Did Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ) trade with money?

Should we know whether the money people bring to trade with us is haram or halaal?

Certainly, Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ) was involved in trade with money.[1] No, we are not concerned about where they get the money from, unless you are certain that the person you are dealing with for example is a criminal, or this person is a known gangster in the society for dealing in drugs, etc. For you to deal in business with this person, you become one who is aiding this person in corruption, so you would not be allowed to do so. But as for the person who owns a store, Islam does not now go to the other extreme where everybody who comes into your store and you give him a questionnaire and do a bio-data search on the individual to find out where he is making his money before you can sell him a bottle of orange juice. Islam doesn’t require you to do that. Once you get some information to indicate that such and such a person is corrupt, then for you to enter into business transactions with such a person would be aiding him in his corruption and that itself would be prohibited. An example concerning a person who is directly involved: You are working in a brewery where they are making alcohol. For you to go and work in there, is obvious that you are aiding them in the production of something which is prohibited and corrupt. However in an indirect sense, where western society as a whole has a vast majority of their dealings involving interest, Islam does not go to the extreme where it says that you may not deal with anybody or any other business, which may have money involved in some production which is prohibited. If it is obvious and you have a means of diverting your cash elsewhere, it is better. Islam ultimately strives for the control of the society, for example in a Muslim state we would not allow the non-Muslim to set up a brewery, though a non-Muslim may drink alcohol in the privacy of his home, and we would not break down his front door and drag him to jail as long as he doesn’t come out in a state of drunkenness. However, if he sets up a factory where he is going to be producing and selling alcohol to non-Muslims, we wouldn’t allow him to do that. A vast majority of transactions in the Islamic state would prohibit people from involving in anything corrupt. However, in a minority situation where Muslims are living in a non-Muslims society are now obliged to survive in those circumstances, and this is why, the fundamental principle for Muslims in non-Muslim circumstances is Hijra.[2] If you are unable to make Hijra, you are justified in staying where you are or if you intend to try to spread Islam, and your intention is da’wah, to establish and spread Islam so that it eventually becomes the ruling force in that given society in which you are, then it also becomes allowable for you to stay. Otherwise, according to Islamic law, it is prohibited for a Muslims to remain under the rule of non-Muslims because they will be obliged to compromise time and time again, in various areas of the religious commandments, and they will be obliged to disobey Allah in a variety of different areas. This is why fundamentally Muslims are obliged to make Hijra and when you talk to scholars especially those in the Muslim countries, they will say, you should make Hijra, but of course the reality is that the vast majority are not able to make Hijra. You may not have the means, and the Muslim countries that exist around the world are only Muslim in name. They do not invite people to make Hijra. So, again, you do not have any place to make Hijra, even if you wanted to make it. Given these circumstances, you have to have a particular outlook. You realize that it is wrong but it is something beyond your control so what you have to do is to strive to change it, and strive to affect the society in which you live in such a way that it will eventually become an Islamic society. You are obliged to get involved in the political and administrative process of the society, so that you may control certain aspects of it to protect the Muslim community. If there are no Muslim lawyers, the Muslims are obliged to go to Non-Muslim lawyers to get their rights when cases come up. Naturally, Non-Muslim lawyers will not be looking out for the interestof the Muslim society, except in rare cases. Allah says in the Qur’an:

‘And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers.’[3]

Though this is a general principle, this really is in reference to a circumstance where a Muslim is in a position to apply Islamic law and he or she chooses the laws of the disbelievers, thus such a person is a disbeliever. But in a circumstance where Muslims are in a minority, and the law of the country is an un-islamic law, it becomes necessary to function within that system as lawyers, policemen, or whatever means to protect the community. You don’t go into the legal profession with the intention that lawyers make a lot of money, they get big houses, big cars, they live happily ever after, so I want to be a lawyer. To go in with that intention is haraam because the biggest lawyers are those who are able to successfully defend the biggest criminals. You, as a Muslim lawyer, can only take cases for people who have been unjustly treated, their rights have been taken, and you fight to defend their rights. You will take reasonable money to make a living, but you will not make the big money. You also have to go into that profession with the intention of protecting the Muslim community, and when Muslims are in need of help, you are able to provide that help. Some of your time, you will give as free legal advice, for example, one day in a week where you go the Islamic centre or a mosque, and provide free legal aid to the community. These are the ways by which you may purify your profession. In the context of the non-Muslim society, you may enter into this profession because of the need to protect the Muslim community, and what you do then with your intention becomes an act of worship.

References:

[1] Dr. S Al-Sadlaan, Fiqh Made Easy, 123

[2] Migration

[3] Surah Mai’dah, 5:44