By: u/Phagocyte_Nelson
We all have to work for a living. I'm guessing that my job is just as stressful as everybody else's job. And sometimes, the stress of work makes it hard for us to focus on our deen. The dunya is literally taking our time away us, keeps us away from our family and friends, and keeps us away from our prayer mats.
Gosh somedays I wish I could just stop working for a just a second to pray Zuhr or Asr; if not for my own sanity, then for the sake of Allah, the Worshipped One.
One of the lessons of the Prophet (saw) that gives me the most peace comes from the community of Medina. The Prophet taught his companions that to work was worship. At the time, many of the Muslims had just fled their homes in Mecca; many of them didn't even have a home in Mecca, they were homeless on the streets. They suffered persecution for their beliefs and way of life, and then Allah gave them relief by establishing their community in Medina, through the deeds of the Prophet.
One of the first things that the Prophet ordered his companions to do is to build the Kuba Mosque in Medina. By building a community center in the form of the masjid, the Sahaba had a shared space to eat, sleep, and worship. The Prophet himself helped in construction. Many of the Sahaba were shocked to see a man like the Prophet Muhammad (saw) do dirty hard-labor. The Prophet was humble (both in money and character), and he himself had to work many different trades throughout his life.
The Prophet taught us what is halal income and what is haram income. Halal income are jobs that benefit society, such as farming and construction work. Haram income are jobs that leech off of society, such as gambling and usury. Usury was especially frowned upon, and unfortunately we live an epoch where usury dominates our economy. We live in a world where corporations generate profits because they pay their employees less than the monetary value of their work. The Prophet taught that it is a sin to pay someone less than their work was valued.
Personally, I work for Amazon as a delivery driver. I know for a fact that my boss (Jeff Bezos) is one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, and he is in that position because of employees like me. Some may say that it is hard to run a company as large as Amazon and so his wealth is justly earned. But the bottomline is that Bezos's financial income is haram. It is possible for a people to work hard for haram income, but it is still haram nonetheless. May God spare us from hellfire.
Since we are working for most of the hours of the day, we should be more mindful about how we can worship on the clock. Personally, I do dhikr while I'm driving around in my Amazon van. I also time my breaks so that I may pray Zuhr and Asr. On some days when the workload is too much and I can't take a break, I combine my prayers as prescribed by the Maliki school.
We have to be creative when it comes to incorporating worship into work. Imagine all the good deeds that are added to your record when you combine your remembrance of Allah with your time of the clock. This is surely how the Sahaba approached it, they would recite dhikr while plowing the fields; the adhan became their lunch break (mashallah).
Let's reflect on the role that our job plays in society; what good deeds to we manifest while we do our job. Are you a mechanic or a doctor? Then mashallah your job is a blessing onto others. Perhaps your job helps facilitate blessings in society. Do you work at or own a grocery store? Then mashallah you provide rizq and satisfy the needs of the community. If you work at a desk or remote, then you are still creating blessings through your computer. I personally dont mind that Jeff Bezos is my employer, because regardless i become a source of blessings for people waiting on their package. May Allah help me deliver these packages in a timely and disciplined manner.