Cutting Trees, Professions, and the Question

The questioner:
And he looked at you. He says: What is the ruling on cutting down the trees in the open spaces for the sake of the sea?

The Shaykh:
Those that do not harm the people, do not contradict what people need, and people shade themselves under them, or they are on a road where people take shade, or they are grazed by livestock, it is not permissible to cut them because this harms the people. As for things that do not harm the people, there is no harm. But now, they prevent this in a matter they call the environment, the Environmental Authority, or whatever they call it, and they prevent this; they do not let you cut the trees. Even if they did not prevent you, it is not permissible to cut the trees that people need, depriving the people of them. Yes.

The questioner:
And the owners of this status do not hand them over to the people.

The Shaykh:
Yes, if they cut the trees from them and deprive them of their benefit, they deserve blame, and perhaps people will curse them because they have wronged the people. So they become the cause; they are the ones who caused it for themselves that people blame them, curse them, and pray against them. A person should avoid these matters. Yes.

The questioner:
That he is extended, or any of them, and not a liar.

The Shaykh:
The profession.

The questioner:
May Allah welcome you.

The Shaykh:
As for the matter of professions, people disparage the cupper, disparage the garbage collector, and disparage the lowly trades. This is another matter. If one is in need, there is no harm. If one is in need and earns a living to seek sustenance and keep himself chaste, there is no harm. Even if he shaves, cups, or sweeps. Or carries on his head, this is more honorable than asking, more honorable than asking people. That he cups and earns for himself and his children is more honorable for him than that he asks people.