Jamal Badawi – Economic System of Islam 3 – Labor Work Ethics

			In the name of God he never synced, the Merciful, the creator and Sustainer of the universe, peace
and blessings upon the servant and messenger Muhammad forever. I mean, I greet you with a greeting
that is common in Islam, assalamu Aleikum, which means peace beyond to you. I'm your host Hamad
Rashid. Today we have our third program in our series dealing with the economic system of Islam.
Today we'll be looking at the topic of work in Islam. I have joining me on the program is usual. Dr.
Jamal Badawi of St. Mary's University brother Jamal Assalamu alaykum. Ronnie,
		

			could I have you very quickly as as our fashion summarize the main points that we touched on in our
second program in the series dealing with the economic system of Islam. And certainly, the second
program dealt mainly with the concept of property, rights of property, and Islam. And we indicated
that Islam recognizes the right of people to own property as an instinctive the natural tendency
among all people. However, we said there are also various levels of property that you can speak
about
		

			things that are owned by one individual, by family, by tribe, by a nation, our society at large or
jointly owned by the entire human race like oceans and give examples of that.
		

			Secondly, we talked about the fact that the recognition of the right to own and Islam is also
subject to legitimacy, legitimacy of obtaining or acquiring this property. Using this property and
disposing of it, we have given specific examples as to what is regarded as legitimate and Islam,
such as obtaining property through one's own effort, hunting, fishing, labor, that you do, or for a
pay for a salary or whatever.
		

			On the other hand, we have also given the other side of the coin, what means are regarded as
illegitimate or unlawful from the point of view of Islamic law
		

			to acquire property, such as the theft, extortion or other illegitimate means. And then we said that
		

			this also, this restrictions do not preclude also that even when you on the right, the on the on the
property, rightfully should say, there are also obligations and duties on that property, including
the, for example, in soccer, or the charity, the appointed minimum percentage that you have
		

			to pay the obligation to maintain your immediate family and in some cases, even some of the needy
relatives. And we said that on the whole, this is within the boundaries, not just legal provisions.
But there are also additional, ethical or moral teachings, if you will, pertaining to the question
of acquisition of property, the obligation not to hold property away from circulation and get the
society to benefit from the wealth that's available, not necessarily on by charity, but at least by
way of investment to provide jobs and opportunities and benefits for others.
		

			Well, turning to today's topic, and to put our discussions into context, I wonder if I could ask you
to
		

			give some explanation of the Islamic concept of work and who is a worker from an Islamic
perspective? Okay. It appears that this topic of this program seemed to follow rather nicely from
the previous one, because, as indicated before, of course, the one of the main sources of legitimate
right of property in Islam is the labor or working well,
		

			in an Islamic understanding, labor
		

			can be defined as any effort, physical and or mental, that is exerted by the person which would
include
		

			the conventional definition of labor that most people would think of immediately like manual labor,
when you say labor. Most people think of manual, this is only one part of it. But it also include
		

			other types of exertion like mental effort,
		

			all jobs that might fall under clerical professional managerial
		

			would come under this
		

			Definition of labor to.
		

			But in Islam, even you can add to this, the labor or work of people who are appointed or entrusted
with some duties in public offices, even rulers. A ruler in Islam can also be called a worker. That
might sound rather strange, you know, but there was a little incident that happened in the days of
Mongolia.
		

			The
		

			rulers after Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.
		

			And one time he was sitting there, and MN, a very pious and courageous Muslim by the name of Abu
Muslim,
		

			entered in his court. And he said to him, Assalamu alayka, you have
		

			the word ajira. In Arabic, means worker says Peace be upon you workers. So the people of course,
around the rollers are offenders and that is it. You don't mean a GS which mean workers, you mean
Amir's, which means like a roller
		

			commander, he said, No, peace be upon you, a GS, which means workers. And then letters smile, we're
told his people said, No, let him he knows what he's saying. And then that courageous man said to
him, listen to the ruler, he said to the ruler,
		

			you are a worker,
		

			and God has appointed you just like hired you. And if you do your duty, properly, as a ruler, God
will give you abundant rewards. And if you don't do it, right, God will punish you. So this is the
kind of conception that they had that any kind of work, not just manual or mental, any kind of
activity that is beneficial to the rest of the community was regarded as well. It follows from this
definition.
		

			That, first of all,
		

			all human beings can be set to be equal, in that sense, equal in the sense that they have the
dignity
		

			that all of them are workers because nobody is exempt or can live without some kind of exertion of
effort, except, of course, in rare cases like disabilities, but otherwise, all humans are workers
and that sense.
		

			And that's such a new concept in Islam of one class and society or one group being above the other
or superior to other orientate each other all are common in that particular description. It follows
from that also, if you compare it with the contemporary scene, that in an ideal Islamic Society that
Islam teaches, there is no sub subdivisions that this are the group or the class of entrepreneurs or
managers. And these are the workers there is no such division in society. All of them are workers,
maybe in different levels. Maybe they're doing different things. But they are all called workers,
and that sense, but what about the question of work that work ethics? How would you characterize
		

			Islam's attitude towards work? Well, the interesting thing about it is that Islam does not only a
field when you talk about work ethics on the in a sense of decency, or fair play that everybody
should work and you should not be lazy. This is a kind of common statements that are usually related
to the question of work ethics. And Islam work ethics is carried even a step further,
		

			to the point of being equated with worship. In fact, as you might recall from some programs in a
long time ago, dealing with the moral system in Islam, it was indicated that the concept of worship
in Islam is not confined to certain rituals, or performance of prayers, this is only part of it. But
in the true Islamic understanding, every activity that's beneficial to oneself, one family, once
society or to humanity at large, can be regarded as an act of worship provided to things good
intention, and to do that effort or activity in the boundary within the boundaries that God has
established for us. So everything can be regarded as an act of worship, including work. So work is
		

			worship in that sense, which means that when the person is taught this basic ethical value of work
or work ethics, if you will, it is related to one duty towards God before talking about his duties
towards other human beings that God wanted him to work. In fact, one verse in the Quran says wakulla
motto, Casa de la mala Kumara pseudo says, say work, tell them mahama teach them work exist, which
means exertion, everything in worship and activities in good deeds and moral behavior as well as
economic activities work so that God's will and His Messenger and the believers will see the
		

			Which are the results of, of your work? It taught us from this of necessity that Islam discourages
		

			the attitude of idleness or laziness, or attitude of trying to live on the charity of other people,
of course, unless the person is disabled, then he has no means. But this but otherwise an able
bodied person is not encouraged to, to just live at the expense of others. Indeed,
		

			one incident happened during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him that was narrated in
a tizzy and an essay.
		

			This man came to the process, and he was just asking for some kind of charity.
		

			The Prophet looked at him and says, Do you have any property?
		

			He says, No. Then he repeated again, do you have any property think anything. So I have nothing to
say that all I have is just the kind of met, that me and my wife, we sit on it on one part of it and
cover cover ourselves with the other half. And we have also kind of, from which we would drink, I
don't have anything to bring them, bring them here. He brought them. And then the Prophet says, who
would like to buy this thing, this that stuff?
		

			So people bought that and the result was to their hands, this is a kind of currency that they have
to their hands.
		

			So the Prophet looked at this man, he said, I take one of those Durham's this money, and buy food
for your family.
		

			And take the other day him and go and buy
		

			a metal x, x and bring it to me. So the man went, he bought the football recently brought the metal
x, the prophet brought the piece of wood and fixed it in the X and says, All right, take that axe.
And I don't want to see your face for 15 days. Go away, cut wood and sell it.
		

			So the man went after 15 days he came back. And this time he was really wealthy, at least compared
to his previous state. He had 10. Durham's 10.
		

			And the Prophet asked him, How did you get that he said, right, I was, you know, cutting wood and
God has blessed my effort. And now I have this excess amount of money. The Prophet looked at him and
says, This is better for you than coming in the day of judgment with your face, hey, having the
stigma of sign of begging, this was a very, you know, constructive lesson in trying one's best even
though the person may be really in a bad shape, one should exert as much effort as possible to try
to gain an honorable type of employment.
		

			Actually, the prophet said that even in a more
		

			straightforward saying, and he said that it is better for one of you to take his rope, go to the
mountain, cut woods and sell it then asking people are begging people waiting, whether they are
going to give him or decline
		

			to give him
		

			Well, now in nearly all cultures and civilizations, there are some people who look down on on manual
labor.
		

			What is this large position with respect to manual labor? Okay, we have seen first in the previous
question how the Prophet, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him responded to this idea of working and
he considered that a very honorable thing, even guys, you know,
		

			wood cutting is not that easy type of job. But I'm glad that you're asking say, you're asking the
question in the form of what Islam says that what Muslims do or what kind of attitude because
Muslims like everybody else also have their own faults. And there might be some Muslims who are
guilty themselves, of harboring an attitude towards labor, or manual labor, which is not taught by
Islam. So what is more important to see what Islam teaches and then hold them accountable to the
extent they are complying with the teaching of their faith. But if you refer to the teaching of
Islam, in the primary sources in the Quran, and the prophetic tradition, we find that manual labor
		

			is not only acceptable, it is respected and adored.
		

			In the famous story about Prophet Noah, when he was building the ark, the Quran says was not for he
was making an ark. So he is a great prophet, and messenger of God, one of the five greatest prophets
and he is cutting wood and making an ark with the help of others. There's no
		

			Nothing wrong with it. In one saying of the Prophet narrated in a hurry,
		

			he says that a person would not eat better food than that which is earned from the work of his hand
in homiletic, from the work of his hand, and similar saying also, that we just got a few. He says,
He who sleeps or, you know, start his evening with his hands tired of work, he will spend his night
with his sins and mistakes forgiven, that is, this is a region of forgiveness of a sense.
		

			One time the Prophet was asked, what kind of earning is best, what is the most noble type of
earning, he said, from the man's, or the persons working with his with his hand, and also from an
honest sale, and income that comes from honest commercial dealings.
		

			One time a companion of the Prophet came to shake hands with him, and the Prophet, note that his
hand was really rough, and to some extent, blisters, blisters. And he said, What happened to your
your hand sad. He said, Well, because of, you know, my effort to earn living for myself and my
children. The Prophet kissed that hand, and he said, this is a hand which is loved by God, and His
Messenger.
		

			This attitude has not been restricted or confined to the lifetime of the Prophet but you find
anytime, anywhere, when there are true Muslims,
		

			practicing Muslims, you find that the respect for laborers, all types of labour, including manual
labor, is so great, just to give you an illustration, and after the profit, during the reign of the
second Caleb farmer, once he passed by a group of people who were sitting there, putting their heads
like that, and, you know, reciting prayers and all that, and it was those people.
		

			He was told that these people call themselves al mutawa qilu mitakeumi, those who depend on God. He
said, No, these are not metaxalone. These are metaxalone, with a Quran and Arabic means those who
are eating away the property of others, in other words, living on charity, with akyuu, not
metaxalone. And he said, should I tell you as to who the true miracles are, or the people who really
depend on God? They said, Yes. He said, The true people who depend on God are those who put the seed
		

			in the ground, and then depend on God. That's a good lesson. What is really saying that to depend on
God does not mean that you have to be fatalistic or lazy or do nothing. But try first just like the
farmer put the seed. Yes, you have to depend on God, to have the plant come out, but do your best,
put the seed put the fertilizers, you know, give it water and all that, and then depends on God do
something first before you say all right, I depend on God for my living, we all depend on God for
our living, but you have to do something
		

			for the pursuing this point, with respect to the attitude of manual labor. Some argue that there are
a few texts in the Quran, and in the prophetic sayings, which seemed to which appeared to discourage
certain kinds of, of work. How would you respond to people who would use those references? Well,
usually the the when things are taken out of the context and out of the total frame of reference,
you're right. Some people come with this kind of
		

			conclusions. I think the question is quite common. But so for example, some people refer to the
Quran and they say that in numerous places in the Quran, it always speaks about the importance of
the life here after that we're going to die we're going to resurrect again and this life would be
nothing. And there are several prophetic tradition also showing that in our life here on Earth, just
like a traveler who stops under a tree for a short time, so that's just small, as compared to
eternal life in the hereafter.
		

			But again, this does not mean that we have to do nothing to earn our living or to be comfortable
Also, while on Earth. It simply means put your life in perspective. Don't forget life hereafter
because you're too busy getting the maximum joys of this life but then say don't have any jewelry,
and Elvis, permissible Of course, and innocent enjoyment of life.
		

			The other thing also that could be that sometimes is referred to is one verse in the Quran. That
refers to the importance of leaving everything leaving trade at the time of the Juma Friday,
congregational prayers, you know, every week, they have to be this congregational prayer.
		

			But that very same chapter, that is with this
		

			also speaks about the necessity of spreading and the earth after you finish your prayer and seek the
provision of God. So just that hour or so that you have to spend and pray, but it doesn't really
discourage commercial dealings, such as simply says, Don't forget other activities also. And some
saying of the Prophet, he speaks about emotions, and say that they will all be condemned. But he
again says, except those who are God conscious God fearing, and those who are truthful in their
dealings, so it does not really discourage commercial dating, but discourage
		

			cheating and improper negotiations are contracts.
		

			Some of the same also as one merited for example in
		

			which may give the indication that the profit discourage people from engaging in agriculture. But
that the context of that thing is the people who keep close to lend
		

			as an allegory of people who avoid also traveling or avoid also struggling or fighting for the sake
of God, when and whenever the need arises, like defense and all that. So it's not condemnation of
agriculture, as such as how could people survive. It's talking about people who keep, you know,
stationary without really defending themselves or trying to do something for the benefit of other
people. So the restrictions that we, you know, Islam speaks about with respect to labor, or
something within the context of Islam does not mean at all discouragement of activities or any
sector of the economy, but simply putting things in proper
		

			and proper rate. We mentioned closing to that answer about restrictions, are there certain types of
work in Islam that are subject to restrictions? Yes, and that comes on, like, we discussed in the
previous program, also on the rights of property, it emanates from the basic moral and ethical
orientation of Islam. Just to give you an example, even though this was mentioned before, they just
have to make cross reference to earn money, for example, or to work.
		

			For example, in the production,
		

			and distribution,
		

			and or distribution, I should say, of alcoholic beverages.
		

			Drugs, I'm referring to harmful drugs, you know, things that people take to get high.
		

			intoxicants in general, would be something that is unbuffered, that Muslims should not, for example,
work in a winery or a beer
		

			making plant.
		

			Because the output, it's not that the work itself is forbidden, but because the output itself is
unlawful. As far as the standard clause is concerned,
		

			there are also certain restrictions, which are meant for the welfare of the public or the welfare of
society at large.
		

			This is what you might call in modern terms like health and safety regulations, under Islamic law,
and this is an old thing, it's not nothing new, really, the ruler can impose certain restrictions
about people having
		

			factories in given areas, having so much smoke that might be hurting people without having to do
something about it.
		

			The protection, health protection and safety protection for workers, these are all restrictions, not
on labor itself, but on the way of using people to do work in such a way that so as to protect them
and to protect the welfare of the society at large. Now, within the the permissible permissible
work, are there any restrictions with respect to the choice of professions or it's basically the
freedom of choice of professions and careers? Okay, since you define this already, within the
permissible, there is no restriction on what kind of profession a person may engage in. The basic
rule is that the person is free to choose his profession. under Islamic law, it goes even beyond
		

			that. It makes it incumbent on the rulers or government to open up opportunities for people so that
they can pursue whatever activities or profession they feel they can do an excellent job on. There
is no aristocracy in Islamic law, that certain professions as used to be in the past, for example,
in some places, the professions of certain types have to be limited to one particular group or race
or class and society. It should be open to all.
		

			This is in recognition simply that God has created humans differently. Some people have more
physical aptitude, manual aptitude, intellectual aptitude, there are all kinds of skills that are
needed to keep life going. In fact, the Quran in one particular verse in chapter six 165 it says
that God has created people and made some of them above others in degrees, not in
		

			terms of status but in terms of abilities, so that they can use each other. Not necessarily that the
more powerful or the more educated uses, the less educated as some people may mistakenly understand
it. But it simply means that each person is using the others to fulfill his needs. Just as the
medical doctor may be using a builder to build his home, the builder is using the doctor also to
provide him with medication. So every person is dependent on every other person. So the the there is
no restriction insofar as having any particular social status which are attached to any particular
profession. In fact, in the history of Islam, we'll find bright examples of people who were regarded
		

			as people who belong to the lowest social status, people look at it in terms of power and wealth,
and all that, who came to positions of great prominence in Islamic history. One of this is a man,
the son of
		

			his father was simply an adopted son, just like, actually, in the Arabic tradition. At that time.
before its time, it was almost like a servant really. But he came to be the commander of a big army.
And some of his own soldiers under his command used to be among the most noble and the most powerful
of the aristocratic, quote, unquote, crocheted
		

			tribe.
		

			So this reflects simply the ideology of Islam of equating between people and making a distinction on
the insofar as piety and productivity of the person insofar as what he or she can contribute to the
well being of the society at large. What basis is there four differentials in pay? One wireless lamb
equipped between people in terms of social status and their position before God does not necessarily
mean that each person would have to be paid exactly the same as somebody else.
		

			Differential impact could be legitimate on the basis of difference in the quantity of production,
the quality and scarcity, for example, if it takes a long time to get a training to be a brain
surgeon, for example, when you have to be rewarded, and why Islam does not object to this
differential fair differential, which is based on good reasons, is to encourage people to benefit
society from their skills or ability because if you say everybody will be paid the same, then people
would take the easier type of professions rather than the ones that require some hard work or long
type of, of training.
		

			What is Islam to say about the protection of the rights of workers? Well, there are several ones. To
start with any worker that you hire, of course, you have some kind of contractual agreement, whether
verbal or written or oral. Well, and this, we find that the fifth chapter of the Quran says that it
is an obligation on the Muslim to fulfill the condition of contracts. So that is part of it,
including work contract. But even in contracts which are permissible in Islam, we find that Islam
also requires that the person should not cheat the people is hiring. And one saying of the Prophet
narrated and Buhari, he says, among three people, the prophet will speak against, and the Day of
		

			Judgment is a person who hire a worker to do work for him, and take all the work and effort from him
and then does not pay him his generate.
		

			In one saying of the Prophet, he says that you should give the person you hired to do work, his
payment before his sweat dries,
		

			what he really means that you don't unduly delay the pay. But of course, if both agree that the
payment would be every week, two weeks or every month, that's fine. But the idea is not to drag and
delay the payment of the Jew, right? In addition to this, we find that other thing of the Prophet
seemed to imply protection of the weaker
		

			segments of society or people who are prone to exploitation, like women and children. And finally,
maybe you can add this to that in some saying of the Prophet. He indicates that when you hire
someone, don't overcharge them with work don't really require them to exert undue
		

			you know, efforts without justification. But if you give them really work that is very hard beyond
their capacity, you should also give them a hand and helping them and that again reflect this
egalitarian attitude in terms of treatment, and the respect of all types of labor.
		

			Time for today is gone. We want to thank you for watching, invite you back next week we'll continue
our discussion on the economic system and Islam. Thank you.
		

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