The History Of Business And Trade Practiced By Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h)

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1 The History Of Business And Trade Practiced By Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) Sayed Alwi, Syarifah NurFarah Hanani; Zainal Abidin, Ainul Husna; Ahmad Puhad, Farah Fahimah; Mohd Zulkifli, Sarah Hanani Food Biotechnology Department Faculty Science and Technology Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia Mohd Dali, Nuradli Ridzwan Shah Faculty of Economics and Muamalat Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia Keywords : Business ethics, History, Business, Trade partner, Success. "In the name of Allah, most gracious and most merciful" As global business operations expand, managers need more and more knowledge about doing business because everyone are competing each other to be a successful businessmen (Mohd Dali et al., 2008). Here, it is very important that numerous Quranic verses are devoted to business and economics. In many of these, business is seen as integral to the day-to-day life and an honorable undertaking as in: He it is Who has made the earth subservient to you (i.e. easy for you to walk, to live and to do agriculture on it);so walk in the path thereof and eat of His provision. And to Him will be the Resurrection (Almulk, 15). Verse 2:275 of the Qur'an, states that Allah permits people to conduct commerce. This practice has been seen even in ancient. We can see that today world face many financial crisis that involve an issue such as riba`, bribery, lies and many others due to lack of knowledge of business from Islamic perspective and not practicing it. That is why, for Muslims, Islamic religion is the framework that encompasses business interactions, a system that has been in existence for more than 14 centuries. Prophet Mohammed was became the best role models in conducting business. From inception and through its Quranic 1

2 verses and practical life of Prophet Mohammed and his successors, a number of pillars have been set in place that are supported by many constructive and effective tools to guarantee that they are sustainable and viable. These tools have been acting as codes for business ethics to ensure that individuals and societies at large are not victimized by the desires of business persons for profit maximization at any cost. (Almoharby, D.,2011).Yousef (2001) obtained evidence that the Islamic work ethic directly moderates organizational commitment and job satisfaction. This paper will focus on practice of Prophet Muhammad in trade and business dealings. We will share about the places, the people to which he performed the business with as well as his ethics while performing the business dealings in hope that at least we will together gain some knowledge of Islamic philosophy in business and will stimulate us to practice an Islamic business based on our prophet ethics in business. Prophet Muhammad was involved in the entrepreneurship and business field since he was very young. There were many places where he did the business and he had deal with many people too. Since childhood, precisely when Prophet Muhammad was 12 years old, he was introduced about the business by his uncle, Abu Talib bin Abdul Mutalib. For the first time, Muhammad joined the business trip to Syria with his uncle.(ismail,s.2011) Later, Prophet Muhammad also obtained the trading experience by running the petty trade around the Kaabah when he still a teenager.(aria,a.2011) With his high capability on handling the business, his name became wellknown among business people whom the investors in Makkah. In time, one of major investors named Khadijah Binti Khuwailid was attracted to invest her capital to Prophet Muhammad who later became her husband.(nisar,i.2013) Prophet Muhammad developed the business through expedition and visiting the market-intense regional and international markets in order to retain customers. He had reached Yemen, Syria, Basra, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain and other cities of Arabian Peninsula as well (Nisar,I.2013). After Prophet Muhammad became the messenger of Allah, he had slow down the business activities as he had to focus on his responsibility to spread Islam. Therefore, as he had no time to carry on trade, he found out the trade partners for him to invest the capital who are al-saib ibn Abi al-saib al-sayfi Makhzumi, Abdullah ibn Abi al-hamsa al-taymi and Qays ibn al-said Makhzumi ( Mazhar Siddiqi,MY,2006). Among the Rasulullah SAW manners (ethics) while doing his business includes not sell illegal things and also prevent from riba. This is because people who get income from non-halal sources 2

3 will bring bad consequences such as income earned no blessing in it and cause people to lose trust in him as well as get a contemptible in the sight of God. In fact God cursed those who sell illegal goods, as saying the Prophet SAW; "Indeed Allah has forbidden the sale of wine, carcass, swine and sculpture."(habib Syarief Muhammad Alaydrus; 2009-Agar Hidup Selalu Berkah). The Prophet worked tirelessly in the halal living. He is not only doing business for his livelihood but also to prioritize the pleasure of God and seek the blessings of halal business to stay within the lines of the sharia laws and avoid business patterns unbelievers that there is an element of fraud, the reduction in weight, riba and other. Furthermore, the Prophet his capacity like to encourage other people to do business. He often encourages and help others do business. He is not only doing business for his livelihood but also to help others with the potential to strengthen him so that rich people can come forward to lend their capital to be used by him for business purposes. Muamalat such as this is encouraged by Islam because there is an element of helping among the rich and not rich. Allah says in Surah Al-Ma'idah verse 2. Means "And you shall help in the goodness and piety, and do not assist in the matter of all evil and hostility". Therefore, taking care of all our words and gestures important for a businessman as noble qualities would make a person believed. Ethics while performing a business play important roles in Islam. Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h had shown us a very good example for us to follow as he also says : I have sent for the purpose of perfecting good morals. (Ibn Hambal [1],NO:8595). Because of his ethics had made a wealthy businesswoman, Khadijah attracted to hire him to work for her. Prophet Muhammad has a good reputation as a very hardworking and truthful businessman. He was known as Al-Amin as he pointed good to his customers and suppliers (Danial Zainal Abidin,2002). That was why all business that he had performed gone through very well. Besides, he also very hardworking man as since little he had followed his uncle, Abu Talib to help him with his business. In addition, after he become adult he had started his own business in Mekah and he also worked for Saidatina Khadijah before married to her, using modal that supplied by her. This investment is called Mudarabah where Khadijah as investor to the business and Prophet Muhammad as mudarib, who managed the project using his entrepreneur skills. When he worked for her, Prophet Muhammad with his good ethics and strategies had made the business become so successful. Other ethics such 3

4 as he always be gentle, added with he always smiled toward his customers and also very good speaker also had contributed much in his successful in business (Malahayati, S Psi,2010). For example, he always use a good words in order to attract people to buy at his store. He also never raised up his volume and scolded his customers. The effects were all of his customers were very satisfied with him and liked to do business with him. In conclusion, in our opinion the younger generations should be exposed with the life of Prophet Muhammad as a successful trader before he became a messenger in order to prevent the misunderstanding to many people who think Prophet Muhammad as a poor person but on the contrary he is the role model of a successful businessman. As we had mentioned before, he was not only figure who prosecute the importance of ethics in business but involved directly in business activities. On the other hand, Islam also very encourages the believers to have wealth especially during nowadays to give the good impression for non-muslims towards muslims. Plus, the Prophet Muhammad said : It is better for any of you to carry a load of firewood on his own back than to beg from someone else. (Sahih Muslim:2267) Therefore, we as muslim traders should imitate the ethics of Prophet Muhammad during doing business in order to become the excellent traders and gain the happiness in this worldly life and hereafter. In Shaa Allah. Reference 4

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6 Mazhar Siddiqi,MY( 2006), The Prophet Muhammad A Role Model For Muslim Minorities, Publisher : The Islamic Foundation, pp : available online at : Date accessed : 14/11/2013 Mohd Dali, N. R. S., Marzuki, A., Sabri, H., Muhammad, I., Zainuddin, M. T., Basah, M. Y. A.,... Shafii, Z. (2008). Introduction to Muamalat. Kuala Lumpur: MacGraw Hill (Asia). 6