The Holy Quraan says: "Those who hoard up gold & silver & do not spend it in Allah's (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) way, announce to them a painful punishment. A day will certainly come when these shall be heated up in the fire of hell & their foreheads, sides & backs shall be branded with them. They will be told: This is what you have stored up for yourselves; taste, then, what you have hoarded." (9:34-36) It is abominable to hoard up wealth on the part of a true God-fearing man, because hoarding implies a little want of faith in Almighty Allah as the Great Giver of Sustenance. The Holy Quraan says: "Will you distribute the mercy of your Lord? We distribute among them their livelihood in the life of this world." (43:32)
Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (radi Allahu anhu) reported that the Holy Prophet of Islam (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) used to store up nothing for the morrow. (Tirmizi)
Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yassar (radi Allahu anhu) reported that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: "Food, bread & meat were sent down from Heaven & they were ordered neither to waste; but they wasted & stored up for the morrow. So they were metamorphosed into apes & swines." (Tirmizi)
There is nothing wrong from the Islamic point of view in being rich, provided that one makes the right use of one's riches. Furthermore, to be rich is not synonymous with the hoarding of money, whether it is for the modern currency type or silver & gold. The two are different. What does, then, constitute hoarding? According to eminent scholars & commentators of the Holy Quraan, the payment of Zakaat makes all the difference. If one pays the Zakaat of his wealth on time, this payment serves as purification of the money & ensures that he is not included among those mentioned in the verse.
Imam Bukhari (alaihir rahmah) relates on the authority of Sayyiduna Abdullah Ibn-e-Umar (radi Allahu anhuma) that this warning was applicable before legislation of Zakaat. When Zakaat was made a duty, Allah made it serve as purification of money. Sayyiduna Abdullah Ibn-e-Umar (radi Allahu anhuma) is further reported to have said: "The wealth from which Zakaat is paid is not hoarded, even if it is stored under seven layers of earth. What is in a person's hands is hoarded if he does not pay Zakaat for it."
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