In today's world every person aspires to save their earnings so their families can live content lives. The needs of the world are many, and it is difficult to achieve all that we aim for. Money is as important for sustaining life as water and oxygen. Without it, one cannot achieve his ambitions. He must earn money through legitimate sources based on lawful means without having to indulge in fraud, corruption, manipulation of laws and legislation, and other crooked means.
There is a lot of literature on money affairs published in the past centuries. But here I refer to an old book published in the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon which enjoyed a strategic geographical location and rich natural resources including gold mines.
The book includes some advice offered by ‘Arkad', one of the richest men of that period, who was known for his high social status, knowledge, wisdom and compassion for people. His business helped him amass a great fortune. These details of his life are captured in the book, titled "The Richest Man of Babylon” published in 1926, in which the author deals with the most important principles of wealth creation with his perspectives on economic principles governing the role of money in our lives. Everyone who has the capabilities and competencies can earn money through a combination of work, determination and ambition, but should do so in clean and ethical ways.
"Arkad" adhered to a number of principles when making money, including paying attention to the need to set aside part of his money and income every week and month as an investment and saving. In a sense, it amounted to earning a second salary itself. Thus, if a person set aside 5% to 15% of his salary, it will help him meet emergency expenses and other costs when needed.
Today, there are many countries and peoples that follow the method of saving, and established banks that offer loans, aid and grants to other countries from those saved funds, such as Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries. The people of those countries follow the method of use their monthly budget for basic expenses, and shun waste and extravagance that God forbade in the Holy Qur’an.
Likewise, we should spend only on necessities and not on luxuries, and to know the difference.
While some people work to make money, they also work to invest those amounts in investment fields in order to develop their savings in certain business sectors. They have to preserve wealth from potential loss by investment in the right projects that can achieve more wealth and money, which comes back as a fixed income to the savers at a later date.
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