Living The Quran
From Issue: 574 [Read full issue]
Maximizing Production
Al-Jumuah (The Congregation) Sura 62: Verse 10 (partial)
"Strike out into the earth and seek what you can of Allah's bounty."
Allah has created humankind to serve Him. He has made them His vicegerents on earth, and made everything in creation subservient to them. He expressly commanded them to "strike out in the earth," to seek His bounty, and to enjoy the usufruct of nature. He promised that He and His Prophet will proudly behold man's accomplishments. He made work, the production of food, the reclamation of the earth, the construction of villages and cities, the rendering of services, the building up of culture and civilization, the reproduction and upbringing of men and women to continue, perpetuate and enjoy the fruits of human labour, definitive of His vicegerency. Evidently, then, men ought to produce.
Islam is for the maximization of production. It expects every person to produce more than he consumes, to render more service than he is rendered. The individual's life ought to terminate with a net gain which would count as his or her contribution to creation. On Judgement Day, every person will be asked to read out his/her ledger, to justify his/her existence on earth. That person whose productivity in life would entitle him/her to say no more than j'ai vecu [I lived] will not be well received at all. And he may be condemned, depending on the inner motivation which led him to contribute naught to creation, such as cynicism, egotism, laziness or skepticism, or the greatest self-conceit of those who think the world owes them a living.
Compiled From:
"Tawhid: Its Implications for Thought and Life" - Ismail Raji Al-Faruqi, pp. 174-175