Practical Steps Towards Becoming a Righteous Rich Individual via 'The Smart Development Process'

To truly transform into the best version of ourself, we need to take the best actions consistently. This article focuses on some key steps one needs to take in order to initiate their positive change and smoothly glide towards becoming more developed until one transfigures into an individual who who is rich yet righteous.

Simple steps to developing generosity

First of all, realise it is important to start practicing generosity early on so that we develop into a righteous rich person. By doing so, in the long term, when we in Shā Allāh are blessed with a lot more money, we can have confidence in ourself that we won't become greedy, arrogant or attached to the wealth. Rather, we can easily give more to the needy.

How to start developing generosity

Start off small to make it easy for yourself. You can find a needy cause you want to help with. For example, sponsoring the making of wells for the poor, needy people in various countries; feeding those who are too poor to afford food and are always starving, in turn, suffering from malnutrition; sponsoring orphans; financially assisting organisations that have been set up to educate the Ummah or rectify their affairs and so on. As a matter of fact, things have been made very easy for us since there are charity organisations that have already identified the neediest of people or projects. They already have categorised the various projects they're working on so all you have to do is choose the project you want to donate to.

When it comes to donating, we of course have the option to give a large one off sum or set up a monthly direct debit. The latter option may be preferred since one is then consistently donating, thus nurturing the habit of donating instead of donating one large sum and then not donating again for a long time. In line with this, 'the Prophet (ﷺ) was asked, "what deeds are loved most by Allāh?" He said, "the most regular constant deeds even though they may be few." He added, 'don't take upon yourselves, except the deeds which are within your ability.'' [1]

If a person donates one large sum and thereafter does not donate again for a long time, they may find it hard to donate again. It is like one who has been going to the gym and working out for some time consistently. It would be easy for them to continue working out at their optimum performance. However, if they after some time, stop working out and it has been a month or so since they've stopped, it wouldn't be as easy as it was before. They wouldn't be at their best. If they now constantly work out again then they can possibly return to their best after 2 weeks or so of training. But this would mean a loss of the potential opportunity to have progressed multiple times more. Similarly, to be at our best in terms of generosity we have to regularly practice it.

To make it easy for you to inculcate within yourself high levels of generosity, you can start off small by donating £5 per month to an important needed cause/project for the Ummah. Realise it's only £60 a year and what fraction of your savings after a year is that? If you save let's say £1000, it's only 6% of your savings. You still have 94% of your savings left, i.e. £940. Let's suppose this 1K is part of a low 10K salary for the year, this £60 would constitute 0.6% of your salary, just over half a percent which is hardly anything. Despite it not being much to you, this small amount can make a 'huge' positive difference to people's lives. As a result, by intending to donate to help the community for the sake of Allāh, you earn great rewards with Allāh in the Hereafter. Not only that, you can even be rewarded in this worldly life through becoming wealthier and so on.

If we have already been donating regularly for quite some time, then we can slowly push ourselves to give more to develop further generosity and observe how we literally become richer. Allāh highlights the profitability of giving in charity when he says:

'Allah will destroy Riba (usury) and will give increase for Sadaqāt (deeds of charity, alms, etc.)…’ [2]

One reality you need to have certainty about is the fact that 'charity does not decrease wealth' as our beloved Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said. [3] Interestingly, a study by Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (S.C.C.B.S) which has been published in Entrepreneur magazine has found an incredible finding that is in conformity with the aforementioned verse. The data reflects that giving more (in charity) causes one to become richer. Entrepreneur magazine explained it in the following way:

'Imagine two families that are identical in size, age, race, education, religion, and politics. The only difference is that this year the first family gives away $100 more than the second. Based on my analysis of the S.C.C.B.S. survey, the first family will, on average, earn $375 more as a result of its generosity.' [4]

Obstacle on the path of development & its solution

Try your best to develop and nurture yourself. If you see yourself improving over time then thank Allāh. This is a good sign that you are developing to be that person you envision to be. One who is wealthy yet humble, caring, kind and generous.

There's this notion/misunderstanding that 'I cannot change my character.' Due to this kind of thinking, we end up justifying our negative behaviour saying 'I'm just like that or I'm not that kind of person'. Or you may have a deep yearning and desire to be very wealthy yet very kind/generous whilst currently having diseases in your heart such as pride/arrogance. You may fall into despair, thinking it's probably not possible for me to be like those who are extremely wealthy whilst kind and generous since I'm just not like that. Well realise, of course you can change that behaviour. There are plenty of true stories reflecting how a person has completely transformed into a new better version of themself. They ridded themselves of bad habits/behaviours and replaced them with those that are good, moral and highly beneficial.

Many times we fail to change our bad habits due to a lack of knowledge. We may think 'I have to change quickly' and thereby try to adopt a new habit, that of a high standard not really on our level which we then end up finding very hard to maintain. To combat this, did you know that by making small positive changes over time and being consistent upon these habits we'd find easy to do since they are small changes, we'd end up making tremendous transformations?

Earlier on in this piece, I mentioned the hadīth where 'The Prophet (ﷺ) was asked, "What deeds are loved most by Allāh?" He said, "The most regular constant deeds even though they may be few."' [5] We find that those deeds which are loved by Allāh are highly beneficial for us. Allāh created us and so he knows how we function in the best, most productive way and wants us to adopt such functions. Reality testifies to the statement in the hadīth above regarding the fact that the most regular constant deeds even if they may be a few, which are most loved by Allāh, are indeed highly beneficial for us. As a matter of fact, James Clear, in the first chapter of his book Atomic Habits, highlights the great benefit of applying the aforementioned hadīth. He points out that by making a 1% improvement and practicing this new habit/deed everyday, the effect grows exponentially like compound interest. It is like the multiplier effect that takes place in an economy. [6] He puts it in numerical terms by stating:

"if you can get just 1 percent better each day, you’ll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after one year." [7]

He also describes the reality of being consistent upon small improvements by stating that:

"improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable—sometimes it isn’t even noticeable—but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding." [7]

It's very important to not be fooled by shaytān (a devil) who may whisper into you that 'you're too old, married, have kids, busy with work, don't have time and so it's too late for you to change, there's no point in trying.' Realise that the best of the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), namely, the first three of the khulafā' ar-rāshidūn (rightly guided Caliphs), Abu Bakr, 'Umar & 'Uthmān, all accepted Islām later on in their adulthood phase. [8] They didn't really have knowledge of the Qur'ān prior to their conversion. Yet, they were still able to inculcate within themselves many new positive habits from the Qur'ān & Sunnah that they were constantly learning about, thus becoming the champions of the best generation in history. [9] So you too can also transform and become an extraordinary individual leaving a great positive mark despite feeling you're just an average individual who has reached the latter stage of his adulthood. Don't let the shaytān deceive you.

'The smart development process'

In order for us to continue developing smoothly and productively, a regular dose of relevant beneficial knowledge is required. A wholesome, easy approach in relation to this can be taken through what I call the 'the smart development process.' This process is as follows:

Step 1 - We spend 1 or 2 hours per week watching and listening to a relevant, beneficial development content by a reliable person of knowledge or expert, taking notes of the main points they make. [10] The more we need this specific knowledge, the more beneficial the development becomes. We can discover the subject/topic we need to learn about the most by asking ourselves 'what is the most harmful problem you are facing in your life?' If you don't have a solution for this problem then you can acquire this beneficial knowledge by searching for content from reliable people of knowledge and experts that shed light on that topic.

Step 2 - After we spend 1 or 2 hours watching and listening to the content, we review our notes and ask ourself 'how can I apply this knowledge in my life specifically?' We then reflect on situations that take place in our lives and identify the times, places and circumstances where we can apply this new habit. This then is noted down under the relevant point we took as part of our notes from listening to the content.

Step 3 - After applying step 2 for all of our notes where applicable, we can then create a note for the current date in our phone calendar notes section/diaries or any other means suitable. We note down our plan to practice this new quality/habit/way. Important points such as the answer resulting from the following questions are added to this note to internalise within us what exactly we are trying to develop and how to do so:

1. How long is this development plan for? e.g 3 weeks, 2 months etc.

2. What character quality/habit am I trying to develop?

3. Why am I developing this habit? You can include here:

• Benefits of practicing this mindset in this world and the Hereafter

• Harms/consequences of not adopting this mindset

4. What action should I take in order to apply this mindset and when should I apply it?

Step 4 - We now add reminders in our phone calendar notes/diaries or any other means suitable for the next couple of days, reminding ourself to apply the quality in the appropriate situation. By reading this reminder every day for a couple of days at least, we are very likely to not forget to apply the planned actions in relation to the targeted quality we want to develop. As a result, it ensures our development process takes place as fast as possible, whilst the planned actions are still being practiced properly of course.

Step 5 - We now aim to practice the quality/trait/habit/mindset at least around three times or so seeking to reach this target within a week. By practicing it around 3 times or so, we develop the quality within us to some very basic level. It is very important to know here that during this planned development time of 1-3 weeks or however many weeks, where we practice the quality, we have to ensure that what gets priority in terms of our focus is developing this chosen, quality - the one which we need the most or is most vital for us currently to work on. There may be other qualities of secondary importance we want to inculcate within ourselves. However, even though we may still put these qualities of secondary importance to practice if the situation arises, our main focus is on the chosen, most vital quality. We seek to find situations whereby we can apply this chosen quality. This is because the more we apply this quality over time properly, the faster we develop it, thus the faster it becomes part of our second nature.

We'd feel wholesome, satisfied and amazing after applying the planned action in relation to developing a quality for the first time. Especially if it is a means of deterring a harm from occurring that we used to experience. It's a fresh, joyous feeling. We then continue to practice it in the applicable scenarios more than 3 times if need be, until we feel the quality has become entrenched within us.

Now we can move onto the next trait/habit/character quality to develop. Over time, if we get good at the process which naturally and usually is the case, we learn and develop faster. In other words, instead of completing 'the smart development process' for a specific quality in a week, we could complete it within a few days or so.

'The smart development process' has worked exceptionally well for me personally over the years. Through the application of this process, I've managed to develop many new, vital habits, mindsets and character qualities, all the praises and thanks be to Allāh. So I hope and am sure you'll also benefit a lot in Shā Allāh if you try it out. Just try it out once at least and experience it. When you experience it once, you would probably end up loving the experience to such an extent that you want to do it again and again until this process becomes a habit. You can then by the permission of Allāh, become an amazing new person that you didn't think could actually happen.

An important thing to be aware of here is that we all learn best in different ways although a lot of people do naturally learn best by watching and listening to someone. A person may learn better by listening to audiobooks, audios or reading a book. You have to do some thinking and decide which mode of learning works best for you. Whatever it is, after one to a few hours of learning and taking notes, you still apply the rest of 'the smart development process' mentioned above.

Despite the 'the smart development process' methodology I have explained above which has worked exceptionally well for me, there are of course other beneficial methodologies out there. An approach that is popular with the successful entrepreneurs including Elon Musk is that they practice something known as 'the 5-hour rule,' a term coined by Michael Simmons. The rule constitutes you spending an hour everyday learning, such as reading a book that is the most relevant and beneficial for you. [11]

So in order to regularly continue gaining relevant beneficial knowledge in the path towards becoming very rich with references to the authentic teachings of the Qur'ān & Sunnah, register here with Siddeeqoon Success. By doing so, you will in Shā Allāh receive the latest articles comprising of important development content to help you on this journey of becoming exceptionally rich yet righteous. You are encouraged to get used to applying the 5 steps of 'the smart development process' I explained earlier in this piece, to benefit a whole lot more from this piece than simply reading it.

Let's returning our focus back to the point about developing into a righteous rich individual. If after a considerable amount of time trying to apply 'the smart development process' or any other method of development, we find that we're not really improving, possibly due to not deeply yearning for it. Or it may be that we aren't really interested in developing ourself nor do we desire to own much wealth. If we find ourselves in such states, then realise this makes it hard for us to take action and better ourself. Rather, you discover that if you earn/receive extra money, you always end up splashing out, being extravagant and wasteful. In this case, it may be better for you to change the focus on becoming very wealthy to that of earning a decent/high quality living. You're still focused on being successful in this world & the Hereafter, but via the way that is in line with your passions, talents, skills and strengths. Perhaps you'd rather be the best engineer in your field for example, thus help to produce more efficient, affordable and comfortable cars, houses and so on. Note also that here, if you have the right intentions, that is to make lives better for billions of people across the globe for the sake of Allāh, you can still end up being from amongst the best of people in the sight of Allāh. This is based on the fact that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَنْفَعُهُمْ

'the most beloved people to Allāh are those who are most beneficial to people.' [12]

To conclude this piece, realise that what is ultimately the most important and beloved thing to us is attaining the countenance of Allāh, thereby succeeding in the Hereafter. We seek to be forgiven for all of our sins in this life so that we are not punished by Allāh from our time in the grave and beyond. Rather, we hope to be granted admittance to the eternal abode of bliss in Jannah (Paradise), ideally al-Firdaws al-A'lā (the highest part of Jannah). We must also continue to live by the mindset that becoming rich should only serve as a means for achieving the countenance of Allāh. This can be in the form of doing good works/deeds such as helping the needy, poor, rectifying the affairs of the Ummah through the establishment of needed institutes and so on. May Allāh forgive us and make us from amongst The Siddeeqoon.

Footnotes

[1] Sahīh al-Bukhārī 6465. Accessed from: https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6465

[2] Al-Qur'ān, Baqarah(2):276

[3] Sahīh Muslim 2588. Accessed from: https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2010/09/20/charity-forgiveness-wealth/

[4] Entrepreneur (2007) Giving Makes You Rich. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/giving-makes-you-rich/185662

- I originally made this connection between this quote and Sūrah al-Baqarah(2):276 in an article i wrote for Islam21c. In that article, i go into further detail with regards to this parallel. See: https://www.islam21c.com/islamic-thought/sacrifice-leads-to-growth/

[5] Sahīh al-Bukhārī, loc. cit.

[6] 'The multiplier effect is an economic principle that outlines how a change in economic activity has an exponential effect on the overall economy.' [Morris, C. (2021) What is the Multiplier Effect? Available at: https://study.com/learn/lesson/money-multiplier-effect-formula-examples.html#:~:text=The%20multiplier%20effect%20is%20an,effect%20on%20the%20overall%20economy.]

[7] Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits. Penguin Random House.

[8] khulafā' ar-rāshidūn refers to the 4 successors as leaders of the believers after the Prophet (ﷺ) passed away. They are in the order of: 'Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthmān & 'Ali

[9] The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come after them (the next generation), and then those who will come after them (i.e. the next generation), and then after them, there will come people whose witness will precede their oaths, and whose oaths will precede their witness." [Sahih al-Bukhari 6429. Accessed from:

https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6429]

[10] Whether it's personal development, self-development or another type of development content.

[11] Rampton, J. (2019) The 5-Hour Rule Used by Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Elon Musk.

Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/living/the-5-hour-rule-used-by-bill-gates-jack-ma-and-elon-musk/317602

[12] al-Muʻjam al-Awsaṭ 6/139, Sahīh (authentic) according to Al-Albani. Accesssed from: https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2013/01/22/most-beloved-to-allah-beneficial-people/