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Fatwa CenterHow to treat idleness and disinterest in work
Question
I am a practicing Muslim. I pray 5 times a day. I recently joined a company a mechanical engineer. However this is my biggest problem that I always look for excuses and breaks. I am unable to work as I lack interest in working at all. I simply like to waste time. Please advise how to increase my interest in working. I have wasted many months being jobless. Please give a sincere advice in private. Thank you!
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Our advice to you is to know that this work that is entrusted to you is a trust, and wasting it and neglecting it is betrayal; indeed Allah has commanded us to fulfill our contracts as He says (what means): {O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts.} [Quran 5:1]
Another thing that will help you be committed to your work and do it to your best ability is to remember that it is an act of worship by which a person draws nearer to Allah and for which one will be rewarded. There are many reports from the Prophet 
which clarify that permissible work for earning one’s income and gaining the means to provide for oneself and one's children so that they do not resort to begging and depending on people, is an act of worship.
For example,At-Tabaraani 
reported that Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah said: A man passed by the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and the Companions admired his strength and energy, so they said: O, Messenger of Allah, if only this were in the Cause of Allah? The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "If he went out seeking sustenance for his children, then it is in the Cause of Allah, and if he went out seeking sustenance for himself in order to avoid begging, then it is in the Cause of Allah, and if he went out for ostentation and pride, then it is for the sake of the devil." [Al-Albaani graded it Saheeh (sound) in Saheeh Al-Jaami‘, 1428]
The Hadeeth clarifies that when a person of legal capacity goes out to seek sustenance for his children or to tend to the needs of his elderly parents, then it is in the Cause of Allah. Also, if one goes out seeking sustenance to spare himself of begging people or from consuming what is forbidden, then it is also in the Cause of Allah. One is rewarded for doing so, and going out for the above purposes is like going out in the Cause of Allah (i.e. for Jihaad).
Therefore, remembering such notions incites one’s determination and vigor and it helps one to be sincere and committed to performing one’s job because it is a trust about which a person will be held accountable if he is negligent concerning it and abuses it; and Allah is watching him.
Moreover, Islam has urged us to seek and gain sustenance and has dispraised idleness. Here are some texts which indicate this:
Allah says (what means): {And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah.} [Quran 62:10]
Ibn ‘Umar 
narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "The upper hand is better than the lower hand." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Al-Marwathi said: "I heard a man say to Abu ‘Abdullaah Ahmad ibn Hanbal: I have enough. He (Ahmad) said to him: 'Be committed to the markets; you will thereby keep good family relations and provide for yourself.'"
If you observe these notions, and remember the reward for seeking sustenance to provide for yourself and those whom you are obliged to provide for, then this will drive you to work hard and do your job to your best ability and to stop being idle and preferring comfort and rest.
Allah Knows best.
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