If our purpose is to worship God why do we get jobs?

Question

If God created us only to worship Him then what makes it permissible to get a job if our intention in getting it is not solely the worship of God? For example, what makes it permissible for someone to go on holiday if the purpose is only for their relaxation and to have fun? What makes studying science permissible if the purpose is only to become a famous scientist or some other similar (wordly) goal?

After thinking about this, I realized that since humans cannot have intentions that are solely for God's sake before they successfully purify their hearts and break their egos, it follows that the only thing humans should be allowed to do is to work on the purification of their soul, and only when they are successful in that can they go onto communal obligations such as becoming a doctor, a scientist, an engineer, a businessman, etc.

Please let me know what you think.

Answer 1

It is simple because Allah ordered us to be aware of this life by verses such as (28:77):

But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.

This verse can be interpreted as follows your goal should be to worship Allah (meaning following his orders) in order to reach a recompense or be awarded in the akhirah.

You are also asked by this verse to do anything you are doing in the best manner so if you had a job you should be aware of the orders of Allah (halal, haram) and do it in the best manner, by this you are worshiping Allah!

And beside all of these we must remember Allah by following his other orders, like praying, fasting, spending zakat etc..

And it is strongly recommended to have Allah in mind in each thing you do so ikhlas (faithfulness) and niyyah (intention) are very important.

That's why scholars for example say if you are traveling for a haram purpose you are not allowed to shorten the prayers!

Answer 2

All Praise to Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and blessings of Him be on Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him His family and companions,

Considering Worship or Ibadah (عبادة) it would be better to understand its meaning first.Ibadah which we mean worship to God has a root word in Arabic (عبد) which means a Slave or a Servant.Now a servant is bound to do what ever his Master says ,So ibadah does not only mean to pray 5 times or fasting but there are many ways to do it. What ever Allah Subhanahu wa Taala has ordered us to do or not to do and then if we live in accordance to it then that is also a form of Ibadah.

So as per your query "what if intention of the person is not solely worship of God "

Now then in this case too the person would be fulfilling the commands of the Lord as Allah swt has ordered to earn Halal and feed your family so this would be following the Sunnah whether his intention is solely based on it or not he would be rewarded but would miss the rewards of the intention.

Sa’d ibn Abu Waqqas narrated that Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said, “...whatever you spend you will be rewarded for it, even for a morsel of food which you may put in the mouth of your wife.” (Bukhari)

Now your query "What makes studying science permissible",So studying Science is permissible and would be benefitting to others ,Our scholars have mentioned that such amount of the worldly knowledge would be importantly considered as in maths if a person knows addition subtraction suffiecient for his daily life,In science hygiene or to treat some diseases etc.. but as you have already answered in your question that purification of the soul is important first so your intention would be to please Allah swt and the heart would be in constant remembrance of the Merciful Lord if one is able to purify his soul.

[Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about.(Quran 24:37)

So sunnah is not only to worship or to just fast or pray for the whole day and night but to fulfill the rights of others as well for that one would need a job to take care of his family, it also constitues of any lawful acts a person does with God consciousness and in the hopes to earn reward from Allah Swt so devoting to Rabb is not meant to be always in the place of worship and a muslim could engage in worship all day and night by fulfilling his commands.

Narrated Anas: It was narrated from Anas that there was a group of the Companions of the Prophet, one of whom said: "I will not marry women." Another said: "I will not eat meat." Another said: "I will not sleep on a bed." Another said: "I will fast and not break my fast." News of that reached the Messenger of Allah and he praised Allah then said: "What is the matter with people who say such and such? But I pray and I sleep, I fast and I break my fast, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me."(Nasai)

It was narrated that Muhajid said:

"Abdullah bin 'Amr said to me: My father got me married to a woman from a noble family, and he used to come to her and ask her about her husband. She said: What a wonderful man he is! He never comes to my bed. And he has never approached me since he married me. He mentioned that to the Prophet and he said: Bring him to me. So he brought him with him and (the Prophet) said: How do you fast? I said: "Every day." He said: "Fast three days of every month." I said: "I am able to do better than that." He said: "Fast for two days, and break your fast for one day." He said; "I am able to do better than that". He said: "Observe the best of fasts, the fast of Dawud, peace be upon him: Fasting for one day and breaking the fast for one day." 'Ata said: "someone who heard him told me that Ibn 'Umar (said) that the Prophet said: 'Whoever fasts every day of his life, then he has not fasted."(Nasai)

Examples of the noble companions of Rasulullah peace be upon him are remarkable as some of the notable companions were doing businesses but their heart remained in zikr of Allah Swt spending on their families too but when it comes to charity or for the sake of the deen they offer all their wealth health their lives everything.

Say, [O Muhammad], "If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people."(Quran 9:24)

So the real purpose is indeed worshipping our Lord but we should not reject the complete idea of worship our Lord ,we have to follow the way of Rasulullah peace be upon him as asked by our Rabb and he has fulfilled everyone's rights ,keeping beautiful relationship with family ,wives ,neighbours helping others teaching His companions and if someone would follow such way with avoiding all the haram acts and refraining from sins then he be able to attain the purified state of the Soul i.e Nafs ul Mutmainnah and he would be worshipping the Lord as mentioned in famous Hadith e Jibreel when Jibreel(As) asked him about Ihsan after asking Islam and Iman,

"....O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) What is Ihsan (i.e. perfection or Benevolence)?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not achieve this state of devotion, then (take it for granted that) Allah sees you." (Bukhari)

Allah Swt and His Messenger knows best.

Answer 3

The Verse (ayah) as per the major books of Tafseer (Ibn Katheer, Qurtobi, Baghawi, Saadi, ..) does not mention leaving other acts of normal day to day activities to sit down in mosques or houses and worship Allah day and night. The main idea is to worship Allah alone and take no partners with him. This verse goes in had with another verse where Allah says" they were not ordered except to worship only one lord".

So the creation is for the purpose of worship and this way we humans don't have to think about "making water" (it was created and made ready for us), or making food (it was made for us through the Allah's creation of plants and other animals), or making breathable air (as Allah made our environment ready for us), etc.

So Allah prepared this for us so we don't have to spend our time looking for sustenance Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said "( إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى يَقُولُ : يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ ! تَفَرَّغْ لِعِبَادَتِي أَمْلَأْ صَدْرَكَ غِنًى ، وَأَسُدَّ فَقْرَكَ ، وَإِلاَّ تَفْعَلْ مَلَأْتُ يَدَيْكَ شُغْلاً ، وَلَمْ أَسُدَّ فَقْرَكَ ) رواه الترمذي (2466) "Allah the Almighty says: o son of Adam, occupy yourself for my worship I fill your chest with sufficiency (satisfaction or adequacy), and I put end to your poorness (necessity), if you don't do so I'll fill your hands with work (get you occupied) and I won't put an end to your poorness(necessity)" Tirmithi 2466.

So by worshipping Allah the rest(sustenance) is done for us.

As for studying it is a for of ibadah and an obligation for every muslim man and muslim woman.

Purification of the hearts is actually done through ibadah - prayers, fasting , zakah, hajj, etc,.

As per the verses doing Ibadah and at the same time working and studying go hand in hand normally unless the work is in something that contradicts ibadah like to work in a bar or in prostitution or studying something not permitted like dances, explicit art or other studies that deny Allah or question his existence , etc.

I ask Allah to guide me and you and all the people to the straight path.