Khutba on Kasb
الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي جعل سرّ الرزق في الكسب، حتى ولو كان من جمع الحطب، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير، ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدٌى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع
الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.
قال الله عز وجل في كتابه العزيز: “فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَانتَشِرُوا فِي الاَرْضِ وابْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِ اللهِ.” وقال تعالى: “لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ تَبْتَغُوا فَضْلًا مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ”
Allah says in His Mighty Book, the translation of which is: “When the prayer is over, disperse in the land and seek Allah’s bounty.” And He also says, the translation of which is: “You incur no wrong by seeking your Lord’s bounty.”
Actively seeking the bounty of Allah – in others words, working to bring in the means to support yourself and your dependants – has somehow become disconnected, in the eyes of many many Muslims today, from the Deen of Allah. If it is not ‘ibadat, then it is not part of the Deen, forgetting that the Prophet said,
الدينُ معاملة
“the Deen is mu‘amala – transactions”.
Indeed, some even view working for a living to be reprehensible in the misguided view that somehow it means that you are not truly relying on your Lord. This is a gross misunderstanding of tawakkul. Allah has given us everything that we possess – our strength, our skills and our knowledge – so to not make use of them to support ourselves and our dependants is the very height of ignorance and ingratitude. When you have a need, tawakkul is inwardly trusting in Allah while outwardly using every means that Allah has given you to fulfil it, not doing nothing and expecting Allah to fulfil it for you.
The truth of the matter is that there is a greater reward in working for a living and supporting your family than in doing lots of worship but being supported by another. It is narrated that ‘Isa ibn Maryam came upon a man who had given his life over totally to worship, so he asked him who it was who supported him. When the man replied that his brother worked to support him, ‘Isa said,
أخوك أعبد منك
“Your brother is more of a worshipper than you are.”
So working for a living is, itself, an act of worship. And, indeed, the famous tabi’i, Thabit al-Bunani used to say, “Nine tenths of ‘ibada is in working for a living, only one tenth is in actual acts of worship.” So do not let the fact the you are dedicating yourself to the deen of Allah be an excuse to give up your means of earning a living and rely on others to provide your daily bread.
اليدُ العليا خير من اليدِ السفلى
“The upper hand is always better than the lower hand”, and the one who is active in the arena of working in the dunya will be more active in the arena of working towards the akhira than the one whose day is full of free time and inactivity. Nor must you seek to exempt yourself from that by labelling yourself “a student of knowledge”, for seeking knowledge, while praiseworthy in itself, is not, I repeat, is not a profession and should not be taken as such – even the great ‘ulama of the past worked for a living. Imam Abu Hanifa, for example, was a trader.
قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: “إن اللهَ يُحِبُّ العبدَ يتّخذُ المِهنةَ ليستغنيَ بها عن الناس، ويبغُضُ العبدَ يتعلمُ العلمَ يتّخذُهُ مِهنة.”
The Prophet has said, “Allah loves the slave who takes on a profession so that he has no need of other people [to look after him], but hates the slave who studies knowledge and makes that his profession!”
You have only to look at those whom Allah sent to show mankind how to live their lives to see the importance of having a trade. Ibrahim, for example, was a cloth merchant; Dawud made and sold chainmail armour; Zakaria was a carpenter and our own Prophet was a trader. The following story of Dawud is particularly illustrative of this point:
رُوي أنّ داوودَ النبيَ صلواتُ اللهِ تعالى عليه وسلامُه كان يخرجُ متنكِّرا فيسألُ عن سِيرته مَن يراه من أهل مملكتِه، فتعرض له جبريلُ عليه السلامُ على صورةٍ آدميٍّ، فقال له داوودُ عليه السلامُ: “يا فتىً ما تقولُ في داوودَ؟” فقال: “نِعمَ العبدَ هو غيرَ أنّ فيه خُصلة.” قال: “وما هي؟” قال: “يأكلُ من بيتِ مالِ المسلمين، وما في العِبادِ أحبُّ إلى اللهِ مِن عبدٍ يأكل من كدِّ يدِه.”
It is narrated that the Prophet Dawud used to go about his kingdom in disguise to find out how his subjects saw him and his governance of them. One day, while on such a tour, he was met by the angel Jibril, disguised as a young man. Not recognising him, Dawud asked him, “Young man, what do you think of Dawud?” Jibril replied, “He is an excellent man, but he has one defect.” “What defect is that?” asked Dawud. Jibril replied, “He gets his daily bread from the public purse. No slave is more beloved to Allah than the one who eats from what he has earned with his own hand.”
فعاد داوودُ عليه السلامُ إلى محرابِه باكياً متضرِّعا يقول: “يا ربِّ علِّمني صُنعةً أعمَلُها بيدي تُغنِيني بها عن مالِ المسلمين.” فعلَّمه اللهُ تعالى صُنعةَ الدروعِ، وألان له الحديدَ حتى كان في يدِه بمنزلةِ العجين. وكان إذا تفرغ من القضاءِ وحوائجِ أهلِه، عمِل دِرعا فباعها وعاش هو وعيالُه بثمنِها.
When he heard this, Dawud retired to his upper room and, weeping, entreated his Lord, saying, “Lord, teach me how to make something with my own hands so that I will be spared the need of having to resort to the public purse.” So Allah taught him how to make armour, causing metal to become so soft and malleable in his hands that he could fashion it as easily as if it were bread dough. Then, every time he needed money to fulfil the needs of himself or his family, he would fashion a new suit of chain mail armour and sell it.
This was Dawud, a Prophet and a king. A man who used to fill his days and his nights with ‘ibada and run an entire kingdom, a man who could have taken all the money he needed from the public purse without wronging anyone, and yet who preferred to work for his living. This is how we must also be.
Another important aspect of working for a living is the protection it provides from poverty.
فقد قال لقمانُ عليه السلامُ لابنِه: “يا بُنَيِّ استغنِ بالكسبِ الحلالِ عن الفقرِ، فإنهُ ما افتقر أحدٌ قط إلا أصابه ثلاثُ خِصالٍ: رِقَّةٌ في دينِه، وضُعفٌ في عقلِه، وذهابُ مروءتِه. وأعظمُ من هذا الثلاثِ استخفافُ الناسِ به.
As part of the advice Luqman gave his son, he said, “Protect yourself from poverty by the halal acquisition of wealth, for poverty brings with it three defects – the weakening of a person’s deen, the weakening of his intellect and the disappearance of his manliness. And worse than all three of these, it makes people look towards him with contempt.” Muslims, we are representatives of the deen of Allah and representatives of His Prophet. When we act in a manner that causes people to view us with contempt, we give them a bad impression of Islam and dissuade them from entering into it, and Allah will hold us accountable for that. People are attracted by those who actions and achievements they aspire to, not by those whose actions and achievements they view with disdain.
So every one amongst us must seek some way of making a living and stop making excuses. “But what can I do to earn a living?” some of you might ask. لا تيأسوا من روح الله – Do not despair of Allah’s mercy! There is always something to which you can put your hand.
عن أنسَ ابنِ مالكِ رَضِيِ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أن رجلا جاء إلى النبيِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فسأل منه حاجةً فقال له رَسُول اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: “أوَما في بيتِك شيءٌ؟” قال: “بلى يا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، حلسٌ قد تخرّق بعضُه ونحن نجلسُ عليه وننامُ فيه ونجعلُ بعضَه تحتنا وبعضَه فوقَنا، وقَصعةً نأكلُ فيها ونشرَب فيها ونغسِل فيها رؤوسَنا.” فقال رَسُول اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: “اِئتِني بهما جميعا”
Anas narrated that a man came to the Messenger of Allah to beg for assistance, so the Prophet asked him what he had in his home. The man replied that he had a ripped saddle blanket which he and his family would sit on and sleep in, wrapping it around themselves during the night, and a large wooden bowl from which they would eat, drink and even wash themselves. So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed him to bring the blanket and bowl to him.
فأتاه بهما فأخذهما رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بيده وقال: “من يشتَرِي هذين؟” فقال رجلٌ: “أنا آخُذهما بدِرهم.” فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: “ألا مَن يزيدُ على درهم” مرّتين، فقال رجلٌ آخَر: “أنا آخُذهما بدرهمين” فأعطاهما إياه وقبِض الدرهمين ودفعهما إلى الرجلِ وقال له: “اشتَرِ بأحدِهما طعاما واحمَله إلى منزلِك، واشتَرِ بالآخَرِ قَدُوماً وائتني به.”
Then, when the man had done so, the Prophet took hold of them and said, ‘Will anyone buy these two things?’ A man said he would pay a dirham for them, so the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, twice asked if anyone would offer any more than that whereupon a man offered two dirhams. So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, gave them to him, took the two dirhams and gave them to the [poor] man. Then he instructed him to buy some food for his household with one of the dirhams and buy an axe with the other and bring it to him.
فأتاه فشدّ له رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عُودا ثمّ قال: “انطلِق واحتطِبْ وبِع ولا أراك خمسةَ عشرَ يوماً” فذهب واكتسب عشرةَ دراهمَ فاشترى ببعضها ثوبا، فقال رَسُول اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: “أليس هذا خيراً لك من أن تجيءَ يومَ القيامةِ ومسألتُك في وجهِك نكتةٌ سوداءُ لا يمحوها إلا النار.”
When the man returned with the axe the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told him to go out and chop up wood and sell it people as firewood, and to do that for fifteen days and then come back. The man returned after fifteen days having earned 10 dirhams so the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him, “Is this not better for you? Is it not better than coming before your Lord on the Day of Rising with a black spot on your face from your begging that can only be erased by the Fire?”
So even a man who had nothing was able to earn a living and regain his respect and manlihood. We must become self-sufficient as a community – we must stop relying on other people and start relying on Allah by making use of what He has given us. And make no mistake – He has given us everything we need to do that and more besides.
But please do not misunderstand me: I am not saying leave the arena of the mosque for the arena of work. No, far from that. Rather, I am simply saying that you must not take your involvement in the arena of the mosque or any other arena as an excuse for you to not be involved in the arena of work. The way of the Muslim is one of balance since we are the أمةً وسطًا – the Middlemost Community. So do not neglect either. The Deen is best served by your participation in both arenas – that is the best way you can worship your Lord and that is why we are here. So may Allah give us that balance, while making us people of the Upper Hand and not the Lower Hand.
أقول قولي هذا و أستغفر الله لي و لكم و لسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم. الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.
قال الله عز وجل في كتابه الكريم: “يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُمْ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ”
Allah says in His Noble Book, the translation of which is, “Spend out from the good things you have earned” – (i.e. by trading) – “and from what we have brought out of the earth” – (i.e. by farming).
In this second khutba, I would like to talk about trade, for this is the area of working for a living that impacts the greatest number of us – every single one of us has to buy things on a daily basis and so every one of us is to some degree engaging in trade. Trade is one of the noblest professions available to man, considered by the fuqaha to be second only to jihad as a means of earning ones livelihood.
قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: “عليكم بالتجارةِ فإنّ فيها تسعةَ أعشارِ الرِّزق.”
The Prophet said, “You should engage in trading for it is nine tenths of provision.”
وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: “التاجرُ الصَّدُوقُ يُحشَرُ يومَ القيامةِ مع الصِّدِّيقين والشهداء”
And he also said, “The honest trader is raised up on the Day of Rising in the company of the siddiqs and the shahids.”
وعن عمرَ ابنِ الخطَّابِ رَضِيِ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قال: “ما مِن موضِعٍ يأتيني الموتُ فيه أحبُّ إليَّ مِن موطِنٍ أتسوّقُ فيه لأهلي أبيعُ وأشتري.”
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said, “There is no place I would rather die than in the marketplace, buying and selling to support my family.”
وسئل إبراهيم رَضِيِ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عن التاجرِ الصَّدُوقِ أهو أحبُّ إليك أمِ المتفرِّغُ للعبادةِ، قال: “التاجرُ الصَّدُوقُ أحبُّ إليّ.”
And when the tabi‘i, Ibrahim Nakha’i, was asked who was more beloved to him, an honest trader or someone who devoted all his time to worship, he replied, “An honest trader”.
وعن ابنِ المبارك رَضِيِ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قال: “مَن ترك السوقَ ذهبتْ مروءتُه وساء خُلُقُه.”
And Ibn al-Mubarak said, “Anyone who abandons the market place will lose his manliness and his good manners.”
And anyone who stills doubts the importance of trade to the deen of Allah should look at the history of the deen. Trade was one of the most important ways in which Islam spread throughout the world. It was trade that brought Islam to East Africa, it was trade that brought Islam to Indonesia and it was trade that brought Islam to Malaysia. Hundreds of millions of people brought to Islam by people carrying out Allah’s injunction:
“فَانتَشِرُوا فِي الاَرْضِ وابْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِ اللهِ.”
the translation of which is, “Spread through the Earth and seek Allah’s bounty”.
The importance of trade is further illustrated by a look at the books of Fiqh where one finds nearly twice as many laws relating to trade as those relating to the ibadaat. So, if we abandon trade, we let all of those laws of Allah go to waste and leave the arena open to those who ignore His Laws and follow Shaytan and their own appetites. When halal trade is not being practised, usury comes in to fill the gap, for nature abhors a vacuum.
So our task is clear. We are instructed to work for our living, and since trade is one of the best ways to make a living, we must become traders and put back into place all of things necessary to make that trading lawful and halal. And that stands to reason for, just as you cannot do the prayer when you are not in wudu or are carrying or standing on something that is physically impure, you also cannot engage in trade when your place of business or means of trading are haram. So we must establish free Islamic markets, mint gold and silver currency and open up caravan routes and guilds. This is the only way to combat usury. Allah and His Messenger have declared war on usury. Now, it is our turn to do the same. This vital part of the Deen must be revitalised. لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله – The shahadatayn must be reunited and the Deen must be made whole – ‘Ibada and Mu‘amala – Prayer and Trade. This has to be our goal and our aim and the goal and aim of every Muslim who lives in these troubled times.
May Allah realise this aim. May He teach every one of us how to make something with our hands that will spare us the need of having to resort to the usurious means that surround us. May He make our rizq halal. May He make our rizq halal. May He make our rizq halal. Amin.
إنَّ اللهَ ومَلائِكَتَهُ يُصلُّونَ على النَّبِي يَا أَيُها الذينَ آمنوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وسَلِّمُوا تَسْليماً. اللهمَّ صَلِّ وسَلِّم وبارِك عَلَيْهِ وعلى آلِهِ وصَحْبِهِ أجمعين.
وارض اللهم عن الخلفاء الراشدين المرشدين الحنفاء ساداتنا وأئمتنا أبي بكر وعمر وعثمان وعلي ، وعن سائر الصحابة أجمعين، خصوصا الأنصار منهم والمهاجرين، وعن التابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
اللهم اهد أولات أمور المسلمين لما يرضيك ولاتباع سنة نبيك صلى الله عليه وسلم وثبت أقدامهم على الصراط المستقيم وأصلحهم يا رب العالمين.
اللهم بارك على شيخنا، و على أميرنا، وعلى جميع أمراء وزعماء المسلمين.
اللهم بارك على المسلمين في هذه المدينة ووفقهم لما تحبه وترضاه يا أكرم الأكرمين.
اللهمّ أَعِزَّ الْلإسلامَ والمُسِلمينَ (3) واَخْذُلِ الكُفْرَ والكافِرينَ، وانْصُرِ المُجاهِدينَ في سَبِيلِ اللهِ. واجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وكَلِمَةَ الكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلى.
ربنا ءاتنا في الدنيا حسنة وفي الأخرة حسنة وقنا عذاب النار.
اللهم لا تضعْ في مقامِنا هذا ذنبا إلا غفرْتَه، ولا عيبا إلا سترْتَه، ولا مريضا إلا شفيتَهُ وعافيتَه، ولا مسجونا إلا طلَّقْتَ سراحَه، ولا مسافرا في برِّك وبحرِك إلا سلِمتَهُ وغنِمْتَه.
إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربى وينهى عَنِ الفحشاءِ والمُنكَرِ والبغي، يعظكم لعلكم تذكرون، ولَذِكْرُ اللهِ أكبر والله يَعْلَمُ ما تَصْنَعُون. وقُومُوا إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يرحمكم الله