Subject: Reprehensible Ethics, Ill-Gotten Gains

By his Eminence Mohammad Rateb Nabulsi

Sunday 4/1/2007

Translated by : Hajj Mohamed

Country : Lebanon

City : Tripoli

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad the truthful in promise and the worthy of all trust.

O Allah, we have no knowledge but that which You have taught us, in truth it is You Who are perfect in knowledge and wisdom.

O Allah, teach us that which is good for us and make us find good in it, and grant us more knowledge. Let us see the truth as indeed the truth and help us follow its path, and let us see falsehood as indeed falsehood and help us to avoid it. Let us be of those who listen to advice and then observe the best of it, and admit us by your mercy in the ranks of your righteous servants; deliver us from the darkness of ignorance and delusions into the light of knowledge and science, and from the mire of lust into the Eden of good deeds.

Honorable brothers, this series of lessons concerning reprehensible practices was inspired by Master Hudhaifa’s words, may Allah be pleased with him, when he said: ‘People used to ask Allah's Apostle  about Good, but I used to ask him about Evil for fear of falling in it’.

Today’s lesson in reprehensible ethics concerns ill-gotten gains, or living off ill-gotten gains. It is said in the tradition that ‘giving up a Danik (.5 g) of ill-gotten gain is better than making the pilgrimage to Mecca eighty times after entering Islam’, and in the prophetic tradition, as narrated by Ibn Abbas, it is said : ‘O Saad purify your food, and your prayers will be answered’.

1 - Defining Haram:

Dear brothers, technically, the term ‘Haram’, which means the illicit, unlawful or forbidden, refers to all that deserves censure when performed, and that deserves merit when let alone if the intention is to please Allah.

“Every time a man refrains from something for the sake of Allah, Allah recompenses him with a better one in his religion and his worldly existence”.

(Narrated by Ibn Omar in the Jamii Saghir)

Thus, avoiding the Haraam becomes a good deed.

It was also defined as the general term for describing all that is forbidden, generally by governance or coercion.

It was also said to be all that has been proven to be forbidden, with no known objection to it, something generally forbidden, by a ruler for instance.

In religious terminology however, it is what you refrain from doing with the intention to please Allah.

Dear brothers, the ruling of committing Haram is punishment indeed, while abstaining from Haram brings you closer to Allah and deserves you reward.

Committing Haram deserves sanction in this world and in the Hereafter.

So the ruling concerning Haram is punishment if you undertake and reward if you abstain provided your intention in so doing is to please Allah, if you refrain yourself for Allah’ sake.

However, if you seek Haram and are somehow prevented from it, then no reward is due to you. But if you desire Haram and are able to indulge yourself in it, and yet refrain from it for fear of Allah Almighty, then you have accomplished a good deed for which you will be rewarded.

The proscriptions of Islamic Law (Sharia) established by obligation of law or reason are of various types, one of which being the tendencies of the human nature. Disobedience is agreeable to the self: He enjoined you not to gaze at forbidden women, but indulging in looking is more gratifying. He enjoined you not to gaze, in other words to act against your nature and, like I never tire of telling you, religious obligations disagree with natural dispositions, and from this conflict the price of Paradise can be earned.

﴾ But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust, Lo! the Garden will be his home ﴿.

There are forbiddances that are desirable to the self and forbiddances that are detested, that people turn away from in disgust. Reward is for forbiddances that Man leaves to please Allah Almighty.

Honorable brothers, the word ‘Haram’, or Forbiddance, occurs in the Holy Quran in many a context:

First context: Haram of marriage with a specific category of women:

﴾ Forbidden to You are: Your mothers, Your daughters, Your sisters, Your father's sisters, Your mother's sisters, Your brother's daughters, Your sister's daughters… ﴿

(Surat Al Nisaa’),

and others specified in the rest of the Ayah.

Second context: Forbiddance of libertinism and transgression:

﴾Say: My Lord forbiddeth only indecencies, such of them as are apparent and such as are within ﴿

(Surat AlAaraf)

Third context: Haram in the sense of hindrance

Here, Haram is a form of miracle:

﴾ And We ordained that he refused to suck any foster mother before﴿

(Surat Al Qasas)

This is a matter of interference rather than legislation.

Fourth context: Haram as affliction

﴾ Both (water and provision) Allâh has forbidden to the disbelievers﴿

(Surat Al Araf)

He forbade them Paradise to make them suffer.

Fifth context: Haram of specific foods:

Forbiddance of abrogating the Islamic Law

﴾  Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself ﴿

(Al Ma’edah)

Sixth context: Haram as banning and destruction

﴾   But there is a ban on any population which We have destroyed: that they shall not return ﴿

(Surat Al Anbia’)

Seventh context: Haram out of lust and vain desires

﴾  Further, there are cattle forbidden to yoke ﴿

﴾ and forbidden to Our females  ﴿

(Surat Al Anaam)

Sometimes forbiddance is for punishment.

Eighth context: Haram by vow

﴾ O Prophet! why holdest Thou to be forbidden that which Allah has made lawful to thee?  ﴿

 (Surat Al Tahrim)

Nineth context: Haram as prohibition and permission

 ﴾ but forbidden is the pursuit of land-game ﴿  

(Surat Al Ma’eda : 96)

Tenth context: Haram as veneration, sanctity and aggrandizement

Veneration, sanctity as in:

﴾ Lord of This city, Him who has sanctified it ﴿  

(Surat Al Naml :91)

Veneration and aggrandizement like in saying: The Sacred (Haram) House of Allah.

1 – The Prohetic Tradition is a divine revelation

Honorable brothers, relevant in this context is the Prophetic Tradition reported by Al-Miqdam Ibn Ma'dikarib quoting Allah’s Apostle , peace and blessings be upon him:

‘Beware! I have been given the Qur'an and with it its counterpart. Yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur'an; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited. Beware! The domestic ass, beasts of prey with fangs, a find belonging to confederates, unless its owner does not want it, are not permissible to you If anyone comes to some people, they must entertain him, but if they do not, he has a right to mulct them to an amount equivalent to his entertainment.’.

(Abu Dawud)

So there are two Revelations: a recited Revelation which is the Holy Qur’an, and an un-recited Revelation which is the Prophetic Tradition (Sunnah), or the authenticated Prophetic Tradition, which is the whole of the sayings, deeds and acquiescences of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

‘Beware! I have been given the Qur'an and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur'an; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited. Beware! The domestic ass, beasts of prey with fangs, a find belonging to confederate, unless its owner does not want it, are not permissible to you If anyone comes to some people, they must entertain him, but if they do not, he has a right to mulct them to an amount equivalent to his entertainment.’.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is a lawmaker. Note this well: there is law making in the Holy Qur’an, and the Prophet makes laws separately of the Qur’an, this is why Allah Most High has said:

﴾ Obey Allah, and obey the Apostle ﴿

(Surat Al Nisaa : 59)

2 – Obligation of obedience to the Prophet’s directives:

The reason of the second occurrence of the word ‘obey’ is to indicate that you are bound to obey Allah’s Prophet for Allah Most High says:

﴾ So take what the Apostle  assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which He withholds from you ﴿

(Surat Al Hashr : 7)

It is a Divine decree, and the Prophet alone has the right to make laws, and no one else in our Islamic nation.

﴾ Obey Allah, and obey the Apostle , and those charged with authority among you ﴿ 

(Surat Al Nisa’ : 59)

Allah Almighty did not say: Obey Allah and obey the Apostle  and obey those charged with authority among you, He says:

﴾ Obey Allah, and obey the Apostle , and those charged with authority among you ﴿ 

Those charged with authority are the scholars and rulers. But no obedience is due to them if it involves sin. So if they command you, you should contrast their command with the dictates of Allah and His Prophet, then, gladly obey if they agree, but not if they disagree, for no obedience is due to a created human being if it means disobeying the Creator. 

3 - No obedience is due to a created human being if it involves disobeying the Creator

Our Master As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him and gratify him, said in his first address: ‘Obey me so long as in leading you I obey Allah; but if I disobey Him then I ask no obedience of you’.

You can obey any human on this earth if in so doing you obey Allah, and you must not obey if it means disobeying Allah: No obedience is due to a creature if it means disobeying the Creator. This is why it was reported that the Mother of the Faithful Aisha said: I heard the Apostle  of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say:

‘He who seeks to please Allah at the cost of displeasing people, Allah will provide for him, and he will not need people, and he who seeks to please people by angering Allah, Allah will leave him at the mercy of people’.

 (Al Tirmidhi)

It is impossible, absolutely impossible to obey Him and loose, and it is impossible, absolutely impossible to disobey Him and win.

The words of the great Imam Al Hasan Al Basry to the governor of Basra always come to my mind. He was visiting the governor of Basra when the latter received certain directives from the Khalifah Yazid. These directives would have angered Allah if they were carried out, or if disregarded would have angered the Khalifa who would propably have deposed him. The Governor was at a loss, in the presence of the great Imam Al Hasan Al Basry, so he asked: ‘What am I to do, O Imam?’. The Imam answered in words which each one of us should adopt as a rule of behavior, he said: ‘Allah protects you from Ziad, but who can protect you from Allah?’.

It is a method, a system: a powerful man enjoins you to act unlawfully, do not obey him, and if out of fear you are tempted to comply, say to  yourself: Allah will protect me from him, but if I obey him and disobey Allah who will protect me from Allah?

This, honorable brothers, is a clear course of action to follow.

First Hadith:

Jabir Ibn (son of) 'Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with both, reported that he heard Allah’s Apostle , peace and blessings be upon him, say the year of Mecca’s conquest:

"Allah and His Apostle made illegal the trade of alcohol, dead animals, pigs and idols." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What about the fat of dead animals, for it was used for greasing the boats and the hides; and people use it for lights?" He said, "No, it is illegal." Allah's Apostle further said, "May Allah curse the Jews, for Allah made the fat (of animals) illegal for them, yet they melted the fat and sold it and ate its price."

(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Haram is Haram, period.

Second Hadith:

From the statements of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning the end of times, Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

 ‘Times will indeed come when a man cares not how he earned his money, lawfully (Halal) or unlawfully (Haram)’.

(Bukhari)

Towards the end of times confusion will reign. What will matter is to make money, and what’s more, those who gather money in illicit ways will be believed intelligent.

Blessed are those whose point of reference is the Qur’an.

As for those who follow what is customary among men Allah Most High says:

﴾ And if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah’s way ﴿ 

(Surat Al Anaam: 116)

Third Hadith:

For those who wonder and say: but those are prophets and we are not, the answer comes in what Abu Huraira reported: the Apostle of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

‘0 people, Allah is Good and He therefore, accepts only that which is good’.

(Muslim)

When it comes to being righteous, the same is expected of the least and of the most faithful of men. It is like when a patient needs a shot, the same procedure is always applied by nurses and heart surgeons alike: sterilization of the syringe, sterilization of the insertion point, steadiness…these are directions to be followed by the most eminent doctor and the lowest ranking nurse. In the same manner, righteousness is well defined, while the pious deed is relative. The heart surgeon’s science cannot compare to the nurse’s, but when it comes to giving an injection, he has to sterilize the syringe just like she does:

‘and Allah asks of the faithful what he asked of the Apostles’.

Incidently, this entails that the stories of the Prophet should be read like teachings, our Master Yusuf says:

﴾ Allah forbid! truly (thy husband) is my lord! he made my sojourn agreeable﴿ .

This should be the attitude of today’s young people.

We continue the Hadith:

‘O people, Allah is Good and He therefore, accepts only that which is good. And Allah commanded the believers as He commanded the Messengers by saying:

﴾O Messengers, eat of the good things, and do good deeds; verily I am aware of what you do ﴿  .

 And He said:

﴾O those who believe, eat of the good things that We gave you ﴿ .

He then made a mention of a person who travels widely, his hair dishevelled and covered with dust. He lifts his hand towards the sky (and thus makes the supplication):" O Lord ,O Lord," whereas his diet is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, and his clothes are unlawful and his nourishment is unlawful. How can then his supplication be accepted?’.

(Muslim)

This is a clear statement, and the greatness of Islam lies in its simplicity.

Some may think naively that you are enjoined to seek savory foods to eat, not at all, what is meant is that you earn your living in a lawful (Halal) manner, and then when this Halal money is spent on food, this food is defined as good food.

Some services are a hundred percent Halal. But if you mislead your client into believing that he has a winning case while you are sure of the contrary, and sure that the case will be adjourned time after time for years, and you charge him a fortune for this, and finally he is shocked to lose the suit, then the money you earned is Haram or unlawful money, and even if you buy with it the fanciest foods, to Allah it is not good food. So purify your food, do not mislead people. In every trade you have innumerable ways to cheat, numerous ways to earn your money illicitly: by misleading, deceiving, cheating, by dishonest promotion, by spreading untruthful rumors that import of the merchandise will be stopped, or that a third party is willing to pay a higher price so people in need of the merchandize raise their bids for fear of loosing the deal…

There are countless ways to earn Haram money.

Dear brothers, I go on with the Hadith:

 He then made a mention of a person who travels widely, his hair dishevelled and covered with dust. He lifts his hand towards the sky (and thus makes the supplication):" O Lord ,O Lord," whereas his diet is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, and his clothes are unlawful and his nourishment is unlawful. How can then his supplication be accepted?’

In truth I say, I have a friend whose father is 96 years old. Visiting this friend on the occasion of the Eid (the Feast) I met his father, and I will never forget his words when he said to me: ‘I had a general blood test done yesterday, and all the tests are normal’. Then he added: ‘Indeed sir, I never ate Haram in my life’, meaning money, ‘and I never knew Haram’ meaning women.

He never ate Haram nor did he know Haram. He was a teacher in this good town for almost eighty years. He started teaching at the age of sixteen and died at ninety six. He taught for eighty years bringing up generation after generation, and at ninety six he was fully active, erect, he still had his original teeth with sharp sight and perfect hearing. Sometimes people would wonder: ‘what health Allah has bestowed on you , Sir!’, and he would say: ‘Son, we preserved it in youth so Allah maintained it in old age, he who lives piously lives able-bodied’.

Dear brothers, most people are alike in youth, the difference begins to show as they reach old age. He who lives his young years in Allah’s obedience, Allah will favor him with wonderful Fall years.

There are indeed people in their nineties with strong memory, a strong body, a strong personality, loved by people around them, and when they finally die, they go grandly,  burdening no one: ‘Son, we preserved it in youth so Allah maintained it in old age, he who lives piously lives able-bodied’.

Fourth Hadith:

In another Hadith Abu Huraira quotes the Prophet, peace be upon him, as saying:

‘Avoid the destructive seven’. People said: ‘And what are they, O Allah’s Apostle?’. He said: ‘To associate others to Allah in worship, sorcery, unjustly killing a life declared sacred by Allah, usury, usurping the money of the orphan, , fleeing the enemy in battle, and defaming chaste, unwary Muslim women’.

(Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa’i, Abu Dawood)

Some refer to this Hadith as defining the deadly sins, and living off ill-gotten money or Haram money is one of them.

Fifth Hadith:

Abu Humaid Al Sa’idi said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, appointed a man from the tribe of Azd named ibn al-Lutbiyyah to be the collector of the Zakat or obligatory charity.

When he returned from his assignment he reported: I have collected this and this for the obligatory charity, and this, and these have been given to me as gifts. Thereupon the Prophet ,praise and peace be upon him, ascended the pulpit, praised and glorified Allah and said:  I appointed a man from among you to carry out one of the obligations Allah has entrusted to me.He has returned and said:This is yours and this has been given to me as a gift. Had he remained in the house of his father or mother would  gifts have come to him there! By Allah, if any one of you takes anything unrightfully he will meet Allah on the Day of Judgement carrying that thing on the back of his neck. Do not let me see any of you meeting Allah carrying a grunting camel or a bellowing cow or a bleating goat!’

Then he raised his arms so high that the white of his armpits became visible and he supplicated: O Allah, I have conveyed Your command. He repeated this twice.”

(Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Ahmad, Al Darami)

They say this is a gift, but would they have received gifts were it not for the office they occupied?

Sixth Hadith:

Khawla Al Ansariya said: I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, say:

‘Some people indulge themselves unlawfully in Allah’s property, fire is their reward on judgement day’.

(Bukhari, Tirmidhi, Ahmad)

Now if you present your case before the noble Prophet eloquently and persuasively, and arrive thru fluency and  articulateness to get a judgment in your favor from the Prophet, peace be upon him, while you know that you are in the wrong, then listen to what the Prophet, peace be upon him said:

Seventh Hadith:

Oum Salama reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him said:

‘You bring your disputes to me, and some of you may be more persuasive than others. Whomsoever I grant, based on his word, that which is rightfully his brother’s, let him not take it, for I grant him a piece of hellfire’.

(Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa’i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah, Ahmad, Malek)

This means that even a Fatwa or legal opinion from the best of human beings and Allah’s beloved will not preserve you from Allah’s punishment. Who do you answer to? To Allah alone you answer.

Indeed a Moslem may consult a newly appointed mosque’s Imam or prayer leader concerning usury, and the Imam may give him a Fatwa or legal advice that reassures him. Well he should not be reassured, for even if you force a Fatwa in your favor from the Prophets noble lips while you are in the wrong, you will not be saved.

Eighth Hadith:

Dear brothers, the Prophet, peace be upon him says:

Mosa’ab Ibn Sa’ad reports that Abdallah Ibn Omar went to visit Ibn Amer in his illness who said: ‘O Ibn Omar won’t you implore Allah for me?’. Ibn Omar replied: ‘I heard Allah’s Apostle, peace be upon him say: ‘No prayer is accepted without prior purification and no charity from a misappropriation’.

(Moslem, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ahmad)

Misappriation is taking money before it is rightfully distributed. Say a father dies and his eldest son reserves a beautiful and expensive carpet to himself saying this will remind me of my father. When the inheritance is distributed this carpet becomes a misappropriation. Any money taken before the distribution of an inheritance or of spoils is a misappropriation.

Dear brothers, the question of Haram money is a very serious matter and giving up a Danik (.5 g) of ill-gotten gain is better than making the pilgrimage to Mecca eighty times after the decreed pilgrimage. I say to you: there is more than just prayer, pilgrimage and fasting, first comes righteousness. If you are righteous, your prayer, pilgrimage and fasting are valid and accepted. If you are not righteous your prayer, pilgrimage and fasting are invalid and unacceptable.

Nineth Hadith:

Abu Huraira’s reports in a well known Hadith that Allah’s Apostle said:

 “Do you know who the pauper is? The companions replied: ‘A pauper is one who has nothing, neither cash nor property.’ He said: ‘The pauper among my nation is one who comes on the Day of Judgment with prayers, fasting, and charity but has abused this, slandered that, stolen the possessions of this, killed or beaten that .So those he has wronged are given of his good deeds .If his good deeds are insufficient to redeem himself, then their sins will be cast on him and he will be thrown into the Fire.’  

(Muslim)

Would you believe what the noble Prophet did when he found a date on his bed?

Amr Ibn Shou’aib reported from his father through his grandfather that Allah’s Apostle was lying down in bed when he he found a date beneath him, so he took it and ate it. Then towards the end of the night he was writhing in discomfort which worried some of his wives. He said: I found a date under my side so I ate it, but I feared it might be of the alms dates’.

(Ahmad)

‘Two Rak’as of the God-fearing are better than a thousand Rak’as of the audacious’.

(Anas in Al Jami’ Al Saghir)

And Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.