Short answer
Money is a trust from Allah, not something evil. Earning and owning wealth is allowed, and even praised, when it comes from halal sources, its rights such as zakat are paid, and it does not pull you away from Allah. What Islam condemns is haram earning, greed, hoarding and showing off.
Earning wealth from halal sources is permissible, and earning enough for yourself and your dependants is fard. Wealth beyond that is permissible with its rights fulfilled. Seeking it out of pride and show is makruh, and earning it from haram sources is haram.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Quran calls wealth an adornment of this life (18:46) and a trial (64:15). It also tells the believer, "do not forget your share of the world" (28:77). Several of the best-known Companions, such as Uthman ibn Affan and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, were rich merchants who spent heavily for Islam.
The Prophet ﷺ said the only envy that is allowed is of two people, one of them a man to whom Allah gave wealth and who spends it on what is right. He also said real wealth is not having many possessions but contentment of the soul.
What makes wealth good or bad:
- How it is earned. On the Day of Judgement a person will be asked where his wealth came from and how he spent it. Interest, gambling, cheating and haram products spoil it. See Which jobs are haram?
- Its rights. Zakat, supporting your family, paying debts and helping relatives. See Zakat calculator.
- How it is spent. No waste and no showing off. See Is it haram to waste money?
- Its hold on the heart. "Let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of Allah" (63:9).
So it is not wrong to want to earn more, start a business or become rich, as long as the intention is good and the means are halal. A poor person who is patient and a rich person who is grateful can both be among the best of people.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Qasas 28:77
وَٱبْتَغِ فِيمَآ ءَاتَىٰكَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلْءَاخِرَةَ ۖ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَأَحْسِن كَمَآ أَحْسَنَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَلَا تَبْغِ ٱلْفَسَادَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ ﴿٧٧﴾
But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters."
Seeking lawful worldly good is allowed alongside seeking the Hereafter.
Quran, Surah At-Taghaabun 64:15
إِنَّمَآ أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَأَوْلَٰدُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌۭ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ عِندَهُۥٓ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌۭ ﴿١٥﴾
Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and Allah has with Him a great reward.
Wealth is a test of how a person earns and spends.
Quran, Surah Al-Munaafiqoon 63:9
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَٰدُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَٰسِرُونَ ﴿٩﴾
O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that - then those are the losers.
Wealth becomes blameworthy when it distracts from Allah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 73
Sahih... رجل آتاه الله مالا فسلط على هلكته في الحق ...
"A man to whom Allah has given wealth and who spends it on what is right."
A rich person who spends rightly is someone to admire.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6446
Sahih... ليس الغنى عن كثرة العرض ولكن الغنى غنى النفس ...
"Wealth is not having many possessions; true wealth is the richness of the soul."
Contentment matters more than the amount owned.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2417
Grading to be checked... وعن ماله من أين اكتسبه وفيم أنفقه ...
"And about his wealth: where he earned it and on what he spent it."
Every person is accountable for how wealth was earned and spent.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiya, chapter on earning (al-kasb). Grades earning as fard, mustahabb, permissible or makruh depending on its purpose.
- Kitab al-Kasb (Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani), Opening sections on the merit and obligation of earning. The early Hanafi source for the rulings on earning and wealth.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.