(Source: Ihya-Ulum-Id-Din by
Imam Ghazzali (r.a.)
Revival of Religious Learnings-
English Translation by Fazlul Karim Publisher Darul-Ishaat
DATE: 450-505 (A.H.) 1058 -1111 A.D.
Allah made the next world the place of reward and
punishments and this world the place of efforts, troubles and earnings. Earning
is not the aim of human life but it is hereafter and the door to enter it. The
world is the seed ground for the men:
One kind of men forgets the return and makes the earning
of livelihood as the sole object of his life. He is one of those who will be
destroyed.
Another kind of men makes the return to the next world as
his sole object of life and remains busy in earning
his livelihood therefor.
The third kind of men is near the middle path who keep his goal of return to the next world as fixed
and takes to trade and commerce for livelihood. He who does not adopt the
straight path in earning livelihood will not get the pleasure of the straight
path. He who takes the world as the means of earning the next world adopts the
rules and regulations of Shariat in search of it and
gets the pleasure of the middle path.
Merits of earning livelihood
Allah says in Holy Quran
I have created the day for earning livelihood. I have
placed in it provisions for you. You are grateful but little.
There is no fault in searching livelihood from your Lord. A party travel in the world to search for the grace of
Allah. Spread out in the earth and seek the wealth of Allah.
The Prophet said (hadis): There
is such a sin of which there is no expiation except anxieties of earning
livelihood. The truthful tradesman will resurrect on the Resurrection Day with
the truthful and the martyrs. He who refrains from begging, making efforts for
family members and being kind to the neighbours
searches livelihood lawful by will meet with Allah with such a face which will
be bright like the full moon.
One day, the Prophet was seated in the mosque of
Allah loves one who adopts the path of labour
to save himself from depending on other. Allah hates one who obtain
education thinking it is a means of earning. Allah loves the believing
businessman. The best lawful earning is that which one gets by his own lawful
earning. If he obeys the rules of Shariat in his
business, it is the greatest lawful earnings of his own.
T he Prophet said: Take to trade and commerce, because
nine-tenths of the source of earnings is in trade and commerce.
Once the Prophet Jesus asked a man: What do you do? He
said: I make divine service. Jesus asked: Who gives you food? He said: My
brother. The Prophet said: Your brother makes better divine service than you.
The Prophet said: I have left no such instruction which if
obeyed will not bring you near paradise and keep you distant from Hell. I have
left no such prohibition which, if obeyed, will not keep you distant from
paradise and bring you near Hell. The trusted Spirit infused into my soul saying:
No man will die till his provision does not finish even though he wishes it. So
fear Allah and seek livelihood in a lawful manner. I enjoin you to earn
livelihood in a just manner. Let nobody say: Give up to seek
livelihood. Then he said at last: Let not the delay in earning livelihood give
you encouragement to earn it illegally, because disobedience to Allah cannot
bring what He has got. The markets are the repositories of food of Allah. He
who comes to them gets something therefrom. If anyone
of you gathers fuels with a rope and searches livelihood by bearing it upon his
back, it is better than to beg of men whether they give or not. If a man opens
a door of begging upon him, Allah will open for him seventy doors of begging.
Wise sayings: The wise Luqman
advised his son: O dear son, shut up poverty by lawful earnings, because he who
is poor earns three habits (1) laxity in religious actions, (2) weakness in
intellect and (3) loss of manliness. Greater fault than these three is to keep
it secret from the people.
Sayyidna Omar said: Let none of
you refrain from earning livelihood and say: O Allah, give me provision. Know
it for certain that the heaven will not shower rain of gold and silver. ]
Sayyidna Jaber
was once sowing seeds in his field. Sayyidna Omar
said to him: If you do good, you will not depend on
the people. It will save your religion and you will be honoured
by them.
Hazrat Ibrahim-b-Adham
was asked: Who is better of the two a truthful merchant and a worshipper? He
said: A truthful merchant is dearer to me, as he is in Jihad. The devil comes
to him in the part of weight and measure and buy and sale. He makes Jihad with
him. Sayyidna Omar said: No place is dearer to me
than that where I search livelihood for my family members and where I buy and
sell.
When a strong tempest arose in the sea, the passengers of
a boat asked Ibrahim-b-Adham: Don’t you look to this
calamity? He said: I don’t consider it a calamity. Depending on men for a
necessity is a calamity.
Once the Prophet asked about livelihood
of beasts and birds. He said: They come out hungry in the morning and
return with full belly in the evening. In other words, they come out in search
of their livelihood. The companions of the Prophet used to do
trade and commerce in land and sea and worked in gardens. It is
sufficient to follow them.
Once Aozayi saw the sage Ibrahim-b-Adham to bear a load of fuels on his back and
said: O Abu Ishaq, why are you taking such trouble?
Our brethren are sufficient for you. He said: O Abu Amer,
leave me alone in this matter, as I have come to know that if a man waits in a
place of disgrace in search for earning lawful livelihood,
The object of trade and commerce is to gain either
necessary livelihood or to gain enormous wealth. The latter is the root of
attachment to the world which is the basis of all sins. It is better for
persons not to beg for four reasons:
(1) One who is busy with
physical divine service.
(2) The friend of Allah
who is busy in exercise of soul and spiritual leanings.
(3) One who is Mufti
(gives legal decisions) and one who is Muhaddis (one
who teaches hadis) and one who is learned and
teaches.
(4) One who is busy in
the administration of the affairs of the Muslims, like rulers and kings.
These four kinds of persons remain busy in the affairs of
the public or in their religious affairs. The Prophet was not commissioned to
be a tradesman, rather he was directed to glorify
Allah. For this reason, when Sayyidna Abu Bakr became Caliph, other companions advised him to give up
his business and they fixed for him monthly allowance from the State Treasury.
He advised his sons to return it to the Treasury after his death.
Four things are necessary in earnings (1) Lawful earnings,
(2) Justice, (3) Kindness and (4) Fear of religion.
(1) Lawful and Unlawful
Earnings.
Earnings can be searched in six ways:
(a) Bargaining in buy
and sale,
(b) trade on interest,
(c) taking advance
payment,
(d) to work on wages for
labour and to accept pay and rental,
(e) to do business
through others advancing capital, and
(f) joint
business in fixing shares.
To know the rules of Shariat in
these concerns is compulsory, as to search knowledge is compulsory for every
Muslim.
It was reported that Omar used to visit the markets and
instruct some inexperienced tradesmen on whipping them and say: Nobody shall
carry on business in our markets who has got no
knowledge of business.
There are three subjects in it,
(i) Buyer
and seller,
(ii) commodities for
sale,
(iii) and
contract for buy and sale.
(i) Buyer
and seller,
With regard to the first, no transaction is valid
with a minor, insane, slave or blind man. No minor and insane man have got any sin. No transaction is valid with a slave
except with the permission of his master. Transaction with a blind man is not
lawful except with the consent of his representative. It is lawful to have
transaction with an unbeliever but it is unlawful to sell arms to them.
(ii) Commodities for sale.
There are six conditions in it.
(1) These must not be
impure, such as dog, pig, dung, stool, wine, teeth of elephant, fat of impure animals.
(2) Things of sale
should be beneficial and necessary. Scorpions, rats, snakes and worms and
insects under the earth are unlawful for transactions. Instruments of songs,
toys idols of animals are not lawful for buy and sale. Clothes on which there
are animal pictures are not lawful for sale.
(3) Commodities for
sale must be in possession of the seller.
(4) These should be fit
for transfer according to Shariat. A fugitive slave,
fish in water, birds in air, foetus in womb of an
animal, milk in udder cannot lawfully be sold.
(5) Things for sale
must be known, fixed and certain and not unfixed and uncertain.
(6) Things to be sold
must be in the possession of the owner. If the buyer sells it before possessing
it, it will be unlawful.
(iii) Contract for buy
and sale
The contract for buy and sale must be expressed in
clear and unambiguous terms. Intention plays an important part in it. No
condition can lawfully be imposed by one party after agreement is final.
Auction sale is lawful if the terms are proclaimed before hand. Imam Shafeyi held such auction as unlawful.
Transaction of Interest. Allah
made interest unlawful and there is strict order of prohibition regarding it.
The question of interest arises in only two cases, in transactions of cash
money, gold and silver and of food stuffs. Interest occurs in these two cases
only under two conditions,
(1) if sale is held on
credit and not in cash, that is, not to hand-in-hand transaction and
(2) if
more in quantity is taken in lieu of less quantity of the same kind of thing.
It is unlawful to sell a fixed quantity of gold or silver for a fixed quantity
of more gold or silver on credit. It is not lawful to receive in cash the value
of a certain thing which is to be delivered in future.
Three things are to be observed in case of gold and
silver.
(a) Counterfeit coins of
a great measure can not be taken in lieu of less quantity of pure coins. This
kind of transaction is unlawful. An inferior quantity of a thing cannot be
taken in lieu of a good quantity of the same thing.
(b) There is no-fault in
selling silvers in more quantity in lieu of gold of small quantity, because
they are of different kinds of things and not of the same kind.
(c) If gold and silver
are mixed and the quantity of each is not known, the transaction is not lawful.
Food-stuffs. The food-stuffs of seller and buyer are
of different kinds or of the same kinds. When food stuffs are of the same kind,
it is lawful to exchange them and the rules of the same of things are
applicable in this case. If a man gives a goat and takes in exchange mutton on
credit or in cash, it is unlawful. To give wheat and to take in exchange bread
on credit or in cash is unlawful. If milk is given to a milk trader and if in
exchange clarified butter, butter or cheese is taken, it will be unlawful.
Advance payment. Some conditions are to be observed in
advance payment of money and things.
·
The quantity and kind of a thing for which
advance payment is made should be fixed.
·
In the place of contract, the principal thing or
money shall be paid in advance. If both of them become separate before
possessing the thing, the transaction will be unlawful. In the place of
contract, the thing or money shall be delivered.
·
The thing that is given in advance must be an
exchangeable commodity such as food stuffs, animal, minerals, cotton, milk,
meat etc.
·
The weight and quantity of the thing given in
advance must be fixed.
·
Time of the delivery of the thing should be
fixed.
·
The place should be as certained
in which the thing is to be delivered, as there might be, difference of price
in case of place where commodity is to be delivered.
·
The thing to be advanced should have no
connection with another thing, such as crops of this land, fruits of that
garden.
·
Transaction of rare and precious things on
advance payment is not lawful, such as transaction of rare jewel, a beautiful
slave or slave girl.
(c) Wages, salary and
rental:
There are two rules (1) wages remuneration and (2)
profit.
(1) If wages are in
cash, it must be fixed like the price of a thing sold. If the remuneration is
salary or rental, its kind and quantity should be fixed. It is not lawful to
let out a house on rent on condition that the tenant must construct the
building or house as the expense of a house is unknown. To give skin in lieu of
taking skin from the body, to give skin in lieu of carrying an animal and to
give outer cover for cushing
wheat are all unlawful.
(2) Profit. The object
of industry in business is to gain profit.
(a) The remuneration of
a work must be fixed.
(b) The remuneration
given to a broker is unlawful. To maintain an animal in lieu of milk, to
maintain a garden of grapes in lieu of grapes and to take lease of a garden in
lien of its fruits are unlawful.
(c) One must possess
necessary strength to do a thing for which his salary is fixed. It is unlawful
to engage a weak man in a work which is beyond his strength and capacity.
(d) It is unlawful to
appoint a representative in a compulsory duty, for instance, to appoint warrior
in Jihad, or to appoint a representative in divine service. But it is lawful to
make pilgrimage on behalf of another who is otherwise incapable to observe it,
to bury or carry a dead man, to be an Imam in prayer for fixed term, to
proclaim Azan, to teach the Quran and such other
things and to take remuneration for these works.
Partnership business.
There are three things in partnership business: (1)
Principal, (2) Profit, and (3) Kind of business.
(1) With regard to the
principal in business, it will be fixed and paid in cash.
Principal is to be handed over to the managing agent. It
is unlawful to advance things and not money as principal.
(b) It should be settled beforehand what share of the
profit the capitalists should get and what share the businessman will get. If
the profit is fixed for the trade it is not legal.
(c) No condition should
be attached in a partnership business fixed commodities and fixed time.
The businessman becomes the representative or agent of
business who can utilise the capital according to his
wish in the business.
Partnership business is of four kind.
Out of them three kinds are unlawful and the fourth is lawful.
It is unlawful to divide the works in a joint business.
If a partner advances capital and another partner
possessing honour uses only his influence in the
business, it will be unlawful.
If the capital comes, equally from the shares with the
profit divided equally among them, is lawful.
It is unlawful to give trouble to the public by unjust
dealings and oppression and by deceit and fraud. There are two kinds of loss by
deceit and fraud.
(1) One kind of loss for
the general public and (2) another for some special persons.
(1) The loss of the
public is of many kinds. One kind of public loss arises from hoarding of food
stuffs. It is done with the object of getting enhanced price of food stuffs. It
is an oppression to the people in general. There is
curse of Shariat on the hoarders of food stuffs.
The Prophet said: If a man hoards up food stuffs when they
are dear for forty days to get more price, he is
displeased with Allah and Allah also is displeased with him.
Someone said that he commits sin of murdering all people.
Sayyidna Ali said: If a man
hoards up food stuffs even for a day to gain increased price, his heart becomes
hard.
The Prophet said: He who takes food stuffs from one place
to another and sells them on that day according to the market rate will get the
rewards of charity. In another narration: He will get the rewards of setting a
slave free.
The Quran says: If a man intends
to transgress the limits unjustly, I will give him taste of a grievous
chastisement.
This applies to hoarding up for getting more profit.
A certain pious merchant sent food stuffs on a boat in the
sea to his agent at
It is, therefore, prohibited to hoard up food stuffs for
getting greater profit, but it is connected with the kinds of food and time. It
is not prohibited to hoard up such kinds of thing which are not principal food
stuffs for livelihood, such as medicine, Saffron etc. There are differences of
opinion with regard to the hoarding of things which are near principal food
stuffs, such as meat, fruits and such kinds of food which appease hunger and
which are taken as alternatives of principal crops.
There are things which become unlawful for hoarding regard
being had to the time when food stuffs are not easily available and there are needs of men for them. To make delay in selling food
stuffs is harmful to the public. But when there are no such circumstances, it
is lawful to make some delay as the public do not suffer by it. When there is
famine, it is harmful then to hoard up even honey, clarified butter, meat and such
things. So the legality and illegality of hoarding of food stuffs becomes
according to the harms caused or not caused to the public.
Use of counterfeit coins. It is an oppression on the public to use counterfeit coins. The
first man who uses such coin will get the sins of every person who subsequently
transfers it to other persons. This is like introducing a bad custom.
A certain sage said: To transfer a counterfeit coin to
another is worse than the theft of a hundred coins, as theft is confined to a
sin, while the circulation of a counterfeit coin is not limited and it
continues years after years unless they are destroyed.
Allah says; I shall write what they sent in advance
(during their life time) and what they will send (after their death).
Allah says: Man will be informed what they sent in advance
before and what they latter.
(1) If a man has got
such counterfeit coins, he will throw them in wells, rivers and tanks
. (2) Knowledge of counterfeit coins is necessary to
every merchant to save him-self and to protect the Muslims from them.
(3) If he communicates
their nature to others, he will not be absolved from its sin if he knows about
its nature at the time of receiving it.
(4) He who receives
counterfeit coins to destroy them is absolved from sin and receives the
blessings of the Prophet: May Allah show kindness to one whose buy is easy,
whose sale is easy, whose clearance of debt is easy and whose demand is easy.
(5) A counterfeit coin
is one which has got nothing of gold or silver. The coin in which there is
something of gold or silver cannot be called counterfeit. But in a place where
a certain kind of coin is prevalent, another kind of coin is not lawful there.
It is an act of oppression if a merchant is caused
loss. It is justice not to do loss to a Muslim. The general rule is: love for
others what you love for yourself. This should be observed in four dealings,
(1) not to praise one’s
thing,
(2) not to conceal the
defects of one’s things form others,
(3) not to conceal the
weights and measures of a thing,
(4) and
not to cheat in respect of a price of a thing. To say that a thing possesses a
quality which it has not got is falsehood. If a buyer purchases a thing on the
basis of that description, it will be an act of deceit. Account will be taken
of every word uttered.
Allah says: There is a guard over man of what one utters.
The Prophet said: In false oath, there is much loss of
commodities and there is less profit. The Prophet said: Allah will not look on
three persons on the Resurrection Day a proud disobedient man, one who deals
harshly after charity and one who sells things by oath.
One who conceals defects is an oppressor, a deceit and a
fraud. Deceit is unlawful. Once the prophet saw a man selling food stuffs and
it pleased him. The Prophet then entered his hand unto the interior of the food
stuffs and found moisture in them. He asked him: Why are there wet things in
them? The man replied: Rain melted them. He said: Has not the rain fallen on
the top of the crops? The Prophet then said: He who defrauds us is not of us.
The Prophet took allegiance of Islam from Jarir and
when he was about to go, he took promise from his that he should do good to the Muslim. Thereafter, whenever Jarir
was present at the time of transaction of a thing, he disclosed the defects of
it and gave him option to purchase. Some one said to him: You will not get
profit by it. He said: I made promise to the Prophet that I shall seek good of every Muslim.
The Prophet said: It is unlawful to sell a thing without
disclosing its defects and one who knows it will commit sin if he does not give
precaution to him.
A man had a cow. He milked his cow everyday and sold milk
after mixing water therein. One day there was flood which drowned the cow. One
of his sons said to him: The waters which you mixed with milk gathered together
and washed away the cow by a strong current.
The Prophet said: When the buyer and seller tell truth and
wish good, blessing is given to their transaction. When they conceal and tell
falsehood, blessing is withdrawn from them.
There is in another Hadis: Allah
hand remains upon two partners till they do not commit treachery to each other.
When they commit breach of trust: He withdraws his hand from both.
It becomes easy to seek good of
the people if one knows that the profit in the next world is better than the
wealth and treasures of the world and that these will end with the end of life,
but his sins and virtues will remain. So how can a man take to evil things
instead of good ones?
The Prophet said: The word. There is no deity but Allah’s
will remove the wrath of Allah from the created beings till they do not give
superiority of worldly affairs over their next worldly affairs.
There is in another Hadis: He
who utters: There is no deity but Allah out of sincere faith,
will enter
He also said: He who regards unlawful thing as lawful does
not believe in the Quran. Deceit in buying and
selling and in mutual transactions is unlawful.
Don’t conceal in weights and measures. Take recourse to
just balance and weight.
Allah says: Woe to the defaulters in weights and measures,
those who take full measure when they take from men and who give less when they
measure out to them or weigh to them 83:1.
The way to be rescued from this is the following. Give
more when you measure out to others and take less when you take by measure from
the people. When the Prophet purchased something, he used to tell the seller:
Weigh according to the amount of price and give measure a little more.
Hazrat Solaiman
said to his son: O dear son, sin enters between two transaction
just as seeds enter into mills.
Allah says: Don’t exceed the limit in weights and measures
and establish just balanced and don’t reduce the measure 35:8.
He who takes more and gives less falls within this verse:
Woe to the defaulters who take full measure when they take from men, the verse
33:1.
Tell truth in selling commodities and do not conceal
anything. The Prophet said: Don’t meet the riders who bring commodities. The
owner of the commodities has got option to break an agreement after they are
brought in the market with those who meet them in advance.
Allah ordered us to adopt good and just dealings and to do
good to the people.
Allah says: Show kindness as Allah has shown kindness on
you. Allah enjoins justice and doing good 16:90.
Allah’s mercy is near those who do good.
Doing good means an act which does benefit to another.
Though it is not compulsory, it brings rewards and ranks. The rank of doing good can be obtained in one of the following six actions.
(a) Not to make much
profit.
(1) I never refused any
profit,
(2) I sold everything in
cash and not on credit, and
(3) I did not make delay
in selling a thing.
(b) To suffer loss. If a
buyer buys from a poor man, there is no harm to buy at a higher price to show
good to him and to enter into this prayer of the Prophet: May Allah like a
person who makes his buy easy and purchase easy? When he purchases a thing from
a rich man, he may search for additional profit. Sayyidna
Omar did not do any deceit and nobody could ever deceive him.
(c) To show good and to
treat well at the time of acceptance of price and realization of dues. It is
expressed in three ways
(1) to accept less price
at times;
(2) to grant time when
realizing the dues; and
(3) to
demand in a good manner.
The Prophet said: May Allah show mercy on easy purchase,
easy sale, easy payment of price and easy payment of debt. Consider the prayer
of the Prophet as valuable. Forgive and you will be forgiven. He said: If a man
grants time to a needy man to repay debt or remits it, Allah will make his
account easy. In another narration: Allah will give him shade on the day when
there will be no shade except that of the Throne.
The Prophet mentioned about such a person who oppressed,
his soul very much and was engaged in sins. When he will be presented on the Judgement Day, it will be found that he has got no good
deeds. He will be asked: Did you no do any good deed? He will say: No, but I
advanced loan to the people. I used to say to my children: Grant time to the
solvent and remit the poor. Allah then will say: I am more fit in this matter
than you. Then Allah will forgive him.
The Prophet said: I saw it written on the door of
When Hasan Basari
sold his donkey for four hundred dirhams, the
purchaser said to him: Reduce it by one, hundred dirhams.
He reduced it so. He again said: Do good to me. He
said: I remit you another one hundred dirhams. Then
he accepted two hundred dirhams and said: In this
way, good is done to a person.
There is in Hadis: Accept your
dues with pardon, whether it is paid up in full or not, then
Allah will make your account easy.
(d) To do good at the
time of payment of debt. To pay debt in a good manner is ‘Ihsan’
or doing good to another. Clear the debt before
demand. Going to the creditor personally and not to wait for its demand is
considered doing good.
The Prophet said: He is the best among you who pays
his debt in a good manner. Clear it before the time fixed for it and pay
something more than the principal.
The Prophet said: If a man intends to pay at the time
of taking loan, Allah entrusts him to His angles to keep him safe. They pray
for him till he clears his debt.
Once a creditor came to the Prophet to demand payment
of a debt due from him after the expiry of its time. He had then no means to
clear it. The man used harsh words to the Prophet. The companions were about to
attack him when he said: Leave him as a creditor has got a right to say.
The Prophet said: Help your brother, be he oppressed
or an oppressor. He was asked: How can we help an oppressor? He said: To
prohibit him from oppression is to help him.
(e) To accept return of
a thing sold if the buyer thinks that he has suffered loss, as nobody except a
repentant or suffering man intends to return a purchased thing. None should
remain satisfied with causing loss to his brother Muslim.
The Prophet said: If a man forgives the guilt of a
repentant man, Allah will forgive his sins on the Resurrection Day.
(f) To sell things to
the needy on credit and not to demand from them when they are in want and do
not become solvent. The religious men of yore kept account books. In those
books, they wrote the names of unknown poor customers. They were forgive if they could not pay their dues.
Trade and commerce are the places for trial of
religious persons. For this reason, it has been said that when the neighbours of a person praise him, when the companions of a
man in journey praise him and when the fellow tradesmen in the market praise
him, don’t complain against his good character.
Once a witness went to depose before Sayyidna Omar. He said to him: Bring one to me who knows
you. When he brought a person to him, the man began to praise his character. Sayyidna Omar asked him: Is he your closest neighbour? He said: No. Sayyidna
Omar asked him: Were you his companion in a journey? He said: No. Sayyidna Omar then asked him: Did you carry on business
with him? He said: No. Sayyidna Omar said: So, you
don’t know him. He then said to the man: Go, take one who knows you.
Nobody should forget his religion and the next world his
destination during the course of his trade and commerce and earning livelihood.
If he forgets it, he will then be ruined and he will then be one of those who sells his next world in lieu of this world, but the wise man
is he who protects his capital. His real capital is his religion and matters
relating to the next world.
A certain sage said: The best commodity in this world to a
wise man is what is absolutely necessary for him in this world. The necessary
things in this world are praise-worthy in the next world.
Hazrat Muaz-b-Jabal
gave his death instruction by saying: What has been decreed for you from the
fortunes of this world will surely come to you, but it is more necessary on
your part to look to your fortunes of the next world. So begin your actions for
the fortunes of the next world.
Allah says: Don’t forget your portion in this world.
In other words, don’t forget the portion of your fate in
the next world from your portion of fate of this world, as the world is a seed
ground for the next world.
Keep your faith firm and perfect and have good intent, in
business, at the start of your business.
Do business with the objects of saving yourself from
depending on others,
To restrain from the greed of what is with the people,
To remain satisfied with lawful earnings,
To earn keeping on the paths of religion
and to maintain family.
Intend to do good to the Muslims
and love for them what you love for yourself.
Follow the path of equity, justice and Ihsan
as mentioned above and join good and forbid evils you find in the market.
Intend to be upon the duties of Farze
Kafayah like trade, commerce, industry thinking that,
if the various kinds of trade and industry are given up, it will be difficult
for the people to manage their livelihood and the majority of the people would
be destroyed. One people are responsible for one kind of work. If all remain
busy in only one kind of work, all other work would remain idle and hence the
people would be destroyed. With this object,
Prophet said: The difference of my people is a blessing.
There is in hadis: The business
of cloth is the best of all your trades and the work of sewing is the best of
all industries.
There is in another hadis: Had
the inmates of
There are four works in which there is fear of lessening
the intellect- (1) weaving of cloth, (2) sale of cotton, (3) weaving of thread
and (4) Teaching, because in these works mostly women, boy and men of little
intellect are engaged. As intellect increased in association of intellectuals,
so also it lessens in association of less intellectual men.
Let not the worldly markets be
blocks of the next worldly markets which are mosques.
Allah say: There are some men whom merchandise or buying
and selling cannot divert from the remembrance of Allah, from establishing
prayer and paying poor due.
Allah says: Allah gives order to glorify and remember His
name in the houses.
So you should work for the next world in the early part of
the day till market time, remain attached to the mosque and remain busy in
divine service after the division of times. The earlier sages fixed the early
and last part of the day for the next world and the middle part for this world.
There is in hadis: If the angels
who write records of deeds write therein Allah’s Zikr
and good deeds in the early part and the last part of the day, Allah forgives
sins between these two times.
There is in hadis: The angels of
day and night meet with one another at the time of morning and Asar prayers. Allah then says: In what condition have you
found My servants? They say: We have seen them praying
and came from them in their praying state.
Allah says: I bear witness in your presence that I have
forgiven them.
Be attached to the Zikr of Allah
in addition to the above duties in the markets. Allah’s remembrance in the
markets is better. The Prophet said: One remembering Allah among the heedless
is like a warrior behind a fleeing enemy or like a living man among the dead.
In another narration: Or like a living trees amidst
dried trees.
The Prophet said: If a man says after entering the market
the following; There is no deity but Allah, the Single, there is no partner for
Him, His is the kingdom and for, Him is all praise, He give life and takes
life, He is eternal and will not die, in His hands, there is good and He is
powerful over all things’ Allah reward him with thousands of merits.
Sayyidna Omar said: O Allah, I
seek refuge to Thee from infidelity and all the sins committed in the markets.
O Allah, I seek refuge to Thee from the oath of the sinners and the wailings of
the losers. The Prophet said: Fear Allah wherever you are. Markets, mosques and
houses are all the same for those who fear Allah. They live for Allah and die
for Allah and Allah is the corner stone of their life.
A certain sage said: He who loves the next world loves a
true life. He who loves this world remains thirsty.
Don’t be too greedy in markets and in businesses. There is
in hadis: Don’t travel in the sea except for
Pilgrimage, Umrah and Jihad. The Prophet said: The
worst of places is the market. The sage Hammad used
to carry on wool rugs. When he got profit of nearly six annans
(1/16) , he used to close his business. Once Ibrahim-b-Adham said to a person who
was going to his business of pottery: You are seeking livelihood but death
seeks you. Keep away from doubtful things even after giving up unlawful
things. Leave the places of the earnings of doubt and restrain yourself from
eating doubtful things.
Once a man brought milk to the Prophet who asked him:
Where from has this milk come to you? He said: we have got it from goats. The
Prophet asked: Where from have you got goats? He said: From such and such a
place. Then he drank it and said: We are a people of Prophets. We have been
forbidden to eat except good things and to do except good deeds. The believers
have been ordered to do the things which the Prophet have been ordered to do.
Allah say: O believers, eat of the good things We have provided you 2:172.
The Prophet asked the source of a thing and the source of
its source and not beyond that. The Prophet did not enquire about everything. Don’t
do business with one who has got connection with oppression, breach of trust,
theft and interest.
The Prophet said: He who prays for long life on an
oppressor, loves to he disobedient to Allah in His world. He said: When any
transgressor is praised, Allah becomes displeased. He also said: He who honours a transgressor,
helps the destruction of Islam.
Adjust accounts of your business with everybody. Accounts will be taken of you on the Resurrection Day of your business with everybody. A wise man said: I saw a merchant in dream and asked him: What treatment has Allah metted out to you? He said: Fifty thousand account books have been opened before me. I asked: Are all these records of sin? He said: You will find one record for each person you have dealt with in the world. All have been recorded in these account books.