Are all sciences prohibited from being used to seek employment, or is this specific to the religious sciences?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Do you mean the sciences we learn in general?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : Do you mean the sciences we learn in general?
The Shaykh : No, that is a different matter, Professor.
The questioner : Let me finish. Do you mean the sciences we learn in general? Is it not permissible for a person to seek a job or practice a profession or trade, and then be required to be proficient and aware in that profession, which also necessitates seeking knowledge and so on?
The Shaykh : Not all sciences. Sciences are of two types: material, professional, and purely industrial sciences. One seeks theseThe student : to make a living, and our previous discussion does not apply to them at all.
The questioner : Is it restricted to knowledge of the Shari'ah only?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Do not all sciences ultimately lead to...?
The Shaykh : No problem, ultimately; but the intention at the beginning, is it for worldly knowledge or for the Hereafter?
The questioner : So, does the world have a specific knowledge of its own?
The Shaykh : Of course.
The questioner : Even the trade I learn, like being a blacksmith, a carpenter, or something similar.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : If I do not seek the pleasure of Allah with it, does it return to its owner as a calamity?
The Shaykh : No, no, they are not the same. And I have answered this: for any worldly knowledge, it is not required that one seek the Face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with it. On the contrary, if one seeks with it the Face of the world, the debris of the world, the wealth of the world, there is no blame on him. But if he intends with it something from the matters of the Hereafter, that is another matter. For example, if he intends by his effort to learn a trade to make a living and keep his hand from people, or to support his family, his wife, and his children, and so on, he is rewarded for this intention. But if he seeks this trade and the aforementioned emphasis on sincerity for the Face of Allah does not cross his mind.
The questioner : So, every work I understand, every work, must one seek the pleasure of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in it? Every work... for a worldly matter, seeking the display of worldly life or something from it, other than the religious sciences, he owes nothing? Is this what I understand correct?
The Shaykh : It seems to me that the speech has become contradictory.
The questioner : My understanding became confused, or my understanding was less...
The Shaykh : No problem, may Allah reward you. In my opinion, you agree with us that a person wants to learn the trade of carpentry, for example. Is this a religious science?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Okay, is it required that he seek the Face of Allah with this learning?
The questioner : Why not?
The Shaykh : You did not answer me. Is it required? Is it required?
The questioner : Why not? Why is it not required?
The Shaykh : Because it is not a religious science. May Allah reward you.
The questioner : It is one of the sciences that Muslims need and cannot do without.
The Shaykh : The answer to this was given when I told you that if he intends to serve the Muslims, the reward of the good intention is written for him. But if he intends to seek with it wealth and the world, there is no sin on him. Unlike the one who seeks with his Hereafter knowledge the world; on him is a sin, as we heard from the verse and as we heard from the hadiths and other hadiths about which we summarized the speech. Is there not a difference here, Professor? Are we not going too far if we finish this point?
The questioner : Good, yes, we have finished with it.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : I want to move to something else close to it.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : Teaching in schools.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : In it, there is what one seeks the pleasure of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in, or what is required and obligatory to be pure for Allah, and in it are other sciences, is that not so?
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : Do you mean the sciences we learn in general?
The Shaykh : No, that is a different matter, Professor.
The questioner : Let me finish. Do you mean the sciences we learn in general? Is it not permissible for a person to seek a job or practice a profession or trade, and then be required to be proficient and aware in that profession, which also necessitates seeking knowledge and so on?
The Shaykh : Not all sciences. Sciences are of two types: material, professional, and purely industrial sciences. One seeks theseThe student : to make a living, and our previous discussion does not apply to them at all.
The questioner : Is it restricted to knowledge of the Shari'ah only?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Do not all sciences ultimately lead to...?
The Shaykh : No problem, ultimately; but the intention at the beginning, is it for worldly knowledge or for the Hereafter?
The questioner : So, does the world have a specific knowledge of its own?
The Shaykh : Of course.
The questioner : Even the trade I learn, like being a blacksmith, a carpenter, or something similar.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : If I do not seek the pleasure of Allah with it, does it return to its owner as a calamity?
The Shaykh : No, no, they are not the same. And I have answered this: for any worldly knowledge, it is not required that one seek the Face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with it. On the contrary, if one seeks with it the Face of the world, the debris of the world, the wealth of the world, there is no blame on him. But if he intends with it something from the matters of the Hereafter, that is another matter. For example, if he intends by his effort to learn a trade to make a living and keep his hand from people, or to support his family, his wife, and his children, and so on, he is rewarded for this intention. But if he seeks this trade and the aforementioned emphasis on sincerity for the Face of Allah does not cross his mind.
The questioner : So, every work I understand, every work, must one seek the pleasure of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in it? Every work... for a worldly matter, seeking the display of worldly life or something from it, other than the religious sciences, he owes nothing? Is this what I understand correct?
The Shaykh : It seems to me that the speech has become contradictory.
The questioner : My understanding became confused, or my understanding was less...
The Shaykh : No problem, may Allah reward you. In my opinion, you agree with us that a person wants to learn the trade of carpentry, for example. Is this a religious science?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Okay, is it required that he seek the Face of Allah with this learning?
The questioner : Why not?
The Shaykh : You did not answer me. Is it required? Is it required?
The questioner : Why not? Why is it not required?
The Shaykh : Because it is not a religious science. May Allah reward you.
The questioner : It is one of the sciences that Muslims need and cannot do without.
The Shaykh : The answer to this was given when I told you that if he intends to serve the Muslims, the reward of the good intention is written for him. But if he intends to seek with it wealth and the world, there is no sin on him. Unlike the one who seeks with his Hereafter knowledge the world; on him is a sin, as we heard from the verse and as we heard from the hadiths and other hadiths about which we summarized the speech. Is there not a difference here, Professor? Are we not going too far if we finish this point?
The questioner : Good, yes, we have finished with it.
The Shaykh: Okay
The questioner : I want to move to something else close to it.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead.
The questioner : Teaching in schools.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : In it, there is what one seeks the pleasure of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in, or what is required and obligatory to be pure for Allah, and in it are other sciences, is that not so?
The Shaykh : That is correct.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.