1- Anyone who reads and meditates upon the verses of the Quran shall realize
that Islam is a religion that urges man to action, for work is life and without
work life shall cease to exist. Consequently we find in many Quranic verses
that God Almighty linked righteous deeds and true Faith. Righteous deeds are
every good deed or act performed whether it be of a religious or a worldly
nature which benefits mankind or repels evil:"And say: work (righteousness);
soon will God observe your work, and His Apostle and the believers (in the
Faith)" (9/105).
The
Quran urges people to work even on Fridays, the day of rest and worship of the
Muslims:"And when the (Friday Noon) prayer is finished, then you may
dispense through the land and seek the Bounty of God" (62/10).
2-The Prophet urged people to work until the last moment of their lives and
till the end of the world. He is related to have said:
"Should
the last our come upon you while you have a palm shoot in your hand that you
are about to plant, plant it if you can".The prophet also refused to
approve of people who spent all day and night long praying in mosques and
depending on others to provide for them and maintain them. He also praised and
blessed the person who earned his livelihood from his own toil and he said that
the hand that toils in labour is blessed by God and by his Apostle.
3- The Prophet, who is the ideal of all Muslims, as stated in the Quran, used
to work, plan, deliberate and prepare everything that was needed and then put
his trust in God. Putting trust in God does not mean neglecting work and
praying to God to fulfil our hope.The reason for this is that faith and trust
in God is not only necessary but also obligatory, to remind us of God Almighty
which inspires us with a spiritual energy that enables to overcome obstacles or
problems with determination and resolution.This trust and dependence on God
should be a strong and positive force and not a passive and an apathetic
attitude.
Relying
completely upon God, without making any effort to realize one's aims on the
pretext that God's Will will be done as He Wills, is not accepted by Islam, for
God does not assist a person who makes no effort to help himself. God, however,
aids the person who strives to attain his aim:"Verily God will never
change the condition of a people until they change it themselves'' (13/11).
Omar
ben Al khattab expressed his great displeasure concerning a group of men who
spent all their time praying in a mosque and depending upon others to work to
maintain them and he exclaimed:"The sky does not rain gold or silver.'' He
supported his statement by relating one of the sayings of the prophet and said:
" Do what birds do .They go out every morning with empty craws and return
at the end of the day with full craws'' .People should learn a lesson from the
birds that go out every morning in search of food and return at the end of the
day with full craws.