Islam Honors Work
Work is a form of worship
It is believed by so many people that following religion means to worship God by praying, fasting and remembering God. Therefore, the Vast majority of people around the world think that the only purpose of this life is to pray and worship, and pursuing career is a worldly thing or desire which will not benefit in the next world. According to that category of people being engineer, accountant, doctor, scientist etc are of no benefit in the next world and the only job which can give the ticket to paradise is to become the one who works as a religious scholar or sit in seclusion, and is less interested do any “worldly work” because earning money or doing any kind of work is just as being materialistic. However, The beautiful religion “Islam” encourages working with Ihsan (working to the best of ability). The religion Islam motivates to work in the best possible way. Even the prophets whose primary job to teach religion were also excellent professionals in one or other field . For example, Prophet Noah (a.s) was the father of the carpenters who built the Ark and is known as “father of sailors” because he drove the ship in storm. Prophet Yusuf (a.s) was excellent at managing finance. So, He was the finance minister and also the founder of the watch (time). Prophet Dawood (a.s) was the master of ironwork who made armors. The first human being on earth, Adam (a.s) was the first who dropped the seed and He was the “father of farmers”. Prophet Idrees was the inventor of the needle. Therefore, He was the “father of tailor” and there are many other prophets who were master of one or other skills. Allah has given everybody the skills or talents to utilize it in this world and make this world a better place. Further, History tells many best scientists were the followers of religion Islam as Jabir bin Hayyan was the “father of chemistry” who classified many chemical substances and derived inorganic compounds from organic substances (such as plants, blood etc). Similarly, Ibn al-Haytham was a great mathematician, Known as “father of modern optics” and there are many other scientists and scholars who worked great in the field of science.
Allah says :“O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down. And let a scribe write [it] between you in justice. Let no scribe refuse to write as Allah has taught him” (ayah 282,chapter 2).
The above verse clearly mentions how the Quran encourages writing business transactions as in this modern world it will be called “an accountant”. Hence, It is believed that serving the people is serving Allah. Doing work is a form of worship. Here comes the question, How much importance should an individual give to work? The answer to this question is in the Quran
Allah says: “Men whom neither trade nor sale (business) diverts from the remembrance of Allaah (with heart and tongue) nor from performing As‑Salât (Iqâmat‑as‑Salât) nor from giving the Zakât. They fear a Day when hearts and eyes will be overturned (out of the horror of the torment of the Day of Resurrection)” [al-Noor 24:37].
The ayah of surah Noor above clearly explains that acts which Allah has made obligatory (such as Prayer, charity,fasting) should be given first priority and one should avoid doing any work that makes him/her forget about Allah. Moreover, Religion Islam not only motivates to do work, contribute and serve people but also It honors honest work.
Just as The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Nobody has ever eaten a better meal than that which one has earned by working with one’s own hands. The Prophet (ﷺ) of Allah, David used to eat from the earnings of his manual labor.” (Sahih al bukhari :2072).
So, Dawood (as) was one of the greatest rulers in the history of humanity. Despite that, He utilized his skill that was given by Allah and earned with His own hands. It does not matter whether a person is a taxi driver or a cleaner, as long as one is earning with hard work and earning in a permissible way then that person is beloved to Allah because he or she is earning in a Halal (permissible and legitimate way prescribed by Allah) way. This is the beauty of religion Islam that it dignifies every work that is permissible and legitimate. What is more inspiring and captivating is that Islam says that every work should be done perfectly and beautifully. It is believed doing work to the best of ability is called Ihsan (which means doing something in the best way and worshiping Allah sincerely).
Hence, doing work is beautiful and working to the best of one’s ability is valuable and dignified in the sight of Allah.
