By Abdullahi Jamaa
Abdurrahman Ibn Auf was a wealthy companion of Prophet Mohamed (SAW) known for his philanthropy and humanity. When the nonbelievers persecuted the people of Mecca many Muslims migrated to Medina. Abdurrahman was part of the displaced groups of Muslims.
Just like many others, he left his entire wealth behind except some personal belongings. The Medina people who were given the title Ansar because of their selfless hospitality and generosity welcomed the Muslims with great enthusiasm offering them whatever they needed to brave the situation. One of them, a wealthy business man Sa’ad Ibn Ar-Rabi approached Abdurrahman offering him half of his business empire that involved successful orchards.
But Abdurrahman did not accept, instead he thanked Sa’ad and supplicated for him. As a man who has previously tasted the sweetness of wealth, prestige and prowess, many expected him to accept the free yet elusive offer but much to their amazement Abdurrahman instead asked his host “Show me the market”
With nothing but empty hands, Abdurrahman had to ultimately start from scratch without any support from anybody except Allah. With sheer dedication and hard work he started trading in the local markets of Medina. Within a short period of time he re-established himself back as a successful businessman supporting the Muslim Ummah with uninterrupted amount of donations. At one point he is remembered to have donated 400 ounces of gold, 500 camels and 500 horses.
Working hard
Such utterance and resolve comes from a strong person who believes in self-sacrifice, enthusiasm and zeal to earn an honest yet deserving living. At such a difficult time, it takes a lot of courage and a strong will to reject an alluring offer to easy wealth. This a classical example of how hard work pays following a dedicated struggle for success.
Many businessmen of past and present allude that the reward and honour of wealth is always greater and more satisfying when it involves an extraordinary amount of hard work, personal sacrifice and patience. It has taken men of honour to break out in sweat and sometimes to shed tears in building business empires that lasted for long.
It is always sweeter to climb the tree from the bottom. Creation of an honest wealth may take a person through endless obstacles and a cobweb of prickly thorns before residing at the apex of richness. As for those who decide to jump to the top of the tree easily without having to pass through the tenacity of affluence, their story is always one of miscalculated steps, missed opportunities and an eminent collapse. As English people say easy come, easy go, any businessman who fails to consolidate personal sacrifices, stoicism and efforts will end up building a vulnerable empire that is susceptible to devastation.
Scaling the ladder of wealth starts from a threshold of humble beginning. They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. The first step is always a crucial one that defines your long and tedious journey to success. The initial steps have to be calculated carefully. One needs to put out his best food forward, measuring where to put the other while seizing every acceptable opportunity that gets him closer to success.
Every successful businessman has once started from a very low point, their story on how they started may be different but one thing defines them all and that is the resolve to start an idea from nowhere. Starting a business idea from scratch is a daunting experience, there are lows, really deep lows that many times overcoming them requires a lot of risks.
Within the framework of Islamic religion, earning a living through Halal efforts includes working for oneself tirelessly. Islam is an active religion, it expects its followers to be innovative and change makers. One has to exploit his brain to the maximum, think critically and get out of the woods while asking Allah for guidance, wisdom and blessings .With hard work and a strong belief in Allah, one will find ease in creation of wealth.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has always encouraged his companions to go out and seek sustenance, himself coming from an entrepreneurial background, he regarded work as a moral practice among the believers. The Prophet (PBUH) stated that working was necessary, that man could not have anything except the outcome of his work. The Holy Quran also emboldens a believer to put efforts for stellar performance in every facet of life.
“And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives……And that his effort is going to be seen …..Then he will be recompensed for it with the fullest recompense…And that to your Lord is the finality….And that it is He who makes [one] laugh and weep” Quran 53:39-43
The early risers will win the rewards of blessed health, time, age and wealth while the lazy and spongers will get the leftovers or none altogether. For instance waking up early in the morning, praying fajr, making athkaar until sunrise has been praised as an important act of worship. As we say the early bird catches the worm, the early riser catches the day.
Here comes the story of the dog and the goat. This story highlights the importance of waking up early in the morning, a practice that is related with working hard. A dog is awake throughout the night but falls into deep sleep just before morning prayers missing out on this blessed hours, the goat however sleeps throughout the night but wakes up just before fajr enjoying the blessing of the morning. Experienced herders will tell you that early in the morning the goat roams, bleats and tries to get out of the boma.
A dog gives birth to about a dozen of puppies, however little survive sometime none of them, yet in a lifetime a goat can give birth to about two kids or sometimes none at all, but then the population of goats in the world is too huge and surpasses that of dogs in millions while every day the goat is slaughtered in every home and restaurant throughout the world. The goat is so blessed that you will always see a boma of goats with thousands of heads. What happened to the dog that gives birth to a dozen puppies? The boundless blessings of Allah is accessible to those who ask for it and those who make efforts towards it, those who wake up in the morning, pray to their Lord and go out to work.
Hard work doesn’t mean making the efforts with a wing and a prayer only, it means more than that. It includes tirelessness and endurance. It means the urge to beat the odds, the will to rejuvenate yourself when your strength saps, it means adapting to situations as things get topsy-turvy. Hard work within the circles of business involves a perfect combination of personal strength, skills and knowledge. It is about knowing and learning the ropes of trading.
In Islam we say small but consistent actions make change. With an invigorated discipline of consistency, creation of wealth becomes an endless process, it is also a learning process where every day there is a new idea or thing to adapt to and with modern technology the struggle for success revolves around innovations .A Muslim has an obligation to widen the horizon of knowledge, tapping into new tiers of business, innovating solutions that advance fellow humans, after all ethical business is all about providing lasting solutions to community problems. Business is not all about making money.
Working hard should be within the framework of Islamic life, we don’t need to burn the candle on both end. We just make sure that we are on a constant roll to improve our situations and reach our objectives not just our worldly ones but also of the next world. Seizing golden chances for success is inspired by believe that opportunities don’t happen but they are created. If we internalize hard work, visualize its rewards and set our sight on success, we will certainly make high-fliers. As Muslims, when we start business ideas we are not supposed to throw in the towel easily if we want to sow the seeds of success. Ibn al-Jawzi said, so as to achieve any objective, we need two things: motivation and right strategy.
The place of dua
While concerted efforts and strategic planning are deeply entrenched in the pursuit of personal wealth, no amount of hard work without dua and no amount of dua without hard work creates wealth. The two must go together. You ask for it from Allah and you do it by action. Just like in other spheres of life, one should not lazily wait for miracles and dreams to happen overnight.
Dua is a powerful practice that a Muslim must exploit as he strives to earn his daily living. The place of consistent and sincere dua in the pursuit of success is enormous. It is an important part of our faith and belief. We ask everything from Almighty Allah, no matter how big or small. Dua is a means of keeping in touch with Allah and due to it we get closer to our Lord.
Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran: “When my servants ask you concerning me, (tell them) I am indeed close (to them). I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on me.” (Quran, 2:186). So with this verse, Allah Almighty listens to us when we make dua. In your struggle to build wealth you must incorporate dua and hard work in your business.
Remember the dua of prophet Suleiman (AS), after his father’s death, he begged Allah for a kingdom such as none after him would have, and Allah granted his wish. “He said, “My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower.” (Quran 38:35)
Islamic scholars have opened up an inspiring interpretation of this dua that instils a great value regarding our engagement in this world. Scholars said Suleiman’s dua for a kingdom does not mean that he is materialistic, but rather he has asked for the ability to do more good deeds for the sake of Allah. Prophet Suleiman (AS) emerged as a competent king in the making of an obedient prophet, a great believer of justice whose mercy has touched not just humans but also animals and insects including ants.
As Muslim we must take a strong hint from this powerful dua. Excelling in this world, earning a living or becoming a successful businessman for the right reasons is an act of worship. We must balance our actions and affairs to gain success for this world and the next. This dua is a powerful indication that our aspirations are not limited, we can ask for more as along as our motivation is in tandem with our Islamic belief, at the same time we must shake off the fear of the unknown and submit our wealth, career and education to a higher objective. Allah will grant us resources beyond our expectations once we put our focus in the right place.
One day a routine beggar at a mosque in Nairobi followed one of his masters to the office, his aim was to ask for money as was his norm. A lady at the reception area asked him to wait for the boss as he was busy in the office. The beggar could not wait, he approached the receptionist to check on the boss again and again, and the lady asked him to wait. Then he asked about what the boss was doing all these time, the lady answered he is praying. “For all that time that I was waiting this rich man was praying to Allah.” This was an eye opening incident for the beggar who later transformed his life from a miserable beggar to a dignified human being because he started praying too.
As one makes efforts to earn a living, there are always unending bottlenecks of challenges, there are so many bridges to cross, so many knots to untie hindering the objectives to success. When there is little headway, when success seems frustratingly out of reach like a desert mirage, there is always one way out of the woods and that is seeking the support of the Almighty Allah. In the eyes of a true believer, Allah is the only true source of strength and power.
True reliance on Allah
Even as we work hard to make money, there is a strong need for a resilient conviction that without Allah all our efforts like sterile flowers will bear no fruits and the struggle for success both in this world and in the hereafter will all be in vain.
Man therefore can have nothing except what he strives for. Yet behind every hard work can never be success because blessing of efforts can only be achieved through foraging and consolidating endless attempts and concerted efforts amidst the unshaken belief of Allah as the ultimate owner of Wealth.
One of the prophet’s words included “It is for us to work and for Allah to give success.” And so apart from working hard, a strong believer must submit to the power and majesty of Allah. We are not allowed to believe in our brains and brawns. Bragging and boosting about wealth and forgetting the mercy, guidance and blessings of Allah is a fitnah that many people in the world today have to contend with.
Abdurrahman Ibn Auf was not only a wealthy businessman of his time but he was also a staunch believer with true reliance on Allah. His sense of trust to the Almighty was so boundless that it is reported that if he picked up a rock it would not have surprised him to find gold or silver. His state of reliance (Zuhud) probably made him to be among the ten men that were given the glad tidings of paradise.
A Muslim should keep in mind that you have to go out and work and find your sustenance. It’s not just going to come in your lap. And one should not panic or despair, if one has the correct intention and trust in their Lord and seeks a halal sustenance then he will come back with their stomachs full. One does not need to compromise their religion, their faith, their integrity for some worldly benefit.
‘Umar Bin Khattaab, (RA) heard the Messenger of Allah, (SA)saying, “If you trust Allah with right kind of Tawakkul (ie: complete Trust), He will provide you sustenance as He provides for the birds – they go out in the morning with empty stomachs and come back in the evening with full stomachs.” (Tirmizi)
Abdullahi Jamaa is the founder of The Plu Media, the publisher of www.theplu.co.ke, a news and information portal for Kenya Muslims. You can contact him by mail: editor@theplu.co.ke or follow him on facebook at Abdul jamaa.
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