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Lawful earnings - By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Lawful earnings
By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Dear Muslims: Allah (SWT) says which
translates as:
"O Mankind eat from whatever is on
earth that is lawful and good, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan indeed
he is to you a clear enemy" (Al-Baqarah: 168).
Servants of Allah, earning provisions
and seeking sustenance, is something that is commanded to be done by Islamic
law - Shariah. It is something that is dictated by nature. Allah (SWT) has made
the day for seeking livelihood and He has made for people by day prolonged
occupation. He (SWT) commanded us to walk among the slopes of the earth and eat
of His provisions. He (SWT) connected in The Holy Qur’an, the Mujahideen who fight
for His cause, and others who travel through the land seeking His bounties. He
(SWT) says:
"He has known that there will be
among you those who are ill, and others traveling through the land seeking the
bounties of Allah and other fighting for the course of Allah. So recite of the
Quran as much as may be easy for you" (Al-Muzzammil: 20). The Prophet
(PBUH) said: "Never has anyone eating a better food that what he has
procured through his manual work". (Bukhari). Dawood (PBUH), the messenger
of Allah, ate only from the earnings from his manual work. Some of the Salaf
said: "Some of the sins are not expiated but through seeking lawful
provisions".
Dear Muslims: Lawful earnings and sound
wealth, safe guards the religion, protects one’s honor, beautifies one’s face,
and results in a strong position. It is obvious from all this that seeking
lawful provisions is desirable. For Allah (SWT) is Tayyib, which implies
goodness and kindness. He does not accept but what is good and lawful. Allah
(SWT) commanded the believers as He commanded the messengers, when He says
which translates as:
"O Messengers eat from the good
foods and work righteousness. Indeed I am knowing of what you do"
(Al-Mu’minun: 51). Allah (SWT) also says:
"O You who have believed, eat
from the good things which we have provided for you, and be grateful to Allah
if it is indeed Him that you worship" (Al-Baqarah: 172).
In the book of Imam Tirmidhi, the
Prophet (PBUH) said: "Whoever eats from good, and acts according to Sunnah
and people felt safe from his evil, will enter paradise".
Also in the book of Imam Ahmad it is
reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Four things if you have them, then
do not be concerned about what you miss out in this life. Preserving the trust,
saying the truth, well manners, and chastity and purity in what you eat".
A good example is Abubakar (RAA) who
had a slave who brought him some food, which he ate. After which the slave
asked him if he knew from where he had gotten the food. Abubakar asked: from
where did you get it? He replied: "I acted as a sooth-sayer for a man in
the pre-Islamic period, and not being good at it I deceived him. Today he met
me and rewarded me for that soothsaying. From this you have eaten. Therefore,
Abubakar (RAA) put his hand in his mouth and vomited up all that he ate.
In another narration he said:
"If it would not have come out except with my soul, meaning except with my
death, I would have still forced it out. O Allah I ask you to excuse me for
what my veins has carried from this and what has mixed in my stomach".
(Bukhari).
In addition, Umar (Radhiyallahu Anhu)
drank some milk, which he liked. He asked the one who gave him the milk:
"Where did you get this?" He said: " I passed by the camels of
Zakaah while they was drinking water so I took from its milk". Umar put
his hand in his mouth and vomited it up".
Moreover a righteous woman advising her husband
saying: "O husband fear Allah, and the provisions you bring us, for we can
persevere through hunger but we can not stand and persevere through the
punishment of hell fire". These are the righteous ones. They bring out
whatever is unlawful or questionable out of their stomachs, though it was
something they had taken unknowingly from food or drink.
However, generations came after them,
earning unlawful provisions, filling their stomachs and the stomachs of their
families with it.
Dear Brothers And Sisters In Islam: Do you know of the man
whom the Prophet (PBUH) mentioned in a Hadith found in Sahih Al Bukhari: "He travels for long periods, his hair
tousled, his feet dusty, raising his hands in supplications to the heavens
saying, My Lord, My Lord, but he eats from unlawful earnings, he dresses from
unlawful earnings, and he lives by unlawful earnings. He will never be answered".
This man has symptoms of humility, and poverty and his situation invokes pity,
compassion, and the desire to help him in his need. He has lost his way, his
journey is long, and he feels like a stranger, he has lost everything. He has
lost connection with his Lord and has deprived himself of the support of his
Lord. So his duas (supplications) are not accepted. He ate from the unlawful,
dressed from the unlawful and his lived on unlawful earnings, so his ‘hands’
(meaning his dua [supplication]), were rejected.
Dear Muslims: Eating from unlawful
means blinds the insight, weakens the religion, hardens the heart, darkens the
mind, prevents the body from worship, entraps one in this life and prevents
one’s dua (supplication) from being accepted. Allah does not accept, except
from the righteous. Unlawful earnings and provisions have bad effects on the
individual and the community. It removes blessings and causes the spread of
diseases, disasters, financial crisis, unemployment, oppression, and disputes.
O Muslims, Woe to the ones who eats
from unlawful provisions, raises their children and family by means of unlawful
earnings. Their example is like the example of one who is drinking out of the
seawater. The more they drink the thirstier they become. They drink as the
drinking of a thirsty camel. They are not content with little provisions, nor
do a lot of provisions satisfy them.
Dear Muslims: The best way to refrain
from unlawful and illegal things is to stay away from doubtful things, and to
persevere through devout, pious ways and means, when hesitant.
In Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet
(PBUH) said: "So he who guards against doubtful things, keeps his religion
and his honor blameless, but he who falls into doubtful things, falls into that
which is unlawful
May Allah (SWT) guide us, let us be
amongst His sincere servants, bless and forgive us all.
