Trade Ethics and Barakah

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Shaykh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Shaykh Muḥammad Nāẓim al- Ḥaqqānī. Madad. Ṭarīqatunā aṣ-Suḥbah wa l-Khayru fi l-Jam‘iyyah.

Our Holy Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam told us a beautiful Hadith that we said in Khutbah. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says that the best profit is the profit from trade. But there are conditions for it. They used to say there is trade ethics in making trade. I suppose there is no trade ethics now, or it is very rare.

Our Holy Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says you must not lie when you make trade. You must keep your word. And you should not praise your products. You should not discredit the products of others, says our Holy Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. How beautiful is what he ﷺ said. People do the complete opposite of it now. They lie smoothly. They praise their products and discredit others products. When these happen, there is no goodness in profit. Otherwise, there is goodness and Barakah. The work of Mu’min people goes on well.

People of old times, for example, many Awliya, Saliheen/righteous ones and Mashayikh would deal with business such as trade. They earned their livelihood that way and lived without needing anyone. Their principle was this exact principle of our Holy Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Everyone knew that Imam ‘Azam Sayyidina Abu Hanifah was a merchant. Many people know it. He had huge business. And he was very rich. With that wealth from trade, he used to make charity and look after people.

Once he had to go somewhere, and I guess he had left his employee in the shop. A customer came and he sold him the product. Sayyidina Abu Hanifah came afterwards and asked him how he traded it. He said, “I sold it for a good price”. Sayyidina Abu Hanifah said, “It had a defect. Did you tell the buyer about it?” “No”, he said. “Run after him immediately. Stop him and refund half of this money”. This is it. Nothing decreased from his wealth but only increased. And he wasn’t in need of anyone.

People of the present time use all kinds of tricks in order to make more money. But they don’t know that they only harm themselves. They don’t realize that the Barakah goes away. Barakah is the secret of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. People with Iman should believe that if Barakah goes away, there will be no profit. There will be no profit in business but loss. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ protect us from the evil of our egos.

This applies to both trade and the training of our egos. Not only merchants, but if those who don’t deal with trade also comply with the words of our Holy Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, their lives will be good and full of Barakah. May Allah ﷻ not leave us for our egos. May Allah ﷻ give us Barakah.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 20 August 2022/ 22 Muharram 1444 Fajr Prayer, Akbaba Dergah

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