The Duty to Seek It through Lawful Means

It is necessary to work: farḍ to seek one's ʿaysh, one's bread, one's earnings. It is farḍ. A person cannot simply sit and become a parasite on the community. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: do not be a parasite on the community — tell them so, do not be a parasite on the community. Work must be sought with sweat, with hard work; and earnings must come by the lawful way, the ḥalāl method, only ḥalāl. A person who fails to differentiate between what is lawful and what is unlawful in seeking rizq has become fāsiq — the fāsiq does not differentiate. Such a person believes, yes, that rizq comes from Allah (swt); the right things must be done, yet there is no licence to hasten toward what is unlawful and seek rizq by forbidden means.

Many Muslim women understand this beautifully. When a husband comes home with a face heavy with worry — the company has laid off so many workers, and he was one of them — the right response is not despair but alḥamdulillāh: that particular door of rizq has closed, and tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, Allah (swt) will open another door, because Allah (swt) is the one who provides, and He is the one who guarantees that rizq will come.