In ancient times, there lived a righteous man who had three sons: Hamid, Hamdan, and Mahmoud. This man was poor at the beginning of his life, but he worked diligently and sincerely until he had a large trade. He also bought a piece of land that he farmed in his free time from trade, which provided him with a large income.
When the man grew old, he gathered his three sons and said to them, “I have grown old, my sons, and have become unable to work. Therefore, I will leave everything I own for you to manage yourselves.” Mahmoud said to his father, “Father, I love trade, and I am skilled in it. If you leave me your trade, I will care for it and develop it.” The father agreed but stipulated that his son Mahmoud must never cheat in trade and must give out zakat money from the wealth at its appointed time.
Hamdan said to his father, “Father, I love farming. Why don’t you leave me the land so I can farm it and care for it?” The father said to him, “Good, my son, but you must work in the land yourself. If you hire workers to help you with farming, you must give them their wages before their sweat dries, as the Noble Messenger commanded us. And don’t forget, my son, that the poor have a right in the crop, so you must give out the zakat of the crop at its appointed time.”
As for the third son, Hamid, he didn’t love work and wasn’t skilled at doing anything, so he didn’t ask his father to give him anything. The father gave him an old axe he owned and said to him, “Take it, my son, perhaps it will benefit you one day.” Hamid looked at the axe and said to himself, “What is its use?” When he returned to his home, he threw it in one of the corners and left it.
The two brothers, Mahmoud and Hamdan, continued working in trade and farming, while Hamid remained jobless. At first, he asked for money from his brothers, and they would give him. But with time, the two brothers married, and each had a wife and children. They refused to give their brother more money.
Hamid became unable to find his daily sustenance. He thought of a way to earn money and found nothing but asking people. He thought to go and stand at the mosque door, waiting for the worshipers to come out and asking them for money. But when he heard the call to prayer, he remembered that his father used to always tell him not to miss Friday prayer. He decided to enter and pray Friday first. The sheikh was talking in his sermon about the virtue of work and mentioned the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, who said, “It would be better for one of you to take a rope and gather firewood than to ask people, whether they give him or refuse him.” The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, spoke the truth.
Hamid was greatly affected by the sheikh’s words. After the prayer ended, he remembered the axe his father had given him. He ran quickly to his home and said to himself, “I will work as a woodcutter.” He took the axe and went to the forest, and began cutting trees. At first, he found the work difficult, and his hands had cracked from the work. He took what he had cut of firewood and went to the market, selling it for a few dirhams, but with it he bought food and returned to his home.
Despite his severe fatigue, Hamid felt happy for the first time in his life because he was able to earn his sustenance from the work of his hands. The next day, his hand was rough and hurting him, but he didn’t back down. He took his axe and went to gather firewood. That day he was able to gather a larger quantity, and every day he gathered a larger quantity than the previous one, until he was able to save some money from selling firewood. He bought a donkey to carry the firewood to the market on.
As Hamid’s income increased, he gave charity to the poor of his village until they loved him very much. As for his two brothers, they were completely the opposite of him and didn’t execute what their father had commanded them. They prevented zakat, dealt with workers in a rude manner, and didn’t give them their full right. The older brother cheated in his trade.
With time, Hamid’s wealth increased and his brothers’ wealth decreased. Hamid married and was blessed with children, while his brothers went completely bankrupt. When Hamid learned of this, he went to his brothers. He didn’t hold a grudge against them because they had refused to give him money in the past, but he wanted to help them.
He told them that they must not repeat the mistakes of the past and must respect the right of God Almighty, and that they must work to earn from the work of their hands as God Almighty and His Messenger commanded us. He bought an axe for each of them and showed them the way to the forest to gather firewood. At the same time, he was helping their children and spending on them, but he wanted his brothers to learn the importance of work in a way that pleases God Almighty, just as he had learned before.