By the might of the Al-Mighty God the earth rotates around the sun and receives energy and light from one side of it; in this way, the bright day comes into being.
During the day man is obliged to endeavor to obtain God's blessings and Benevolence through his engagement in husbandry, agriculture, industry, arts, and trade; in this way, his sustenance is guaranteed.
The very act for the pursuit of one's sustenance is considered a kind of worship if the sustenance is gained through righteous and lawful means and if it is spent for one's household.
If a believer acts out lawfully in providing his family with the needed sustenance, he has certainly built up his future in the world Hereafter.
Mulla Meddi Naraqi, the great jurisprudent, states: Not everything man wishes to get or perform in this world is pernicious.
This is because what man does here would be beneficial to his Hereafter if he acts rightfully. This is because the useful knowledge and the rightful acts belong to the other world; they are called worldly performance simply because they are accessible here. Both the scholar and the worshipper enjoy performing their scientific researches and worships here in this world. This enjoyment might seem to be worldly and insignificant but it is of utmost significance in the other world even if it is obtained in this world. What is in the realm of senses and observations belong to this world. For this reason the great Prophet of Islam considers the prayers as worldly acts.
حُبِّبَ إلَيَّ مِنْ دُنْياكُمْ ثَلاثٌ: الطِّيبُ وَالْنِساءُ، وَقُرَّةُ عَيْني فِي الصَّلاةِ.
Three things of this world are beloved to me: good scent, women and your prayers, despite the fact that prayers might be assumed to belong to the hereafter.
Endeavoring to obtain the essentials of life is among good affairs of this world. This is indicated in the great Prophet of Islam's statement:
قالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ3: الْعِبادَةُ سَبْعُونَ جُزْءاً أفْضَلُها طَلَبُ الْحَلالِ.
The great Prophet of Islam has stated: Worship consists of seventy constituents, one of which is obtaining the right subsistence.
He has, as well, stated:
مَلْعُونٌ مَنْ ألْقى كَلَّهُ عَلَى النّاسِ
He who imposes himself over other people for his personal affairs stays outside God's Grace.
قالَ السَّجّادُA: الدُّنْيا دُنْياءانِ: دُنْياءان: دُنْيا بَلاغٍ وَدُنْيا مَلْعُونَةٌ.
Imam Sajjad(s) has said the world is of two kinds: The approximating world (which approximates man toward God through his endeavors to obtain his sustenance) and the deterring world (which drives people away from God's Grace because they demand excessively from this world).
Imam Baqir(s) has stated: Anybody who provides people with their material needs and satisfies their emotions shall meet God in the other world while his face shines like the full moon.
Imam Sadiq(s) has said:
لا تَكْسَلُوا في طَلَبِ مَعايِشِكُمْ فَإنَّ آباءَنا كانُوا يَرْكُضُونَ فيها وَيَطْلُبُونَها.
Do not be idle in obtaining your subsistence since our predecessors did not lose their chances to go after their sustenance.
A person told Imam Sadiq(s): we are after the world and would like the world would care for us.
Imam, then, asked the man: what do you want the world to do for you?
The man answered: We want the world to let me and my household benefit from its offerings and let us give people from what we possess and let us carry out Mecca pilgrimage.
Imam(s) answered: you are now after the world Hereafter, not after the present one.
Imam Musa Ibn Jaffar(s) was laboring on a farm so that his feet and legs were covered with perspiration.
A person amicably asked him: Sire, where are your workers? Imam(s) answered: The ones who were superior to me and my father used to labor and work hard on the field. The man asked Imam(s): Who were those men? Imam answered: The God's Messenger and Imam Ali(s) and our ancestors used to work hard and this is how the Prophets, God's Messengers, and the righteous men used to do.
There are numerous news concerning this issue reported in Kafi, Thadib, Man La Yahdar, and Wasa'el. Anybody who obtains his sustenance through legal and Islamic ways will get a luminous inside and would like to engage in worships. Under such conditions he will attend his prayers at the appointed time. Besides the compulsory prayers he would also attend the optional prayers. He would get involved in taking part in funerals and visiting the holy sanctuaries and helping people out in their daily affairs. Concerning this, the Holy Quran states:
وَيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا بِالْحُسْنَى (Quran 53:31
“He may reward those who do good with goodness”
On the contrary, a man would get a dark inside if he disobeyed his God in gaining his subsistence in an illegal and inappropriate way. Such a person would be unwilling to engage in worships. He would, then, base all his activities over material considerations, and in this way would make another Korah (Qarun) of himself who is enchanted by worldly possessions and would not like to engage in worships. He would then submerge in all kinds of sins and would squander his pervious time. Then he would have to suffer a lot later:
لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا Quran 53:31
“(That) He may reward those who do evil according to what they do.”
source : the land of lovers by professor Hossein Ansarian
