Living a Halal Life

Does 'living halal' mean a life of eating halal food? Or does it mean a life of no gambling, alcohol and all things haram (prohibited)? Does a Muslim who prays, fasts, gives zakat and sadaqah, and performs hajj equates to a halal life? The answer lies in the following two ahadeeth:

Abu Huraira (r) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s) said, 'Allah the Almighty is good and accepts only that which is good. Allah has commanded the Believers to do that which He commanded His messengers, saying 'O you messengers! Eat of whatever is good and work righteousness. Indeed, I am aware of what you do.' And Allah the Almighty also said, 'O you who believe! Eat of the good things which We have provided for you.' The Messenger of Allah (s) then said (the case of) a man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky (saying), 'O Lord! O Lord!' - while his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothing is unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, so how can he be answered! (Muslim)

The Prophet (s) said, 'Every flesh that has been nourished from haram then it deserves more than anything to be in the Hellfire.' (Tabarani and Abi Nu‘aim)

It is clear that not only do we have to drink and eat halal food but how we obtain them have to be halal as well. That is, the money with which we buy our drink and food must be earned in the halal way. Thus, the job or work that we do must be halal for the money to be halal which in turn makes whatever we buy halal. Furthermore, it makes our good deeds such as sadaqah (charity) and acts of worship halal and accepted by Allah (swt). This is therefore what is meant by living a halal life.

For example, take a Muslim who works as a marketing assistant in an advertising agency. The agency is contracted to do an advertisement for a beer company. Do you think that the money earned in this job will be halal? Let us examine the following hadeeth to find out the answer.

The Prophet (s) said, 'Truly, Allah has cursed khamr (alcohol) and has cursed the one who
produces it, the one for whom it is produced, the one who drinks it, the one who serves it, the one who carries it, the one for whom it is carried, the one who sells it, the one who earns from the sale of it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.' (al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)

It is clear that any money earned from jobs that deals with alcohol is cursed by Allah (swt). Similarly, any jobs that deal or support ribaa (interest) is also cursed by Allah (swt). As the Prophet (s) said, 'Allah has cursed the one who takes interest, the one who pays it, the one who writes the contract, and the one who witnesses the contract.' (Ahmad, Abu Dawood, al-Nisai, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah)

The bank is a prime example of an institution which exists on ribaa. Thus, regardless of whether you work as a manager, accountant, in public relations, a teller, security guard or even a cleaner, the fact that you work for the bank leads your income to be considered as haram (and earns Allah's curse).

My point is, we should strive to work in a job that is acceptable in Islam. Once our money is halal, we should make the effort to ensure our food and drink are halal, such as taking the time to read the ingredients, learning which ingredients are halal, and eat only the halal meat.

In conclusion, it must be remembered always that if we fail to live a halal life, we will forfeit Allah's blessings in our life and when we make dua to Him for relief from our problems, Allah (swt) will not answer it.