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There is no barakah in haram rizq

ByShaykh Haytham Tamim

Surah Hud contains the stories of several prophets, including Shuayb (peace be upon him). He said to his people:

إِنْ أُرِيدُ إِلَّا ٱلْإِصْلَـٰحَ مَا ٱسْتَطَعْتُ ۚ وَمَا تَوْفِيقِىٓ إِلَّا بِٱللَّهِ

I want nothing but to set things right as far as I can. My ability to do anything comes from none but Allah. [11:88]

There is no barakah in haram wealth

Each nation had their own challenges. For example, Musa (peace be upon him) and his people had to face the oppression and arrogance of Firaun. The people of Shuyab (peace be upon him) were known for dishonesty in trade—they would cheat in measurements, giving people 750 grams when they paid for a full kilo, or devaluing what they purchased to exploit others.

أَوْفُوا الْكَيْلَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُخْسِرِينَ

وَزِنُوا بِالْقِسْطَاسِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ

وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ وَلَا تَعْثَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ

Give full measure, and do not be of those who cause loss.
And weigh with an even balance.
And do not deprive people of their due, and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption. (26:181–183)

His people had fallen into the trap of thinking that if they cheated, they would get more money and get rich quicker. They didn’t understand that this money was obtained in a haram way, so it had no barakah. Earning £100 by halal means would have more barakah in it than £1000 earned by haram means.

They thought that accumulating money would make them safe and strong, but Allah’s lesson in this surah is that your rizq is written for you before you were born.

Your rizq was written before you were born

In the hadith, Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) said that when anyone is in the womb:

ُيرسل إِلَيْهِ الْمَلَكُ، فَيَكْتُبُ أَرْبَعَ كَلِمَاتٍ

يُكْتَبُ عَمَلُهُ، وَأَجَلُهُ، وَرِزْقُهُ، وَشَقِيٌّ أَوْ سَعِيدٌ

Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature’s) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). [Bukhari]

Our rizq is written before we even enter this world – so there is no point taking a haram path and thinking it will lead you to your rizq. You just need to have sabr, and trust in Allah that what has been written for you will come to you. This does not mean that you sit down and do nothing, and think your rizq will parachute down on as it did for Maryam, who found fruits in her room, sent by her Lord.

كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا ٱلْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ

عِندَهَا رِزْقًۭا ۖ قَالَ يَـٰمَرْيَمُ أَنَّىٰ لَكِ هَـٰذَا ۖ

قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ

يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

Whenever Zachariah visited her in the sanctuary, he found her supplied with provisions. He exclaimed, “O Mary! Where did this come from?” She replied, “It is from Allah. Surely Allah provides for whoever He wills without limit. (3:37)

We  need to do active tawakkul, not passive: go out and earn, but do it in a halal way. This is why we are told not to overstep the limits to seek rizq. What is written is written.

The market in Madinah

When Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) established the market in Madinah, he used to go and check on the sales and the honesty of the traders. In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), he once put his hand inside a bag of wheat and found it wet inside. The trader said that it had rained on some, so he had put the dry wheat on top and the wet underneath.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) told him to separate out the wet and dry wheat.  He said, ‘Whoever cheated is not one of us’. [Tirmidhi] He was setting the rules we all need to follow. The trader needed to let people see what was wet or dry.

We see the same thing today when people put their best produce on top of the pile, and won’t let you see what is underneath. This is also a type of cheating.

Cheating reflects badly on all Muslims

Someone I know took his non-Muslim in-laws on holiday to a Muslim country. On their last day, they went to a market and bought an abaya, which the shop owner – who was outwardly extremely practicing and wore all the trappings of Islam – put in a bag for them. When they got home, they found the abaya in the bag was an inferior one from the one they had purchased.

This was extremely embarrassing for the man, and also reflects badly on all Muslims. The shop owner thought he was outsmarting them, but in reality he was destroying his own reputation, and giving a bad example of Muslims to Muslims and non-Muslims. Were the few pennies he gained worth the punishment he will get?

Islam spread through honesty

The very first Muslims who went to places like Indonesia and Malaysia were merchants, and the people there converted because they saw their good character and honesty. These countries still have the highest numbers of Muslims today.

This is why Allah emphasised to us, through Shuyab (peace be upon him), to be honest and not to cheat. This is how to get into people’s hearts and minds. People are drawn to honest people, and no one likes a dishonest person.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

O people, there is nothing that brings you closer to Paradise and distances you from Hell except that I have commanded you to do it, and there is nothing that brings you closer to Hell and distances you from Paradise except that I have forbidden you from it. “The Trustworthy Spirit (Jibreel) has inspired me that no soul dies until it has received its provision in full. So fear Allah and be fair in your seeking. Do not let the slowness of provision lead you to seek it by disobeying Allah, for what is with Him can only be attained by obeying Him. (Ibn Abi Shaybah in Al-Musannaf, Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shua’b and Al-Baghawi in Sharh Al-Sunnah.)

Don’t think you will outsmart the system. Allah will put barakah in your rizq if you do the right thing – and on top of that, you will get reward for following footsteps of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). We ask Allah to make us among those who are honest and follow the sunnah.

Delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 27th Ramadan 2025. Transcribed by Hana Khan.

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