the abbasìd’s golden age 217Introduction
Chapter 1: full reliance on God, tawakkul, and earning
Chapter 2: pursuit of means of earning, al œarakah, the good of that
and the bad
Chapter 3: desertion of pursuit of means of earning, desertion of
œarakah, the good of that and bad
Chapter 4: meaning of piousness, the disagreement of Ulama" in
defining piousness, wara", piousness, wara"in eating and
clothing
Chapter 5: helping and receiving help from the oppressors
Chapter 6: inheritance of oppressing fathers
Chapter 7: disagreement between Ulama"regarding shobha
Chapter 8: the meaning of the Qur"ànic verse, “do not cooperate
on injustice and aggression”
Chapter 9: the permissible and forbidden
Chapter 10: disagreement among Ulama" regarding prizes of the
rulers, Sùltàn
Chapter 11: pursuit of blessed food
Chapter 12: pursuit of hunger and reply to those claiming it is part
of worship
Chapter 13: enquiry about the source of a living
Chapter 14: land of Fai"and Kharàj
Chapter 15: prayers in the maghsub, the taken unjustly by force
Not all the above are bearing the section of “chapter” however. For
reasons that are not clear to us, the sections after chapter four do
not bear the term “chapter”, the Arabic bab.Instead, they are writ-
ten without such classification. The topics however seem to have a
distinctive separation, and that is why they are mentioned above as
separate chapters.
Now we turn our attention to the content of the above chapters
with different emphasis given as the need arises.
The introduction seems to be a necessary start. It emphasizes var-
ious points in relation to earnings with particular reference to Qur"ànic
verses, as shown below:
First, it refers to the creation of the universe, heaven, earth and
what is between and beyond. A logical start in a book of earnings,
as earnings relate to what God has made available to his creatures.
Second, it provides an emphasis on the quest of the mind and
how the believers are ordained to think in, and reflect on, His great