The Attitude of the Sufis of Baghdad towards the Issue of Work A Case Study of the Lives and Sayings of Junayd al-Baghdadi, Abu Sa’id al-Kharraz, Abu al-Husayn al-Nuri, and Harith al-Muhasibi

Work is a concept that has a semantic correlation with concepts such as property, service, poverty, etc. In religious and mystical traditions, such concepts often take on a spiritual aspect, as the source of value of work is the acquisition of income and moral values dependent on it. This point can be clearly understood by examining the circumstances and sayings of the Sufis of Baghdad in the second and third centuries of AH. These Sufis, who were primarily ascetics and impoverished and earned their living through work, disagreed with the concept and necessity of work. A study of the intellectual foundations and practical methods of four famous figures of Baghdad Sufism (Junaid, Kharaz, Nouri and Muhasibi), using the qualitative analysis of ancient texts, shows that (1) work did not have much central importance for them and (2) the doctrine of tawakkul caused differences of opinion about work among them, as some consider work as opposed to tawakkul and did not see it as necessary for the seeker (salik) to engage in it, while some did not see it as opposed to work and considered it dependent on the seeker's status. (3) In their view, official and government gob was rejected, and of course (4) service to one's fellow man and altruism were sacred concepts related to work, just as (5) earning a lawful livelihood and avoiding dubious earning, which are also related to work, were of interest to them. On the other hand, (6) work was highly reprehensible if it led to an individual's preoccupation with worldly affairs and neglect of the Hereafter.