“I personally refuse to hold someone’s idealistic image against them as long as they have achieved it via healthy means. If a woman is naturally slender with attractive proportions I will not loath her as long as she is gracious with her beauty and at rest with it. As I read in the book Captivating, beauty needs to be at rest and inviting. When a woman is forcing herself to obtain beauty she creates much anxiety associated with her image; I find her anxiety contagious. Others around her may begin to feel uncomfortable, threatened or competitive. I believe that women need to invite others to be comfortable with themselves rather than bring tension to others.” — Lauren Arno

I came across this quote in a discussion about body image in the blogosphere. What I think really got me thinking was what she said about being gracious with beauty. That phrase embodied one of the meanings that is meant to be reflected in wearing the hijab.

I had to immediately ask myself: How, if at all, is the Muslim female blogging community different? Is the focus on looking cute and posting photos of ourselves? Is it on sharing recipes or grooming tips?

None of these things are inherently wrong per se, but like everything there’s a proper manner for going about it. What started as a tide of bloggers trying to get images of hijab-wearing women looking trendy and fashionable into the mainstream has turned into a full-time job for some.

At first it was about showing that we’re still individuals: Muslim women don’t wear all black and don’t all cover their faces, we have distinct styles and trends, and are actually just as attractive as our non-hijab wearing counterparts. The last part about being equally attractive shows that we’ve now started weighing our value on the wrong terms. The definition of beauty has shifted to the external one being used by the consumerist culture we’re immersed in.

The cooking and grooming is less so much an issue as it is a distraction. How big is the mind of a woman who’s only preoccupied with making good food and keeping herself in good condition? With Google giving us access to anything we need to know in a matter of seconds, recipes and grooming tips included, how can the Muslim female bloggers of the world give something unique to their readers and followers?

That’s the question. It’s not about criticism; it’s about the best use of skills and talents for something with a bigger purpose and meaning. Why does it matter what everyone is writing about?

Because it’s an indication of what the productive minds are occupied with. Bloggers are writers, producers, artists and creatives, they represent the cultural and literary products of our community. So when you look at the entire Muslim blogosphere and their collective body of work, how does it look? Unfortunately, not as good as it could. Instead of working on fixing the problems facing our community from the inside or externally, we’re preoccupied with fashion tips, hijab wrapping styles and shoes.

We’ve imitated the fashion bloggers in every way, down to the stomach crunched poses with pouty lips, hunched shoulders, and protruding elbows. Just look at Facebook: we’re slowly turning into superficial, self-obsessed, narcissistic, mindless, individuals that base our value on the number of likes, comments, re-tweets, shares and re-blogs we get.

Some of the finest minds of our generation are wasting their time on things that hardly bring any benefit and could be causing harm.

Look at it like this: if you started feeling dizzy an hour from now, and felt shortness of breath and fell down on the ground, gasping for air, and realized these might be your last moments, tell me: Would you feel proud of what you left behind? What’s your legacy? Are people going to re-tweet and re-blog your beautiful outfit photos after you’re gone? Will they remember how pretty you were?

Think about it. Our time is so limited—it’s something I struggle with everyday. Using my time wisely is a constant struggle, and I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) to bless my efforts and help me to be sincere and productive in doing something that benefits the world when I’m gone.

Allah (swt) clearly puts this to us in Surat Al-Mulk’s verse 2: “[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed – and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving –” (Qur’an 67:2)

Not only is He reminding us to compete, in the time we have, to do good, but He ends the verse with reminding us of His forgiveness. It’s as though He is reassuring us, because our next thought would be for us to worry about how we spent our time in the past, and He’s letting us know it’s okay.

There’s still time. Allah Kareem (God is Generous).

Any thoughts?

If you haven’t read this book before, you should. It’s a well-written short story, if you will, about a young man who sets out to find the perfect manager. He wants to meet someone that found the balance between being good to people and achieving results. So he searches far and wide, only to find either ‘chill’ managers that got along well with their staff but performed poorly or ‘rough’ managers that, despite their employees’ negative feelings towards them, managed to get results. Finally one day, his search brings him to find ‘the one minute’ manager – the solution to his problems and answer to his questions (why else would they name the book after him, right?), and he learns how the one minute manager achieved and maintained this balance.

If you want to know the exact answers, read the book. While the author is really focusing on how we can improve our interaction with others, but we need to also consider applying these methods when dealing with ourselves. Here are some of the key points:

1. People who feel good about themselves will produce good results.

I find that when I am feeling down, I can’t design, write or create anything. I have to literally sit down, think about what it was that got me in this mood in the first place, and then figure out how (if possible) to get over it. It might be that I am frustrated about a falling out I had at work, and consequently I can’t think positively about other things. Negative thoughts and feelings are like poison; they may enter at one point but then slowly disperse into every crevice, making everything dark, like ink in clean water. So I have to clear them out, or they stain all of my efforts. Once I’ve dealt with whatever may be bothering me, I can finally continue with my work.

2. Help people reach their full potential by catching them doing something right.

The author says you should compliment people for doing something right, whenever they do it. We tend to focus on the slip-ups in our progress; the point here is to put emphasis on the positives. It should only make sense that if I love being recognized and appreciated for the good work I do, no matter how small, that I should do the same for others, and well… so should you.

As simple as it sounds to just nod at someone and say, ‘good job man’ or ‘you really nailed that presentation,’ the challenge lies in doing this with the people that get on your nerves and under your skin, the ones who, as soon as you see them, cause a word you have no business saying (or thinking about) to pop into mind.

There’s probably a good reason they give you a hard time. Maybe you are intimidating, or they are just insecure. Maybe you came off the wrong way when they first met you, or they aren’t used to your style of management. You never know what it is with people, but if you go out of your way to, as Mom says, ‘kill them with kindness,’ then they might stop feeling that way about you and themselves. Then poof goes the problem and the drama!

The Messenger (ARABIC) told us to ‘give gifts and love each other.’ This is exactly the same thing. When you give a gift, the true value lies in you being thoughtful about that person, that you remembered them and cared about them enough to sacrifice to make them happy. The same thing goes for being good to people. You are sacrificing your ego and suppressing your negative feelings for them, which may even just be in response to their hostility in the first place, and choosing to try and win them over. After all, smiling at your brother is a charity (and it’s free).

3. Everyone is a potential winner. Some are disguised as losers, but don’t let their appearances fool you.

Everyone is good at something; they just have to find out what that is, and then do it. In an interview done with Dalia Mogahed, when asked about whether she always knew this is what she wanted to do, she said that Allah blesses each of us with talents, and our way of being thankful for these talents is to use them in pleasing Him.

That really resonated with me. We should definitely seek to improve our quality of life, have good jobs, and lead fulfilling lives, but we need to remember to stay focused on pleasing Allah. So for all the people that say they aren’t good at anything (you know who you are), this is a reminder to you and all of us that we should try our best to do our part in making the world a better place, no matter how small or insignificant you may think it is.

4. We are not just our behavior; we are the people managing our behavior.

When I read that, I think of tawbah (repentance). I think it’s because it sets out to make a distinction between us and our actions. This is really important to realize. When I was about 4 years old, I had done something to upset my mom, and she was mad at me. I came to her crying, and I asked her if I was a bad girl. She said, “No, you’re not a bad girl; what you did was bad.”

That was huge. It taught me that I can always try again and do better. Allah tells us we can come back to Him when we mess up, and He is always there when we need Him. We aren’t our mistakes, and contrary to what we like to think, we aren’t our successes either.

We were made to struggle, to try to improve, evolve and strive to be better.

5. Goals begin behaviors, while consequences maintain behaviors.

Let’s say, for instance, that I want to become the best designer in the world. So I mess around with design programs, join forums, read blogs, do tutorials, beg prominent design firms for jobs, and go out of my way to do whatever I think will get me there. Finally I get a job at an agency, and I realize that this isn’t really as exciting as I thought. Whenever I start to slack off and get lazy with my work, I have to remind myself of the consequences. My job will be at stake, I won’t learn the tricks of the trade, and as a result of that I won’t become the best designer in the world. Poor example, I know, but I think you got the point.

Again, this is a great book, and you can probably go through it in under an hour, so pick it up when you get the chance.

Excuse #1: Everybody else does it

A prime example of this is copying your friend’s homework in high school, or college. Of course you don’t mean to cheat, but class is in 45 minutes and you don’t have time to think through the problems yourself. So, you will be getting a grade for work that you didn’t really do.

Another one that comes to mind is downloading music, movies and anything else you can’t get for free in a store. It has become so common that we don’t even give it a second thought. Just because our legal system is still in the process of creating more comprehensive laws that protect intellectual property, it doesn’t make it okay for us to steal.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ warned us not to be an Imma’ah. The Imma’ah is the one who if the people are doing good, does good; and if the people are doing bad, does bad. Rather, he ordered us to be steadfast in doing what’s right at all times.

Excuse #2: If we don’t do it, someone else will

The first thing that comes to mind is an article I came across in the New York Times about Muslim businesses that sell alcohol, cigarettes, pork and other non-halal goods because they believed that those items spurred their business; to stop selling those things would be the death of their business because they would miss out on the big bucks and everyone would just go somewhere else.

This excuse makes more sense in a capitalist mind frame. I say this for two reasons, the first is because in Islam we have the concept of rizq (sustenance) being pre-determined that is dispensed to your given that you put in the effort.

“And in the heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised. Then by the Lord of the heaven and earth, indeed, it is truth – just as [sure as] it is that you are speaking.”  (Qur’an, 51:22-23)

Having this in mind, it makes no sense whatsoever to try and increase your income by doing something that is illegal or unethical. Muslims should be under no illusion that doing anything haram (unlawful) could increase their sustenance or make them better off. They may enjoy temporary financial gains, but at what expense?

The second reason is because capitalism is all about wealth-maximization. In other words, to do whatever it takes to win. By making financial gain your number one priority, ethics are the first thing to go out the window, along with justice and social responsibility.

Excuse #3: That’s the way it has always been done

The example that comes to mind is women removing their hijab (headscarf) on their wedding day. Random example, I know, but it was one of those things that I saw as a sort of norm in Egyptian culture and seemed to be acceptable just because of the sheer number of people that did it.

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had said:

“Whoever among you sees anything objectionable, let him change it with his hand, if he is not able, then with his tongue, and if he is not even able to do so, then with his heart, and the latter is the weakest form of faith.” – Muslim

We are all reformers in our own right. Islam requires us to enjoin good and forbid evil. Social reform isn’t achieved overnight; it begins with you making the choice to do the right thing.

Obviously, changing your family’s understanding of hijab or overhauling your company’s corporate culture isn’t something you can do alone. The hadith acknowledges that, and we are advised to at the very least make the change in our own hearts. Consequently it would be reflected through our actions and we would gradually teach others by example.

Excuse #4: We’ll wait until the lawyers tell us it’s wrong

I was recently told the story of a school that had been instructing its employees to report lower income so they could meet the requirements for their desired tax bracket. In addition they were going as far as explaining the process of applying for benefits from the council (welfare) to their staff with the promise of higher income. Not only were they shortchanging the government for the tax they should have been paying, but they were also encouraging others to apply for benefits they didn’t need.

When an employee that had a confrontation with the school (not over this issue) took legal action against them they offered to settle outside of court, as long as the employee didn’t report them to tax authorities.

Isn’t it enough that Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala – exalted is He) sees what we are doing? Does it have to come to local authorities’ attention before we decide to stop what we are doing? Actions speak louder than words, and it is now the case that we fear people more than we fear Allah (swt).

Excuse #5: It doesn’t really hurt anyone

There are tons of examples of this, from littering to wasting water. I won’t bore you with specifics, but pay close attention to what I am about to tell you: there are approximately 6.9 billion people on this planet. If all of them think like you, we are going to be in big trouble.

Change starts with the individual.

Excuse #6: The system is unfair

So is life. Just remember that we will stand before God alone, and He is fair.

Excuse #7: I was just following orders

Returning to the example of the school, the first employee that was told to get involved with their tax scam should have refused and left. It would have forced them to at least think twice before asking that of someone again. However, as people continued to gradually buy into this culture of dishonesty, it became acceptable.

The Messenger Muhammad ﷺ clearly said:

“There is no obedience [to any creation] in disobedience to Allah.” (Bukhari & Muslim)

Excuse # 8: It’s a gray area

On the authority of An-Numan Ibn Bashir, who said: “I heard the messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

“That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be good, all the body is good and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart.” (Bukhari & Muslim)

This hadith nails it. It’s basically telling us not to play around in or near the gray areas because we can fall into the black. We are better safe than sorry, and should try our best to avoid actions whose permissibility is in question.

The leadership in a large corporation wanted to take a huge step that would be considered unethical but not illegal. So when deciding whether to go ahead with it or not, the CEO asked them if they would feel comfortable with their decision being published as tomorrow’s newspaper headline. His statement made everyone scrutinize their decision a little more, and as a result they abandoned the idea.

This brings to mind yet another hadith, where the Messenger of Allahﷺ says:

“Al-Birr (piety & righteousness) entails good conduct, while Al-Ithm (evil) is that which crosses your mind and which you hate for people to find out about.”

In closing I just want to emphasize how fortunate we are as Muslims to have such clear guidance when it comes to dealing with the ethical aspects of our day-to-day lives. Unfortunately we aren’t applying these solutions as we should and are lagging behind when we should be shining examples of the best morals and behaviors.

May Allah (swt) bless us with better morals, manners, and conduct in general. Ameen.

“Two more people to give $5,000.”

His gaze sweeps across the audience searching for a raised hand or finger. As he holds the mic up to his mouth, the people in the room shuffle and whisper. You turn to the left and then the right looking for the next donor. “Allahu Akbar!” You quickly look in the direction the speaker is faced, and catch a young man in the back of the room lowering his hand. “Just one more pers…”

“Allahu Akbar!” A woman two tables down nods her head.

“That’s 50,000. Now I need to get just ten people to give $1,000!”

We’re all way too familiar with this scene: you are at a fundraising dinner and the speaker is using every related hadith and verse of the Qur’an to encourage, convince and literally beg you to donate to the cause. You eventually raise your hand when he mentions the donation amount you decided on before you left the house.

“Allahu Akbar! May Allah (swt) bless you and your family, say ameen!” The crowd echoes “Ameen.”

Feels amazing, doesn’t it?

But…is it right?

Why does your mosque, Islamic center, or local Islamic organization have to book a hotel ballroom, get a speaker from out of state, and feed and entertain you in order for you to give for the sake of Allah?

Giving in the way of Allah is for our own safety and not giving is the real danger. We have to look out for the poor and support our local institutions, and we should do so without a second thought. In fact, Allah promises us a time when it will be the first thing on our minds. Surah Al-Munafiqoon says:

“And spend [in the way of Allah] from what We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, “My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous.” (Qur’an, 63:10)

The verse doesn’t say we will beg for just a little more time for prayer, or fasting, but instead for the opportunity to give charity, as though this will be the dearest thing to us at that time. We will be pleading for more time before our souls are taken so that we can give more charity.

When working with the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at my university, we would go around to Muslim-owned restaurants requesting donations for Iftar (the evening meal to break fast), which was served on campus daily in Ramadan, except  for Fridays. Some restaurants offered a tray of rice, some chicken, and others salad. We always accepted whatever they might give us because at the end of the day, something was always better than nothing. However, some shopkeepers and owners sent us off empty-handed. Why? Because they felt they had already done their bit of charity over Ramadan – “We already donated food to the kids at the college.”

As though there is some cap on giving to charity.

Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala – exalted is He) describes those that give for His sake in Surah Al-Insan:

“And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive,- (Saying),’We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks. – We only fear a Day of distressful Wrath from the side of our Lord.’” (Qur’an 76: 8-10)

This verse adds a second crucial point on the importance of adopting, sponsoring and taking care of orphans. It reminds to us ask: What about those kids without moms or dads? The ones whose parents left them there because they couldn’t afford to take care of them? What about the kids who get all these donated clothes and toys but can’t find a single person do give them the love and attention they really need?

The Prophet (s) was an orphan. Have we forgotten?

A few years ago, in Cairo, we went to visit an orphanage as a tarbiyah (self-development) exercise and to see how the orphans were. Of course, they were adorable and fairly well-kept; I don’t assume this to be the case in most orphanages. We had been there for about 20 minutes when a young man came in and the kids started screaming!

“Ammu Sherif! Ammu Sherif!” They all flocked towards him, almost knocking him over. He greeted them warmly and was smiling from ear to ear. He stayed there for at least the two more hours we did, probably longer, and played with them, giving each their own time.

Subhan Allah (Glory be to God)! All he does is take out the time to visit them, obviously in a consistent manner, and it doesn’t cost him anything. You cannot begin to understand how happy this simple kindness made them.

How great is his reward with Allah (swt)?

May Allah (swt) bless him and everyone that tries to work with the unfortunate among us, and alleviate their suffering.

We worry about giving our own children enough attention. We agonize over being bad parents and try to find ways to be better to our children. We think back over our actions and hope they won’t affect them negatively as adults. Well then, what about the orphans? Have we given them a second thought?

The Prophet (s) said, “Me and the one that takes care of Orphans are like this in Jannah,” and he demonstrated by putting his index and middle finger together.

Enough said. Now for the doing part: Everyone that reads this needs to do one of two things, or both.

1. Pick an Islamic charity and sign up to give a monthly amount from your income. You won’t regret it. For example, Islamic Relief has an option to donate to ‘where it’s needed the most,’ which I think is an easy way of making up your mind on what you want done with your money.
2. Sign up to sponsor an orphan, and pledge a monthly amount that is probably much less than your cable and internet bill.

When we have the means we do as Muslims, there is no excuse to not be looking out for our orphans and poor. We have to answer for being blessed with wealth and safety and will be asked why we haven’t tried to establish the same for others.

In Surah At-Takathur we are reminded of just that:

“Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.” (Quran 102:8)

May Allah (swt) bless us all with good deeds that bring us closer to Him. Ameen.

Wednesday August 26^th

8:00 pm

Nothing.

She hasn’t moved all afternoon. I’m used to her kicking throughout the day, especially when I have something sweet. I start to cry uncontrollably; I feel like I can’t breathe.

Maybe she’s just sleeping, and insha’Allah she’ll wake up later, when I lay down.

11:00 pm

I start crying my eyes out.  I knew. My husband calms me down and convinces me to get some sleep; we would go to the hospital first thing in the morning.

Although it’s not something I was conscious of, my views on having a family were very ‘American.’ I wanted to finish school, work for a year or two, and then maybe I would think about it. It took the better part of my first trimester to get over the fact that I was pregnant. I thought I had my life planned out. I thought I knew what I wanted.

Thursday August 27^th

11:00 am

“Hassan!”

I immediately got up and followed the midwife into the ward. She asks me what is wrong. I tell her that the baby hasn’t kicked for 24 hours. Without taking her eyes off my record she tells me to have some cold water.

“That always gets them going.”

I wait five minutes and still, nothing. The midwife tells me to have a seat; she will call me. I remembered Mom telling me that when she was having my brother he slept for twenty-four hours straight and scared her to death. She’s probably just sleeping.

Insha’Allah nothing bad will come out of this. I’m probably just panicking for no reason. Insha’Allah there is nothing to worry about.

My name is called, and a senior midwife ushers me into an examination room. She begins to search for the heartbeat. In the adjacent room I can hear someone hooked up to a monitor; a constant little heartbeat echoes in the ward. At that point in time, there was no sound more beloved to me than hearing my baby’s heart.

She searches for about four minutes. My eyes began to swell with tears as I follow her instructions to breathe in and then out.

She turns to me and asks how long it’s been since I felt the kicking. When I tell her, she asks why I hadn’t come in yesterday. I begin to tell her that I figured… She abruptly cuts me off, saying: “With a baby we don’t figure – we don’t take chances.”

She asks me to wait there and leaves the room. I begin to cry again. Now, all I want to know is that my baby is alive. I’m supposed to be a mommy. I’ve mentally prepared myself for this. This is the most important job I will ever have.

I am escorted into the exact room I had been in just two weeks ago. In fact, the same technician that handled my five-month sonogram greets me. I am sure, but I am hoping with all my heart that I’m wrong.

In a matter of seconds and with a few clicks of the scanner, she confirms the thought that has been haunting me for the last day and a half.

“I’m so sorry, love.”

I started sniffling and try to hold back tears. “What happens now?”

We are taken to a small empty room with a window and two chairs. We sit quietly and after I cry some more, I call my Mom and tell her the news. She is distraught, in sheer disbelief. I feel her pain; she is helpless, all the way across the Atlantic.

“You’re a Mom, and no one can take that away from you.”

Her words resonate in my mind. I sit still, and stare out the window.

Sunday August 30^th

6:20 pm

Sajdah M. Othman was delivered at five and a half months; she weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces. She was small and still. There was a peace about her. I held her for a little under fifteen minutes, and then she was whisked away by the midwife.

All the insha’Allahs in every other sentence. Every other thought. Muslims tend to sprinkle their conversation with religious words, but it wasn’t like that. I knew of the story in Surat Al-Kahf, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not say it, and revelation was withheld for a little while. The verse was sent down as a reminder to say “insha’Allah” so I was adamant on remembering to say it. I hadn’t, however, fully internalized what it meant. Not until now.

This was my reminder that Allah has ultimate control over our affairs. We can try and plan and make decisions to the best of our abilities.  In the end, it is Allah that wills it or not. Insha’Allah isn’t some magic word, that when said, things have to occur. It means exactly what it says: “If Allah wills it.”

This is what He willed.

I accept that.

I considered calling this post ‘Losing Sajdah,’ but when I thought about it in its proper context, she is one of the only things saved for the hereafter, while most else in this world is to be lost.

As though being late wasn’t bad enough, to top it off, you are made to feel as though the money you’ve worked for isn’t your right; they are doing you a favor by paying you anything at all. This Islamic Organization is simply out of money, and you have to wait until they get some. It coincidentally comes to your attention that some employees in higher positions had their checks issued on time and without any delay.

An Islamic school wanted you to teach two subjects and pay you as a quarter-time employee. Apparently if you don’t teach 4 subjects to the entire school then you will not be considered a full-time teacher (that isn’t a sarcastic remark). In addition, you were told that your pay was based on 1/4 of the full-time teacher’s pay. When you find out what that rate is, you know that your pay is much lower than what 1/4 actually is. They are trying to take advantage of the fact that you are new and don’t know anyone or how much they make. Sadly, you do know another teacher, and you realize their dishonesty. As a result, you quit.

Another school refused to pay you your last paycheck after they were informed that you wouldn’t be returning next year. They claimed that withholding the pay was their right since you breached your contract, when in fact you had signed no contract in the first place. Now you have to take legal action in order to get your money. Contracts are made on a yearly basis, so to leave at the end of the year is simply to choose not to renew a contract. There should be no conditions on getting paid for work that was already done. That same school was telling you and all of its employees to report lower income than they were actually getting, in order for the school to be eligible for a tax break.

A Muslim-owned business approached you and requested a redesign for their website. When you gave them your price, they said it was too high. So you agreed to do it at a lower price, and explained your terms for design work (limiting the number of revisions to the design once you finalize it, requiring 50% pay upfront, and overtime will be charged at an hourly rate). In response you got a horrible attitude, they requested your references, more samples of your work, and said they might consider hiring you. When they had approached you in the first place and offered you the work, based on a design you did, that they saw, and liked. Other non-Muslim businesses you work with have gladly paid you the 50% and agreed to abide by these same terms.

Subhan’Allah (glory be to Allah). All of these are real stories.

You start to wonder if these organizations had planned to abuse you from the get-go.

But, you haven’t done anything wrong to them, so why would they bother? Then you remember Allah’s words from the Qur’an, “O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin” (49:12).

Is it because you are working with Muslim organizations, so your work is “Feesabillilah”—for the sake of Allah—that people pushing the boundaries shouldn’t bother you?

The short answer is no. Because if it was, we would all be willing to sacrifice to help get things done, and more importantly to help each other. That executive would give up part of his salary to help you pay your rent on time.

Is it because this is my Muslim brother or sister that I should let them fall behind on the payments?

It can’t be because they are the ones that want you to be there on time, every time, to work for them. They want flawless work, in a hurry, with an impossible deadline and an insane volume of work to be completed. This is a paid position: you were promised a paycheck in exchange for specific tasks and duties, and it is an agreement between you and your employer.

Allah requires us to respect these agreements, as stated in Surat Al-Israa, “…And fulfill [every] commitment. Indeed, the commitment is ever [that about which one will be] questioned” (17:34).

Are all employees doing right by their employers, and inherently the victims?

Of course not. Obviously both cases exist, but unprofessionalism just breeds more unprofessionalism. The employee that slacks should be fired. The employer that mistreats their worker should lose that employee to a more deserving firm.

“Woe to those who give less [than due], who, when they take a measure from people, take in full. But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss. Do they not think that they will be resurrected for a tremendous Day – the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?” (Qur’an, 83:1-6)

Allah warns us specifically about this type of behavior in the Holy Quran. Yet it seems as though Muslims are failing (repeatedly) to recognize or abide by this obligation.

In Project Management there are three main areas that need to be balanced in order to successfully complete a project.

1. The Budget, or how much money is allocated to completing the project.
2. The Schedule, which breaks the project into smaller tasks and their respective deadlines.
3. The Scope, which are the things that need to be completed and delivered by the due date.

Whenever any of these three factors are changed, the entire project is thrown off.

How is that?

Here’s a situation:

You gave me $20 and asked me to go to a store and get some items on a list. The list costs exactly $20 including tax. So I have 45 minutes to go and bring the groceries back. The project here is getting the groceries. If you were to call me on the phone, and tell me you need some meat from the Halal store as well, that would throw me off. Because of the money, I am now over my budget; also, it will increase the time I’ll need, so I won’t be able to deliver on schedule.

You see?

So changing any of the three factors in a project will change the other two. If you push these limits then either the project will fail or it will be completed with poor quality.

Bottom line: When the balance is lost, the project suffers.

I believe that to be the exact case with these Muslim businesses and institutions. They are attempting to ‘milk’ employees for work they aren’t willing (or able) to pay for. They have expectations that exceed their ability or willingness to fairly compensate. Employees come in with higher than usual expectations from a Muslim employer, and expect über-ethical and fair treatment. Employees’ morale and trust in their employer drops, and as a result the quality of their work suffers.

Expectations have to be made clear, respected, and fulfilled by both sides. If we all know Allah is watching us, then we should act like it. Muslim businesses and Islamic organizations are the pillars of our community; when we build our Ummah on broken principles it will fall apart overnight.

Most of you reading this know that sadly this is the situation in general. I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, but I have traveled, searched, and have yet to find a case where this doesn’t stand true in one way or another.

We have reached rock bottom when Muslims sincerely warn other Muslims against getting jobs with Muslim companies or Islamic organizations. Why is it that in exchange for being in a so-called Islamic environment, you will face all sorts of head- and heartache?

I’m not writing this with the intention to bash other Muslims or talk smack about the Ummah. On the contrary, I want to point this out and have it addressed and remedied, so that it is no longer the case. I make du`a’ that Allah guides us all to the best of manners and etiquette, and that we are among those that heed good advice and follow the best of it. Ameen.

Whenever I considered doing anything major in my life, my Baba (Dad) would tell me that I needed to do a “cost-benefit analysis” first. I understood the gist of what he meant and often thought a great deal about anything I considered doing, though this usually resulted in me over-thinking the issue. During my study of finance in grad school, however, I came across the relationship between ‘risk’ and ‘return,’ and believe it or not, this is what really drove home the concept my father was trying to teach.

Clench your teeth through the technical part; it’ll stop hurting in a second. ‘Risk’ is defined as a situation involving exposure to danger. In finance, it’s the possibility of financial loss.

Here’s a scenario: You have some money (principal) that you want to invest in a security. There’s a chance it will grow, and a chance it will shrink. The chance that the security will lose money is essentially the risk associated with it. Returns refer to the amount of interest that you can gain on the money you invest, or how much the money will grow.

In an attempt to keep my promise about reducing the pain, I’ll cut this short.

Investors (intelligent ones) are thought to be risk averse, meaning they avoid risk like the plague. Well, lo and behold, there is a trick to reducing the risk on your investment! It’s called diversification, which essentially means not putting all your eggs in one basket and instead investing the money in lots of different stocks or securities.

By this rule, if one of the stocks you invested your money in goes bust, then it wont hurt as badly because not all your money was invested there in the first place. I think you get the idea.

Back to my Baba: so he said make sure to analyze costs and benefits, pros and cons, risk and return. See the pattern? As Muslims, we should constantly be making this analysis.

I was in a situation where my halaqah (study circle) leader was sitting with me and telling me a story, when all of a sudden she stopped. When I asked her what was wrong, she said “I was trying to see if any benefit would come from telling you that detail or not.” Subhan’Allah (glory be to Allah), it was such a small statement, but it had a profound affect on the way I began to see my actions.

Every little action counts and should be treated accordingly. We have to look at our life in an objective manner to see the bigger picture. We have to check our intentions constantly, and make sure that our principal (our actions) isn’t invested in anything other than pleasing Allah (swt) or bettering our hereafter. Investing in anything else would be the worst decision you could ever make, right?

Allah (swt) discusses this poor calculation in the Qur’an:

“Those are the ones who have purchased error [in exchange] for guidance, so their transaction has brought no profit, nor were they guided.” (2:16)

Muslims, like good investors, should also be risk averse. We should avoid doing anything that angers Allah (swt) and avoid doing anything that will land us in the hellfire. By ensuring our deeds are invested in Allah (swt)’s pleasure, we can’t go wrong. Allah (swt) tells us just this in the Qur’an:

“Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah and establish prayer and spend [in His cause] out of what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, [can] expect a profit that will never perish…” (35:29)

We should also diversify our investments through doing as many good actions as often as humanly possible. The bitter truth is that achieving sincerity in our actions towards Allah (swt) is neither easy, nor is it guaranteed. There is no confirmation that Allah (swt) accepts our deeds. If we could only be as fortunate as the sons of Adam when Allah (swt) revealed that He accepted from one and not from the other:

“…recite to them the story of Adam’s two sons, in truth, when they both offered a sacrifice [to Allah], and it was accepted from one of them but was not accepted from the other.” (Qur’an, 5:27)

So we have to try our best to do as many sincere acts for Allah (swt), and hope for His mercy and pleasure in order to increase our chances of making it to Paradise, insha’Allah (God willing).

Here comes one last analogy from Baba that, like the other, makes a great deal of sense.

Your life is like a flight. It has a starting point and a destination. You have a flight plan that draws out how to get where you are going, and for any Muslim, that final destination should be Paradise, insha’Allah. So you go about following the plan. You finish high school, start college, go to university, and graduate.

Along the way you go slightly off course: you get so involved with your job that you start to slack off on praying sunnah, fasting Mondays and Thursdays and praying on time. When that happens, you have to catch it, and immediately make a course correction. This will set you gladly back on your way to where you were supposed to be headed in the first place.

In the instance that you weren’t analyzing your actions though, or your plans for the immediate future in that light – would all of the little plans to finish college, get a job, get a promotion put you at the correct final destination?

The point is to highlight the importance of making conscious decisions about what you do with your life. If those decisions are all made based on what’s best for your hereafter, then with the help of Allah (swt) you can’t go wrong.

When I got married, a dear friend and mentor told me to “make Allah (swt) the center of your life, and everything else will fall into place.” That advice stands true in any situation, for any person.

I will leave you with a verse from the holy Qur’an:

“…And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him.” (65:3)