The Blessing of a Business Deal

In this cat-and-mouse world, at times we end up taking short corners in order to meet ends. Whether that’s a mobile phone shop selling their items as genuine when in reality they are not, or when two parties are trading their goods trying to undermine one another. What we fail to grasp is that every business deal we partake in, from the smallest to the biggest, has Allāh’s blessings riding on it.

We look for the cheapest and the best deal in the market because we are thinking about getting the best out of this world, but what about the hereafter? Yes the blessing of a business deal can undoubtedly have an impact on our hereafter. Here is what the best man in trading taught us,

Prophet Muḥammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said:

“The buyer and the seller have the option to cancel or to confirm the deal as long as they have not parted, or till they part, and if they spoke the truth and told each other the defects of the things, then blessings would be in their deal, and if they hid something and told lies, the blessing of the deal would be lost.” [1]

Allāh, known by one of His beautiful names as Al-‘Adl – The Just and The Equitable, has fittingly commanded mankind to also deal with truthfulness and uprightness, and likewise He has prohibited lies and deceitfulness. He dislikes people to conceal matters which on the contrary should be made apparent when a mutual contract between two parties is at stake.

Thus, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to us in realizing that a sale executed without complete honesty and transparency will not be blessed for the deceitful and the dishonest party.

Prophet Muḥammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said:

“Verily, truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man may speak the truth until he is recorded with Allāh as truthful. Verily, falsehood leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to the Hellfire. A man may tell lies until he is recorded with Allāh as a liar.” [2]

What typically makes mankind insincere is greed or the fear of loss. These insinuating thoughts and plotting from Shayṭān, known as Wasāwis, leads the weak-hearted people in business to do two things.

Firstly, they may disguise a defect in the product that they ought to have cautioned the client about in order to save a sale. This is generally done through packaging the product nicely from the outside, just so the damage from the inside is not prevalent.

Secondly they may end up lying for the sake of increasing the selling price. Such a deal can never have Allāh’s blessing. What these ‘witty’ people neglect to recollect is that rizq/sustenance that Allāh, who is Ar-Razzaq – The Provider, has determined for each and every one of us will reach us regardless of whether we adopt halal means to earn it or haram means.

Allāh says:

“And so many a moving (living) creature carries not its own provision! Allāh provides for it and for you. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.” [3]

This fits in perfectly with the teaching of Prophet Shu’aib (alayhi as-salām) in Sūrah Hūd where Allāh recorded His Prophet’s wise words of how people ought to be dealing in business transactions:

“And O my people, give full measure and weight in justice and do not deprive the people of their due and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.” [4]

A teaching of such reminisces with a story of an ex-Catholic priest, now a prominent Muslim scholar, who was investigating a Muslim’s dealings in business with regards to how honest he was. What he observed amazed him and became one of the persuasive factors behind him becoming a Muslim.

He found out that the Muslim salesperson would not give a buyer the item from the front which had been out in the open as show-piece; rather the salesperson would give the best one available from the back.

Such a simple gesture yet an influential display a Muslim’s character had a direct impact on the watcher’s heart. And such upright trading became a source of Da’wah which was also the reason how Islām spread in Southeast Asia in the 14^th century CE and to Africa in the 15^th century CE.

Allāh says,

“Verily Allāh loves those who deal in equity.” [5]

What it comes down to is this, if a Muslim has true faith in pre-destined rizq, it should give them the courage to elude adopting haram means to earn money, as they see the worthlessness of it. Rizq is not just a person’s income but all that comes to them. When the blessing is lifted from the sale then the seller may have earned $1000 extra dishonestly, but then might have a minor accident and ended up having to spend the $1000 on medical care.

So in the end, they ended up with no money that Allāh had not written for them, and instead also accumulated some sin for their dishonesty. Deal in sales justly, fairly and in an upright manner in order to gain Allāh’s blessings.

References:

[1] Narrated by Hakim bin Hizam | The Book of Sales: Sahih Bukhari

[2] Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas’ud | Sahih Muslim 2607

[3] Al-Qur’ān 29:60

[4] Al-Qur’ān 11:85

[5] Al-Qur’ān 60:8

Sources:

Daily Hadith