محمد بن أبي عمير زياد بن عيسى

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Earning certain kinds of sustenance dries up one’s skin on his bones (very hard to earn).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not cut down a fruit bearing tree; Allah will send on you a great suffering.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah, Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘Once a hairdresser came to the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, and he asked her, ‘Have you stopped the work you were doing or not?’ She replied, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I still do it unless you prohibit. If so I will stop.’ He said, ’You can still do it but when doing a hair dressing do not clean the face with al-Khiraq (tatter); it takes away the beauty of the face, and do not connect someone else’s hair to another person’s hair.’”

“A man once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘We, by Allah, ask for the worldly things and we love to receive worldly gains.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘What do you want to do with it?’ He replied, ‘I like to improve my own conditions, the conditions of my family, maintain good relations with others, give charity, perform Hajj and al-‘Umrah.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘This is not asking for worldly things. It is asking for success in the hereafter.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), had set free one thousand slaves by means of what he had earned with his own hands.”

“Once a man came to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and said, ‘I am not good in working with my hands and I am not good in doing business, thus I am deprived and needy.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You must work and carry it on your head and set yourself free from asking people for help. The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, carried a stone on his shoulder to place it in a certain place of his walls. The stone is still in its place, and it is not known how large it is, but it is there [by his miracle]”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Do you think the sustenance of a man who stays in his home and closes his door, keeps falling on him from the sky?”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once said to me, £ 0 Hisham, even if you find yourself in the two armies facing each other to fight, you must not neglect working for your sustenance on such day.’”

“Abi ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘A person working hard for his family is like a Mujahid (fighter) for the cause of Allah.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, when he was asked about the income from eulogies, ‘She can make it lawful by tapping one of her hands against the other.’”

Dirham is not unlawful but I do not like giving ghee.’”

“Once abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about a cleaner who destroyed. He (the Imam) said, ’Everyone hired and paid for mending an item is liable if the item is destroyed.”’

“Abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘In the case of cleaners and dyers and the items stolen from them with no clear evidence that he has stolen, of small or large quantities, if it happens, there is nothing on him, if no evidence is presented to prove it to be his doing; but if he thinks the claimant has done it, he is liable if he fails to present evidence in support of what he says.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, once placed a piece of stone on the waterway to prevent it from flowing into his land. By Allah, until this day no human being or camel has moved it away.”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a shepherd of sheep in the mountains to whom sheep were given to maintain them and use their milk and wool, in addition to a certain amount of dirham for every sheep. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ I then said that people of Masjid said, ‘It was not permissible because certain ones among them did not have wool or milk.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘Can there be other arrangements better than this? He takes certain ones and leaves others.’”

“Once we were in the presence of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), when al-‘Ala’ ibn Kamil came in and sat in front of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and asked, ‘Please pray for me so Allah will make me affluent.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘I will not pray for you. Has Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, not commanded you to seek and find your sustenance?”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘All of perfection is in three things.’ He mentioned in the third of the three things to be planning for one’s living.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If one has difficulty in providing for his family and works to meet his own needs and the needs of his family and does not work for unlawful kind of sustenance, he is like a Mujahid (fighter) for the cause of Allah.”

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.), has said that one who works to earn his sustenance in this world so he would not need to spread his hands before people for help, to better the living conditions of his family and to show kindness to his neighbors will, on the Judgment Day, go before Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, with his face as bright as the full moon.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘One who faces constraint in his living’ -or he (the Imam) said ‘in his sustenance- should buy small ones (of animal) and sell large ones.’” It is also narrated from him (the Imam) that if one’s plans do not work he should work in al-kursuf (a certain kind of fabric).