A Deliberation on the Non-Applicability of the Traditions Regarding Earning Wealth to Students of Religious Teachings

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mostafa Dehghan

Assistant Professor, Department of Fiqh and Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran

10.22067/jfiqh.2025.89835.1835

Abstract

The value of trade and earning wealth, and the condemnation of idleness and being dependent (kall) upon others, are evident in the fiqh-based statements of the chapter of sale (bāb al-bayʿ), and are also understood from recurrent traditions. On the other hand, the practice (sīrih) of scholars and religious authorities has been established upon the fact that in order to act upon the recurrent traditions concerning the virtue of acquiring knowledge, they devote their entire lives to learning, teaching, and propagating religion. By avoiding engagement in trade and other forms of income acquisition, they practically do not pay attention to the traditions concerning trade and earning wealth. These considerations raise the question: what is the relationship between the traditions concerning trade and earning a livelihood and those concerning seeking knowledge, given that commitment to the latter may limit opportunities for earning wealth? The present study, which has been organized using a descriptive-analytical method, finds the views proposed regarding the above issue incorrect, such as the specification (takhsīṣ) of the traditions concerning trade and earning or the conflict (taʿāruż) between traditions concerning trade and traditions concerning acquiring knowledge. Instead, it considers the relationship between the two to be merely one of competing obligations (tazāḥum) in some cases, in which one must act according to the more important obligation.

Keywords

trade and earning

seeking knowledge

students of religious sciences

Subjects

• Civil jurisprudence

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