YOU and YOUR LIVELIHOOD
A
balance attitude; Wealth a trust
– Earning a livelihood; Labour and economic risk; The
dignity of work; You as an agricultural producer; Industrial production; Trade;
Professions and Skills.
– You as an employer; As an employee; You as a consumer; As Investor and creditor;
Waqfs or Continuous Charity.
There was a story about a
man in Madinah who came to the Prophet and asked for
some nourishment. The Prophet was not one to refuse, but at the same time he
did not like to encourage begging, he therefore asked the man:
‘Don’t you have anything
in your house?’
‘Yes’, said the man. ‘A
saddle blanket which we wear sometimes and which we spread on the floor
sometimes and a container from which we drink water’.
The Prophet took the
items, sold to the one of the companion for two dirhams,
and handed over to the man and said, ‘With one dirham, buy food for your family
and with the other one buy an axe and bring to me’.
The man returned with the
axe. The Prophet split a log with it and then instructed, ‘Go and gather
firewood and I do not to see you for fifteen days’.
The man did and after two
weeks made a profit of ten dirhams. With some of the
money he bought food and some for clothes. The Prophet was pleased and said:
‘This is better than
getting a blot on your face on the day of resurrection’.
This true story
emphasizes that as an adult Muslim and in particular when you have family, you
have the obligation to work. You are required to use your initiative and
whatever resources you may have to earn a living. If you fail to do so you face
the prospect of ‘getting a blot on your face’ or in other words of suffering
some form of disgrace through your inactivity and dependence.
The story also points to
the most effective method of offering aid and support. If you provide handouts
to people who are well, able-bodied and have some resources, however small, you
would not in fact be offering effective help to that person. You may help to
meet an immediate pressing need but it will only be a one-off, short term
remedy. You will in fact be encouraging dependence and the lack of self-respect
and esteem in the person you wish to help.
By his simple, practical
and far-sighted approach, the noble Prophet showed how people can be made to
help themselves and how they can be motivated to seek long-term solutions to
meet their basic needs. ‘Charity is not halaal for
the rich or the able-bodied’, emphasized the Prophet.
Every one needs a basic
minimum to live. You need food sufficient to free you from hunger. You need
clothing and shelter sufficient to protect you against exposure to heat, cold
and shame. You need security to ensure freedom from fear.
As an adult you need to
work to provide these needs for yourself and those who naturally depend on you
– like your parents if they are old or your children if they are young. Work –
honest work – is an obligation like the other obligations in Islam. Idleness,
laziness, begging or waiting for handouts from the state or from charities –
all destroy a person’s dignity and even his freedom. This does not mean of
course that in times of genuine difficulties we are not to seek help and
support from others.
Nearly all aspects of
earning a livelihood require dealings with others. To preserve natural and
stable social order, all dealings including business and commercial dealings,
must be based on the natural virtues of honesty, justice, responsibility and
brotherhood. On the other hand any dealing that is characterised
by dishonesty, injustice, fraud or deceit whether it is a minor case of giving
short measure or a cunning case of exploitation and profiteering destroys the
natural good in the individual and breaks the bond of brotherhood and
solidarity in society.
Firm ethical values
govern economic activity and business relationships in Islam. This is why Al-Ghazali, the famous Muslim scholar, recommended that a
Muslim who decides to adopt trade as a profession or to set up a business
should first acquire a thorough understanding of the rules of business
transactions. (TOP)
Islam recognizes the
importance of materials well-being. To be deprived of the basic needs of life
and to be in a state of dire poverty is to be in a terrible state – so terrible
that when the Prophet was asked whether the evils of deprivation equaled the
evils of associating others with God, he said yes.
The Prophet warned,
‘Poverty can lead to kufr (rejection of God and
ingratitude)’.
Beyond merely striving to
eliminate poverty, believers are urged to enjoy, and not to deny themselves the
good things of this life. These are enjoyed as part of the bounty of God but
should not lead to a materialistic outlook and the compelling desire to acquire
more and more.
In Islam, the urge for
material enjoyment is constantly tempered by the need for moderation.
‘O you who believe! Do not forbid the good
things which God made lawful for you, and do not exceed the limits’. (5 :87)
‘Eat and drink but do not
waste, for God does not love those who waste’. (7: 38)
Such verses of the Qur’an call for a reasonable and balanced attitude towards wealth
and material well-being. Islam is not for life-denial but for life-fulfilment. In this vein, one of the most
frequently-repeated supplications of the Prophet and of Muslim is:
‘Our Lord and Sustainer,
grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter’. (top)
Naturally, you are not
free to do with your wealth as you please. Whatever wealth you have must be
regarded as a trust from God and you will be called to account for how you
discharged this trust.
‘Then (on the day of judgement) you will certainly be questioned about all the favours you enjoyed’. (102: 8)
The more you have the
more you have to account for. Your worth, according to Islam, is not a function
of your wealth. Your wealth is not a sign of your virtue or your excellence. It
does not give nobility or make you part of a privileged class. It is not a
means of exploiting others. The possession of wealth is really a test. God says
in the Qur’an:
‘It is He Who has made
you (His) agents, inheritors of the earth. He has raised you in ranks, some
above others, that He may try you in the gifts He has given you. Indeed, your
Lord is quick in punishment, yet He is indeed Forgiving, most Merciful’. (6:
165) (top)