🌌Why People Choose to Be Rich?

 

💫1. The Meaning of “Rich”

According to the Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), rich is an adjective describing someone who possesses abundant wealth, money, or valuable assets. The term can also mean “full of content” (for example, rich in nutrients) or “powerful/able.” Its antonym is poor. Thus, “rich” is not only about material possessions but also about capacity, abundance, and influence.

🌉2. The Desire to Be Rich

People choose to pursue wealth for many reasons:

• Security: Riches are seen as protection against life’s uncertainties.
• Freedom: Money provides choices, mobility, and independence.
• Social status: Wealth often symbolizes success and recognition.
• Spiritual hope: Many pray to God for abundant blessings, equating wealth with divine favor.

Yet, this desire can become an obsession when wealth is sought as the ultimate goal rather than a means to greater good.

⚖️3. Paths Toward Wealth: Between Ethics and Reason

Some achieve wealth through hard work, innovation, and creativity. Others resort to mystical rituals or unethical practices — such as pesugihan (occult wealth-seeking rituals) or even sacrificing dignity. These extremes reveal how the pursuit of wealth can sometimes surpass moral and rational boundaries. This raises a philosophical question: Is true wealth measured by possessions, or by the richness of meaning in life?

☁️4. Wealth in the Modern Era

In today’s digital age, wealth is no longer limited to physical money. It includes digital assets, knowledge, and influence. Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and intellectual capital redefine what it means to be rich. Wealth has become multidimensional: financial, intellectual, spiritual, and social. To be rich now means not only to accumulate value but also to create and share value.

🌐Rich Across Languages

In Arabic, the word ثري (tharī) means rich, but its deeper roots connect to طريق / طريقة (tharīq / tharīqah) — meaning path, method, system, or way of life. From this root comes ṭarīqah, absorbed into Indonesian as tarekat, referring to a spiritual path in Sufism. In this context, richness is not merely material but about walking a structured path toward meaning and closeness to God. Tharīq is often equated with shirāt or sabīl, the straight path or divine guidance. Other related terms enrich this semantic field:

• Riqāb — recipients of zakat striving for freedom from bondage.
• Raiqa — pure, serene, bright.
• Riqāʿ — small sheets of paper or cloth, symbols of knowledge and transmission.
• Rida — acceptance, contentment, and surrender to divine decree.
  Thus, in Arabic, richness is tied to freedom, purity, and spiritual acceptance.

In Greek, the word πλούσιος (ploúsios) means rich, and is associated with applause and prestigious. Applause is a social recognition — the sound of hands clapping together to honor achievement. A standing ovation represents the highest form of appreciation. Prestigious refers to something of high value, widely respected for its quality or impact. In this sense, richness in Greek thought is about honor and recognition, symbolized by hands joined together in applause or handshake, marking communal acknowledgment of greatness.

In Latin, the word dives means rich, and it gave rise to terms like device, advice, divest, and now we can also connect it to devotion.

• Advice — guidance, counsel, or a way forward.
• Device — an instrument or tool to achieve goals.
• Divest — to release or free oneself from attachments such as distress, sin, ignorance, and poverty.
• Devotion — loyalty, dedication, and steadfastness in purpose or faith.

Here, richness is not only about possession but about wisdom in using tools, receiving guidance, liberating oneself from dependence, and remaining devoted to higher values or commitments.

Reflection

• Choosing to be rich is a human aspiration, but the path and purpose define its meaning. True wealth is not merely about possession, but about management, generosity, and significance.
• Across languages, richness transcends material wealth: In Arabic, it is a path and spiritual freedom, In Greek, it is honor and recognition, and In Latin, it is wisdom and liberation. Together, these perspectives reveal that to be rich is not simply to own, but to walk a meaningful path, receive recognition, and embrace wisdom that frees the soul.