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How sound is the phrase "work is worship" with evidence?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the job is an act of devotion, such as teaching Islamic knowledge, and a person intends thereby to draw closer to Allah and earn a lawful livelihood, then he is rewarded for it and his work is an act of worship. If the work is permissible, such as teaching worldly sciences or working as a doctor, and it is accompanied by the intention of doing good to Muslims or acquiring lawful wealth, then it is an act of worship, for a permissible act transforms into an act of obedience with a righteous intention. However, if the work involves something forbidden, such as working in usurious banks or places of corruption, then it is not an act of worship but rather forbidden and must be abandoned. Therefore, it is not correct to state unequivocally that work is worship, for some of it is forbidden, some of it is worship, and some of it is permissible.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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