Major Principles of Islam: Seeking the Halal ( part 12) – excellence in transactions
Where we are in the series
We started this series, Seeking Halal Earnings, a while ago now, a few months back. We began with the book of Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, the student of Abu Hanifah, and the one to whom the Hanafi school is indebted, because he recorded the Hanafi madhhab of Abu Hanifah. Among the early books he wrote, in the second century, into the third century, is the book of earning, or seeking halal, in other words.
Then I took you through Imam al-Ghazali’s work, the relevant chapter in his book, which is divided into different chapters as well. Imam al-Ghazali dedicated a special title to this topic, and it is more than likely inspired by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, because al-Ghazali passed away in 505 AH and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan was in the second century. So without doubt, there was inspiration. Al-Ghazali dedicated a special chapter called al-kasb as well.
Of course, it is a huge book. I have done my best to summarise as much as possible to make it easy, accessible, and understandable, and I added examples that are relevant to our time. We went through different contracts, different conditions, and etiquettes, and so on.
We are almost at the end of the book and there are two major topics left to cover. Under each, there are divisions: six in the first, and seven in the second. So I will take you through this, and we will see how we can benefit from the knowledge of Imam al-Ghazali in our time, and the knowledge of our scholars in this transactional knowledge: how we earn our money in a halal way, and how we do our dealings in a halal way.
The last two chapters that Imam al-Ghazali covers here are:
- chapter 4: excellence in dealings (al-ihsan)
- chapter 5: the merchant’s care for his religion
Starting with chapter 4, he says: if you are doing business, you deal with people, and transactions must be based on principles. We covered the conditions, we covered the etiquettes, but there are matters beyond the conditions. It is not an obligation. It is beyond obligation.
Obligation and excellence
Here Imam al-Ghazali is speaking about ihsan. It is not about “this is obligatory for you to do.” It is beyond what is required. He mentions:
Justice is obligatory in every transaction you do, but excellence is voluntary.
Excellence is beyond what is required from you. And Allah, in many verses in the Qur’an, mentions this, one famous verse among us is that Allah commands justice and excellence. Justice is the obligation. Excellence is beyond the obligation.
﴿إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَٰنِ
“Indeed Allah commands justice and excellence…” (Surat al-Nahl 16:90)
Thus al-Ghazali is saying: a devout person should not limit himself to justice only and neglect the doors of excellence, because he is losing plenty of reward.
Ihsan means doing good beyond the obligation. Whereas justice consists of fulfilling duties and avoiding injustice. You can see the difference between the two.
And I am sure you are familiar with the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when Jibril came and asked questions, and the Prophet ﷺ answered them. Among those questions, he asked about ihsan. The Prophet ﷺ said:
أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ
“To worship Allah as though you can see Him; and if you cannot, then know that He sees you.” (Muslim)
This is the context of ihsan: it is a level of closeness to Allah. And are we going to do this even in our transactions? We understand it in ṣalah, but when we deal with pounds and dollars and euros, when we sell and buy, when we go out and when we come in, we are under the sight of Allah and He sees us. So we need to observe ihsan.
The six practices of ihsan in transactions
As usual, al-Ghazali is practical and well-organised. He says: the rank of excellence is attained through six practices. So you ask: how do we do this? And al-Ghazali answers: if you want to attain this, I will take you through it step by step. You need six things to attain this level of ihsan in your transactions and dealings.
Practice 1: avoid excessive exploitation in trade
In Arabic we might call it a form of exploitation, inflated price. It is not the same in every situation. Sometimes it is small and digestible, and you can accept it, for example 50p on £1, depending on the transaction. Sometimes £1,000 is acceptable depending on the transaction: if you are dealing with a £200,000 deal, then £1,000 is not a big deal. But if you are dealing with a £2,000 deal and the inflated price is 50%, then yes, that is a big deal, because now £1,000 is excessive.
We are not discussing here the permissibility of making profit. Making good profit is allowed if you follow the right conditions. But exploiting another person’s urgent need, where you know he needs it, so you inflate the price and “suck his blood”. Ihsan is not about that. It is about refusing to exploit someone’s need, and returning excessive profit to the person.
He used the phrase “excessive profit”. Profit is allowed, but greed, to go beyond what is fair, is too much. Even if it might be halal “on paper”, it is not ihsan. It is not best practice.
Some people will say: “We are not in the mosque. We are in business to make money.” But there is a big difference between making money and being greedy. Greed dilutes the barakah of your money, even if you have millions. And ihsan increases the barakah of your money, even if it is limited. That is the difference.
And some people might say: “You don’t understand business.” But ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAwf and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them), and many others, were businessmen and had wealth in their hands. They were shrewd in business and they multiplied their wealth, but they were people of ihsan. So do not tell me you cannot be good in business if you deal with ihsan, you can.
Practice 2: bearing a loss when buying from the poor or weak
Secondly, he is still talking about exploitation, but from a different angle. There is a difference between you exploiting others, and you allowing others to inflate the price against you. He talked about bearing loss when buying from the poor or the weak is fine.
This is when you know something is not really worth £5, but the person is sitting on the street selling these things all day long. Maybe you could get it for £3 or £2. That is fine. But do not go and try to bring the price down. He is a poor person and weak, so do not use your “muscles” against him. Bear the loss. You know it is not the real price, but you say, I am fine, I am glad to give him extra.
Of course, there is a difference between small deals and big deals. And the title here is important: when you buy from a poor person or a weak person.
Sadly, I sometimes see the opposite. Somebody very wealthy squeezes the weak and poor person and tries to dry the profit out of him. He is trying to earn a living and he is poor and weak. So be lenient, kind, and forgiving in this situation.
Having said that, accepting loss from wealthy traders and saying, I am fine, is not praiseworthy. It is praiseworthy when you deal with the poor and weak, not when you deal with wealthy traders. With wealthy traders, negotiate. Show your negotiation skills. That is business. But do not do this with the poor and weak. So it depends who you are dealing with and where you are coming from.
Practice 3: excellence in debt collection
Thirdly, be excellent in debt collection. How do you do this? Through forgiveness.
If someone cannot pay – he is suffering financial difficulties and he is genuine. Write it off. This is ihsan. Or reduce it for him. Say, your debt is 1,000, give me 500. This is ihsan. Or delay it. For example, he was meant to pay within three months, so you say, I will give you another three months. Go and try and pay it back. Give him extra time. This is ihsan.
Allah will put barakah in your money and lift you to the second level, not just keep you where you are. Because Allah is the One who provides for you. It is not you providing for yourself. Allah is the Provider. So look after what Allah has given to you, and do not hesitate to be kind. This will not reduce your money. It will increase your money.
وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسۡرَةٖ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيۡسَرَةٖۚ وَأَن تَصَدَّقُوا۟ خَيۡرٞ لَّكُمۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ
If the debtor is in hardship, then grant him time until ease. And if you give it as charity, it is better for you, if you only knew. (Surah al-Baqarah 2:280-282)
Practice 4: good repayment of debt
Fourthly, good repayment of debt. Now you are the one who must return the debt. You borrowed money and you want to repay it. It was agreed for six months, a year, and so on.
Excellence is that you do not wait for him to come and ask you. You do not wait for his calls. Some people do not return calls, do not answer, ignore you, even block you. When he needed money, he called you day and night. When you want your money back, he dismisses you. Is that the reward I should get because I was kind to you and helped you in difficulty? Do not do that.
Go and pay back the money quickly. Go personally to the creditor, thank him, and repay properly. There is nothing wrong with giving a gift as well, not a conditional gift, but a gift out of appreciation for him being kind to you. Be nice to him as well. This is ihsan.
If deep down you want to repay but you do not have finances, then have the sincere intention to repay, and Allah will ease your way and facilitate it for you.
مَطْلُ الْغَنِيِّ ظُلْمٌ، وَمَنْ أُتْبِعَ عَلَى مَلِيٍّ فَلْيَتَّبِعْ.
Procrastination (delay in payment) by a wealthy person is ظلم (injustice).”
(Bukhari and Muslim)“The delaying of payment by one who can afford it makes his honor lawful (to be spoken against) and warrants punishment.” (Abu Dawud and Nasa’i)
Practice 5: Cancelling a sale for a regretful buyer
Number five is to cancel a sale for a regretful buyer.
Someone bought something from you, or sold you something. After the sale, he regrets it. He says, I should not have sold this, I need it, I forgot I need it for this and that. Or he says, I bought this, but my wife bought something similar, I do not need it. He is full of regret and he comes back and asks you, please return this.
If you can see he is genuinely regretful, then return the sale. Why? Because in the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah will release you from your difficulty on the Day of Judgement if you release this person from his difficulty. Which one is better?
مَنۡ أَقَالَ مُسۡلِمٗا بَيۡعَتَهُ أَقَالَ ٱللَّهُ عَثۡرَتَهُ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَامَةِ
Whoever cancels a sale for someone who regrets it, Allah will relieve his hardship on the Day of Resurrection.” (Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah)
Of course, there are exceptions and details, but this is the general rule. In Arabic this is called الإقالة, and there is a special chapter for it in fiqh.
Practice 6: Dealing kindly with the poor through deferred sales
Finally, deal kindly with the poor through deferred sales.
A poor person is buying from you. Give him deferred payment. He cannot pay now, so you say, take it and pay whenever possible. You want to preserve his dignity. You do not want to say it is a donation, because he may not accept it. His dignity might not allow him to take it. So be kind and say, yes, of course I will sell it to you. You know he is poor and he cannot afford it, or he can but with difficulty. Tell him, take it and pay back in instalments whenever possible. This preserves his dignity, and it also encourages him to work and repay.
Your intention is that if he cannot pay, you will forgive him. This is ihsan. And this is rare to see these days, but alhamdulillah it still exists in parts of our community.
A living example from back home
I have not really seen it in the UK, but from what I know back home, in places like Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey, there are practices like this. People go to the corner shop. Many shops have a debt book. The shopkeeper knows the people, the neighbours, their names, where they live. They buy on credit. He records it. Flat number 10, so-and-so, he bought this today, he bought that. Each person has a page. At the end of the month, you go and pay, and he writes it off. Then the next month comes, and so on.
It happens that some wealthy people and good people go to these shops, especially before Eid or before Ramadan. Sometimes at other times too. They go and say, give me your debt book. The shopkeeper knows exactly what they mean. He calculates and says, it is like £5,000. The man says, I will buy it from you. Here is £5,000. Write off all the debts of all the people. Or £10,000. I will buy it from you. Write off everyone’s debts.
And usually those who take on credit are poor and cannot afford to pay on time. This practice is still in existence. I have heard from trusted sources it is very common in Turkey, and it is practiced in some areas in Syria as well. So yes, this is from ihsan.
So these are the six practices of ihsan that Imam al-Ghazali covered.
Chapter 5: The merchant’s care for his religion
Now we move to chapter five, which is the end of the book in sha Allah. Imam al-Ghazali calls it the merchant’s care for his religion.
Meaning: how can you run a business without losing your deen? Because when you deal with business and money, there are many tricks, many conducts, and many practices in the market that contradict your principles as a Muslim and your deen. So how can you run your business without losing your deen?
Your trade should not distract you from your religion, because your true capital is your deen. Your business for the akhirah is far superior to your business for the dunya. You can use your dunya for your akhirah, yes, exactly. Use your dunya for your deen, not the other way around. Do not let business ruin your deen.
So he says, in order to achieve this care, you need seven principles.
If you paste the next chunk where he starts listing the seven principles, I’ll continue in the same style and insert any relevant ayahs and hadith where they naturally fit.
Seven principles for a merchant to protect their religion
When you are running your business, you need seven principles.
Principle 1: sound intention at the start of business
Firstly, you need to have a sound intention at the start of your business. Why are you running this business? What is the intention behind it?
Imam al-Ghazali helps us here by saying: your intention should be to seek lawful provision, halal, seeking the halal.
Secondly, within this intention: to be independent. Not to be the lower hand, but to be the upper hand. The upper hand is the hand that gives, and the lower hand is the hand that takes. And the Prophet ﷺ said:
The upper hand is better than the lower hand
الْيَدُ الْعُلْيَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْيَدِ السُّفْلَى
The upper hand is better than the lower hand (Bukhari)
Thirdly, within this intention: supporting one’s family. Your intention has to be to sustain yourself and sustain your family, to be independent, to seek the halal, and to serve your religion. So you can support good projects, run something useful for your community, something useful for families, and so on.
And also advising Muslims. When you have expertise, you can give good advice, train others to run their businesses, and then the community can flourish and help one another.
And also adhering to justice and excellence. You tell yourself: I am running my business and I have to treat everyone fairly, and with excellence. Not only fairness, but excellence.
Principle 2: intending to fulfil communal obligations
Principle number two: your intention should be to fulfil communal obligations.
Obligations are of two kinds. There is an individual obligation, like salah, fasting, and so on.
And there is a communal obligation. Janazah prayer is a communal obligation. It is not an individual obligation.
Also professions that a community needs: physicians and doctors, plumbers, carpenters, teachers, nurses, imams, and so on. These can fall under communal obligations because if they are absent, the community suffers harm.
So when you run a business, your intention should be: I want to fulfil a communal obligation. This allows you to get reward for running your business because you are filling a gap in the community and enabling the community to fulfil their obligation towards Allah. Because if the community does not fulfil it, the whole community can become sinful.
So choose a business that is useful, beneficial, needed, and fills a gap.
He defines it as professions and trades that, if absent, lead to collective harm.
Principle 3: do not let business distract you from worship
Number three: do not allow business to distract you from your worship. Make the marketplace like the mosque in the sense that you stay focused and do not forget your duties towards Allah, and you keep the marketplace preparing you for the hereafter.
Running business is a test: you prioritise acts of devotion, you aim for halal, you avoid haram, and in every transaction there is a test that makes you a better person.
And Allah mentions in the Qur’an that there are men whom trade does not distract from the remembrance of Allah.
رِجَالٌ لَا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ
Men whom neither trade nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah, and from establishing prayer and giving zakah (Surah an-Nur 24:37)
So do not let trade and business distract you from worship. When salah time comes, do not stay engaged in selling and buying until you miss the salah.
And this is why, in many old souqs and markets, the mosque is the centre. They built the market around it. When salah time comes, they close shops, pray, and come back. This is the balance Imam al-Ghazali is speaking about.
Principle 4: constant remembrance of Allah in the marketplace
Number four: constant remembrance of Allah in the market.
Do not be heedless in the market because shaytan can sneak into your mind and into your business and lead you into trouble. So be a person of remembrance, especially in a place of heedlessness.
Principle 5: avoid excessive attachment to trade
Number five: avoid excessive attachment to trade.
Imam al-Ghazali gives an example: do not be the first person to enter the market and the last person to leave it. This is greed and attachment to the dunya.
There are exceptions, like when people need your service and you are late to fulfil their needs, and your intention is to serve people, not just earn money. But generally, do not live like this.
Some professions run 16-hour days, people sleep at the workplace, with a dedicated floor to sleep. This becomes a kind of slavery. A person becomes so engaged in business that it eats all his time. He loses salah, he neglects Allah and even neglects his family. This is blameworthy.
Principle 6: avoid doubtful matters and consult your heart
Number six: avoid doubtful matters.
Sometimes you get a fatwa that something is halal, but deep down you feel something is wrong. If you feel there is something wrong, then ask another scholar you trust, with knowledge and a good reputation.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
Whoever avoids doubtful matters has protected his religion and his honour
فَمَنِ اتَّقَى الشُّبُهَاتِ فَقَدِ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ
Whoever avoids doubtful matters has protected his religion and his honour. (Tirmidhi)
So if you feel doubt, leave it for Allah’s sake. Allah will replace you with something better.
And the Prophet ﷺ also said to one of his companions to consult their heart.
عَنْ وَابِصَةَ بْنِ مَعْبَدٍ الْأَسَدِيِّ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لي جِئْتَ تَسْأَلُ عَنْ الْبِرِّ وَالْإِثْمِ قُلْتُ نَعَمْ قَالَ فَجَمَعَ أَصَابِعَهُ فَضَرَبَ بِهَا صَدْرَهُ وَقَالَ اسْتَفْتِ نَفْسَكَ اسْتَفْتِ قَلْبَكَ يَا وَابِصَةُ ثَلَاثًا الْبِرُّ مَا اطْمَأَنَّتْ إِلَيْهِ النَّفْسُ وَاطْمَأَنَّ إِلَيْهِ الْقَلْبُ وَالْإِثْمُ مَا حَاكَ فِي النَّفْسِ وَتَرَدَّدَ فِي الصَّدْرِ وَإِنْ أَفْتَاكَ النَّاسُ وَأَفْتَوْكَ
Wabisah ibn Ma’bad reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to me, “Have you come to ask about righteousness and sin?” I said yes. The Prophet clenched his fist and struck his chest, saying, “Consult your soul, consult your heart, O Wabisah. Righteousness is what reassures your soul and your heart, and sin is what wavers in your soul and puts tension in your chest, even if people approve it in their judgments again and again.” (Darimi)
Of course, the heart that is pure, not corrupt.
I have received queries from friends about buying businesses. Sometimes the business looks halal on the surface, but it can be used for haram, and they feel doubt. So the advice is: avoid it. And when someone leaves something for Allah’s sake with conviction, Allah replaces it with something better.
Principle 7: maintain awareness of accountability
Number seven, the final one: maintain awareness of accountability.
Remember that every action and every word will be questioned. So prepare your answers for the Day of Judgement. Every transaction, every word you say.
Do your accounts before the angels show you your records on the Day of Judgement. Do your accounts in the dunya before it is too late to sort it out in the akhirah.
So these are the seven principles Imam al-Ghazali finishes the chapter with. And alhamdulillah, we have completed this section, along with what we covered from Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and other benefits from the scholars.
Based on the talk session delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 10th February 2026
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