216 chapter five
suggests that he was born in the last third of the second century of
Hijra. His year of death is referred to in the same study as the year
of 243 H, approximately 857 A.C. (Al-Khisht, 1983).
The Book
The full title of the book on hand is, the book of “al-Makàsib wa al-
Wara"wa al-shubuhàt wa bian mubàœaha wa maœzuraha wa ikhtilàf al-nàs
fi ≈alabiha wa al-radd ala al-ghàliteen fih”, that can be translated as,
“Earning and asceticism, and the suspicion surrounding earnings, a
clarification of what is permissible and not permissible and of the
different means of obtaining earnings with a reply to those discussing
it.”, a long title that is abbreviated to and widely known as, “Earnings
and Asceticism”. The size of what has come to us of the teaching
of al-Muœàsibìin this book is about 10,500 words, hand written in
about 43 pages, of twenty lines per page with an average of 12
words per line (Al-Khisht, op. cit.). The printed form of the book
reaches about 133 pages. In citing his references, we find al-Muœàsibì
specifying that he relied on the Qur"àn, the Sunnah, consensus of
opinion, deduction, istinbat, and comparability of rules, qiyàs, when-
ever that was permissible. This highlights a new approach in his
writing; the deductive approach in the absence of a clear text.
To understand the full dimension of the importance of the Earning
and Asceticism we have to realize that it was written at a time when
the flùfì thought was mainly concentrated around the concept of
abandoning the strive for earning a living and concentrating instead
on the worship of God. God would provide for those who honour
him through the devotion of worship, the flùfìargument goes, and
no matter how much one would strive to earn, one would not earn
more than what God has destined for one to earn. Al-Muœàsibì, a
devout flùfì, came with a different view, though still lying in the
heart of the flùfì teachings. The belief in that, although earnings
come in accordance with fate and destiny, this should not overrule
the premise that one has to strive in order to obtain them. This is
shown below. Earnings do not come alone, God commands humankind
to seek a means of earnings, so that his bounty can reach everyone.
Earnings come, through pursuit of means of earning, or œarakah,is
the message al-Muœasbìemphatically emphasised.
Earning and Asceticism is divided into an introduction and fifteen
chapters. This is shown as follows: