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This lecture explores the significance of Labor Day, particularly in the context of Islamic teachings and modern societal practices. The speaker discusses the historical roots of the holiday, emphasizing the struggles of workers for better conditions and rights, which resonate with Islamic principles of justice and dignity. He critiques the contemporary celebration of Labor Day, noting the disconnect between its original purpose and current practices, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The lecture encourages a reflection on the value of work and the rights of workers as fundamental to both Islamic ethics and social justice.
Transcript (English)
0:00 Dear friends, peace be upon you.
0:02 Today is the first of May.
0:04 International Workers' Day.
0:06 That is its official name. However, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it could be called
0:11 a holiday of non-work.
0:13 Or a barbecue holiday,
0:15 with ćevapi,
0:16 roasting lamb, and similar.
0:21 What is the first of May, how can we truly grasp it,
0:24 how can we understand it in the spirit of Islam or, if you will, in the spirit of modernity.
0:30 May Day, as an international Labor Day, is celebrated
0:35 since the last or even the previous century.
0:38 in relation to the events that occurred
0:42 at the end of the nineteenth century when many workers sought improvement
0:47 in their
0:48 working conditions, and so on.
0:51 The key
0:52 reason that led to
0:55 the working class is actually that workers demanded to work less,
1:09 that is, not to work fifteen hours, fourteen hours, twelve hours, but actually demanded to work the so-called three eights.
1:11 eight hours to rest, that is, to relax, and eight hours to devote to family.
1:18 Thus completely legitimate demands of the working class.
1:22 In America, in Chicago, 1886.
1:25 These demands, of course, came to a head with the authorities, so to speak,
1:33 and there was a direct conflict between
1:35 the workers,
1:36 those who were protesting,
1:41 who were demanding their rights and the police, specifically, who were
1:44 against it, that is, intervening,
1:45 the owners, capitalists,
1:46 finance, etc.
1:49 Since then, perhaps a bit later than 1980
1:52 the 90s.
1:54 it introduces the marking
1:57 of Labor Day or May Day as a holiday.
2:01 of labor.
2:02 What is it today and why is it important to us?
2:05 Indeed, perhaps one scene will best show why it is important to us. Yesterday, after work
2:12 I stopped by the butcher's to buy
2:15 something.
2:16 table,
2:17 So, not for grilling but typically, what is taken.
2:22 So, at home. And I saw something I had never seen before,
2:30 which is the line, believe me, caught in front of the meat.
2:37 So, in front of the meat and inside the meat. People working there
2:40 were falling from the sea, the meat was almost disappearing.
2:44 And so, it was around three o'clock.
2:49 And then I waited, of course, I stood in line, observing
2:51 what people were doing, what people were taking, etc. Of course,
2:52 massively taking, whole sheep,
2:56 Sausage and the rest... Irrelevant.
2:58 But at that moment, a guy who was already tired said,
3:05 imagine the situation,
3:08 when it started at seven or eight o'clock, I don't know when their work starts. Until after three, the guy hadn't even had
3:15 literally time to grab something to eat for lunch. This shows how busy it was in just one butcher shop. Imagine how it is in others. I assume it's the same or similar. This tells us about the frenzy,
3:29 for this holiday and its prevalence,
3:32 this holiday in our culture or our consciousness. There's an old man. I joked at the end when I took something
3:39 from there, with
3:40 the woman who works there and asked, is this free today with such a crowd?
3:45 Because believe me, I can only imagine that if it were free, there would be such a crowd and people would come, etc.
3:52 A similar scene
3:53 was actually in the supermarkets yesterday. All supermarkets
3:57 yesterday, or rather the greengrocers,
3:59 stores and so on, I assume were crowded.
4:02 Considering that for three days, today
4:05 and tomorrow, if Allah wills, and the day after tomorrow, unfortunately nothing will be open, mostly for us, until Monday. I had the need to get something in the evening, just to
4:15 secure myself. And believe me, instead of two cash registers working as usual, one or two, four are working, they simply cannot
4:24 finish the job, again there are long lines. So, this tells us a lot. Simply,
4:31 of course, and the fact that for three days nothing can be bought, explains that. At the same time, we must be aware that a large number of people actually... bought huge amounts of meat, huge amounts...
4:43 of groceries that will be grilled today, I don't know,
4:47 What is this and how can we view it today?
4:53 If
4:54 it was once
4:56 an international holiday
4:58 for labor,
4:59 it was truly a call for workers' rights,
5:02 for the representation of the
5:04 working class in the decision-making process,
5:07 thus improving
5:09 the status or position of workers in organizations where they work, and so on.
5:14 Today, we do not see this on the streets, in our cities, or in any way in the collective.
5:21 International Labor Day, where something is demanded, some rights, etc. Perhaps it will be in front of some companies, maybe in a city, maybe a gathering of a few hundred people, and so on. I assume that will be the end of it.
5:36 But most people fear that this day, which is a non-working day by law, and unfortunately, someone even voted for two days off on May 1st, which is beyond reason.
5:49 Commemoration of the International
5:51 Labor Day is marked,
5:53 even for two days. I really do not understand who could propose such nonsense.
5:55 However, that nonsense was not only proposed, it was adopted.
6:01 And look, when you start observing, here is America, where it all started,
6:04 the labor initiatives, and so on, it does not have a single non-working day.
6:09 The initiative of the community, and so on, has no non-working days.
6:13 Take Canada,
6:15 there isn't one, take Britain, there isn't one, take any English
6:18 country,
6:20 Anglo-Saxon
6:21 speaking area, take Australia down, take New Zealand, take any, you will see that none of those countries
6:28 will have a day off. So it's not one, let alone two like we do. Of course, there are countries even in the Arab, Muslim, majority world where you actually have a day off, e.g., in Egypt, I don't know, Jordan, in some African countries, while you have states
6:46 that work. However, the question arises, what is actually positive in this whole story,
6:53 and what definitely needs to be criticized.
6:56 What is certainly positive
6:58 in the speech about
6:59 to the workers,
7:00 the rights of workers is, in fact, the struggle for their dignity,
7:08 for dignity
7:09 of work,
7:10 for adequate
7:12 compensation
7:13 for the work being done,
7:15 for just relations within society,
7:18 for all these aspects concerning workers' rights, which are based not only in sharia, not only in positive law, but also in human intellect and daily behavior, there is no doubt that these struggles are good, positive, and should be praised and supported. Why? Because the Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
7:39 teaches us and says, the best provision,
7:43 The best thing a person can eat is what they earn with their hands.
7:44 Indeed, the Prophet (s.a.w.)
7:48 truly values work; that is why some say work is an act of ibadah.
7:50 Every effort by which a person provides for themselves and their family
7:54 is considered a form of ibadah.
8:02 Why? Because the Prophet (s.a.w.) teaches us that when we feed our family
8:09 with a halal morsel, it is regarded as an act of sadaqah.
8:15 Thus, this highlights the importance of work, among other things.
8:18 There are many foundations to discuss work
8:20 through the Quran and Sunnah.
8:21 up until today, in some way in Muslim history. So, this is certainly positive.
8:29 Another thing that is very positive,
8:32 is that there is talk about workers' rights.
8:34 About the right
8:36 to a salary, to a decent and adequate
8:40 salary for workers. Why? Because our Prophet (s.a.w.)
8:42 And he asks Muslims
8:45 to ensure that the salary
8:48 is paid before the sweat dries.
8:52 What does this specifically mean? It means that there should be no delay
8:58 One must not allow workers to be exploited to the point
9:12 where they cannot live normally and with dignity. This is pure haram
9:21 for the person who does this, regardless of whether they are a
9:29 Muslim or non-Muslim. The first hadith I mentioned and this
9:46 second hadith should not be taken literally. When the Prophet
9:51 s.a.w.s. said that the best food, the best sustenance, is what
9:58 one eats after earning it with their own hands, it does not
10:04 only refer to physical labor. It also includes intellectual
10:10 work, various skills, services, and service activities, etc.
10:14 But everything that is halal falls under this hadith, and the
10:18 Violating workers' rights is a form of injustice we must condemn.
10:27 We must ask those in power why such things are allowed.
10:31 The next point is that
10:35 we understand that the bed prohibits any form of exploitation,
10:39 any irregular exploitation,
10:42 anything at all. Like we see today. Workers sign contracts to work, say, until three or four, which is generally the working hours, and then after that, the boss, director, or owner keeps that worker.
10:58 Every minute
11:00 that the worker is kept beyond the agreed time
11:03 and beyond what is paid,
11:05 is a wrong done to that person. Because it is injustice. Believe me, I hear daily how people complain, saying, 'Let me stay an hour, let me stay two, more than that, and they don't recognize it at all or pay me for it.' This is haram. There is no doubt that there is no barakah in the wealth of a person who earned that extra.
11:25 profit from others,
11:27 from others through additional work. Therefore, we need to discuss these matters.
11:34 Be aware, in sharia there is a principle that it is not allowed
11:39 even, be careful, to give too much authority to an animal.
11:42 Beyond its capabilities.
11:43 So, I think I've already spoken about this. If this is the case with an animal,
11:49 then pay attention
11:50 to how you have today these,
11:53 unfortunately,
11:55 people who
11:56 They may be closer to feudalists than to capitalists who exploit their workers.
12:02 To the limits of their capabilities.
12:04 Especially those who want to be obedient, and so on. These are really big issues.
12:18 The next thing is the dignity of the worker. Sharia protects the worker.
12:32 There is no dirty job, no bad job; everything that is halal is positive and good.
12:47 We must protect the dignity of that person.
12:53 It is not permissible to belittle anyone for any job they do.
12:56 This is part of what Sharia teaches us. Of course, many other questions arise.
12:57 It is a sad fact that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have a huge labor market.
12:59 We have over three hundred thousand able-bodied men and women registered, seeking work.
13:03 We import labor while we have a huge need for it. I would really like someone
13:12 to explain why this is the case. Is it possible that in such situations,
13:21 when we have a huge demand for labor, we still have crowded employment offices
13:23 with unqualified workers, or qualified, or semi-qualified workers,
13:25 who either do not want to work or the system does not allow them to work
13:46 adequately and earn. Unfortunately, there are abuses of these systems,
13:47 where you have a person working illegally, not paying anything to the state,
13:56 but is registered at the employment office. These are all questions we need
14:04 to answer. Why do we need workers from Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, etc.,
14:05 if we have so many of our own laborers waiting to be employed.
14:08 the rights of workers,
14:10 the prohibition of exploiting workers. We know cases of people who took workers' rights,
14:41 then built mosques, built minarets, went for Hajj, traveled elsewhere, and so on. Allah knows best, there is nothing from that.
14:43 This is a wrong principle. It is a wrong approach that we must reject.
14:44 This is one segment where there is truly an opportunity,
14:46 to discuss these matters, not only the first ayah but beyond that,
14:48 to bring these topics to the forefront.
14:51 However, what is absolutely
14:55 negative
15:02 about celebrating May 1st here is
15:14 something that resembles a barbecue,
15:18 to some things that have nothing to do with
15:21 Labor Day, as it should be or as it was previously envisioned by those who delegated it. And notice, we can learn from this, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but generally in the Balkans, considering we are meat lovers. We see in Croatia, they probably cook beans, I don't know what the others do.
15:41 But you have a situation, for example, in Scandinavian countries where you have the best protection of workers' rights.
15:47 You don't see people working as we do here. People still go out on the streets, speaking about workers' rights,
15:56 fighting for their rights, thanking the state for all the good it has done, while at the same time criticizing everything that is bad and needs to be improved.
16:05 Therefore, we need to
16:07 objectively observe May Day.
16:10 And notice, it really raises a question mark. Often, there is complaining, often,
16:16 it creates