From The Discourses of Hazrat Moulana Yunus Patel Saheb (rahmatullahi ‘alaih)
To do business is not haraam. In fact it is very virtuous. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “To earn a halaal (lawful) livelihood is compulsory after the completion of other faraaidh (obligatory duties).”
In another hadeeth, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “Glad tidings (of Jannah) are for that person whose income is pure (halaal), his interior and exterior is good and he does not cause any harm to people. Glad tidings (of Jannah) are for that person who practices on his knowledge, spends his excess wealth (on the needy) and does not engage in useless talk.”
So earning a halaal livelihood is 100% deen …but certainly not the way we are doing it at present. …What are we really chasing after? Our rizq (sustenance) is muqaddar (predestined) and it is chasing after us. Allah Ta‘ala wants to give it to us easily but we want it the hard way; so it comes like that. …And if a person falls into the traps of haraam and into unlawful and deceptive dealings, the barakah is all lost and problems prevail.
Employees
Nowadays we work seven days a week, from 7 to 7. If we don’t work like this, then we make our staff slog in this manner. We have no mercy, no sympathy and no compassion for them – no thought that they have families – parents, wife and children – and they need to spend some quality time with their families, that they too are human and need some rest.
We like to spend time with our families on weekends. We take a rest and even go on holidays. But when it comes to our staff, then sadly we do not like the same for them. Even if they are sick, they are forced to come to work because we do not allow them sick leave or we will cut their pay. Such injustices and grievances are brought to our attention time and again. …This is due to the greed we have. This is the result of hubbud-dunya. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “The love of the world is the root of all evil.”[2]
The hadeeth shareef mentions clearly: “Whoever has faith in Allah and the Last Day, then let him meet his end while he treats people the way he would love to be treated.”[3]
In another hadeeth, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.”[4]
Even if you open 24/7 – 365 days a year, only what is destined for you, will reach you. It will not be anything more! It will not be a single cent more than what Allah Ta‘ala has already decreed. May Allah Ta‘ala grant us the understanding because we have lost all perspective of the Aakhirah (Hereafter) in our pursuit for dunya. It is an obsession. In the process, we make zulm on our employees. Often it is the curses of the mazloom that sometimes tears our lives apart, because Allah Ta‘ala promises to assist the oppressed.
In addition to giving other advice, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would caution his Companions who were deputed as governors: “Fear the pleading prayer of a wronged one (mazloom), for there is no veil between it and Allah.”
There is a proverb: “Beware of the sigh of the oppressed when they pray; Divine acceptance readily greets them.”
Sukoon and Barakah
Change the pattern of work. Work in the obedience of Allah Ta‘ala and you, yourself, will see how much of sukoon (tranquility) and barakah (blessings) you will experience. All the stress, anxiety and depression will disappear. At present, we ourselves are suppressing and oppressing our souls. The physical body has got a soul. The soul wants to rise and wants to connect with Allah Ta‘ala and become a true lover of Allah Ta‘ala and Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). We are suppressing and oppressing that soul. When there is suppression and oppression of the soul, depression will then follow.
All the money of dunya cannot buy the happiness and peace of the heart and soul. When we give the soul its sustenance and nourishment, which is taqwa[5], then Allah Ta‘ala gives sukoon. Even in the midst of problems, we will still have sukoon – like a rose blooming amidst thorns. Then there will be no evidence needed to see the sukoon in the person’s life.
Learn Business the Islamic Way
Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) would not allow a person to engage in any business or trade until he had learnt the rules and regulations which governs business in Islam. Learn the Islamic way of doing trade and business. Make the business sharee‘ah compliant.
Look at how the Sahaabah-e-Kiraam (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) did business. It was neither a diversion from Allah Ta‘ala nor from deen. Their tijaarah was ‘ibaadah. Their business and trade brought so much of barakah. As an example: Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahmaan bin ‘Auf (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), who is also one of the ‘Asharah Mubasharah[6], would say, in explaining how successful Allah Ta‘ala had made him: “If I lift a stone, I find gold and silver beneath it!”
They did not pursue the dunya. No. They pursued the Aakhirah and sought the pleasure of Allah Ta‘ala in everything they did. So Allah Ta‘ala made their sustenance extremely easy and blessed them in their earnings, because their business and trade was in accordance to the demands of sharee‘ah.
In any effort to earn dunya, deen should never be considered as secondary, or be given the back seat – so to say. Deen should always take precedence and be our main concern. Our work and activities of dunya must conform to deen and sharee‘ah. Deen is the nucleus, or the heart and soul of our lives.
May Allah Ta‘ala inspire our hearts in His obedience, grant us the understanding of the reality of this worldly life and the realization that we need to pursue the Aakhirah instead of the dunya – since it is the Aakhirah that is everlasting while the dunya will be left behind very soon. May Allah Ta‘ala grant us the taufeeq of ‘amal.
[6] The ten (famous) Companions of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), who were given the glad tidings of Paradise in one sitting.