Earning A Living

Among the elders of Islam,there has been considerable difference of opinion as to which means of earning a livelihood is the best.Imam Shafie Rahimahullah says that business is the best.Imam Abul Hasan Mawardi Rahimahullah and others like him are of the opinion that agricultural farmin is the best.Imam Nawawi Rahimahullah says that the best is to earn your living through your hands.This of course includes business as well as farming.The author of BAHR says:"According to our learned ones of the Hanafi School of Thought,the best occupation after Jihad is business,thereafter,industry and skilled labour."In my humble opinion,occupation may be divided into three kinds:business,farming and labour.Many are the Hadith expounding the virtues in each of these.Some have even included industry and skilled labour with these.But I feel that these two latter ones are not ways of earning a living,but a way of earning income and income may be acquired in numerous ways e.g.,through presents,inheritance,charity etc.I feel that it is a mistake to include all those ways of getting hold of wealth in the way of earning a living.The reason for this,that if a man knows how to manufacture shoe,it does not necessarily mean that he has earned a living.And if he does manufacture shoes,of what benefit will be for him unless he has been able to sell these shoes?So either he sells those shoes ,which makes him a businessman or he manufactures shoes for people according to their like and specifications,which in turn makes him a hired skilled labourer.And those who call Jihad a fom of earning a living,have indeed insulted the lofty institution of Jihad.If a person participate in Jihad with intention of earning a living,he makes his Jihad null and void.(Fadhail-e-Tijarat by Syeikhul Hadith Maulana Muhammad Zakariya Kandahlawi Rahimahullah)