Let me first of all remind my readers of the story of this particular young man before I attempt to clarify the frequent confusion which makes people think that poverty is viewed as desirable by Islam.

In the last two years of the Prophet's life, delegations from all over Arabia came to Madinah to pledge their loyalty to him and declare their acceptance of Islam. One of these delegations represented the tribe of Tujeeb which lived in Yemen. In the delegation there was a young man who stayed behind where the delegation encamped. A few days later, when the delegation were ready to leave, they told the young man that he might go to the Prophet, peace be upon him, to ask him whatever he wanted.

When the young man met the Prophet, peace be upon him, he told him that he had something different to ask him. All he wanted was that the Prophet, peace be upon him, should pray to Allah to make him rich at heart. The Prophet, peace be upon him, did and the man took farewell and left with his tribesmen. It is well known that God answered every prayer the Prophet, peace be upon him, said in a clearly demonstrable way. His people often praised that young man for being so contented. Great riches would be on offer, and he would have nothing to do with them. He lived as a model for a person whose faith characterized all his actions. After the Prophet, peace be upon him, passed away, and Arabian tribes started to rebel and many became apostate, there were similar calls in Tujeeb. This young man spoke out and his words made all the difference. He particularly ensured that no one from Tujeeb renounced his faith as happened in many other tribes.

Does the story tell us anything which suggests that poverty is a virtue? Certainly not. What it suggests is that material wealth does not count for much. When it is compared with a contented heart, its value becomes insignificant. The young man captured the basic essence of faith and requested the Prophet, peace be upon him, for a prayer which would ensure that he would always have an accurate sense of values. That was granted him. Therefore, he demonstrated a proper attitude of accepting whatever came his way of material gains without troubling himself over what may happen to him or his family in the future, realizing that in this life all situations will pass and the result of our work is the one which counts, because it determines what happens to us in the Hereafter.

There are some statements by the Prophet, peace be upon him, which warn against the attitudes that are generally associated with wealth, such as arrogance and conceit. These, however, do not constitute any preference for poverty as a state to be desired. In other words, poverty is not sought for its own sake. It is well known that the poor endure much suffering as a result of poverty. Numerous are the parents who endure nights of agony as they watch their children suffer from illness when they do not have the money to buy for them the necessary medicine. When a father has toiled all day long and then discovers that what he has got is barely enough to buy food for his family, his suffering is genuine indeed. When he is forced to let his children wear the same clothes from year's end to year's end, depression may creep into his life. What virtue is there in such situations? Islam sees no virtue whatsoever in poverty. For this reason, it has elaborated a system which makes it obligatory for the rich to give away a portion of their wealth in order to improve the lot of the poor. The zakah system is sure to eradicate poverty, if it is applied properly. Why would Islam establish such a system and make its implementation a duty binding on both the government and the individual, if the poverty was not desirable?

I know that a supplication is attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him, which says: "My Lord, let me live as a poor person, and die poor and resurrect me on the day of judgment among the poor." Scholars have different views on this Hadith, with many of them regarding it as lacking in authenticity or weak. Ibn Al-Jawzi, of the Hanbali school of thought, classifies it as false. What supports this view is the fact that the Prophet, peace be upon him, was not poor at the time when his life on earth came to its end. He used to stock provisions for his family which were enough for a year. He certainly knew days of poverty when a month would pass and no fire would be lit for cooking in his homes. But he certainly did not die poor.

Nor was his view of wealth an absolutely negative one. Indeed he praised money which comes from a good source to a good person. When he visited Sa'ad ibn Abu Waqas in his illness, the discussion between them tackled the subject of money and inheritance. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to him: "To leave your children well off is better than leaving them poor which makes them ask other people for charity."

To one of his companions he said: "Blessed be the good money for a good servant of God." This Hadith puts in a nutshell the Islamic attitude of wealth. If you earn your money in a lawful way, without exploiting or cheating, and if you use it for lawful purposes, not forgetting your zakah duty, and if you are generous with your charitable donations, then wealth is likely to increase your reward from God.

You mention that the poor will enter heaven 500 years ahead of the rich. I do not know anything about that. But certainly no poor person will enter 500 years ahead of Usman ibn Affan or Abdurrahman ibn Awf, simply because he lived in a poverty. Both were very rich and were among 10 of the Prophet's companions who were given the happiest news of all, namely certainty of being in heaven. That is a great honor indeed. Which poor person would match that?

We cannot say of any religious practices that it was started by the Jews or some other religions. All Divine faiths were revealed by Allah. They have the same message to all mankind. The basic beliefs are the same. Islam is only the final, complete and preserved version of this faith. There are bound to be similarities between it and earlier religions preached by earlier prophets. The history of the children of Israel dates back much further than the revelation of the Torah to Prophet Moses, peace be upon him. As you are aware, they are called the Children of Israel after Prophet Jacob who is the grandson of Prophet Abraham whom Allah ordered to have himself circumcised. Prophet Abraham was the first to make the pilgrimage long before the Jewish religion came into existence. When Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught us the rituals of pilgrimage, it is believed by many scholars that he put those practices back to their original form, as they were done by Prophet Abraham. This speaks much for the unity of Divine faith.

Christianity and Judaism have their prayers which are different from ours. We cannot say that the Jews started prayer. It was a requirement of them imposed by Allah in the same way as Muslims are required to offer five prayers everyday.