depart]. When the false dawn⁹ appeared, I intended to set out.¹⁰ At that moment, someone came running and called out, ‘O Bilāl, answer the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him)! So I set out until I reached him, and there I found four riding animals kneeling on the ground with loads on them. I sought permission [to meet the Messenger of Allāh (PBUH)], and the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: ‘Rejoice, for Allāh has brought to you what will settle your debt.’ Then he (PBUH) said, “Have you not seen the four riding animals kneeling on the ground?” I replied, “I have [seen them] indeed.” He said, “They are yours, along with what they carry, for on them are clothes and food which were gifted to me from the ruler of Fadak.¹¹ Take them and settle your debt.” I did so. He (Bilāl) then mentioned the rest of the tradition. He (PBUH) said, “What did that which was with you do?”¹² I replied, “Allāh has settled everything that was upon the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him); nothing remains [unpaid of the debt].” He (PBUH) then asked, “Has anything been left over [after the debt has been fully discharged]?” I said, “Yes.” He (PBUH) said, “See if you can relieve me of it,¹³ for I shall not enter upon anyone of my household (i.e., wives) until you relieve me of it.”¹⁴ So when the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the night (ʿishāʾ prayer), he called me and said, ‘What did that which was with you (i.e., the remaining money) do?’ Bilāl said: I said, ‘It is with me; no one came to us.’¹⁵ The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) spent the night in the mosque.¹⁶ He (Bilāl) then narrated the rest of the tradition. When he prayed the night (ʿishāʾ prayer)—that is, on the following day— he (PBUH) called me [again] and asked, ‘What did that which was with you do?’ I said: ‘Allāh has relieved you of it, O Messenger of Allāh.’¹⁷ He (PBUH) then said ‘Allah is the Most Great’ and praised Him, fearing lest death overtake him while it (that money) was [still] with him. Then I followed him until he reached his wives (i.e., their rooms), greeting each woman individually, until he arrived at his sleeping place.¹⁸ So this is what you asked me about.¹⁹ Hence, the Prophet (PBUH) used to receive great wealth but did not retain it for himself. Rather, he spent it immediately for the sake of Allāh—giving to the poor, the needy, the tribes to maintain communal harmony, those whose hearts were inclined toward Islam, the military, and anyone who asked for help. Indeed, he (PBUH) exemplified in practice the Almighty’s words: {Allāh has indeed purchased from the believers their lives and wealth in exchange for Paradise} (Qurʾān 9:111). On the authority of abū Hurayrah [may Allāh be pleased with him], that he passed by a group of people before whom there was a roasted sheep. They invited him to eat, but he refused. He said, “The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) heft the world without ever fully satisfying his hunger with barley bread.”²⁰ On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) would spend consecutive nights hungry while his household had no evening meal, and most of their bread was barley bread.²¹ Incidentally, barley bread was the least costly type of bread. On the authority of ʿĀʾishah, she said: “The family of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) never ate their fill of barley bread until he was taken (i.e., passed away).”²² There were days in al-Madīnah when the Prophet (PBUH) was seen with a stone tied to his stomach out of hunger. Abū Hurayrah [may Allāh be pleased with him] reported that the Messenger of Allāh (PBUH) said: “If I possessed gold equivalent to Mount Uḥud, it would not please me for any of it to remain with me for three days, except for an amount I reserve to settle a debt.”²³

In short, when we examine the life of the Prophet (PBUH), we find that he was materially better off before Prophethood than afterward. At the age of twenty-five, he (PBUH) married the wealthy widow Khadījah and enjoyed a life of relative comfort. However, his standard of living declined significantly after he received the call to Prophethood, to the extent that his wives complained about their modest circumstances and wondered why they had to continue living in such hardship when there seemed to be no necessity. In response, Allāh revealed the following verses: {O Prophet! Say to your wives, “If you desire the life of this world and its luxury, then come, I will give you a ˹suitable˺ compensation ˹for divorce˺ and let you go graciously. But if you desire Allāh and His Messenger and the ˹everlasting˺ Home of the Hereafter, then Surely Allāh has prepared a great reward for the good doers amongst you. (i.e., Heaven)} (Qurʾān 33:28–29). The wives of the Prophet (PBUH) chose Allāh, His Messenger, and the reward of the Hereafter over worldly comforts. Many Western authors have attested to the simplicity of Prophet Muḥammad’s (PBUH) lifestyle. Barnaby Rogerson, a British author and television presenter who has written extensively on the Muslim world, remarked: “Muhammad made no use of Khadījah’s wealth (other than to give alms to the poor) and maintained his same simple existence and his life as a merchant.”²⁴ Karen Armstrong, a prominent and prolific historian of religion, wrote: “Muḥammad himself always lived a simple and frugal life, even when he became the most powerful sayyid (leader) in Arabia. He hated luxury and there was often nothing to eat in his household. He never had more than one set of clothes at a time and when some of his Companions urged him to wear a richer ceremonial dress he always refused, preferring the thick, coarse cloth worn by most of the people.”²⁵