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“If a person earns or acquires anything through dishonest means and then gives away a part of it in charity, his act of charity will not be accepted, and if he will spend from it on his needs there will be no auspiciousness or real prosperity in it, and should he leave it behind to his descendants on his death it will serve for him as hell’s provision. Believe it, Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) does not erase evil with evil (i.e., charity and salvation). One impurity cannot remove another; it cannot make it pure.”

And another:

“Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) is pure Himself and He accepts only offerings that are pure.”

The Prophet (Peace be upon him), at the end of the Tradition also narrated the story of a man “who undertakes a long and tedious journey (to supplicate to Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) at a haloed place) and arrives (at his destination) in such a state that his hair is disheveled and his body is covered from head to foot with dust. He throws up his hands towards the heavens and cries out, “O Lord! O my Preserver!’ but his sustenance if of the impure and he has been brought up on what is polluted; how can his prayer be granted when such is the case?”

The above amply demonstrates that when a person draws his livelihood from impure means his prayers no longer remain worthy of being answered. Yet another Tradition of the holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) reads:

“If a person buys a cloth for ten dirhams and one of them is tainted (i.e., it has been earned dishonestly), none of his Namaz will be accepted by Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) as long as he wears it.”

And, here is one more:

“The flesh gathered on one’s body by means of unclean earning deserves to be thrown into the Fire”.

Brothers If we have the tiniest spark of faith left in our hearts we must make up our minds, once for all, after hearing these Traditions, that whatever poverty and hardship we may have to endure in the world we will never care to make a single penny from unclean and dishonest sources and will always content ourselves with what we earn through honest lawful means.

Clean Earning and Honest Trade

Just as Islam has condemned all unclean and unlawful means of making money as wicked and sinful and denounced all profits derived from them as filthy and devilish, in the same way it has proclaimed great virtue in seeking one’s livelihood honestly and in engaging oneself cleanly in trade or profession. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) has said:

“To earn a clean living is also a duty next only to the prescribed duties of the faith.”

“The cleanest food is that which has been earned by the labor of his hand. Indeed, Prophet David used to work with his own hands for the food he ate.”

“The trader who plies his trade cleanly and honestly will rise in the hereafter in the company of Prophet (Peace be upon him)’s saints and martyrs.”