Is your income halal? (Part 1)
Saturday, July 4, 2009 I was sitting at work idle one day and thought to myself: "Is my income halal today? I haven't done much the whole day and can't find more work to do". The question bothered me and prompted me to write these series.
The question may puzzle some of you, but read on, perhaps you'll understand where I'm coming from in the following lines.
When something bothers me and I find myself in a “moral/religious dilemma” I go ask my good old shiekh. I said “Sheikh, what do you do if you’re sitting idle at work and have nothing to do, is your salary halal then?” The shiekh always with his amazing simple replies said “As long as you’re fulfilling the contract, your income is "technically" halal.”
I can sense there was more the shiekh wanted to say but kept quiet as not to burden me, I felt there was a deeper understanding of halal which will be too much for "employees" in general to bear than the technical answer given.
I had to step back and look into this whole halal income business..
When you sit in an office, working or idle, contributing or not, pushing paper or thinking strategically, you earn a standard set salary (sometimes bonuses are included but in most cases, it’s a standard set amount)... somehow I'm not convinced that this salary structure is 100% halal (at least on a personal level. Please note, I’m not speaking here on an institutional or religious level, I’m not giving fatwas, I’m just trying to find what will truly please my Lord).
My argument is that if you don’t “earn” your salary or work hard for it and constantly contribute, you shouldn’t get paid in full! How can you earn by just sitting down idle!? Doesn’t sound right! Now, you might say, "give me a break brother, you’re talking on an idealistic level and the concept of 100% halaal may be non-existent! Are you trying to say that the moment someone slacks or doesn't do their job properly, their income is not halal??!"
Ummm...yup!
Again, I’m not giving fatwas here, but as a scholar onces said "There’s “Taqwa” (Piety) and there’s “Fatwa” (Ruling)". The ruling may be clear cut and simple, but out of piety, you may look at things from a different perspective, and this is the other perspective inshaAllah.
So although part of me does not want to overburden the reader with a worrisome thought that if they spend 5 minutes around the water-cooler then their income is not halal, but I would argue that we need to at least keep it in the back of our minds that we need to be consciously aware of our income and it's sources.
Moreover, think of this concept as a way to push you towards being more productive! The moment you slack, ask yourself: “Is my income halal?”
Why is making sure 100% halal is important? The following beautifully summarizes why we need to worry about our income sources, and May Allah bless the writer for bringing it together so nicely.
"Allah Most High says, “O people, eat permissible good things out of what lies in the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of Shaitān (Satan); indeed, he is an open enemy for you.” (2:168)
Elsewhere, Allah Most High says, “O you who believe, eat of the good things We have provided to you and be grateful to Allah, if it is He whom you worship (in real terms).” (2:172)
Abu Huraira (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, “Verily, Allah is pure and He only accepts that which is pure. He has given the same command to the believers as He has given to the messengers saying, ‘O Messengers! Eat from the good things, and act righteously. Of whatever you do, I am fully aware.’ (23:51) and also, ‘O you who believe, eat of the good things We have provided to you’” (2:172). Then he (i.e. the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)) mentioned a man on a long journey, with dishevelled hair and covered in dust, stretching his hands towards the heavens saying, ’My Lord, my Lord’ but his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothes are unlawful, and he has been nourished by what is unlawful, so how will his supplication be answered?” (Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih)
Abu Huraira (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, “A time will come upon people when a man will not bother whether he takes from a lawful or unlawful source.” (Narrated by Bukhari in his Sahih)
Jabir (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, “That flesh which has been grown from the unlawful will not enter Paradise, and Hellfire is more deserving of every flesh which has been nourished through that which is unlawful.” (Narrated by Ahmad, Darimi, and Baihaqi in Shu’ab al-Iman)
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) was once asked, “What softens the hearts?” He replied, “Consuming halal.”
Abdullah bin Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “To return a dirham from a doubtful source is more beloved to me than spending one hundred thousand dirhams in charity.”
Imam Ghazali (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in Ihya al-Uloom al-Din that the wives of the pious predecessors used to advise their husbands when they would leave their homes to earn their livelihood, “Fear Allah regarding us and do not feed us with unlawful income, because we can bear patience upon hunger and difficulty but we cannot bear patience upon Hellfire.”
When Muhammad bin Seereen (may Allah have mercy on him) would bid farewell to a person, he would say to him, “Fear Allah and seek your share of lawful income, for if you take it from the unlawful, you will not be taking anymore than what has been destined for you. (Tabaqaat Ibn Sa’d)."
Source: http://halalmatters.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/hello-world/
So, I ask again, is your income halal?
We’ll continue this discussion tomorrow inshaAllah. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on this topic!
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Reader Comments (11)
Subhanallah!! I think the exact same thing in office! Although I do question the current structure of jobs in any industry, it just doesn't feel right that I get paid for 8 hours of a day, when we actually do effective work of 4 hours! [Various survey results].
I thought maybe I was nuts, 'çause are'n't jobs supposed to be safe? I mean our parents did it and so are we now.
Alhamdulillah, I am not alone now. :)
If your sheikh says it is halal and the Word says it is halal, is this true?
Or is it only true if Allah Himself says so to you?
@Alan - Great question! Yes, it's halaal, as long as I'm fulfilling my contract. Of course, it won't be halaal if my contract says that I should work x amount of hours or do x amount of projects and I "cheat" and don't fulfill my contract.
What I'm referring here is something much more deeper embedded in the beauty of Islam that gives you a deeper level of accountability of your actions. You don't just judge your actions by how people will view it, but you judge your actions by a higher moral/ethical standards that requires constant self-development and improvement.
Hope this answers your question!
Beautiful Post brother. It addresses the very point that my Islamic Teacher often raises. That there is a difference between "Legal Islam" and "Real Islam". Or put in another way, on one had there is Sharia' on the other hand there is Akhlaq. Although something maybe legally valid as per Sharia' or Legal Islam, but Akhlaq is more important than that. So you have to constantly ask yourself, if what you are doing, is it as per your best Akhlaq? Jazakallah!
assalamualaikum,
I agree with you. whenever we didnt use the working hours properly, to do things related to our job-description, it means we have already corrupt 'the salary'. i dont know how to explain it in a good english, but yes, i agree with you. thanks for the reminder :)
daisy [indonesia]
Salam bro,
With all due respect, I think you're point of view is wrong.
Unless you happen to have a job where it's possible work at 100% capacity for your 8 hour shift, you really shouldn't be thinking about halal or haram.
Most of us tend to either stay beyond normal working hours or sit around surfing the net for most of the day due to lack of work. My record times are about 3 hours for the shortest day in the office and 21 for the longest.
I'm pretty certain nobody can be fully occupied from official starting hours - and finish their work exactly on time to go home at official ending hours.
If there's no work, there's no work, it happens often. Don't beat yourself up over it.
Feel free to email me.
@ Ash - a valid point. My only counter-argument would be if you can hold yourself to a higher accountability level and even in your idle time look for new ways to improve yourself or organisation, then isn't that better? As I said, the correct answer that it doesn't matter as long as the contract allows you the freedom to be idle certain days and work like crazy on others. However, I'm just trying to promote our thinking of the concept of "amanah" and that we're entrusted with this job therefore should do our best at all time. Allahu A3lam.
What do you mean you don't have work?
Definitely there is work. Pleople who say they don't have work are just lazy. The correct thing to say is they don't want to work. When I am done with my work I go to my boss to ask for more work. If I just sit in my cubicle and don't inform my boss then basically I am cheating.
I see people who try to delay things on purpose, things that take 10 to 20mins are delayed for months. The other day one of my collegues was asked to edit some HTML forms, one month passed and he was not done with some simple changes. When my boss asked him why it is taking longer to finish, he gave some silly reason like these forms are in HTML verson 1.0 which is very old. This collegue is a muslim brother and seems to be extremely disappointed/depressed with work. I don't know the reason.
I believe that we should constantly try to come up with better ideas, and implement them, then demonstrate their usefulness and more importantly we should put aside all criticism, just move ahead by having you trust in Allah. Always make a dua each day that you start working and have a goal for each day. The moment you don't have a plan for the day, you will find that you won't have anything to do. Also have a long term plan/goal.
@ Test- JazakAllah Khair! The conclusion I was hoping many of us would reach inshaAllah :) BarakaAllahu Feek :)
Bismillah
There is a good book about intellectual workers, it's called PeopleWare.
It shows that productivity doesn't mean spending 100% of the time actively "working" like a machine. Intellectual workers are not machines, animals, or slaves.
May Allah reward you for this post and grant us Halal income.
That's why - getting paid by the hour is so cool! ;)
you turn on our time calculator - something like myhours' MHlite version- and start the timer.
and the moment you realize your mind's wandering away from work.. you hit finish! And the your timer stops