Warning Against Seeking Livelihood Through Forbidden Means

The Shaykh : Take the prescribed, beautiful path in seeking lawful livelihood; for the provision about which Allah said: is not attained through what is forbidden. Therefore, may Allah bless you. Let me have the honor of knowing, what is your father's name? What do they call you?

The questioner : Abu Ibrahim.

The Shaykh : Abu Ibrahim, so may Allah bless you, O Abu Ibrahim. When a Muslim needs provision, it is obligatory for him to obtain it, but through the path of the lawful, as you heard in the hadith, and not through the path of the forbidden. Then, on this occasion, we must mention that Muslims today, with great regret, have come to live the life of the materialistic disbelievers about whom Allah said: . The point of the verse is: . Muslims today, except for those whom Allah protects—and they are few—have their only concern as money, accumulating money like the Europeans, the complete disbelievers. Their only concern is this money, whether it comes to them through a lawful or forbidden path; just get it, by whatever means. So I want to remind these Muslims of a verse from the verses of our Lord, the Lord of the Worlds, in the Noble Qur'an, when one of them says, "What am I going to do? I need to live, my brother." Well, do you think ill of your Lord, that if you fear Him and seek lawful provision, which He is pleased with from you, He will not make the way easy for you? If you think so, you have thought ill of your Lord, and you may fall into a major problem that does not even cross your mind. The verse I want to remind you of is His saying, the Exalted: "We have placed this verse as signs to adorn the walls of our houses." Have you seen this sign, Abu Ibrahim? Well, this is on the walls, but the hearts are empty of it. This meaning has not entered the hearts of Muslims. If the verse had entered their hearts, no one would make an excuse for the forbidden earnings that he obtains by saying, "We need to live." His mind is completely empty of this verse: . Our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), truly = -- turn off the light, my son, it is outside -- = truly, as He, the Exalted, said: . He reminded them and disciplined them, and he disciplined them well, and informed them of what the condition of Muslims would become, so that the Muslim would know not to fall into what other Muslims fall into. So he said: . What does mean? It means to the rulings of your religion. We have not left, we have not become disbelievers; we are still Muslims, but we have left many of the rulings of the religion. And so he said, this humiliation will not be lifted or removed from you until you return to your religion. And he said in another hadith, and this is now fully observed, and this Prophetic report and its effects have become manifest in the Gulf War: . They said: "O Messenger of Allah, are we few at that time?" He said: . They said: "And what is the weakness, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: . So the love of this world is among its effects that the Muslim does not ask whether this is forbidden or lawful. Therefore, may Allah bless you, O Abu Ibrahim.