Means or Asbab vs. Earning a Living: An Islamic Perspective

Let's start by defining means or asbab as they're called in Arabic.

Asbab are the things that fulfill our direct needs that are necessary to the extent that if they are not fulfilled, one's religion is harmed.

All people have five basic needs:

1. Maskan: Shelter

2. Malbas: Clothing

3. Mankah: Sex

4. Markab: Transportation

5. Mat’am: Food & Water

Water is a sabab that "quenches" thirst. Food is a sabab that "satiates" Hunger. Warmth and Coolness is a need, the Sabab for which is a shelter or a home. Covering our private parts is a need for which the sabab is clothing.

Don't confuse asbab with money. Money is achieved through earning or Kasb and is used to acquire the asbab we need for survival.

Kasb, or earning a living, gets you the sabab, and the sabab fulfills your need. Running a business, working a 9–5 job, or even farming is considered Kasb. Sahabah were busy in kasb in as much was needed to complete and maintain their deen or the commands of Allah. Today, we take from the deen as much as needed so that our Kasb is not harmed or impacted.

It's important to understand the difference between Kasb and Sabab because in our deen we can leave our Kasb (jobs or businesses) for the sake of spreading the deen of Allah, but we cannot leave asbab as we were commanded to take by asbab. If you leave the asbab and it results in a decrease in Allah's commands, then you are a sinner. So if you go on a hunger strike and cannot pray your Salah, it is blameworthy. Some people will go on hunger strikes, a type of protest because they want something from Allah's creation, which has no foundation in our religion.

Reliance on God, Glory be to Him, does not prevent us from adopting the means, but as believers, we don't rely on asbab. We take asbab in obedience to Allah and leave asbab in obedience to Allah.

Allah provides or does in three distinct ways. Allah does:

1. Through asbab
2. Without asbab or
3. Against asbab

Let's take medicine as an example. Allah cures through medicine, without medicine, or with something uncommon, like using poison to cure you. In all three cases, Allah is the one who cures, not the means. The means act like a veil to Allah's actions in this world so that we may be tested in our faith.

No creation of Allah borrows the Qudrah (ability) of Allah. Allah's Qudrah is in His essence and remains with Him. He made this world a world of cause and effect. His Amr or command is the cause, and his actions are the effect, but he makes the objects of this world appear to be the cause or the effect only to test our eman.