He was a very pious and abstinent person who lived in Syria. When the Muslims who belonged to the tribe of Musa ‘alayhis salam joined Yusha‘ ‘alayhis salam in order to free Baytul Maqdis from the hands of the kuffar, the people of that place went to Bal‘am and asked him to make a du‘a against the Muslims so that they may be defeated. However, he refused and said: "It is extremely evil for a person to make du‘a against a prophet and his followers. I will never do it." The people then went to his wife with a lot of wealth and gold and told her to contrive a plan to influence her husband in making the du‘a. Because of her greed for all that wealth, she went to her husband and seduced him in such a way that he agreed to make the du‘a. The moment he decided to make the du‘a, he became bereft of his Iman and his tongue drooped up to his chest. When the Muslims gained victory, Bal‘am Ba‘ur was also killed.
Lesson: Look at what an evil thing greed is. For the sake of wealth and gold this woman destroyed her DIn and her husband as well in that he lost his Iman and his life. O women! Even today, women who are overwhelmed by greed ask their husbands to receive bribes and are extremely proud to say that they have a lot of jewellery and a lot of money without even thinking for a moment that both husband and wife are preparing themselves for hell.(Bahishti Zewar)
