1. Life Examples Prophets And Companions

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗛𝗘𝗧𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗝𝗢𝗕𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗢

Even the best people worked and earned an income.

Kitab al-Kasb, narrated from Imam Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Shaybani (d.189 AH), describes the jobs of the prophets.

1️⃣ Adam

When Adam was sent to earth, Jibril brought him wheat and taught him how to plant, water, harvest, thresh, grind and bake.

By the time he had completed the full cycle of work, it was already late afternoon. The first human being was also the first worker: earning his food through effort.

2️⃣ Nūḥ (Noah)

Nūḥ is described as a carpenter, building and earning from his own hands – not only the Ark, but his livelihood.

3️⃣ Idrīs

Idrīs is mentioned as a tailor, stitching clothes and supporting himself through a skilled craft.

4️⃣ Ibrāhīm (Abraham)

The reports describe Ibrāhīm as a cloth merchant.

4️⃣ Dāwūd (David)

Dāwūd initially lived from the public treasury. Then an angel, disguised as a young man, told him: “He is a good servant, except that he eats from the public purse. The best of people are those who eat from their own earnings.”

Allah taught him how to make armour and softened iron in his hands. He began to manufacture armour, sell it, live from that income and give charity.

5️⃣ Sulaymān (Solomon)

Despite being a king, Sulaymān would weave baskets from palm fibres and live from that income. Authority did not excuse him from work.

6️⃣ Zakariyyā

Zakariyyā is mentioned as a carpenter, again emphasising skilled manual work as a prophetic path.

7️⃣ Isa (Jesus)

Isa ate from the spinning and weaving of his mother, and at times from collecting and eating leftover ears of grain. Even this simple, humble effort is described as a form of earning.

8️⃣ Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Our Prophet ﷺ worked in several roles before and during prophethood: he shepherded sheep for Uqbah ibn Abī Muʿīṭ and said, “Allah did not send any prophet except that he herded sheep.”

He also entered into business partnerships – one companion described him as “the best partner: he did not deceive, argue or quarrel.”

He even engaged in agriculture at al-Jurf near Madinah, showing that earning is part of the Sunnah.

Taken together, these reports build a powerful picture:

✅ Work is not a distraction from spirituality; it is a vehicle for it.

✅ Earning through skill, trade and effort is more honourable than passive dependence on others.

✅ Prophetic leadership was not built on detachment from economic life, but on integrity within it.

✅There is dignity in every halal profession – from shepherd and tailor to trader, carpenter, farmer and craftsman.

For those of us navigating careers, businesses and professional life today, the message is simple:

Your job is not “outside” your faith. It is one of the main arenas where character, reliance in God, honesty and excellence are tested and formed.

Whatever your role – employee, founder, professional or craftsman – earning a halal living with integrity is walking in the footsteps of the Prophets.