Business trips of the Beloved Rasool
صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم
Striving for earning Halal sustenance has been the way of blessed Ambiya عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام. Amongst these blessed personages, some would do the work of sewing clothes, some would engage in agriculture and some would do carpentry to earn Halal sustenance. Our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم also made efforts to earn Halal sustenance. He صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم did trade and for this he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم travelled to Syria and Yemen, etc.During the trade, the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم avoided quarrels, kept promises, had patience and forbearance, forgave and tolerated [people] and remained honest. During business trips, by virtue of his good manners, good dealings, and truth and honesty he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم became famous by the title of Saadiq (truthful) and Ameen (Trustworthy). Though the disbelievers of Makkah were bitter enemies of our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم, they would trust his trustworthiness and honesty so much that they would entrust their precious goods and possession to him. In short, our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم had all the qualities in a perfect manner that a trader should possess.
Business trip to Yemen
The family occupation of our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم was trade. Since he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم made many business trips with his uncle Abu Taalib in his childhood, he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم gained considerable experience of business dealing. Therefore for livelihood, he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم started doing trade and travelled to different places for the purpose of trade. Our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم made business trips for Sayyidatuna Khadijah رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهَا. Two of them were made to Yemen. It is stated in a narration: Sayyidatuna Khadijah رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهَا sent the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم to Jurash (a place in Yemen) twice for trade and every journey was in return for a female camel. (Mustadrik lil-Haakim, vol. 4, pp. 178, Hadees 4887)
Business trip to Bahrain
Before the declaration of Prophethood, the Business Trips Of The Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم to Bahrain is also mentioned. Delegations from far and wide areas of Arab would come to him. Amongst these delegations, the delegation of Abdul Qays also came from Bahrain. He صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم asked the delegation about the conditions of the cities of Bahrain after mentioning their names. They surprisingly asked: Ya Rasoolallah صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم! May our parents be sacrificed for you! You know even more than us the names of our cities! He صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم replied: I have stayed in your cities and Kushadgi [expansion] was made for me in these cities. (Musnad Ahmad, vol. 5, pp. 296, Hadees 15559)
Role of Rasoolullah صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم in correcting flaws in trade
As, in our age, there are different evils in the field of trade such as deception, selling defective product, adulteration, hoarding grains, etc., such evils were also common in the age of ignorance. Our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم not only corrected the flaws in other fields of life but he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم also corrected the flaws found in this field. Read three examples of it.
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Condemning deception he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم has stated: One who deceives us is not from us.
(Muslim, pp. 64, Hadees 101) - About selling defective commodity [product] he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم has said: One who sells a defective product and does not disclose its defect is always in the displeasure of Allah Almighty and angels always curse him.
(Ibn-e-Majah, vol. 3, pp. 59, Hadees 2247)
- About hoarding grain he صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم has said: One who stops grain on Muslims, Allah Almighty will make him suffer from leprosy and poverty.
(Shu’ab-ul-Iman, vol. 7, pp. 526, Hadees 11218)
Observed gentleness while buying and selling
Our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم was very well-mannered, soft-hearted and merciful. Zayd bin Sa’nah was a Jewish scholar. When he became strict with our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم regarding buying and selling, our Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم treated him gently showing forbearance. The event was like this that before embracing Islam Zayd Bin Sa’nah bought dates from the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم. One or two days were still remaining for the delivery of dates; he (Zayd Bin Sa’nah) with extreme strictness demanded the dates in the presence of a large crowd due to which Sayyiduna Umar Farooq رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُ was enraged. Upon this, the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم said: O Umar! You should have helped both of us by persuading me to fulfil the right and instructed him [how] to demand gently. He صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم then ordered: O Umar! Give him dates equal to his right and give some more. After getting the dates telling Sayyiduna Umar رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُ the reason for demanding with strictness Zayd Bin Sa’nah said: I saw in Muhammad صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم all the signs which I had read in Torah about the last Nabi, but I had to know about two signs. One is that his forbearance will continue to overcome ignorance and the more he would be treated ignorantly, the more his forbearance will continue to increase. So, in this way, I have also seen both these signs in him and I testify that surely this Nabi is true and O Umar! I am a very rich man; I make you a witness that I have made my half wealth Sadaqah on the Ummah of the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم. After this, he went to the blessed court of Holy Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم and embraced Islam reciting Kalimah. (Seerat-e-Mustafa, pp. 601)
Gave more dates than the decided quantity
Sayyiduna Tariq Bin Abdullah رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَـنْهُ has stated: When we came to Madinah Munawwarah, we saw a person near its boundary wearing two chadors. He greeted us and asked: Where are you going? To Madinah, we replied. He asked us about the reason for coming to this city. We replied: For getting its dates. We have a riding camel as well as a red nose-haltered camel. He said: Do you want to sell this (red) camel? We replied: We will sell it for such an amount of Saa’ (unit of weight) dates. That person did not ask us to reduce anything in the price and set out holding the rein of the camel. When he vanished from sight, we started saying: O, what have we done? We have given our camel to an unknown person and have not got the price from him. A lady who was with us said: Do not reproach (criticize) one another. By Allah Almighty! A person having such face will never deceive you. I saw his face that was as bright as the full moon. I guarantee [you] the price of that camel of yours. We were still having a conversation that a man came and said: The Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم has sent me and these dates are for you. Eat to your fill from them and also get the complete quantity after weighing them (that is, the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم has given dates more than the decided quantity.) (Al-Khasa’is-ul-Kubra, vol. 2, pp. 35) May Allah Almighty enable us to do trade while complying on the golden rules like: truth, honesty, keeping a promise and avoiding quarrels after seeking guidance from the blessed life history of the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم!
