On Earning and Livelihood: A Study of Book 13 of the Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn
10 videos • 3,692 views • by Al-Maqasid Allah the Exalted tells us, “He is the One who has made the night for you as a cover and made sleep for resting, and the day for rising.” [Quran 25:47] The day is when to seek the bounties of Allah: “O believers! When the call to prayer is made on Friday, then proceed diligently to the remembrance of God and leave off your business…Once the prayer is over, disperse throughout the land and seek the bounty of God…” [Quran 62:10] Similarly, in several hadith, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ encourages earning a living: "By Him in Whose Hand my life is, it is better for anyone of you to take a rope and cut the wood and carry it over his back and sell it rather than to ask a person for something and that person may give him or not." He ﷺ also said using birds as a metaphor, “[T]hey go out hungry in the morning and come back with full bellies in the evening.” In Imam al-Ghazali’s book on the Etiquette of Acquisition and Earning a Livelihood, he explains the merit of acquisition and earning a livelihood, buying and selling, usury, partnerships, justice and excellence in transactions, and more.