Islam is proactive about worldly resources for mankind. This approach can be understood by the following verse:
And We have given you (mankind) power in the earth, and appointed for you therein a livelihood. Little give ye thanks! (The Qur’ān 7:10)
The Arabic word that has been translated as ‘livelihood’ is ma’aish that can be alternatively translated as worldly resources or economic goods. God has made earth a storehouse of required commodities and bestowed man with the opportunity, power and authority to utilise these for his livelihood. A corollary of this position is that utilisation of these worldly goods, as such, is desirable. If any element of undesirability comes in it is because of improper utilisation of the resources. The verse as above says that generally man is not thankful for the bounties of God. This is the basic message of the Qur’ān that human beings should be aware of the kindness of the Almighty and recognise through their thoughts (convictions) and deeds. The Qur’ān calls for such awareness, acceptance and recognition of the heavenly gratitude – which is called shukr in the Islamic parlance – and lead life in accordance therewith.
The above mentioned positive and practical approach of Islam about resources is also found in a number of traditions of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless and greet him). In one such tradition it is related that once the Prophet summoned one of his companions and asked him to proceed on a mission saying that the companion will be successful in the task and he will also get wealth. The companion said that he had accepted the faith for reward hereafter and not for getting wealth. The Prophet replied, “Good wealth is good for a good person [nemal malus saleh lir rajulis saleh – Musnad Ahmad].” In another tradition the wordings of the Prophet’s reply recorded are, “How good is the good wealth for a good person [neimma bil malus saleh lir rajulis saleh].”
It means that a demarcation line between good wealth and bad wealth is required and only that wealth is recommended for a good person that can befit the expression ‘good’ relegating everything else in the negative list that is unfit for a believer. Such good earning is so much desirable that another tradition of the Prophet gives the good tiding that a truthful and honest trader will be a companion of Prophets, the most righteous and the martyrs. [Tirmidhi].
Yet another tradition of the Prophet says that God loves a person who toils hard in search of his livelihood [Tirmidhi]. So much so that earning clean livelihood is obligatory after the obligatory prayers [Mishkaat]. In other words, a believer is first required to abide by the pillars of Islam and perform obligatory prayers in accordance therewith and then toil for earning his livelihood. It is the secondary obligation after the primary one. This principle can be best understood by studying the following verse of the holy Qur’ān:
And when the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land and seek of Allah’s bounty, and remember Allah much, that ye may be successful. (The Qur’ān 62:10)
The prayer referred to in the above verse is the Friday congregation. The believers are asked to respond to the call of payer first and then disperse on earth in search of their livelihood. Thus an effort for earning worldly resources is not only acceptable and advisable; it is enshrined too, provided it does not come in the way of the primacy of the faith in God and performing the obligatory prayers. A true believer should understand the correct sense of proportion. Further, God should be remembered even in the course of earning resources because the wealth so amassed is a divine bounty.
DIGNITY OF LABOUR
In pre-Islamic period of Arabia, as in the world today, one of the major factors on which the position of a man was decided was the nature of job he was doing. Dignity of a person was linked to the mode of his earning. The position in the world today is not much different. An executive is higher in social ranking than a clerk. A person doing manual labour is considered lower in strata than that engaged in a white collar job. Islam contradicts this position and teaches that there is no relationship between honour of a person and his mode of occupation, provided the occupation itself falls in the undesirable category.
The Arabs in general and those residing in Makkah in particular, at the time of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless and greet him), were very much conscious about the social position of a person which for them was primary related to birth, profession, wealth, number of male children, and eloquence in the form of oration or poetry, etc. The residents of Makkah were businessmen who used to travel in caravan with goods for trading. They considered themselves to be higher in status as compared to those residing in Madinah who were farmers. Hence in the Battle of Badr when three warriors of Makkan origin came forward and challenged the Muslims and three warriors of Madinan origin responded and went ahead, the Makkans protested that they wanted warriors of their status, that meant honourable persons of Makkan origin. The Prophet withdrew those Madinan warriors and provided the match the enemies wanted. This false pride was so much deep rooted that Abu Jahl who was injured by two youngsters from Madina and finally killed by Abdullah Ibn Masood, a poor man whose occupation while he was in Makkah was to graze cattle of rich persons for his livelihood, expressed his dismay while dying that he was not killed by a person of his match!
Islam propagated the concept that dignity is a function of morality and religiosity; the more pious, virtuous and God-fearing a person is the more valuable he will be in Islam. Hence of all wrong criterions, worth of a person will not be judged on the basis of his vocation or occupation.
The Prophet used to do work like repairing his own dress and footwear, feeding camels and horses and milking goats himself. He was very particular about sharing the burden of other persons and participating in all works on equal basis. Once when he was travelling with his colleagues they stayed at a place and distributed work like cooking, feeding the animals, erecting tents, among themselves, the Prophet said that he would do the work of collecting wood for the fuel. The companions insisted otherwise but he did not like any preferential treatment. He emphasised that when everyone else was working and doing some service why he shouldn’t.
When the Prophet came to Madinah two mosques were constructed: one in Qiba at the outskirt where he had stayed for some days and the other in the place where he finally settled down. Further, a trench was dug along three sides of Madinah to safeguard the city when a big army of enemies was encircling it. The Prophet worked as a manual labour along with other companions at all those occasions. We come to know from traditions that Abdullah bin Rawaha, a companion – may God be pleased with him – was singing in a loud voice while working and the Prophet was echoing in chorus along with others. The Prophet used to carry a so heavy stone that he would bent under its weight. The companions would come and request to give them the load; he would concede, give that away and then pick another stone of more or less the same weight!
In addition to leaving his example of dignity of labour the Prophet’s traditions have a number of teachings supporting this.
He said that the best food of a person is the one earned by one’s own hands and Prophet Daud used to do manual labour for his food. [Bukhari].
The hands of one of the companions had blackened because of hard manual labour. The Prophet kissed that black spot. This was a mark of recognition that the hard toil of that companion was very much dignified!
Once, when a poor companion asked for help, the Prophet asked him to bring his belongings, got them auctioned and got an axe purchased from the proceeds and prepared its wooden handle with his own hands and gave the axe to that help-seeker, asking him to proceed to the jungle for cut woods for sale. After a couple of days that companion reported his better financial position and some small saving as well. The Prophet was happy and expressed that earning livelihood through one’s own labour is much better than seeking help from others.
Such teachings coupled with the examples left by the exalted Prophet and his exemplary companions set an entirely new rule of dignity of labour and that of mankind based on high moral principles.