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1. The high status of work in Islam
- Working to gather the wealth needed for one's life is a noble thing.
- A person who does not meet his own needs but lives off other people's work is low in the eyes of Islam.
An incident (Adab ad-Dunya wad-Din – Imam al-Mawardi)
- The Companions praised a man who was always praying and making dhikr on a journey.
- The Prophet ﷺ: "Who grazed his camel and cooked his food?" – "All of us."
- The Prophet ﷺ: "Then all of you are better than him."
Lesson: those who work are better even than worshippers who live off other people's work.
Begging is condemned
- When a human being, Allah's honoured creation, depends on others' work, his dignity is lessened.
- Hadith (Bukhari, Muslim) – meaning: "A person who keeps on begging will come on the Day of Judgement with no flesh on his face."
The worker's hand
- The Prophet ﷺ held for a long time the hand of a labourer that had become hard from work.
- Hadith (Tabarani) – meaning: "Indeed, Allah loves the believer who works at a trade."
2. Three reasons work is important
Reason 1: Work is seeking Allah's bounty
- Everything needed for human livelihood has been placed on this earth; but it does not reach a person unless he makes an effort.
| Verse | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 7:10 | We established you on earth and placed in it the means of living; little are you grateful |
| 15:19–20 | We spread out the earth, set mountains firm in it, made plants grow, and provided in it the means of living for you and for other creatures |
| 67:15 | He made the earth easy for you; so walk in its paths and eat of His provision |
| 62:10 | When the (Jumu'ah) prayer is over, spread through the land and seek Allah's bounty |
Reason 2: Work is a duty on a Muslim
This can be seen in two ways:
- A rule of the Shari'ah: "That without which a duty cannot be fulfilled is itself a duty." Duties such as zakat, hajj and supporting the family need wealth → so seeking wealth is also a duty.
- The view of the scholars of fiqh: Allah's commands point to duties. The command "seek Allah's bounty" (62:10) makes earning a duty.
Reason 3: Work is worship
- Work done according to Islamic guidance becomes worship.
- Hadith (Ibn Majah) – meaning: "Whoever reaches the evening tired from lawful (halal) work reaches that evening with his sins forgiven."
- Because work is regarded as worship, those earning a living are allowed to recite short surahs in prayer:
(73:20) – meaning: Recite as much of the Quran as is easy; He knows that some of you are sick, some travel through the land seeking Allah's bounty, and some fight in Allah's path.
3. Five guidelines for earning to become worship
- A pure intention
- Not getting in the way of the basic acts of worship
- Being permitted by the Shari'ah
- Not crossing the limits of the Shari'ah
- Doing it well and in an orderly way
These match the "conditions for everyday actions to become 'ibadah" learned in Chapter 6 (Ibadah).
4. The limits of the Shari'ah in earning
| Limit | Examples |
|---|---|
| 1. It must not involve a haram item | Wine, pork, stolen goods |
| 2. It must not be by forbidden methods | Robbery, interest, bribery |
| 3. It must not harm or deceive people | Hoarding, adulteration, breaking promises |
| 4. It must not break the general laws | The black market, smuggling |
| 5. It must not go against moral values | Lying, greed, fraud, selfishness |
5. Neglecting work – Imam al-Mawardi's three reasons
(1) Laziness
- Islam hates laziness; a lazy person will always be poor.
- The Prophet's ﷺ supplication (meaning): "O Allah! Protect me from laziness and helplessness."
- (Ahmad) – meaning: "O Allah! Bless my ummah in its early mornings." (So that his ummah would rise early and be active.)
(2) A wrong idea of tawakkul
- True tawakkul: engaging in a task with full effort, and then entrusting the final result to Allah.
- Wrong understanding: taking no interest in effort and only entrusting the result to Allah – this is not welcome in Islam.
(3) Detachment and contentment
- Some people, fearing love of the world, avoid working too much and are content with a small income – Islam welcomes this; many Companions lived like that.
- Hadith (narrated by Abu ad-Darda' (RA)) – meaning: every day when the sun rises, two angels call out: "O people! Hurry to your Lord. A little that is sufficient is better than much that distracts." (Everything except humans and jinn hears this.)
Balance
- At the same time, some Companions gained much good through their wealth: Abu Bakr (RA), Khadijah (RA), 'Uthman (RA), 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf (RA).
- Seeing this, other Companions complained: "O Messenger of Allah! The wealthy have gone ahead of us!"
- So let us learn Islamic guidance, work enthusiastically and spend in good ways.
Quick revision
- One who works is better than a worshipper who lives off others' work (Imam al-Mawardi – Adab ad-Dunya wad-Din).
- One who keeps begging will come on the Day of Judgement with no flesh on his face (Bukhari, Muslim).
- Allah loves the believer who works at a trade (Tabarani).
- 3 reasons: seeking Allah's bounty (62:10), a duty, worship (Ibn Majah; 73:20).
- 5 limits: no haram item, no haram method, no harm to people, no breaking general law, no breaking moral values.
- Imam al-Mawardi: laziness, a wrong idea of tawakkul, detachment and contentment.