Aslam

The Book of Worldly Usages Sign in to save

Chapter II: Etiquette of Marriage

The Prophet said : Take to trade and commerce, because nine- tenths of the source of earnings is in trade and commerce.
Once the Prophet Jesus asked a man : What do you do ? He said :
I make divine, service. He asked : Who gives you food ? He said :
My brother. He said : Your brother makes better divine service than you. The Prophet said : I have left no such instruction which if obeyed will not bring you near paradise and keep you distant from Hell. 1 have left no such prohibition which , if obeyed , will not keep you distant from paradise and bring you near Hell. The trusted Spirit infused into my soul saying : No man will die till his provision does not finish even though he wishes it . So fear God and seek livelihood in a lawful manner. I enjoin you to earn livelihood in a just manner. Let nobody say :
Give up to seek livelihood . Then he said at last : Let not the delay in earning livelihood give you encouragement to earn it illegally, because disobedience to God cannot bring what He has got. The Prophet said : The markets are the repositories of food of God. He who comes to them gets something therefrom. The Prophet said : If anyone of you gathers fuels with a rope and searches livelihood by bearing it upon his back, it is better than to beg of men whether they give or not. He said : If a man opens a door of begging upon him, God will open for him seventy doors of begging.

Wise sayings: The wise Loqman advised his son : O dear son, shut up poverty by lawful earnings, because he who is poor earns three habits — laxity in religious actions, weakness in intellect and loss of manliness. Greater fault than these three is to keep it secret from the people. Hazrat Omar said : Let none of you retrain from earning livelihood and say : O God, give me provision. Know it for certain that the heaven will not shower rain of gold and silver. Hazrat Jaber was once sowing seeds in

VoJ-II Trade and Commeree 47

Source: Imam Al-Ghazali, Ihya Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Islamic Sciences)
← Previous All Chapters Next →