(Draft of the book: " Farming and Trading According to Islam". Islamic Agricultural Socio-Economic Book Series. Draft I – April 2020. By: SYAHYUTI)
We already know the story of the prophets developing religion. However, how the prophets run their economic life is rarely published. Prophets like ordinary people also need food, clothing and shelter. He didn't just get it. The Prophets had to work to earn their livelihood. He must work like a human too. In addition to themselves, the Prophets also had to support their families.
Al-Hadisth: "Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never raised a Prophet who never shepherded sheep or goats". Yes, the Prophets raised livestock. Raising livestock is farming. The Prophets lived in a society that relied on agriculture and trade.
The Prophets also farmed like us. What they plant does not immediately bear fruit. There is effort, there is seriousness, and there is a risk of failure as well. So, even though the Prophets have been burdened with conveying revelations, establishing Allah's religion and taking care of the people; does not automatically have to leave his economic life.
Likewise, working while preaching and developing religion is a lifestyle that many preachers do who incorporate Islam into Indonesia. They are traders as well as preachers and religious teachers. This is also what the “Wali Songo” do. They are not only economic for profit, but oriented da'wah. Running the economy correctly and profitably was also one of the materials taught to the people at that time.
The Prophet Farmed for His Life
Historically, the Prophets worked like ordinary humans to support themselves. In Surah Al Furqan verse 20 it reads: "We did not send messengers before you (Muhammad) but that they actually ate food and walked in the markets". The market is a gathering place for people with various characters. From the best to the worst can be found there. So, the prophets of Allah's messengers in carrying out their economic activities associate and interact with all types of human beings, good and bad, without selection.
They were not reclusive spiritual figures living within the ivory tower. The Prophets worked and traded in real terms. Prophet Musa alaihisallam worked for Prophet Shuaib, Prophet Daud alaihisallam as a craftsman to make armor, Prophet Yusuf alaihisallam as a warehouse supervisor, while Prophet Zakaria alaihi sallam, for example, became a carpenter, and Prophet Idris alaihisallam sewed clothes.
Prophet Ibrahim alaihisallam was actually able to make statues like his father, but focused on producing pottery for household needs. Meanwhile, Prophet Musa alaihisallam was a builder who designed and led several projects for the construction of monumental buildings in Egypt. Due to a sedentary life, Prophet Musa often switched professions to support himself. Likewise with Prophet Isa alaihisallam who was appointed a prophet at the age of 30 years and died at a young age 3 years later. In Christian paintings he is depicted herding goats. There are also those who say that Prophet Isa became a carpenter.
The Prophets worked because they did not want to rely on their lives for their people. Various jobs that the Prophet did, relying on hand skills and others. Hadith: "There is no food that is better for a person to eat, except - which is obtained - from the work of his hands. And verily, the Prophet of Allah, Dawud, ate from the work of his hands." Prophet Dawud alaihisallam made a living from the work of his own hands as a blacksmith. He makes armor and other things, then sells them to the market to support himself and his family from the sales.
One day the Prophet Sulaiman asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to show a servant who was more grateful than himself. Allah then sent Jibril to teach Sulaiman how to plate jewelry with gold, and he made it on an ax and then sold it. Thus, the first human to make decorations with gold gilding was Prophet Sulaiman alaihisallam.
When He was young, Muhammad shalallahu alaihi wassalam (SAW) was a very active worker. He sells his services as a goat herder belonging to someone else. Prophet Muhammad kept goats very productively. He also sold Khadijah's merchandise to Sham, and got a share of the results. The Quraysh were known to be good at trading. In winter they go to Yemen, and in summer to Sham (Syria). They are not lazy people. Abdullah, for example, the father of the prophet Muhammad, fell ill and died on his way home from business from Syria. Muhammad SAW at the age of 12 years has begun to follow in the footsteps of his people, who were invited by his uncle Abu Talib, to join a trading group to the country of Syria.
When the Prophet Muhammad was 25 years old, Abu Talib managed to get a job from Khadijah, the richest business woman in Mecca at that time. Khadijah offered four camels a salary. For the first time our Prophet led a trading caravan along the main trade route of Yemen – Sham. The business was a huge success and reaped profits that no previous trade missions had been able to achieve. So, in essence our Prophet was a hard worker.
After being appointed as a prophet, Muhammad SAW milked his own goat's milk, pierced his clothes and sewed his sandals himself. The prophet's entrepreneurial ability was nurtured from an early age by becoming a shepherd. He grazed the goats of the Quraysh when he was very young to lighten his uncle's burden. He wants to earn and be independent, not sitting idle just playing. Prophet Muhammad as a trader has four tips for successful business, namely siddiq (true), amanah (trustworthy), fatonah (intelligent, clever, understanding management and business strategy), and tabligh (communication skills and convincing relations or buyers).
Prophet Muhammad SAW and his companions were people who liked to work. Apart from working for his people, he repairs and sews his own sandals, patchs his own clothes, expresses his own goat's milk, and serves his family. The Prophet sometimes helped clean the house to help his wife. They have set an example and a noble example in balancing the interests of seeking and spreading knowledge and earning a living. The Prophets worked to support the continuity of da'wah. Working to earn a living by trading, farming and raising livestock is not considered to degrade their dignity and does not reduce the quality of their trust.
Islamic scholars are also classified as people who work diligently and are economically tenacious, but they are also persistent and tough in studying and spreading religion. Abu Bakr when he became caliph every morning went to the market carrying several pieces of clothing to sell. When he met with Umar and Ubaidah bin Jarrah, he was asked: "How do you trade while you are the leader of the Muslims?". Abu Bakr said: "Where do I support my family?". Like Umar, Abu Bakr even though he also got a share of the baitul mal.
The Prophet's family also worked. Fatimah Azzahra, the daughter of the Muhammad, once ran out of grain while her children were sick and needed to eat. She went to a shop owner and got a job pounding wheat to make bread and eat with his son. She also worked at her house, making bread, from pounding wheat to baking it. Zainab works as a tanner. Asma bint Abu Bakr helps her husband feed the horses, and carries water to the garden on foot for about five kilometers.
Islam places a high value on some jobs that are sometimes undervalued by humans, such as herding goats which are usually neglected. Rasulullah SAW said: "Allah did not send a prophet but he was herding goats". When the companions heard these words, they then asked: "And you, O Messenger of Allah? The Prophet replied: Yes! I also herd goats for a few carats, belong to the people of Mecca." (Narrated by Bukhari). Muhammad as the messenger of Allah and the seal of all the Prophets, also herds goats. He shepherded with wages belonging to some of the residents of Mecca. The lesson is that greatness is actually owned by people who like to work, not by people who like to spend time and are unemployed.
Prophet Musa alaihisallam worked as a laborer for a very old man. He worked as a laborer for eight years as a condition for marrying one of his daughters. Prophet Musa was judged by the old man as a good worker and a commendable worker. So the assumption of the old woman's daughter was true, where one of them said: "Hey, father! Take that worker, because the best person you take as a worker must be a strong and reliable person." (Quran surah al-Qashash: 26).
Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet Dawud alaihisallam worked as a blacksmith to make armor. Prophet Adam worked as a farmer, Noah as a carpenter, Idris as a clerk, while Moses as a goat herder.
For this reason, every Muslim must prepare himself to make a living. Muslims must be strong economically. In fact, the Prophet also worked and had a source of income. Prophet Muhammad SAW in one of his hadiths said: "No one eats a single food that is better, but he eats on his own effort, and Prophet David alaihisallam eats from the results of his own work." (Hadith Bukhari).
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