Inside the Masjid, the Lord Is Allah

The issue of business is a very, very important part of religion that we are taking very, very, very lightly. Because we find that there are some people who are the best in terms of their attendance to ṣalāh, and their attachment to the farāʾiḍ of Islam, and their application of many of the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). They are the best in that. And on the other side, they are the best in cheating, and taṭfīf al-mīzān, and wronging others in business. How could these two sides exist in the same person? In the masjid, we could be in that state of devotion to worship — and just as we cross our feet outside of the door of the masjid, a completely different personality.

Inside the masjid, the Lord is Allah; outside the masjid, the Lord is the dollar. Sayyidunā Shuʿayb was dealing with this problem. And then we will find something interesting: the response of his people was similar to the response of the people you will speak to today, when they are not keeping the right business transactions — and we'll get into that.

They also used to tax anybody who is passing through. Al-Suddī, one of the mufassirūn, says these are the first people to start taxation, and tariffs, customs. Whenever somebody is passing through Madyan, you have to pay customs. Al-Suddī says these are the first people to start that. Before, you would travel in and out, and nobody would tax you and take customs from you. Anybody who is passing — going to al-Ḥijāz, going from al-Shām to al-Ḥijāz — has to pay a tax. If you are going from al-Ḥijāz to al-Shām, you have to pay them a tax. In addition to that, they would sometimes rob some of these caravans that are going on the way. And they would also prevent the people from becoming Muslim, and from listening to the message of Sayyidunā Shuʿayb.