Explanation of the Hadith (… So fear Allah and be excellent in your seeking…) and the Shaykh’s advice to fear Allah in seeking lawful sustenance.

The Shaykh : … This is one thing; and there is another thing, which I hope is the last regarding the first question, not the last one. It is obligatory for the Muslim to fear Allah in his seeking of sustenance. It is not necessary for him to expand his wealth through forbidden means, let alone through doubtful means, much less through forbidden means. It has come in some authentic hadiths that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon to his Companions, and among what he said to them was: , or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said , meaning: take the beautiful, prescribed path in seeking sustenance, which Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) commanded you to strive for. However, it is not an absolute command, but a command restricted by the limits of the Shari'ah. Therefore, he said at the end of the hadith: . This is not attained through haram. In terms of the Arabic style, it is like His saying in the Qur'an: , meaning: it should not be, and it is not denied that it may be. We see many pilgrims, many pilgrims who perform Hajj, and the tongue of that Bedouin says to each of them: "You did not perform Hajj, but the camels performed Hajj." The intended meaning of the verse is: do not commit lewdness, and is: do not argue. Similarly, the hadith . Let no one understand from this authentic Prophetic Arabic phrase that this contradicts reality; because these bars and pubs, and so on, how do they obtain their sustenance through haram? Because the intended meaning is , meaning: it should not be attained through haram. So whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger, first as he claims, and then believes in the detail regarding sustenance, which is that sustenance is decreed while it is still a fetus in the womb of its mother, whether little or much; therefore, the Muslim must engage in the lawful causes of sustenance, not the prohibited ones. From where? For the sake of… Welcome, Abu Abdullah. You cut off my speech, and the hadith has many branches and does not end. The intention is that the Muslim merchant is not obligated to expand his trade at the expense of violating the Shari'ah. Rather, let him fear Allah based on the previous hadith. And I give a very simple example from myself. I am in Damascus, and that is a favor from Allah upon me. I grew up as a watch repairer, and I grew up in a poor family with no capital. But over time, I was able to provide some of it. My reliance in earning my daily sustenance and that of my family was repair, not sale; because sale requires liquidity, currency. But with the little money I had, I would buy some watches and deposit them in the display window. If a man came wanting to buy, and I trusted him, I would sell to him on installment at the cash price. And if I went to the merchant, I would not buy from him except in cash; because if I wanted to buy from him on installment, he would necessarily take an extra from me. And here comes the previous hadith: . I did not become a watch merchant, but I lived, and praise be to Allah, with sufficiency. Sufficiency; I did not need anyone from among the people. So it is not necessary for this merchant who is forced to deposit part of his money in the bank to deal in riba, especially… And this is the end of the answer. And it must be firmly established in our minds this conclusion, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): … If a Muslim tries to expand in trade through the path of riba, let him know that the outcome of this trade is to decrease, to distortion, and even to destruction. What is the second question, Professor?