If not working -while being able to- was halal and recommended why do we have so much rulings on business and trading? The sahabah () used to work, some even were employees of Jews or other Muslims. The sahabah and even our Prophet () had their trade and cultivated land etc.
If everybody did the same we would certainly have an issue, as even if the rizq (the provision) is from Allah (), Allah the almighty teaches us:
...Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron. (13:11)
Therefore all of Allah's creations seek the means of provision:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘If you were to rely upon Allah with the reliance He is due, you would be given provision like the birds: They go out hungry in the morning and come back with full bellies in the evening.” (See for example in Sunan ibn Majah and Jam'i at-Tirmdihi)
And he also orders us to work and seek the means of provision by verses like:
And say, "Do [as you will], for Allah will see your deeds, and [so, will] His Messenger and the believers. And you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you of what you used to do." (9:105)
And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives (39)
And that his effort is going to be seen - (40)
Then he will be recompensed for it with the fullest recompense (54:39-41)
And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah , and remember Allah often that you may succeed. (62:10)
It is He who made the earth tame for you - so walk among its slopes and eat of His provision - and to Him is the resurrection. (67:15)
... He has known that there will be among you those who are ill and others traveling throughout the land seeking [something] of the bounty of Allah and others fighting for the cause of Allah . ... (73:20)
O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] exertion and will meet it. (84:6)
While some may reject these statements by saying these verses may also refer to da'wah or worship and the words bounty or deeds don't necessary mean work or job. I'd say the verse from surat al-Jumu'ah makes clear that "seeking from the bounty of Allah" does not mean worship as both are decribed there as opposite matters. And the context of the verse shows this as one verse earlier and one verse later Allah addreses the topic of trading!
And in the sunnah we may find more explicit statements making clear that people should work and shouldn't be dependent on others in their provision such as:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Nobody has ever eaten a better meal than that which one has earned by working with one's own hands. The Prophet (ﷺ) of Allah, David used to eat from the earnings of his manual labor." (Sahih al-Bukhari)
"The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is the one which expends, and the lower one is the one which asks." (See for example in Al-Muwatta' and Sahih Muslim)
Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) visited Umm Mubashshir al-Ansariya at her orchard of date-palms and said to her:
Who has planted these trees of dates-a Muslim or a non-Muslim? She said: A Muslim, of course, whereupon he said: Never a Muslim plants, or cultivates a land, and it out of that men eat, or the animals eat, or anything else eats, but that becomes charity on his (planter's) behalf. (See for example in Sahih Muslim)
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah did not send any prophet but shepherded sheep." His companions asked him, "Did you do the same?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "Yes, I used to shepherd the sheep of the people of Mecca for some Qirats." (See for example in Sahih al-Bukhari)
The person would continue begging from people till he would come on the Day of Resurrection and there would be no flesh on his face. (See for example in Sahih Muslim)
In my opinion one of the clearest examples for that is the hadith which was complied by abu Dawod and ibn Majah in their Sunan:
a man from among the Ansar came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and begged from him. He said, "Do you have anything in your house?" He said: "Yes, a blanket, part of which we cover ourselves with and part we spread beneath us, and a bowl from which we drink water." He said: "Givethem to me." So he brought them to him, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took them in his hand and said, "Who will by these two things?" A man said: "I will by them for one Dirham." He said: "Who will offer more than a Dirham?" two or three times. A man said: "I will buy them for two Dirham." So he gave them to him and took the two Dirham, which he gave to the Ansari and said: "Buy food with one of them and give it to your family, and buy an axe with the other and bring it to me." So he did that, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took it and fixed a handle to it, and said: "Go and gather firewood, and I do not want to see you for fifteen days." So he went and gathered firewood and sold it, then he came back, and he had earned ten Dirham. (The Prophet (ﷺ)) said: "Buy food with some of it and clothes with some." Then he said: "This is better for you than coming with begging (appearing) as a spot on your face on the Day of Resurrection. Begging is only appropriate for one who is extremely poor or who is in severe debt, or one who must pay painful blood money.” ( See for exmaple in Sunan ibn Majah)
This hadith shows that our prophet () disliked seeing a man who is healthy and able to work begging instead of seeking a honourable work and provision!
This means if one is able to work one should go out and seek the provision for his family and have faith in Allah to find a suitable job.
Another indication that seeking the means of provision is what Allah ordered are some supplications like:
The Prophet (ﷺ) used to say, "O Allah! I seek refuge with You from worry and grief, from incapacity and laziness, from cowardice and miserliness, from being heavily in debt and from being overpowered by (other) men." (Sahih al-Bukahri)
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani compiled in his al-Matalib al-'Aaliyah المطالب العالية -see here in Arabic- a hadith which is rather discussed and qualified it by saying it is a good mursal hadith:
In the following I will translate from Arabic, as these are my own translations take them carefully!
2014 - وَقَالَ مُسَدَّدٌ: حَدَّثَنَا مُعْتَمِرٌ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَيُّوبَ يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ أَبِي قِلَابَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ -صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ- كَانَ يَرْفُقُ بَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ، وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ فِي رُفْقَةٍ مِنْ تِلْكِ الرِّفَاقِ رَجُلٌ يَهْتِفُ بِهِ أَصْحَابُهُ [فَقَالُوا] : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ! كَانَ إِذَا نَزَلْنَا صَلَّى، وَإِذَا سِرْنَا قَرَأَ. قَالَ -صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلِيهِ وَسَلَّمَ-: "فَمَنْ كَانَ يَكْفِيهِ عَلَفُ بَعِيرِهِ؟ "، قَالُوا: نَحْنُ، فَقَالَ -صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلِيهِ وَسَلَّمَ-: "كُلُّكُمْ خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ"، .
Musaddad said: we were informed by Mu'tamir who said I've heard Ayyub narrating from abu Qilabah that the Messenger of Allah -Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him- used to sent people in companies, and among one of these companies there was a companion whom his mates used to raise high and they said: Oh Messenger of Allah! When we used to stop he prayed and if we were on the road he used to recite. He -Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him- asked: And who used to provide for the food of his horse? They answered: We. He -Allahs prayers and blessings be upon him- said: all of you are better than him.
in the version of al-'Iqd al-Farid -see here in Arabic- it says: "All of you are better worshipers than him". The editors of al-Matalib al-'Aaliyyah raise the hadith to a rather sound level due to the sahih narration of Anas see for example in Sahih Muslim and it appears with slight differences in al-Maraseel of abu Dawod and other sources like Sunan Sa'id ibn Mansoor, ibn Qutayba's 'Oyoon al-Akhbar and a rather weak version has been complied by al-Haythami and others. Some salafi scholars say it is not a hadith or it has no basis or source.
It was also mentiond by imam al-Ghazaly in his al-Ihya' and earlier by ibn 'Abdi Rabih in his al-'Iqad al-Farid without a connected narrator chain:
روي أن عمر رأى بعد الصلاة قوما قابعين في المسجد بدعوى التوكل على الله
فعلاهم بدرته وقال لا يقعدن أحدكم عن طلب الرزق، ويقول: اللهم ارزقني، وقد علم أن السماء لا تمطر ذهباً ولا فضة، إنما يرزق الله الناس بعضهم من بعض، أما سمعتم قول الله - تعالى -: (فإذا قضيت فانتشروا في الأرض وابتغوا من فضل الله
It was narrated that 'Omar ibn al-Khattab enterd saw after the prayer some people staying in the mosque pretending to have trust in Allah (tawakkul):
He made them stand up and said:
"None of you should stop seeking provision and say: Oh Allah provide me, while he knows that the sky won't rain make silver and gold fall down on him. But Allah is providing rizq from each of the people didin't you hear Allah the almighty saying: "And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah ..."
'Omar () by this didn't deny that provision comes from Allah and the qur'an actually provides examples like that of Mariam (), but these kinds of examples are not to take as a rule of thomb, so it is like the hadith that says: "Tie your camel and have trust in Allah".
Here another finding from al-Mujalasah was Jawahir al-'ilm of ad-Dynawri (my own translation from Arabic!)
abu al-Qassim al-Hubuli said I've asked imam Ahmad about his opinion on a man who stays at home or in his mosque and says: I won't do anything (work) until my provision comes?
He answered: This man is ignorant of necessary knowledge, didn't he hear the Messenegr of Allah () saying: "Allah made my provision under my lance" and his other hadith on the birds where he () says "They go out hungry in the morning and come back with full bellies in the evening." where he mentioned that they go out to seek their provision and Allah the almighty said: "He has known that there will be among you those who are ill and others traveling throughout the land seeking [something] of the bounty of Allah" and "There is no blame upon you for seeking bounty from your Lord [during Hajj]. (2:198)". And thge companions of the prophet () used to trade on land and sea and plant their palms and they are our ideal. (Source)
The first "hadith" imam Ahmad refers to appears as a narration on the authority of 'Abduallah ibn 'Omar which was quoted in Sahih al-Bukhari but not translated here sunnah.com I found the following translation here page 108:
My livelihood is under the shade of my spear ( referring to war booty according the translator) and who disobeys my orders will be humiliated by paying jizya.
Also note that in many fatwas Muslim scholars say it is not permissible or at least not honourable for a Muslim to be dependent on a non-Muslim like many Muslims who are depended on social welfare in non-Muslim countries.
Also it is only allowed to leave a job to study or concentrate on worship if the income of this job is not necessary. For example one has other halal resources and wealth.
