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forced to ask for financial help from the government or from individuals, he is blameless. Said Allâh’s
messenger (s.a.w.s.): Begging is similar to scratching the flesh off your face; so if someone wants to save
his face he should avoid it, except for asking from the ruler or asking in case of dire need. (Reported by Abû
Daoud and al-Nisai.)
In his Sahih, Muslim reported Abû Bishr Qubaysah ibn al-Makharaf as saying, “I agreed to pay himalah (an
amount of money paid to two quarreling parties in order to make peace between them) and came to Allâh’s
Messenger (s.a.w.s.) asking for help. Thereupon the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, ‘Wait until alms (sadaqah) are
brought to us and we will give you from that. Qubaysah,‘ he continued, ‘asking for money is not permissible
except in three cases: for a man who takes it upon himself to pay himalah, he may ask people for help until
the designated amount is received and then he should stop asking. For a man who suffers calamity and
loses his property, it is permissible for him to ask until he is able to stand on his own feet. For a man who is
starving, until three reliable persons from his community say, “That man is reduced to hunger; it is
permissible for him to ask until he is able to stand on his own feet.” Except for these, Qubaysah, begging is
fire, it is eating fire.’ (Reported by Abû Daoud and al-Nisai.)
Dignity of Work
Some people regard certain kinds of work or professions as contemptible. However, the Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
denied the validity of this notion. He taught his Companions that the whole of a human being’s dignity is tied
up with his work—any sort of work —and that real disgrace and humiliation consist of depending on other
people’s help. He said, It is better that a person should take a rope and bring a bundle of wood on his back
to sell so that Allâh may preserve his honor, than that he should beg from people, (regardless of) whether
they give to him or refuse him. (Compiled by al-Bukhâri and Muslim.)
The Muslim can earn his livelihood by agriculture, trade, or industry or by any profession or employment as
long as it does not involve doing, supporting, or propagating anything haram.
Earning Through Agriculture
In the Qur‘ân, while referring to His bounties and favors to man, Allâh Ta‘ala mentions the principles required
for the pursuit of agriculture. He has spread out the earth and made it suitable and fertile for cultivation and
production; this is a bounty to human beings which they ought to recall and to be thankful for: And Allâh has
spread out the earth for you, so that you may make your way through its spacious paths. (71:19-20)
And He has spread out the earth for (His) creatures. In it is fruit, and date palms with spathes, and husked
corn, and scented herbs. Then which of the favors of your Rabb will you deny? (55:10-13)
He has also provided water in abundance. He sends it down as rain and makes it flow in streams to revive
the earth after it is dead. And it is He Who sends down water from the sky. With it We then bring forth
vegetation of all kinds; from some We produce green (crops) out of which We produce grain heaped up at
the harvest.... (6:99) Then let man look at his food, how We pour forth water in abundance, then We split the
earth into fragments and produce therein corn and grapes and nutritious plants. (80:24-28)
Further, He sends the winds, with “good tidings” to drive the clouds and scatter the seeds: And We have
spread out the earth and placed firm hills therein, and produced in it all kinds of things in due balance. And
We have made means of sustenance in it for you and for those whom you are not the providers. And there is
not a thing but its sources are with Us, and We send it down only in appointed measures. And We send the
fertilizing winds, and send down the rain from the sky and give it to you to drink, although you are not the
guardians of its stores. (15:19-22) In all these Qur‘ânic verses there is encouragement for man to engage in
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agricultural activity, for it has been made easy for him as a divine favor.
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, When a Muslim plants a plant or cultivates a crop, no bird or human being eats
from it without its being accounted as a (rewardable) charity for him. (Compiled by al-Bukhâri and Muslim.)
He also said, When a Muslim plants a plant, anything eaten of it or stolen from it, until the Day of
Ressurection, is accounted as a charity for him. (Compiled by Muslim.) The implication of these ahadith is
that the reward of the person who plants a tree or a crop continues as long as the produce of this tree or
crop is eaten or used, even though he may have sold it to someone else. The scholars have said,
It is Allâh’s generosity that He continues to add to the reward of a person even after his death, just as when
he was alive, for six things: for the charity whose benefits continue, for knowledge which is used, for
righteous children who pray for him, for the trees he planted, for the crops he sowed, and for territorial
borders he guarded.
Once a man passed Abû al-Darda while he was planting a walnut tree. The man said, “Are you planting this
even though you are a very old man? This tree will not bear fruit for many years.” “What of it?” Abû al-
Darda replied. “Others will eat of its fruit, and the reward will be mine.”
One of the Companions of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said that he had heard Allâh’s Messenger say, If anyone
plants a tree, patiently protects it, and looks after it until it bears fruit, Allâh the Mighty and Glorious will count
as charity for him anything for which its fruits are used. (Reported by Ahmad.)
On the basis of these sayings of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.), some scholars have argued that agriculture is the
best of occupations. Others say that manufacturing and working with the hands are best, while still others
consider trade to be the best. (See al-Qastalani’s commentary on al-Bukhâri.) In trying to reconcile these
positions, some researchersay that it all dependupon circumstances: if food is scarce, agriculture is the best
if people need goods, trade is the best; while if manufactured goods are needed, industry is the best. This
conditional preference seems to be in the closest agreement with modern scientific thought.
Prohibited Crops
It is haram to cultivate a plant, such as hashish and the like which is haram for eating or which has no other
known use except what is harmful. The case of tobacco is of this nature; whatever be the classification of
smoking, whether haram or makruh, the growing of tobacco is similarly classified. We ourselves prefer to
classify smoking as haram.
It is not a valid excuse for the Muslim to say that he is growing the haram crop in order to sell it to non-
Muslims, for the Muslim is never permitted to be a party to the propagation of what is haram. This is similar
to a Muslim’s raising pigs in order to sell them to Christians, which is clearly unlawful. As we have seen,
even a halal item such as grapes cannot be sold to others if it is known that they will use them to make wine.
Industries and Professions
Agriculture is essential, and Islâm persuades people to engage in it by pointing to the benefits in this world,
and the rewards in the Hereafter resulting from it. However, from the Islâmic point of view it would be
extremely undesirable if people limited their economic efforts solely to agriculture, a situation analagous to
supposing that the inexhaustible oceans had no use other than the extraction of pearls from their depths.
Warning Muslims that confining their activity only to agriculture and pastoral pursuits would expose them to
various dangers such as defeat, humiliation, and the loss of religious freedom, the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, If
you deal in usury, calling it by other names, and hang onto the tails of cows, being satisfied with cultivation
and ceasing to perform jihad, (Striving or fighting in the cause of Allâh. (Trans.)) Allâh will inflict a disgrace
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