وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ وَٱلْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ 
ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـٰبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌۭ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ 
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَٰتٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌۭ ۖ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُهْتَدُونَ 

We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure—who say, when struck by a disaster, “Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will ˹all˺ return.” They are the ones who will receive Allah’s blessings and mercy. And it is they who are ˹rightly˺ guided.

(Quran 2: 155-157)

My father, Abdullah Rubeya Faris, passed away last Thursday on the 5th of Sha’baan 1445H (15th February 2024).

To Allah belongs what He takes, and to Him belongs what He gives, and everything has its time.

This has been a long and difficult journey for him and for our family that started with a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2005, then increased in intensity in the last 12 months with his loss of mobility and a rollercoaster of medical emergencies until he reached his final breath last Thursday, and was buried after Jumuah prayers the next day.

When someone dies, we often reflect on their legacy and the life lessons they parted with us. And alhamdulillah, I learned so much from my dad – especially his mannerisms and kind conduct with people. However, in this article, I wanted to reflect on his death. I learned so much in this last year from him and the dying process that I want to capture these lessons firstly for myself and my family and secondly impart beneficial knowledge to any child or caregiver as they care for a dying parent, spouse, relative, or friend.

1. This is Jannah

About a year ago, my dad fell on the steps of a masjid as he was going for Isha prayer in his hometown of Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania. That fall led to a host of medical complications, a move to Dubai for treatment, and making him wheelchair-bound and in need of constant care.

During the initial days after his fall, a dear family friend turned to me and said, “This is Jannah.. what you’re doing is Jannah.. don’t let go of it… stay close to your dad”. 

It was this reminder that flipped the situation for me from one of pain/loss to one of opportunity to get closer to Allah SWT. 

This reminder kept ringing in my ears as the difficulties increased over the next several months.

2. Preparing myself spiritually

When my father first fell, I had a feeling that the end was near. I called my dear friend and scholar, Sh. Khalil Abdur-Rashid, the Muslim chaplain at Harvard University for advice and spiritual counseling, here’s what he said:

1. This is a blessing from Allah that you can make it and be with your father in his final days. So, first and foremost, you should thank Allah for this blessing.
2. This is not easy, but this is part of Allah’s mercy. You can shed tears, but don’t despair.
3. Think about what you want to say to him and take advantage of these moments to say what you want to say
4. Ask him for advice on how to live life, and listen and take the advice for the rest of your life, and pass it on to your children.
5. Get his wishes and advice on how property should be handled, how his body is to be treated, and where to be buried. How should we carry on as a family after him? What Sadaqat to give. Record these wishes! 
6. In the final moments, hold his hand and say La ilaha illa Allah. This is a time when angels are descending – you’re in the company of angels. Don’t fear, and don’t be Sad. You’ll see your dad in different spiritual states. You’ll say your words of inspiration, and he’ll say his word. This is an incredible and humbling experience
7. This is a time that’s also a reminder for you that your time is next. And start getting your affairs in order.
8. Your father will finally get what he wants in Jannah – it’s only a matter of time, as Allah promises the believers.
9. We are in a sacred time – the months of Rajab, Sha’baan, Ramadan, and then the Hajj months. A blessed time to pass away. 
10. Ask what Sadaqat he wants to give. Any debts he has? Any previous zakat? Salat? Fasting? Have these discussions sooner rather than later.

I can’t say I lived up to all the advice above, but I often re-read and reflected on his advice.

3. Days are long, but the year is short

“Reflection: the hardest thing about trials is not the initial shock or drama, the hardest thing about trials is the readjustment to a new reality and endurance to keep up with new reality” – A WhatsApp message I sent to my close circle of friends

You often hear that the days are long, but the years are short when raising children. I feel the exact phrase can be applied to a terminally ill parent who requires constant care and is given a bleak prognosis. 

The daily constant requirement of feeding, clothing, cleaning, carrying, and taking care of dad (most of it done by my mother, may Allah bless her), along with mood swings and physical/mental pain, makes you feel tired/exhausted all the time. 

Days bleed into weeks and months, and there’s a part of you that thinks, “Will this ever end/or get better?” and there’s a part of you that regrets thinking of that question and realizing that the end might be sooner than you think. 

You learn to embrace the present, stop thinking/worrying about the future, and just be thankful for one more day and breath.

4. Activating Surf-Mode

Surf-Mode Definition: when life throws crazy challenges at you that all you can do is ride the waves.

Facing my dad’s mortality felt like facing waves upon waves of challenges and trials. Sometimes, the trial is medical, financial, or mental. You can’t stop the waves coming; all you can do is ride them. 

Hence, I came up with the term “Surf Mode” to remind myself that instead of trying to ‘fight’ the waves, I should learn to ride each wave as it comes, no matter how big it gets. This emoji became my shorthand to my friends, telling them I was riding a new wave whenever they didn’t hear from me for a while.

5. Difficulties and Eases

“Verily, with difficulty comes ease.” (Quran: 94:5)

It’s easy to think that I lived a year of doom and gloom watching my father slowly fade.

However, the truth is that we witnessed Allah’s Lutf, gentleness, and ease throughout this trial. 

From finding the right care team to Allah sending us the right people to remind us to be patient when we are about to fall in despair, to mini-miracles happening along that way that could not be “coincidences.”

Appreciating the “khair” in this situation has been my north star – and perhaps I won’t understand the full extent of Allah’s favor upon us during these trying times until late in my life.

6. The Jihad of serving a dying parent

A man came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), asking his permission to go out for Jihad. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked him, “Are your parents alive?” He replied, ‘Yes.’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said to him, “Then your Jihad would be with them (i.e., in looking after them and being at their service.).” (Bukhari)

I have to admit – It wasn’t easy to care for Dad – and there were moments of frustrations and even, dare I say, resentment. 

Now I understand why the Prophet called serving parents in old age as a Jihaad and why the Quran said, “Don’t say Uff.” 

This is a message I sent to my PCM friends during this period:

“#RealTalk: Now that the “drama” of the hospital is behind us and we are entering the long-term care phase — I feel I’m being tested on this part of the verse… “say no word that shows impatience with them, and do not be harsh with them, but speak to them respectfully”…dad’s getting really frustrated with his condition and is overwhelmed with worry/anxiety and hence very sensitive/snappy… And Shaytaan is playing with my head and wants me to lose patience and utter the word “uff”…May Allah make it easy and keep our hearts pure.”

The year was a true Jihad against my nafs not to feel tired or resentful of the situation, a fight against my tongue not to express annoyance with dad’s constant demands. 

I reached low points that only Allah knows, but I came out of them by His mercy. 

May Allah forgive my shortcomings and accept the little I did for him – Ameen

7. Wanting to escape vs. being present

When someone is dying – depending on their circumstances – there’s a lot of waiting:

• Waiting for the doctor
• Waiting for a procedure to complete
• Waiting for the patient to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, etc
• Waiting for death

Our usual reaction when we’re waiting for something is to pull out our phones and scroll through social media or text our friends/check our emails.

But the day I found myself getting addicted to scrolling through pointless YouTube videos while dad was in pain, I knew that something was off, and I was trying to escape mentally from the situation. 

I realized that my nafs was not ready to be present to face dad’s mortality and the emotions that come with it; it wanted to distract itself with random Mr.Beast videos or “best goals of all time” highlights.

Over several weeks, I had to place strategies to fight this escapism, from deleting YouTube from my phone to forcing myself to read the Quran or do dhikr whenever I felt like escaping.

I wasn’t always successful, and sometimes I failed – but that was part of the Jihad. 

8. The Endurance Game 

Learning from my cycling/running hobbies, I realized that to stick to caring for dad for several months required endurance and not just sprints.

And the secret to endurance is learning how to fuel yourself and recover while putting in the effort.

Finding time to rest, sleep, eat, and even exercise was necessary to build long-term endurance for caregiving. 

Having said that, I couldn’t deny the guilt factor I felt whenever I went for a run or took a nap, knowing that dad was in pain or that my mom/brother was with dad instead of doing what they love. 

I had to deal with that guilt by reminding myself that part of caring for someone is ensuring that you take care of yourself and the care team so that we can all be there for the long haul. 

9. Having Difficult Conversations

One of the most challenging conversations to have with a dying person is what they’d like to happen after they die. 

From practical things like getting access to their bank accounts and knowing what assets/debts they have to their medical preference in critical situations. 

One of my friends recommended I take a pen/paper and have this conversation once. As painful as it would be, it’ll be done once, and you’ll be done with it.

For dad, we talked about his assets/debts, but we never reached the point of his Wassiyyah (will). This reminded me that we all need to have a clearly defined Wassiyyah (will) before we die – to make it easier for our inheritors to know precisely what to do instead of interpreting what needs to be done.

The advantage of having this conversation once is that once that’s done – you can spend the rest of the time talking about everything else but the difficult stuff. You can share memories, ask their advice on your plans, or be present in silent moments of contemplation.

10. Planning your life around a terminally ill person

When someone is dying, your time horizon fluctuates between a few hours to several months. 

Sometimes, things looked good for dad, and we were optimistic that he’d be around for several months, and sometimes, things looked critical that we weren’t sure he’d live for another day.

Trying to plan life around this fluctuating time horizon was so tricky.

Ultimately, I learned to embrace the gardener mindset and pray istikhara on every small/big decision since I had no idea what the future held and let things unfold on their own instead of trying to ‘control the situation.’

11. Allah provides as per your intention

Last Ramadan, I made a dua, “O Allah, facilitate the outer and inner means for me to serve my parents with Ihsaan.”

At that time, I was living in Dallas (Texas), my kids were in school, and my family and I were pretty set in the US. I wondered if I could ever leave all that to be with dad in Dubai for his treatment. But subhanAllah, Allah fulfilled means for me to be with him beyond my expectations. 

Initially, we planned to spend three months of summer with him, and then, depending on the situation, my family would return to Dallas while I stayed on.

However, a “random” call to a friend made me realize that I was eligible to apply for a 10-year residence visa, which meant I could rent an apartment, send my kids to school, and open a bank account locally.

Then there was a one-year contract that stalled for over a year, and that “suddenly” worked out, which enabled me to afford to live in Dubai for the year. 

All of this was unplanned and purely a gift from Allah.

Those were the outer means Allah facilitated, but the inner means were things like the ease and calm with which my family and I accepted the move and the contentment that this was the right decision to make, Alhamdulillah.

12. Keeping Intentions Pure for Allah’s sake

رَّبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا فِى نُفُوسِكُمْ ۚ إِن تَكُونُوا۟ صَـٰلِحِينَ فَإِنَّهُۥ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّٰبِينَ غَفُورًۭا 

Your Lord knows best what is within yourselves. If you are righteous, He is certainly All-Forgiving to those who constantly turn to Him. (Quran 17:25)

It’s one thing to set pure intentions, and another is to keep them pure.

When people were commending me for staying with my father, I recognized that this was a test, and my niyyah fluctuated with the situation. 

I kept asking myself: Was I truly doing this for Allah? Or just so people say, “Masha’Allah, Mohammed is sacrificing his time/life for his dad.”

Whenever I felt frustrated, I realized that my intentions weren’t pure. I had to push myself to purify the intention and accept this Jihad, no matter the consequences. 

13. Enduring Pain With Dhikr 

If there was one thing that was constant on my dad’s tongue during this whole year of trial.. it was his remembrance of God.

He kept calling to Allah through his pain; he would say “La ilaha illa Allah” often, send salawaat, recite some Quran when he was feeling better, and generally make dua asking Allah to forgive him or make it easy for him.

I remember my heart smiling whenever he made a dua or a remembrance – it reminded me of a story of a sheikh who was once asked when should doctors make a decision to turn off life support. And his response was, “Is there a chance the patient can make one tasbih? or one istighfar?”. 

Every tasbih, istighfar, and salaat my dad was able to make was a means of elevation alhamdulillah.

14. God Loves You

Death came to a man in the time of the Messenger of Allah; may Allah bless him and grant him peace. A man said, “He was fortunate,” as he had died without being tried by illness. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Alas for you, what will let you know that if Allah had tried him with illness, He would have wiped out his wrong actions.” Muwatta Malik

There was a stretch when dad felt good enough to attend Jumuah prayers in his wheelchair. After Jumuah, we would go around the park and get some sun and fresh air.

In one of these walks, a security guard who remembered dad from an earlier encounter came running to him and said: “God loves you a LOT… that’s why He’s testing you.” – it was the most beautiful reminder of the benefit of illness and trials despite the pain.

15. Dealing with constant worry

The burden of worry was shared by my family – from worrying about dad’s symptoms and overall condition to managing our finances with the mounting medical and care expenses. 

Amid a troubling period, I received this poem from a friend, which helped to keep my worries at ease:

“Some eyes stay awake, and some sleep,

Regarding matters that could be or not be.

As much as you can, keep worry away from the soul;

Weighing yourself down with worries is madness.

Your Lord sufficed you yesterday with what was;

He will suffice you tomorrow with what will be.”

(Imam Al-Shafii)

It’s true – every time I thought I was getting overwhelmed with worry (will he make it tonight? Can we afford a full-time nurse? Did the insurance get back to us)… Allah eased the worry and facilitated a way out.

16. The power of a mother/wife 

The rock in our family during this whole period was my mother. 

Although my brother and I tried our best to be with dad and help out, my mother set the high bar for what a loyal, caring, and dedicated wife can be.

From sleepless nights when she checked on dad every few hours to the selfless care she gave him.

She was so concerned about his cleanliness and physical well-being that she’d go the extra mile in things we thought were “trivial” for someone who was dying.

She would brush his teeth, cut his nails, give him a shower or warm bed bath (even when he didn’t want to), treat his skin with cream, oil his limbs, cook him multiple meals (half he refused because he didn’t feel like eating especially towards the end of his life), wash his clothes, sit with him and converse with him.

Her endurance and persistence were exemplary, and I’ll always admire her, and I pray that my siblings and I can provide the same care for her as she gets older, insha’Allah.

17. Making Tough Medical Decisions

One of the complex aspects of caring for a terminally ill person is balancing between medical interventions that would help someone stay alive and learning when to “let go” and not prolong the patient’s suffering.

I read a book a few years ago called “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End” by Atul Gawande that helped with these decisions.

The key message of the book is a reminder that throwing medication and treatment at a dying person might be doing more harm than good. At some point, palliative (pain) management care is the best course of action for a peaceful and dignified death.

When you realize someone’s time is written, you start wondering how far do you want to go with medicine. If you can’t prolong life, then why prolong suffering? 

I often found myself going back to that book’s lessons and the central question the author was trying to address: “How do we make life worth living when we’re weak and frail and can’t fend for ourselves anymore?” 

We often grew up thinking that doctors can “fix it all” with some pills, surgeries, or a new piece of technology. Instead, I learned that death was humbling for us and everyone in the medical field. 

One of the toughest medical decisions we had to make as a family was to sign an “Allow for natural death” form. The form stated that the doctors believed no further treatment would help and that we accept the consequences. 

I felt that was the best medical decision we made.

18. The moment of death

One day I was researching “How does someone die” and I learned that people die in 4 stages: 

• Stage 1: social death: when a person retreats to his room or hospital bed and is unable to engage in social life
• Stage 2: psychological death: When a person’s personality changes, and goes through delirium, confusion, and the throes of death.
• Stage 3: biological death: when the organs start failing, and the body is unable to cope with the ‘system shut down.’
• Stage 4: Physiological death: this is the moment when the ruh leaves the body, and the person is pronounced dead.

I witnessed my dad go through the first 3 stages in the last few months, but I always wondered how the moment of death would happen – where would I be… what would I say… Last Thursday, I got my answers:

• At 3 pm, dad’s situation was getting critical, and I told my mom that we should spend the night at the hospital. So we decided to go home, have a quick bite, and rest a bit to prepare ourselves for a long, sleepless night.
• At 4 pm, my brother called me from the hospital saying that dad’s blood pressure and oxygen were dropping and we should rush back.
• At 4:30 pm, we reached the hospital, and we sat by dad’s side. Holding his hands, reciting Quran, doing athkar, and waiting…
• At 5:45 pm, I completed a khatam of the Quran next to His bedside and prayed for a beautiful end.
• At 6:10 pm, dad took three breaths.. and then he died.

This was the first time I witnessed someone dying this close.

It was a moment of awe and spiritual depth that doesn’t compare to anything I had experienced before, and I thank Allah SWT that He inspired us to say what pleased Him at that moment: 

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ
To Allah, We Belong, and to Him, We Shall Return.

19. Personal Pain vs. Ummah Pain

Going through this journey with dad was a personal journey of pain and loss for me and my family.

However, while we were dealing with dad’s pain in the comfort of a home and hospital, I couldn’t help but feel the pain of our brothers and sisters in Gaza who don’t get a chance to care for their ill or give their dead a decent burial. 

I had a year to process that dad was dying and leaving us…many of our brothers and sisters had milliseconds as their children, parents, spouses, and relatives were blown to pieces by bombs dropped from the sky and sea.

Although this was a tough time for me and my family, it was even tougher for our Ummah.

The combination of witnessing death so close and witnessing the genocide happening in Gaza has fueled my desire to continue this work at Productive Muslim- for life is short, and the Ummah needs us to step up.

May Allah SWT make us a means of victory for our Ummah, and may Allah SWT use us and not replace us to save our brothers and sisters in Gaza and beyond.

The Journey Ahead and a moment of gratitude

I’m still processing my dad’s death…as I was telling my close friends “Alhamdulillah, I’m doing ok…not sure if it hasn’t hit me yet..or my grieving process started early..”

Despite the challenging year we endured – I’m thankful to Allah SWT that He guided us every step of the way.

I’m thankful for being part of the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that taught us how to approach death, what to say and do at the moment of death, and how to treat and bury our dead with respect.

I’m thankful to my mother who showed us the meaning of sacrifice and loyalty.

I’m thankful to my brother, Rayyan, who was my thinking partner whenever we had to make tough decisions and for the many nights he stayed up while I went home to rest.

I’m thankful to my sister, Fatma, who was the spiritual rock in the family constantly reminding us to do good on behalf of my father.

I’m thankful to my wife, Farah, who eased my sacrifice and encouraged me to spend this year with my dad while she had to adjust to a new country and new surroundings.

I’m thankful to my children – who gifted my dad with so many smiles and laughter and gave me temporary relief from the burden of watching my father slowly die.

I’m thankful to my close network of advisors and friends who were there every step of the way, lending me a judgment-free space to rant, brainstorm, and express the ups and downs of my journey. I honestly couldn’t have asked for better friends.

I’m thankful to my extended family and dad’s network of close friends, who kept visiting us and showing us support.

Alhamdulillah. 

I pray Allah SWT grants my father Jannat ul firdaws for the patience he displayed and grants us all a good ending.

If you read this article and you benefitted from it – please pray for my father and if you want, please give sadaqah on his behalf.

JazakumAllah khair.

The post Lessons from a Dying Parent appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

I’ve been speaking to several CEOs, HR Directors, and managers at companies worldwide (small and big). They all face a consistent challenge of managing people’s spiritual and emotional challenges that get in the way of doing their best work and impact team and organizational performance. Challenges like envy, anger, ego-centricity, gossip, lying, arrogance, etc.

Typically, companies tackle the above challenges through ‘cognitive’ interventions like training, coaching, and giving feedback. However, some spiritual and emotional challenges can only be dealt with through a deeper, heart-centric, and spiritual-based approach.

Enter – The Chief Murabbi Officer.

A person or function/role whose sole purpose is dedicated to the spiritual and emotional well-being of leaders and employees at an organization. 

The Arabic word “Murabbi” carries layers of meaning – at its core, a Murabbi is one who nurtures souls. This role is often viewed as belonging in formal educational contexts like schools and madrasahs. However, the essence of a Murabbi is someone who oversees the spiritual and emotional development and care of others. In some cultures, Murabbi is referred to as an elder person, someone who is wise (age and experience of life), and who is respected, and is invested in nurturing souls through spiritual and emotional intelligence.

We have the best example of a Murabbi in Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who said “I was sent to perfect good character.” (Muwatta). You often see/hear reports of him gently, and compassionately correcting behavior and advising how to deal with some of the tough human spiritual and emotional challenges we face each day.

The Chief Murabbi is not an organization’s psychologist – nor an organization’s chaplain but a combination of a counselor, psychologist, and executive coach, with sound character and good standing – who can speak to people about their spiritual/emotional challenges and become a safe space for people to discuss these issues with them.

Imagine you visit your company’s Murabbi when you’re struggling with envy, and you want to speak to them in privacy about this topic, and they’d listen to you and give you practical ways to deal with your heart’s disease.

Or imagine getting a visit from the Chief Murabbi Officer when you have an angry outburst at an important meeting at work, and they’ll speak to you about what triggered that anger and how best to tackle it next time.

So many issues can be resolved through facilitated conversations with Murabbi officers that won’t have to go to HR for disciplinary measures, issues such as arrogance, toxic or inappropriate behavior, gossip, or taking undue credit.

For small organizations, this can be one person (ideally the leader). For larger organizations, this can be a function with multiple/qualified Murabbi officers. Some workplaces may need at least two Murabbi officers, one for male staff and the other for female staff, so men and women can feel comfortable being vulnerable with their respective officers.

Other notable features of this role: 

• It must be a highly respected role, so I’m giving it the C-suite title “Chief Murabbi Officer.”
• It needs to be a well-paid role on par with a leader in the organization and have a close working relationship with the C-suite and board members.
• The person must have a proven track record of people management from a spiritual tradition, e.g., an Imam with a track record of managing a diverse community or a trained Islamic psychologist/counselor.
• Their primary responsibilities include:
  • To advise and counsel leaders and staff on spiritual and emotional challenges
  • To encourage good ethical behavior and advise against inappropriate behavior
  • Be the spiritual guide for the organization
• The person must understand the corporate environment and its various emotional and spiritual challenges.
• Must be likable and trustworthy, and people feel safe talking to them.
• Bonus: They must be trained in the Barakah Culture paradigm of productivity that we teach here at ProductiveMuslim.

Are organizations ready for such a role? I would like to see if an organization is willing to experiment with this role for 12 months and measure the impact this role has on leaders and staff’s well-being.

Share your thoughts with me on LinkedIn if you’re interested in exploring this role.

The post The Case for Chief Murabbi Officers in Organizations appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Normally, you’d use the classic Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks according to their importance and urgency. Anything important and urgent, you’ll try to get done first and then you’ll focus on important but not urgent before getting to the urgent but not important.

While the above tool is useful – however, it has two shortfalls:

1. Most important/urgent tasks are set to you by others (your boss, family, colleagues, etc). So you’re constantly reacting to the never-ending external demands on your time, leaving little room for activities you care deeply about that may not fit into other’s demands.
2. You constantly find yourself in firefighting mode, trying to get rid of urgent tasks and caught in the rat race of life – not having time for those impactful and meaningful projects that truly matter in the long run.

In our busy schedule, when do we have time to prioritize activities beyond the urgent and immediately important? When do we have time to prioritize tasks that align with our deepest intentions or have an impact beyond ourselves? 

Introducing The Intention-Impact Matrix

The intention-impact matrix is a conceptual tool we’ve developed at The Productive Muslim Company to help individuals align their tasks and actions with long-term impact and underlying intention. This is particularly aligned with our Barakah Culture approach to productivity.  

This tool encourages us to reflect on the deeper reasons for undertaking tasks and their potential impact instead of reacting simply to what’s urgent and important at the moment.

It’s a 2×2 matrix with intentions on the y-axis and impact on the x-axis. 

• Intentions can be high or low. Intentions are high when they are spiritually driven, hereafter focused, and sincerely for Allah SWT. Intentions are low when they are worldly-focused and ego-centered (I discuss this hierarchy of intentions in more detail in my book The Barakah Effect, order here).
• Impact can be high or low. Impact is high when it affects others positively or will resonate beyond one’s lifetime. Impact is low when it only impacts yourself or has very short-term consequences. 

Here’s a brief explanation of the four quadrants in your Intentions/Impact Matrix:

• High Intention/High Impact: These are activities taken with the highest intentions that have a substantial positive impact on others and/or resonate beyond one’s lifetime. It could involve social work, charitable acts, or significant projects with long-term benefits.
• High Intention/Low Impact: These involve personal practices that are important on an individual level and are done with pure intentions but may not have a broad or lasting impact on others. This includes personal rituals or habits contributing to one’s spiritual, physical, or mental development. e.g., exercise, reading, and private acts of worship like prayer and fasting.
• Low Intention/High Impact: Here, the actions have the potential for a significant positive impact, but the underlying intentions may not be spiritually driven. You might do the action for worldly gain or reputation and fame. If you find actions in this quadrant, it’s a call for you to reevaluate your intention to align potentially impactful actions with higher intentions.
• Low Intention/Low Impact: Activities that fall into this quadrant are neither driven by high intentions nor do they result in significant impact. These are often trivial or time-wasting activities that one should aim to reduce or eliminate, e.g., scrolling through social media or watching non-beneficial videos online.

How do you use this matrix to prioritize your activities?

Take stock of all your projects, tasks, and activities you have in life, and ask yourself where they fit in the above matrix.

You’ll need to ask two important questions about each activity you are engaged in:

1. What’s my intention?
2. What’s the impact?

• For high intentions/high impact activities – prioritize them and focus on them on a daily/weekly basis. 
• For high intentions/low impact activities – maintain what you can from them, but don’t go overboard or at the expense of high intentions/high impact activities.
• For low intentions/high impact activities – upgrade your intentions and make them sincerely for God and not just for worldly gain/ego satisfaction.
• For low intentions/low-impact activities – minimize or eliminate from your life as much as possible.

Compare the above to the Eisenhower matrix which focuses on just urgent/important and you’d realize that the Intention-Impact matrix adds a layer of spirituality and long-term thinking, leading to more Barakah in one’s life.

Practical tips for implementing the Intentions-Impact matrix in your life

1. Use our Barakah Journal to set daily/weekly intentions for the day. This will make you constantly think about your “intentions list” vs. “to-do list” each day/week. 
2. Try to upgrade your intentions on any activity you’re engaged in – you want to constantly connect all that you do (from the mundane to the most profound) with the higher intention of serving Allah SWT. (see discussion on how to elevate intentions in this Barakah Journal workshop video)
3. Try having at least one activity in your day in the high intention/high impact quadrant. The activity doesn’t have to be big; it can be helping a friend, visiting a sick person, or caring for an older person.

FAQs about Intentions-Impact Matrix

1. Does low impact mean low value?

No! Low impact does NOT mean low value. It means that its circle of impact is much smaller than the high-impact activities.

Moreover, you NEED some of the ‘low impact’ activities to recharge your spiritual, physical, and mental energy to handle high-impact work.

For example, a low-impact activity may be praying, fasting, or exercising… they are essential activities, and we need to do them. However, we should not use them as ‘excuses’ for not doing the high-impact work.

What’s important with low-impact activities is to keep the intentions for them for Allah’s sake and not let our intentions slide to low ego-centered intentions.

2. Can mundane activities become high-intention activities?

The short answer is yes. We discussed this in detail with Dr. Abdallah Rothman in the video below. We talked about how making coffee or doing doing the laundry can be a high-intention activity. Check it out below (starting around the 30-mins mark):

3. What if my season of life doesn’t allow me to focus on high intentions/high-impact activity?

Sometimes, you go through a season of life where you need to take care of young children or an elderly parent, or you’re going through a tough physical/financial time in your life. 

You might feel that you’re ‘missing out’ on doing the high-intention/high-impact work, especially if you’re active in social work. 

This is where you need to reframe the situation: You need to reframe your responsibility as your high-intention/high-impact activity during this season of life; so reframe taking care of kids, or your elderly parent, or the health/financial challenge as a spiritual quest that you know if you fulfill with sincerity and Ihsaan, you’ll be getting the reward for doing high impact work. 

Remember, the story of the young man who wanted to fight in the cause of Allah with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and the Prophet (peace be upon him) advised him to serve his parents because his parents needed him at that time.

I hope you find this tool useful and impactful. I’d love to hear your feedback on this matrix and what decisions it helped you make.

The post Beyond Urgent: Prioritizing Life Using The Intention-Impact Matrix appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Strategies, Tips, And Tools To Design Your Next Best Self Post-Ramadan

Ramadan ended a few weeks ago, and by now you’re probably starting to settle back to your post-Ramadan routine.

You may have been able to keep up with some of your Ramadan resolutions (fasting a bit more, praying some parts of the night, giving charity often), or you may have crashed post-Ramadan and found it really hard to pick yourself up again – spiritually, physically, and socially.

If you’re someone who wants to maintain consistent improvement post-Ramadan and win the battle of life against your Nafs and Shaytaan (which seems to come back stronger after Ramadan), then you’ll find this useful.

Begin with Next Ramadan in Mind

Fast-forward to the 29th day of Sha’baan of next year, you’re hours away from knowing if Ramadan is tomorrow or not. You’re excited. Maybe a bit nervous. Busy with typical Ramadan preparations.

Unfortunately, the Angel of Death comes and takes your soul in those hours, and you’re deprived of witnessing the next Ramadan.

How do you feel?

The reason I bring this thought up is to help frame this article in your mind: Although you’re not guaranteed to live to witness another Ramadan, this does not mean that your journey of self-development and improvement should be on hold until next Ramadan comes.

There are many things you can do in between now and then and this is what this article is about.

A Framework To Develop Yourself Post Ramadan

The Productive Muslim Company is big on building frameworks that help us tackle some of our most profound self-development challenges. And one of the frameworks that we often use in our training and coaching is the following one:

This framework simply states that if we want to design the next best version of ourselves post-Ramadan, we need to think of the Mindsets, Values, and Rituals that would help us make those changes post-Ramadan.

Mindsets: How You Think Affects How You Behave

It’s common knowledge among psychology circles that our thoughts have an impact on our actions (and vice-versa. More on that later). [“How Thoughts Influence Actions”. Psychology Today]. So how you think about your post-Ramadan period will impact how you behave. Below are 3 mindset shifts that you need to think about to help you upgrade your post-Ramadan experience.

1. Think Realistically

There’s an equation that I learned from a time management expert that helped me a lot manage my stress levels:

Expectations > Reality = Stress

Simply stated, when expectations exceed the reality, you’re only setting yourself up for stress and failure.

How do we do this post-Ramadan? Have you heard yourself say things like: After Ramadan, I’ll pray tahajjud every night, I’ll fast every Monday and Thursday, I’ll give charity every day, etc.? What happens when you don’t live up to those expectations? You fall for the classic Shaytaan trick of making you feel terrible that you didn’t live up to your expectations and fall for another psychological trap called the “What the hell effect.” [“How the What the Hell Effect Impacts Your Willpower”. Psychology Today]

Here’s how the what the hell effect works: You decide to eat healthily and stop eating sugar, and for the first few days, you’re doing great. Then you get invited over to your friend’s house, and they have an incredible dessert spread. Initially, you resist, but your friend insists, and you have a small piece of Halwa. Next think you know, you say to yourself, “What the hell, let me try everything else, I’ll restart my diet tomorrow.” Next day you feel so bad that you break your new diet, and another “what the hell” moment hits you, and you give up entirely on your new diet.

Think of how many times the “what the hell” effect impacted you when it came to your prayers, to voluntary fasting, to being present with your children. Allah SWT captures this phenomenon when he tells us about not following the steps of Shaytaan in a number of verses, like:

” O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.” (Qur’an 2: 208)

So how do you tackle these two traps: setting high and unrealistic expectations, and falling for the “what the hell” effect? The key is to set small, realistic expectations and then guard them with all your might until they become solid habits before you set higher expectations.

Here’s how this works: You want to pray tahajjud every night? Start by committing to pray 1xrak’ah of witr prayer after Isha prayers and before you sleep. It’s a small commitment, but you want to do it no matter what. Even on days you don’t feel like it or you’re tired. Don’t get on the slippery slope of missing 1 day and thinking “what the hell, I’ll never be able to pray tahajjud in my life.” And even if you do slip 1 day, don’t fall for the “what the hell” effect and instead pick yourself up the next day, stronger than ever. Once you’ve established this routine long enough and it has become part and parcel of your life, upgrade yourself and aim to pray 3 rak’ahs of witr, etc.

2. Think Holistically

The second mindset shift to consider is to think about your personal development journey holistically.

During the Productivity Masterclass, we help individuals and teams think of how to live the next best version of themselves across all their roles, i.e., what does your next-best version of yourself look like as a Dad/Mom? as a professional? As a neighbor? As a Muslim? Etc.

Thinking holistically removes the mind-trap that post-Ramadan self-development is only about rituals. It makes us recognize that the rituals form the bedrock and scaffolding to help us build our next best version across our roles.

To help you think holistically about your self-development, complete our Productive Muslim Self-Assessment tool to figure out where you are today – spiritually, physically, and socially and where you need to go.

Launch Self-Assessment

3. Think Long-Term

One of the primary reasons people give up their post-Ramadan resolutions is that they measure their success or failure based on a very short time frame, i.e., they measure how well they are performing in the first 2-3 weeks post-Ramadan. If they see no improvement, they give up!

Someone might say, “I tried fasting Mondays and Thursdays after Ramadan, but it was too hard, so I gave up.”

What if we expanded our self-development journey beyond these first 2 weeks instead? What if we asked ourselves – how can I develop this new habit/routine in 12 months?

Here’s a thought: We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period but underestimate what we can do over a long period.

Yes, waking up for fajr might seem hard in those first 2-3 weeks, but if you focus on developing this habit over 3, 6, 9 months, you’ll eventually crack it, and it’ll become easy for you.

A good metaphor for thinking long-term is that of a gardener. When the gardener plants his seed, waters his garden, and works hard all day on his farm. He doesn’t expect to see a mature tree the next day! He understands that growing a tree takes time, and a lot of energy, focus, and time goes into becoming a tree. Similarly, new habits and routines take time to take root, nurture and grow, if you think of them as a long-term project, and work on it daily, you’re more likely to succeed.

PRACTICAL TIPS

1. Think of your long-term goals post-Ramadan across all your roles
2. Think of the obstacles you might face to achieve your goals (be realistic)
3. Think of how to overcome those obstacles – one step at a time.

Values: What Beliefs are driving your post-Ramadan life?

This section talks about a subtle but essential spiritual element when it comes to achieving a post-Ramadan goal. And that is to do with our Hearts and how connected we are with Allah SWT when it comes to achieving our post-Ramadan Goals.

Every day in our prayers we recite this verse →

“You Alone We Worship, and You Alone We Seek Help From” (Qur’an 1: 5)

This is a foundational concept in our faith that is critical for all our self-improvement endeavors. It involves two aspects:

1. You Alone We Worship: All your goals, all your self-improvement, and self-development, should be connected to the concept of you wanting to become the best ‘Abd’ (Slave) to Allah SWT. During the Productivity Masterclass, we speak in detail of the Islamic-psychospiritual model of the human being and how being an ‘Abd’ (slave) of Allah SWT is such a foundational concept that we need to revive in our hearts to help us live the best version of ourselves.
2. You Alone We Seek Help From: This is the recognition that as part of us acknowledging that we’re slaves of Allah, then we need to ask Allah’s permission and tawfeeq (success) in all the goals that we want to achieve.

Let’s be honest; sometimes, the goals we set for ourselves post-Ramadan can be all about developing our self-esteem and self-image. We forgot the ‘why’ that should drive these goals, and hence we give up on them too quickly. If I’m trying to wake up for tahajjud just because I see it as another milestone in my self-development journey, and not as an act of worship that would get me closer to Allah SWT, I need to revise my intentions.

So how can we practically develop these beliefs/values in our lives:

1. Set Good Intentions: When you set any post-Ramadan goal, ask yourself – why am I doing this? Who’s this for? How can I become a better ‘Abd’ to Allah through this goal?
2. Always Ask Allah To Help With Your Goals: Make your goals as spiritual quests. Ask Allah SWT to help you stay physically healthy post-Ramadan, to fast regularly, to pray tahajjud, etc. Don’t be arrogant and rely on your means – you need Him. Ask Him.
3. Work Hard: Good intentions and prayers don’t work on their own. Allah SWT would like to see the effort from you and He’ll take care of the results.

Rituals: What You Do Impacts How You Think and What You Believe

Earlier I mentioned that just like our thoughts have an impact on our actions. So does our action have an influence on how we think?

Here’s a simple experiment: Let’s say you’re upset, or in a bad mood. Grab a pencil and bite it between your teeth, forcing you to smile. Notice how your levels of happiness will increase, and you’ll feel better.

What does this mean for us, post-Ramadan?

This means that whether we feel like it or don’t feel like it – we need to commit to some rituals post-Ramadan that’ll help us improve how we think about ourselves and what we believe is possible post-Ramadan.

There are 3 key concepts to keep in mind though to ensure that you stick to your rituals post-Ramadan:

1. Choose To Focus on Not More Than 3 New Rituals Post-Ramadan: It’s so tempting after graduating from Ramadan to feel that you can change your life 180 overnight and introduce so many new routines in life. Although it is doable, it’s tough and I’d rather you focus on a winning strategy instead. The winning strategy is to focus on 3 new rituals post-Ramadan, and once they become part of who you are, add some more.
2. Start Small: This is critical. The smaller the change in your life, the longer it lasts. Start small but have the intention that you’ll want to grow this ritual over time.
3. Celebrate Progress: When you do your small ritual – celebrate it. Feel good about it. Thank Allah SWT that he enabled you to make one small step towards the next best version of you and being His ‘Abd.’ Celebration will reinforce this ritual in your brain as something pleasant to be done again.

What should happen when I make the above shifts in my Mindsets, Values, and Rituals?

Fast forward your life to the 29th of Sha’baan next year, it’s a few hours before Ramadan might be announced. You’re excited and giddy and can’t wait to find out.

You’ve spent the entire year, slowly but surely, upgrading your mindsets, values, and rituals and living the next best version of yourself: spiritually, physically, and socially.

You feel more ready than ever for Ramadan and for the next spiritual boost.

However, the Angel of Death comes to you in those hours before Ramadan and takes your soul away.

Do you have any regrets?

Or do you feel that you’ve done all you can to be a true Abd of Allah SWT throughout the year and you are ready to meet Him?

The post How to Pick Yourself Up Post Ramadan appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

It is inspired by the guidance of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He taught his companions to seek istikharah (goodness) from Allah SWT and istisharah (counsel) from people whenever they have a decision to make.

The Barakah of making decisions with istikharah & istisharah is the knowledge that despite all the unknowns and potential outcomes of your decision, you can proceed without feeling regret because you did all you could at the time of making a decision following Prophetic guidance. 

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: ‘From (the signs of) the son of Adam’s prosperity, is his satisfaction with what Allah decreed for him, and from the son of Adam’s misery is his avoiding to request guidance from Allah, and from the son of Adam’s misery is his anger with what Allah decreed for him.”

A-Tirmidhi

In this article, we’ll explain why making decisions is hard, the process to make decision making easier, and how each question in the Istikharah Notepad is designed to help you follow this process.

Why Making Decisions is Hard

Making decisions is challenging for two reasons:

1. We don’t have perfect knowledge of what will happen in the future based on our decisions.
2. We are not sure of the opportunity cost of each decision we make and whether there are better decisions we could have made. 

Allah SWT says in the Quran: 

قُل لَّآ أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِى نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ ٱلْغَيْبَ لَٱسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِىَ ٱلسُّوٓءُ ۚ إِنْ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

“Say [Prophet], ‘I have no control over benefit or harm, [even] to myself, except as God may please: if I had knowledge of what is hidden, I would have abundant good things, and no harm could touch me. I am no more than a bearer of warning and good news to those who believe.“

Quran 7:188

If you need to make a decision on a job offer, a business proposition, or a marriage proposal, you don’t have perfect and complete knowledge of the impact of this decision on your life. Moreover, once you decide, you forgo other opportunities that may or may not be better for you. 

The indecision we go through because we’re not sure what’s good for us and the opportunity cost of our decisions can be paralyzing, especially when we have a lot of good choices in front of us. 

We think that having more choices in life is better; however, as Dr.Barry Schwartz explained in his TED Talk, the more options you have, the more complex a decision can be, and the more regret you’ll feel after making a decision because you think you could have made better choices:

This abundance of choice and the accompanying indecision is exasperated in the modern era compared to previous generations. In the past, finding a job or spouse was limited to where you lived and whom you knew. Nowadays, with a click of a button, you can search for endless options for jobs and potential spouses globally.

So, how do we make decision making less stressful? How do we not get paralyzed with the abundance of choices and the challenges of analyzing all our options? Below is a four-step process to help in this regard.

The 4-Step Process to Decision Making

1. Understand the decision: You need to ask yourself powerful questions that give you clarity and perspective on the decision at hand.
2. Seek counsel from people you trust or those who have more knowledge and experience than you and who can give you good, sincere advice.
3. Pray istikharah prayer and seek goodness and Barakah in your decision from Allah SWT.
4. Take action based on what your spiritual heart is inclined towards and trust Allah (Tawakkal) that He’ll give you what’s best even if things don’t work out your way.

How does the Istikharah Notepad work? 

The Istikharah Notepad helps you systematically go through the above process by completing one sheet of paper per decision.

Step 1: Understand the decision

The first few questions in the Istikharah Notepad are designed to help you clearly think through the decisions. Here’s a breakdown of each question and how it can help you:

What decision do I need to make?

It’s incredible how asking a simple question can help resolve a lot of indecision around a topic. 

What is it exactly that you’re deciding on? Be specific. For example, let’s say you’re considering starting a business. What decision are you making? Is it whether or not to get into the business? Or what type of business do you need to get into? Or the business model you should explore?

Being clear on the decision you need to make is the first step towards making effective decisions and reducing the uncertainty around a decision.

Use this space in the Istikharah Notepad to write a clear statement on the decision you’re making.

What’s my niyyah (intention) for this decision?

Once you understand what decision you need to make. Take a pause, and ask yourself why are you making this decision? What’s the intention behind it? 

For example, you might realize that the reason you’re considering a job offer even though you already have a good job is that you’re bored and are looking for new exciting job opportunities. Or the reason for choosing a specific college degree is because it’ll look good on your CV even though you’re not interested in studying that topic.

Intentions are subtle, and they start from the heart. Our challenge is to purify the intentions behind every decision and make them for Allah SWT (we cover this topic extensively in our How to Use Barakah Journal webinar and in the introductory section of the Barakah Journal).

Understanding our intentions and trying to purify them so that they are for the sake of Allah SWT is a powerful step to get clarity on decisions and ensure that you make spiritually-intelligent decisions. Therefore, in this section of the Istikharah Notepad, write down what your niyyah (intention) is and assess your intention:

• Is it for Allah SWT?
• Can you upgrade your intention from a Dunya (worldly) focus to an Akhira focus?
• What is your why telling you about this decision?

These reflective questions are essential as they’ll help remove some of the layers of indecision surrounding the decision. You might get clarity on what your decision should be simply by thinking about your intentions.

When do I need to make this decision?

The most stressful part about making a decision isn’t the decision-making process; it’s being stuck in the period before making the decision. We call this The Stress of Indecision. That’s why adding a deadline is vital to help you decide by a specific date and not give yourself the option to procrastinate on the decision-making process.

Some decisions have clear deadlines – e.g., you need to accept a job offer within 2 weeks, for example. Other decisions don’t have a clear deadline, and this is where we recommend that you put a deadline and stick to it.

As part of our #GoHijri campaign – we recommend that you put a Hijri date first before a Gregorian date. Perhaps there’s a subtle spiritual significance to a specific date that would inspire you to make a decision on that day, e.g., you might decide on an important project on the Day of Arafat.

Which areas of my life will this decision affect the most?

Every decision you make will impact multiple areas of your life. The question is: which area will be affected the most?

For example, if you want to start a business, you might realize that the most affected area is your finances since it’ll take time for the startup to get off the ground, and you won’t have the security of a monthly paycheck. Knowing this, you’d need to make financial arrangements to ensure that you have a 6-12 months runway to cover your expenses while you work on your business and a backup plan in case your business fails.

Or you might realize that accepting that next promotion will affect your health and family life since it requires constant traveling and lots of late-night meetings.

Understanding which areas of your life will be affected by a decision helps you think through ways to mitigate the impact of a decision and/or have relevant conversations with those who’ll be affected so you can better agree on how best to manage the impact of a decision.

Which part of this decision is my nafs (self) attached to and why?

This is perhaps the most challenging question to ask yourself in the notepad because it requires deep introspection and self-accountability. 

Before I share how to answer this question, a quick preview of what we mean by nafs (self) here from an Islamic psycho-spiritual perspective so you can understand how to answer this question.

Your nafs is a subtle substance that comes into existence when our souls and bodies meet in this world. It is the part of us that has desires, likes and dislikes, and particular inclinations based on pleasure and pain. As Dr. Abdallah Rothman outlines in this article, while the nafs is not bad in and of itself, it has the tendency to lead us away from Allah SWT because it tends to be attached to this world. Our challenge – as spiritual beings – is to train and discipline the nafs to turn towards Allah and not be connected to this temporal world so that it can be successful in the hereafter.

Disciplining our nafs can be difficult, especially since our nafs is like a child. If it wants something, it wants it now (instant gratification) regardless of the consequences, and if it doesn’t want something, it’ll resist and throw ‘tantrums’ if you try to force it to do something that it doesn’t like.

Therefore, when it comes to decision-making, we need to be careful. Sometimes we make decisions that our nafs is inclined towards even though it might harm us spiritually and lead us away from Allah SWT. For example, let’s say you’re a hiring manager at a company and you have to decide between two candidates. Objectively, candidate A is better than candidate B, and your team thinks that candidate A is the best overall choice. However, your nafs is attached to candidate B because they come from the same background as you, or they are more attractive (this is sometimes referred to as implicit bias). 

We need to be wary of making decisions that appeal to our nafs instead of what’s best for us (or the organization) in the long run.

So think deeply and introspectively about what part of a decision is your nafs attached to and why. Perhaps, for example, you’re attached to an idea/project because it was your idea, and even though objectively the idea may not work, your nafs doesn’t want to let go because it was your idea. Hence, you pursue the idea anyway at high costs.

Again, the purpose of this question is not to ‘judge’ what your nafs likes or dislikes, but simply to reflect and understand what your nafs is attached to so you can make better spiritually-intelligent decisions.

How do I currently feel about this decision?

This is a quick ‘gut’ reaction check about a decision. How do you feel about the decision? Don’t overthink this section and choose from the available options. You can select as many feelings as you like.

Labeling the emotions surrounding a decision is a way to understand what your intuition is telling you about a decision. 

You might think that you ‘fear’ a decision, but realize that it’s an excitement coupled with a sense of vulnerability. This is helpful information as you think through the decision and how best to proceed.

What are the Dunya (worldly) or Akhirah (hereafter) opportunities/challenges of this decision? 

The purpose of this question is to prompt you to think of potential opportunities and challenges you’ll face as a result of following through with a decision in this world and the next.

For example, you might consider a marriage proposal from someone wealthy but is not religious. From a Dunya perspective, the decision opens up the opportunity for you to move up the socio-economic ladder, afford more things, and generally be well-off. Moreover, from an Akhirah perspective, you now have access to wealth that you can use to give to charity, support your family, and fund community projects.

However, the challenges of this decision from a Dunya perspective could be social pressure to keep up with people from a higher class, being worried that family and friends may try to take advantage of you, being invited to lots of parties that waste your time etc. And from an Akhirah perspective, having to deal with family members who may be averse to any form of religiosity because they feel Islam is backward and not compatible with the modern world. Also, all this new material wealth may impact your spiritual and character development; you may start being arrogant and treating people with contempt, etc.

Every decision opens up opportunities and challenges for us in this world and the next. This section of the Istikharah Notepad helps you think through these opportunities and challenges and perform a cost-benefit analysis that is not just worldly but also considers the hereafter impact.

Step 2: Seek counsel from people

The Istisharah (Advice) Log

In Islam, we are encouraged to seek counsel or ‘shura’ from people concerning decisions we need to make.

Even if we think we’re smart and have good judgment, seeking counsel is encouraged. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sought advice and counsel from his companions, including before the battles of Badr and Uhud. Sometimes the advice was successful as in the battle of Badr, and sometimes it wasn’t as successful like in the battle of Uhud, but that did not deter the Prophet to seek counsel from the companions, as Allah SWT asked him to do:

فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلْقَلْبِ لَٱنفَضُّوا۟ مِنْ حَوْلِكَ ۖ فَٱعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَمْرِ ۖ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ

“By an act of mercy from God, you [Prophet] were gentle in your dealings with them- had you been harsh, or hard-hearted, they would have dispersed and left you- so pardon them and ask forgiveness for them. Consult with them about matters, then, when you have decided on a course of action, put your trust in God: God loves those who put their trust in Him.”

Quran 3:159

Allah says in the Quran – describing the believers:

وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَجَابُوا۟ لِرَبِّهِمْ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأَمْرُهُمْ شُورَىٰ بَيْنَهُمْ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

“And those who respond to their Lord; keep up the prayer; conduct their affairs by mutual consultation; give to others out of what We have provided for them”

Quran 42:38

The Barakah of istisharah is that you’re often led to the correct and most beneficial decision (not always, but often).

When Umar Bin Al-Khattab was considering entering a town with a plague, he sought advice from the companions who told him that it was best not to enter. Later he learned that there was a hadith by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) explicitly discouraging people from entering a town with a plague (a concept we now know as quarantine).

When seeking istisharah from people, you need to seek istisharah from people who have knowledge/experience and can give you practical advice to act on. The person should be known for their honesty and trustworthiness and set their personal feelings aside to provide you with objective and straightforward advice. 

This section of the Istikharah Notepad ensures that you a) seek shura from at least three people in your circle (feel free to seek istisharah from more people if you want) and b) capture their shura, so you have a log of what advice they gave you.

Step 3: Seek istikharah (goodness) from Allah SWT

The Istikharah Prayer Log

The istikharah prayer is a special prayer taught by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) when we have a decision to make. It’s a powerful way to seek goodness and Barakah from Allah SWT on any decision you’re making. 

Here’s how to pray istikharah prayer:

Step 1: Perform two rak’ah of optional prayer

Step 2: After the prayer, make the following supplication:

اللهم إني أستخيرك بعلمك، وأستقدرك بقدرتك، وأسألك من فضلك العظيم؛ فإنك تقدر ولا أقدر وتعلم ولا أعلم، وأنت علام الغيوب‏.‏ اللهم إن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر خير لي في ديني ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري‏”‏ أو قال‏:‏ ‏”‏عاجل أمري وآجله ، فاقدره لي ويسره لي، ثم بارك لي فيه، وإن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر شر لي في ديني ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري‏”‏ أو قال‏:‏ ‏”‏عاجل أمري وآجله، فاصرفه عني ، واصرفني عنه، واقدر لي الخير حيث كان، ثم ارضني به‏”‏ قال‏:‏ ويسمي حاجته‏. (البخاري)

Transliteration: “Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi ‘ilmika, wa astaqdiruka bi qudratika, wa as-‘aluka min fadlikal-‘azim. Fainnaka taqdiru wa la aqdiru, wa ta’lamu wa la a’lamu, wa Anta ‘allamul- ghuyub. Allahumma in kunta ta’lamu anna hadhal-‘amra (and name what you want to do) khairun li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa ‘aqibati amri, (or he said) ‘ajili amri ajilihi, faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li, thumma barik li fihi. Wa in kunta ta’lamu anna hadhal ‘amra (and name what you want to do) sharrun li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa ‘aqibati amri, (or he said) wa ‘ajili amri wa ajilihi, fasrifhu ‘anni, wasrifni ‘anhu, waqdur liyal- khaira haithu kana, thumma ardini bihi.” 

Translation: “O Allah, I consult You through Your Knowledge, and I seek strength through Your Power, and ask of Your Great Bounty; for You are Capable whereas I am not and, You know, and I do not, and You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allah, if You know that this matter (and name it) is good for me in respect of my Deen, my livelihood and the consequences of my affairs, (or he said), the sooner or, the later of my affairs then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. But if You know this matter (and name it) to be bad for my Deen, my livelihood or the consequences of my affairs, (or he said) the sooner or the later of my affairs then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it, and grant me power to do good whatever it may be, and cause me to be contented with it). And let the supplicant specify the object.” [Al-Bukhari]

After you pray your istikharah prayer, see what your heart is inclined towards and write it down in the Istikharah notepad.

Although you can pray istikharah only once, there’s no harm in repeating your istikharah prayer 2-3 times, especially if new information/insight comes to you.

How do I know what my heart is inclined towards?

There are a few signs:

1. You feel very comfortable regarding a decision and have no hesitation or concern.
2. You see a dream that supports a decision.
3. A person of knowledge and experience gives you a clear direction of what path to follow.
4. You feel optimistic about a particular decision.
5. Allah opens insights in your heart of the actual cost/benefit of a decision, so you make the most beneficial route.

Step 4: Take action based on what your spiritual heart is inclined towards

Next Steps

Many people are confused about istikharah prayer and not sure how “it works.” 

The purpose of the istikharah prayer is that we are seeking Allah’s guidance and giving over our affair to Allah (tafweedh). Therefore, after taking all the above steps and praying istikharah, the next step is to take action in the direction our heart is inclined towards and have complete trust that Allah SWT will take care of the rest (even if things don’t go our way).

In his book A Journey to God, Dr. Jasser Auda captures this understanding in the following example: “If you are running a business trying to make a profit, there is a possibility that you may lose your investment. But if you pray istikharah and lose, think deeply about it. You might find that you lost some of your investment now, but that larger profits will follow in a different business in the future after you learned from the lessons of your loss. It is also possible that God made you lose so that you will reconsider many things, people, and plans in your life, which you examine in an effort to find out why you lost. You may continue to lose, but win a close friend who helped you during the time of your troubles. Therefore, your real success in the end may be from making a profit in another deal, reconsidering your plans, or even winning a friend. God knows whereas you do not know (Quran 2:216).” 3

Once you write down the next steps, say bismillah and take action! 

Congratulations, you’ve made a decision in line with prophetic guidance, and insha’Allah you’ll have no regrets regardless of the outcome.

Questions about the Istikharah Notepad?

I hope this article gave you a clear step-by-step guide to filling the Istikharah Notepad and how to make the most out of it. If you have further questions, please send us an email or ask us on Twitter and we’ll be happy to respond.

The post Istikharah Notepad: A Practical Tool to Decide With Barakah appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

If you’re not sure, what the metaverse is, check out the video below:

After getting over the initial excitement and novelty about the experience, I had three questions at the back of my mind:

1. Is this the future or just a fad?
2. Is this better than a Zoom video call?
3. How will this affect spirituality and overall well being?

I’m still thinking about this, but below are my initial thoughts:

1. Is the Metaverse the future or just a fad?

Will metaverse meetups replace Zoom video calls? 

WIll people work, play, and meet in the metaverse as comfortable as we meet over video calls? 

Do I see myself teaching Productive Muslim courses in the metaverse?

The answer is: it depends. 

It depends on the adoption rate of such technology. 

Just like how we adopted smartphones and they became ‘essential’ tools for our modern lives, I can see it becoming a ‘norm’ to have meetups in the metaverse if a large number of people adopt the technology and tools.

2. Is this better than a Zoom video call?

After a couple of hours in the metaverse, we decided to hop back into a zoom video call.

Although the meeting didn’t feel as immersive (as if I’m sitting right across from my friends), seeing a real human face in flesh and bone was definitely a more authentic experience – than seeing a cartoon character of the person I’m meeting.

So, no, I don’t think the metaverse would replace video calls. 

Just like video calls won’t replace real-life meetups, but they can be the next best thing if you can’t meet someone in real life.

3. How will this affect spirituality and wellbeing?

This will be the big question that I feel we all need to ask ourselves.

The first thought that crosses your mind when you take off your headset and you’re back to ‘real’ life is how ‘boring’ real life looks like. It’s not as colorful and bright as the metaverse. And that’s a scary thought. There’s a sense of your nafs wanting to go back to the metaverse utopia and escape this world.

This feeling reminded me of a powerful khutba that Sh. Omar Suleiman gave it a couple of weeks ago. He reminded us of the power of the Dajjal at the end of times to manipulate reality and make what’s not real feel better and be more exciting than the real world!

So how do I feel this will affect spirituality and wellbeing?

Well, we’ve seen how social media can be a double-edged sword. Yes, some good can come out of it, but it can also lead to all sorts of challenges including, anxiety, and in some cases breakdown of families and society. So we need to be cautious as we’re entering the next chapter of the internet. We need to ask ourselves:

• How will this affect our spiritual hearts?
• Will this be a distraction from doing the real-life work of preparing to meet Allah SWT?
• Will it cause more confusion among the youth and a loss of their identity and character?
• Or will this be a safe space where people can meet and learn and grow? And a bridge to help people overcome certain social anxieties they have in real life?

It’s too early to answer these questions. But here are my recommendations if you’re planning to explore the VR/metaverse world:

1. Be intentional: Ask yourself, why are you entering this space? Is this for learning/experimenting or distraction/play? Be clear of your why.

2. Set guidelines based on personal values: What will you do/not do when you enter the metaverse? When will you enter the metaverse and for how long? When will you know that you need to stop and you’re being addicted and simply escaping reality?

3. Balance your VR experiences with high-quality IRL experiences: We are a middle nation. And we don’t go to extremes. You can engage in the VR world, but also have high quality IRL experiences with family and friends. Take your kids to the park instead of enjoying a VR vacation. Teach a workshop in real life instead of just through zoom/VR. Be very conscious that you’re blurring what’s real and what’s not.

I hope you found these thoughts useful and beneficial. I’ll keep you posted if my thoughts develop over time in this space… in the meantime, feel free to subscribe to our newsletter below and receive more insights on productivity experiments that my team and I explore every now and then.

The post An experiment in the Metaverse appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Although there are lots of books and resources that discuss how to run successful meetings, in this article, I’ll explore how we can approach meetings from a spiritual perspective and the impact our spirituality has on the quality of our meetings. 

I’ll also try to answer the question: how can our meetings be conduits of Barakah (Divine Goodness) for ourselves and organizations and even a means of personal and team-wide spiritual development?

This article will be useful for team leaders, managers, and really anyone who wants to see more Barakah in their work meetings insha’Allah.

Meetings As Spaces Where Souls Meet

The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, “…souls are like recruited soldiers, those that recognize one another unite in harmony and those that do not recognize one another are at an aversion”.

[Muslim]

To understand the above hadeeth, we need to understand that the beginning journey of our soul is not the moment we entered this world. Instead, the origin of all souls was when they were created by Allah SWT, and made us witness His Divine Existence. Allah SWT says in the Quran:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَآ ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـٰذَا غَـٰفِلِينَ

And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.”

Quran 7:172

So in that pre-existence world, some souls met each other while some did not. That connection carried into this realm which explains how sometimes you may walk into a meeting and ‘click’ with someone even though you never met them before, or, the opposite happens – you try hard to work with someone and even though they are a nice person, you feel some kind of unexplained aversion to them.

To be clear, this is not an excuse to avoid working with some people because you don’t like them or create in-groups and cliques with people because you enjoy working with them. Instead, we should understand this hadeeth from two perspectives:

1. When we enter a space, we don’t just bring our professional selves to work; we bring our whole soul to work. And our soul may or may not connect with those in the room.
2. Just because we don’t connect with someone at a spiritual level doesn’t mean I should shun them; instead, we should see their presence as a test of our character and spiritual development. And if we can learn to work with them with ihsaan, that can only benefit the whole team as we’ll be able to learn from each other dispite our diverse and different way of thinking and being.

When You Bring Your Whole Soul To A Meeting

Dr. Abdallah Rothman, in his article “What Islam Offers to Modern Self-Help: An Islamic Paradigm of Psychology,” shares the following structure of the soul: 

He argues that unlike popular conceptions within modern psychology, an Islamic perspective of the soul includes multiple aspects, namely: body, mind (Aql), spiritual heart (Qalb), spirit (ruh), and self (nafs). These aspects integrate together to form the spiritual being we know as a human being. 

Therefore, when a soul attends a meeting – they bring these different aspects of their soul to the meeting. Moreover, each of these aspects can be impacted by the interactions that happen during the meeting. Below are examples of how each aspect of a soul can be affected during a meeting:

• Qalb (Spiritual Heart): If the Qalab is spiritually healthy and not sick, it’ll be able to perceive the spiritual reality of what’s happening in a meeting and maybe be given insights (baseerah) that can be very beneficial to the team or organization. However, if the spiritual heart is sick with a spiritual disease such as envy or arrogance, it may filter through into the meeting in the form of office politics or toxic behavior.  
• Aql (Mind): If the mind is sound – not just mentally but spiritually sound – a person will use their Aql to make spiritually-intelligent decisions during the meeting. For example, instead of just performing a cost/benefit analysis of a project from a Dunya (wordly) perspective, they’ll consider the Akhira (hereafter) perspective of a project and its long term benefit, thus using their Aql to make a spiritually intelligent decision for this world and the next.
• Nafs (Self): Perhaps the part that is most ‘active’ in meetings is the Nafs (Self) which, if not disciplined, can be self-centered, territorial, and egotistic. We’ve all witnessed how the Nafs, if left unbridled by the Qalb and Aql, can wreak havoc in meetings. On the other hand, if we keep our nafs in check during meetings, we might go through tough conversations without feeling threatened or blamed by what is said.
• Spirit (Ruh): This is the antidote to the Nafs. The pure part of your soul that wants to pull you up to higher meaning and purpose. It wants to connect to the Divine and heavenly realities instead of earthly desires. It can be idealistic at times – but it’s precisely this idealism that makes it an important voice to hear during meetings.
• Body: Let’s not forget the physical side of our being – our bodies – which are the vessels of our soul. If we give our body its right – with rest, nutrition, and exercise – we’ll show up to a meeting in a much better state than if we are tired or unhealthy (We cover the topic on how to take care of your body in detail in our Wellness Masterclass). Also, simple things like dressing up and being well-groomed for a meeting will impact your performance and presence during the meeting vs. showing up scruffy (or wearing your PJs on zoom calls!).

Suppose we accept that meetings are spaces where souls meet and that each soul has different aspects which can be affected in various ways during a meeting. In that case, we need to design our meetings as conducive environments where we bring the best aspects of our soul to a meeting and reduce the triggers that may bring out the negative aspects of our soul. 

Moreover, let’s not forget that in addition to managing our souls, we have an archenemy that wants to negatively influence us, whom we need to be aware of – and that is Satan (Read the article: How Satan Impacts Workplace Productivity).

Practical Tips to Design Meetings for Barakah

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you’ll know that we advocate for individuals and organizations to adopt Barakah Culture instead of Hustle Culture.

Barakah Culture is God-centered, hereafter focused, and purpose and impact-driven. Whereas Hustle Culture is ego-centered, worldly-focused, and material results-driven.

If we want to fuse our meetings with Barakah – we first need to adopt the Barakah Culture worldview as a team and then design our meetings as opportunities for whole soul development.

Below are ideas for designing such meetings that we brainstormed with our community members during our weekly calls (a meeting that was in itself full of Barakah!).  

We collected ideas on what to do before, during, and after the meeting to maximize Barakah – whether we meet in-person or virtually. I summarize the key points from our discussion below:

Before the meeting 

• Set the intention for the meeting: Why are you conducting/attending the meetings? What’s the intention behind it? How can you level up your intention for the meeting, so it’s more God-centered, Akhira-focused, and purpose/impact driven? (Hint: Use the Barakah Journal to help you level up your intention for the meeting).
• What Barakah Culture mindset, value, or ritual will you fuse into the meeting? You can use our Barakah Culture Cards as a tool to help you pick a mindset, value, or ritual to practice in the upcoming meeting. For example, if you decide to practice an “Abundant” mindset – you’ll be conscious of sharing your ideas and not hoarding information. 
• Schedule the meeting outside of prayer times: Make sure meetings don’t clash with prayer times and if for some reason you can’t avoid the clash, make sure that you schedule prayer breaks during the meeting or you inform the meeting host that you’ll need a 10-15 mins break for your prayers. Meetings should not be used as excuses to miss or delay prayers.
• “Tie your camel” and prepare for the meeting thoroughly: Don’t try to wing it at your meeting; it shows a lack of adab and respect for all attendees. If you’re the host, send the agenda early with relevant documentation. Make sure that the tech equipment and space are suitable for the meeting, etc. If you’re attending the meeting, read about what will be discussed during the meeting, have your own notes ready, and ask questions before the meeting if things are unclear.

During the meeting:

وعنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏: ‏ ‏”‏ما جلس قوم مجلساً لم يذكروا الله تعالى فيه، ولم يصلوا على نبيهم فيه، إلا كان عليهم ترة؛ فإن شاء عذبهم، وإن شاء غفر لهم‏”‏ ((رَوَاهُ التِّرمِذِيُّ وَقَالَ: “حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ”))‏.‏

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Whenever a group of people sit in a gathering in which they do not remember Allah the Exalted, nor supplicate to elevate the rank of their Prophet, such a gathering will be a cause of grief to them. If Allah wills, He will punish them, and if He wills He will forgive them.”

Al-Tirmidhi

• Attend the meeting in a state of spiritual purity: Right before the start of a meeting, I recommend that you make wudu (ablution), so you reduce the influence of Shaytaan upon you during the meeting. If you’re able to – ask your colleagues to do the same and come to the meeting with wudhu. If you have more time, pray 2 rakats and ask Allah for ease and facilitation during the meeting. Also, seek forgiveness often before the start of a meeting so your personal sins don’t impact the meeting outcome.
• Say Bismillah consciously: Start the meeting with an audible and conscious Bismillah – truly internalize that you’re starting this meeting “In the name of Allah”. If you can, after Bismillah, begin the meeting by thanking Allah (hamd) and sending peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to add more Barakah to your meeting.  
• Start with a Mindful check-in: If you are the meeting host, ask all team members to check in and share where they are at a personal level. This helps you assess people’s emotions and spirituality and may inform how the meeting is conducted. E.g., If someone is having a bad day, as a leader, you can ease the pressure off them during the meeting until they are in a better state. (BONUS: You can try a Mindful Practice advocated by our Mindfulness Masterclass Instructor, Wadud Hassan. He asks attendees to take 3 deep breaths and then explore how they are arriving with their mind, body, and heart. 
• Be vigilant of Shaytaan: Be conscious of Shaytaan trying to create animosity between your team members or fuel anger and arrogance in the room. Saying “Audhu-billahi min ash-Shaytaan-in-Rajeem” when arguments rise helps – or asking teammates to change their positions if things get heated up can help.
• Make proper shura: The purpose of meetings is to discuss topics thoroughly and not force your ideas on the team. Make your case, but be open to changing your mind or adopting decisions you may not like. 

فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلْقَلْبِ لَٱنفَضُّوا۟ مِنْ حَوْلِكَ ۖ فَٱعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَمْرِ ۖ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ

By an act of mercy from God, you [Prophet] were gentle in your dealings with them- had you been harsh or hard-hearted, they would have dispersed and left you- so pardon them and ask forgiveness for them. Consult with them about matters, then, when you have decided on a course of action, put your trust in God: God loves those who put their trust in Him.

Abdul Haleem 3:159

• Pause for Athan/Salah: I once attended a meeting with a leader of a large Islamic bank. When the athan went off – he went quiet and paused the meeting. After the athan, he asked that we take a break for Salah and resume the meeting after Salah. This was a  powerful example of Barakah Culture in an organizational setting.
• End the meeting with the kaffartul-Majlis dua: 

وعن أبى هريرة رضى الله عنه قال‏: ‏ قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏من جلس في مجلس، فكثر فيه لغطه فقال قبل أن يقوم من مجلسه ذلك‏: ‏ سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك، أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت، أستغفرك وأتوب إليك، إلا غفر له ما كان في مجلسه ذلك‏”‏ ((‏‏رَوَاهُ التِّرمِذِيُّ وَقَالَ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صحيح)).‏

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Whoever sits in a gathering and indulges in useless talk and before getting up supplicates: ‘Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-had an la ilaha illa Anta, astaghfirullah wa atubu ilaika (O Allah, You are free from every imperfection; praise be to You. I testify that there is no true god except You; I ask Your Pardon and turn to You in repentance),’ he will be forgiven for (the sins he may have intentionally or unintentionally committed) in that assembly.”

At-Tirmidhi

After the meeting

• Pray istikhara: At the end of the meeting, once you have all the key decisions, pray istikhara either as a team leader or an attendee on all the decisions made and ask Allah SWT for Barakah in those decisions.
• Thank people: Send a thank you note to people who impacted you during the meeting. Maybe they shared something that inspired you or went the extra mile with their part of the presentation. The thank-you doesn’t need to come from the team leader only; it can be amongst team members themselves – privately or publicly.
• Seek forgiveness: Sometimes, in meetings, we say or do something that may be inappropriate. Reach out to the person you may have unintentionally offended and seek their forgiveness. If it’s something that you feel impacted the whole team – write/speak to them individually or as a group and seek forgiveness. Don’t let Shaytaan run between you and cause enmity. 
• Give sincere naseeha and feedback: Sometimes, you may notice a behavior from someone they may not be aware of that negatively impacts the meeting, e.g., showing up late always, or rolling their eyes when someone disagrees with them, or constantly interrupting the speaker. After the meeting, speak to them privately about the behavior and how it impacts the meeting. Give them sincere naseeha regardless if they are the CEO or the youngest intern. 
• Take action and take responsibility for the decisions made in shura: When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) conducted shura on what to do before the battle of Uhud (whether to stay in Madinah or leave the city walls). The decision was made to go out of Medina – which wasn’t his personal preference. However, once the decision was made, he put on his armor and prepared to leave. Even when the companions felt bad that they convinced the Prophet to do something that he didn’t prefer – he didn’t change his mind but committed to the decision made in shura.
• Pray for your team: After the meeting ends, and perhaps after your istikhara prayers, take time to pray for your team privately. Ask Allah to bless them, ease their affairs, inspire them, and not let Shaytaan come between you all. These duas will be the spiritual glue that will keep the team harmony together.
• Reflect and introspect: Take some time to reflect and hold yourself accountable for your performance during the meeting. Not only from a professional point of view but also from a spiritual point of view. How was your qalb during the meeting? How was your nafs? What can you do differently next time to improve your professional and spiritual performance? (Hint: Use the end-of-day reflections in the Barakah Journal to help you with this exercise).

The above is not an exhaustive list of things you can do to attract Barakah to a meeting. However, I hope it’ll inspire you and your team to start thinking of meetings not as dreaded time-wasters but as opportunities to cultivate Barakah for yourself and organizations, insha’Allah.

If you’re interested in cultivating Barakah Culture for your organization, get in touch with us to learn more about our faith-based productivity and leadership training for teams. 

The post When Souls Meet: How to fuse Barakah into your meetings? appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

As Muslims, we believe that as we enter our places of work – whether an office building, a home office, a clinic, or any other area of work – we don’t enter it alone. We believe that Satan is with us, constantly trying to whisper evil and negative thoughts to influence us and steer us away from the path of faith and goodness.

Allah SWT says in the Quran:

إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَٱتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا ۚ إِنَّمَا يَدْعُوا۟ حِزْبَهُۥ لِيَكُونُوا۟ مِنْ أَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ

Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party to be among the companions of the Blaze.

(Quran: 35:6)

The challenge in our modern lives is that we’ve either forgotten about Satan entirely and act as if he doesn’t exist, or we turned him into a boogeyman whom we’re too afraid to talk about since we have cultural misconceptions about his influence and impact on our lives. 

This is especially true for workplaces – where even the mention of Satan as a form of negative influence in the workplace will bring laughter and mockery from colleagues that you believe in such ‘backward’ concepts. Somehow we forgot the eternal promise that Satan made to Allah SWT when he said:

قَالَ فَبِمَآ أَغْوَيْتَنِى لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَٰطَكَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ

ثُمَّ لَـَٔاتِيَنَّهُم مِّنۢ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَـٰنِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَآئِلِهِمْ ۖ وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَـٰكِرِينَ

[Satan] said, “Because You have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them [i.e., mankind] on Your straight path. I will come at them- from their front, and their back, from their right and their left- and You will find that most of them are ungrateful.’ 7:16-17

(Quran: 7:16-17)

It is important to note that when we talk about the influence of Satan at work – we are not absolving ourselves from personal responsibility or blaming Satan for all our negative behavior. Instead, we want to recognize Satan’s role in human psychology and how it impacts our performance. Moreover, being aware of Satan’s influence will encourage us to take the necessary steps to protect ourselves and our organizations moving forward.

In this article, I’ll share ten ways Satan influences us at work with evidence from the Quran and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). I’ll then share ten practical antidotes that we can adopt as professionals and five antidotes we can adopt as companies/organizations to reduce the influence of Satan in our workplaces, insha’Allah (God-willing).

10 ways Satan influences us at work

1. SCARCITY MINDSET 

ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ يَعِدُكُمُ ٱلْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُم بِٱلْفَحْشَآءِ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةً مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلًا ۗ وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing. 2:268

(Quran: 2: 268)

A scarcity mindset is a fear of not having enough of something valuable, and when left unchecked, it can have detrimental effects on professionals and organizations.

For example, the professional who believes that they cannot earn enough income through a halal (lawful) job, and Satan encourages them to take a job or side-gig that may not be halal out of fear of poverty. Or the employee who doesn’t want to share their knowledge or ideas out of fear that other people will take their job or steal their ideas.

Or the non-profit organization fundraiser that thinks that there are not enough donations to go around. Therefore, they avoid collaborating with other non-profits because they don’t want to “share the pie”.

In his podcast episode “How Satan Tricks Us Into Having a Scarcity Mindset,” my friend Omar Usman dives deeper into this topic, and how that impacts people and organizations.

Having a scarcity mindset will impede growth, creativity, and collaboration because you’ll always be worried about what you can lose instead of exploring what you can gain if you adopt a more abundant mindset.

2. PARALYZING FEAR

إِنَّمَا ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَآءَهُۥ فَلَا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

That is only Satan who frightens [you] of his supporters. So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are [indeed] believers.

(Quran: 3:175)

Have you ever found yourself paralyzed with making a decision – even though it was the right one – because of fear of the unknown? 

Perhaps it is a big move in your life and career – but you’re too afraid to make that brave step. Or you need to make an important decision for your organization, but the fear of all the things that can go wrong stops you from moving forward and even experimenting with the new strategy. Satan whispers in you that “you’re not good enough” as a way to make you hold yourself from making a more meaningful contribution.

While some fear is natural and part of the human experience, having paralyzing fear that stops you from making meaningful progress in your personal and professional life is usually influenced by Satan. 

In the Islamic tradition, we’re taught to tie our camel and trust in God and not be held back by illogical “nightmare” scenarios Satan plays in our minds. This is especially true if you want to move forward with something that contributes to a more meaningful and purposeful life.

Another way Satan stokes fear in the workplace is having paralyzing fear of people you work with. Perhaps you have a paralyzing fear of your boss, or the CEO, or the Board. Instead of seeing these individuals as human beings with flaws, Satan turns them into larger-than-life authority figures and makes us believe that they control our sustenance and destiny and therefore we should obey them no matter what – even if it goes against personal and organizational values.

3. LAZINESS AND PROCRASTINATION

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنْ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ، عَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ يَعْقِدُ الشَّيْطَانُ عَلَى قَافِيَةِ رَأْسِ أَحَدِكُمْ إِذَا هُوَ نَامَ ثَلاَثَ عُقَدٍ، يَضْرِبُ كُلَّ عُقْدَةٍ عَلَيْكَ لَيْلٌ طَوِيلٌ فَارْقُدْ، فَإِنِ اسْتَيْقَظَ فَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ انْحَلَّتْ عُقْدَةٌ، فَإِنْ تَوَضَّأَ انْحَلَّتْ عُقْدَةٌ، فَإِنْ صَلَّى انْحَلَّتْ عُقْدَةٌ فَأَصْبَحَ نَشِيطًا طَيِّبَ النَّفْسِ، وَإِلاَّ أَصْبَحَ خَبِيثَ النَّفْسِ كَسْلاَنَ ‏”‏‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Satan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you if he is asleep. On every knot, he reads and exhales the following words, ‘The night is long, so stay asleep.’ When one wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when one prays, the third knot is undone, and one gets up energetic with a good heart in the morning; otherwise one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart.”

Sahih al-Bukhari

Laziness is an emotion, and it occurs when we don’t feel like doing something that we should be doing. Although not all laziness is from Satan, sometimes Satan can inspire laziness and plays a hand in slowing us down, especially when we’re doing something important or meaningful in life.

Perhaps you’re writing your next book or working on life-altering research, but you find yourself extremely lazy and yawning uncontrollably when you start working on your project. Once you switch your attention to something else, you find a significant amount of energy. That feeling of lethargy and laziness when working on something significant/meaningful…could be Satan.

Another form of laziness is procrastination – where you keep delaying things and distracting yourself with everything but what you’re supposed to do.

We all know of Satan’s classic trick of making us procrastinate on our five daily prayers until the last minute. But even procrastinating on our work and watching YouTube and/or browsing the internet instead of fulfilling our responsibility at work is procrastination that Satan inspires.

For organizations, laziness and procrastination drain an enormous amount of resources and productive hours. Companies try to curb laziness and procrastination through deadlines and constant monitoring of their employees, however, the issue at hand is a human psychological state that needs to be addressed from within.

Both laziness and procrastination stem from Satan trying to convince you that you have a long time to live, making you forget that you will die one day and that you’ll meet your Lord and be answerable for how you spent your time on this earth.

4. SEXUAL TEMPTATION

وَعَنْ عُمَرَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «لَا يَخْلُوَنَّ رَجُلٌ بِامْرَأَةٍ إِلَّا كَانَ ثالثهما الشَّيْطَان» . رَوَاهُ التِّرْمِذِيّ

‘Umar reported the Prophet as saying, “Whenever a man is alone with a woman, the devil makes a third.”

Mishkat al-Masabih

One of the classic ways Satan impacts us in the workplace is to distract us with sexual thoughts when dealing with colleagues from the opposite gender.

In the last few years, we’ve seen a number of high-profile cases of sexual abuse and assault that take place at work. Many people were shocked and surprised by these cases because we’ve been tricked into thinking that as we enter a professional space, we somehow enter a holy sanctuary where sexual urges are subdued. Unfortunately, knowing our psyche more than ourselves, Satan exploits the “professional” facade and flames our sexual urges, especially when alone with the opposite gender late at night or in a private closed space.

In a 2017 article in the New York Times, Americans were polled about being alone with the opposite gender, and the results were clear:

“Many men and women are wary of a range of one-on-one situations, the poll found. Around a quarter think private work meetings with colleagues of the opposite sex are inappropriate. Nearly two-thirds say people should take extra caution around members of the opposite sex at work.”

Miller, C. C. (2017, July 02). Americans Are Wary of Being Alone With the Opposite Sex.

When you spend 8-10 hours per day with the same people at work, Satan tries to plant the seeds of infatuation in your heart with the opposite gender – and if you don’t check yourself, it may lead to the haraam in a moment of weakness. Even if you’re somebody who can ‘control themselves’ – just the daily battle of trying to purify your gaze and not be aroused by temptations around you impacts your productivity and focus.

For many organizations – especially faith-based organizations – this has been a challenging aspect to manage. On one hand, we want organizations to provide fair and just career opportunities to both genders. On the other hand, organizations need to address basic human instincts and not foster an environment where Satan can play his tricks and lead to inappropriate thoughts or behavior.

5. ENMITY

وَقُل لِّعِبَادِى يَقُولُوا۟ ٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ يَنزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ كَانَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ عَدُوًّا مُّبِينًا

And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy.

(Quran: 17:53)

Nothing impacts you more at work than a toxic work environment fueled by office politics and enmity.

In an article in HBR, “The Price of Incivility,” researchers found that when workers experience rudeness, incivility, and enmity at work, here’s what happens to them:

• 48% intentionally decreased their work effort.
• 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work.
• 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work.
• 80% lost work time worrying about the incident.
• 63% lost work time avoiding the offender.
• 66% said that their performance declined.
• 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined.
• 12% said that they left their job because of the uncivil treatment.
• 25% admitted to taking their frustration out on customers.

We all know the feeling of going to work dreading the office drama and people we can’t stand. However, have you ever wondered where those negative thoughts about people come from? That could be Satan making you misjudge people by taking someone’s comments in the wrong way, or fueling your bad opinion about people. 

If you’re a professional walking around with all these negative thoughts about your colleagues – how can you effectively collaborate with them? 

And, as an organization, when you let Satan run loose, creating enmity between people – how can you expect workplace productivity to soar?

Again, I’m not blaming Satan for all the incivility that takes place at work, but we can’t deny his influence.

6. ARROGANCE AND ENVY

قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ ۖ قَالَ أَنَا۠ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِى مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُۥ مِن طِينٍ

[Allah] said, “What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?” [Satan] said, “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay [i.e., earth].”

(Quran: 7:12)

I once talked to the Ombudsman of a large Bank, and he said, “The biggest challenge we have in this Bank is Envy.”

Workplaces are rife with ego-centric individuals that let arrogance and envy destroy careers and implode an organization.

We’ve seen how arrogance led to the downfall of many powerful personalities throughout history and even entire corporations. Satan can inspire arrogance at the individual level but like a disease it can spread quickly and you have an entire workforce that feels arrogant about who they are as a company and what they offer. This arrogance can blind an organization from being humble and admitting mistakes, learning from others, or exploring new ways of doing things.

Attached to arrogance, is usually envy, e.g. – when you have two or more people for a role, and one of them is chosen – that’s a breeding ground for envy. 

Moreover, our current generation, raised on a sense of entitlement (“I deserve this because I’m better and worked harder”), finds it hard to accept that somebody else might be a better fit for the job.

Arrogance and Envy are Satan’s original sin and what got him removed from Allah’s Mercy. He wants to poison our hearts with that same disease of the heart so that we forget to be humble and grateful for what we have and where we are in life.

Moreover, it’s one thing to feel arrogant and envious of your colleagues. It’s another when that arrogance and envy leads you to sabotage their projects and careers. For example, if someone asks you for a reference about someone you envy, you might lie about their track record or give the impression that something is wrong with the person without giving any evidence.

For organizations, if they don’t deal with arrogance and envy, they might have to deal with a toxic work environment of individuals and teams that try to tear each other apart because each person thinks they are better than the other.

7. DISTRACTION AND HEEDLESSNESS

ٱسْتَحْوَذَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ فَأَنسَىٰهُمْ ذِكْرَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ حِزْبُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ ۚ أَلَآ إِنَّ حِزْبَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ

Satan has overcome them and made them forget the remembrance of Allah. Those are the party of Satan. Unquestionably, the party of Satan – will be the losers.

(Quran: 58:19)

One of the most significant workplace spiritual challenges is that it’s tough to remember Allah (SWT) in the middle of your busy workday. 

We get into work, and it’s as if we’re entering a different space dimension and completely forget our ultimate purpose in life: to worship Allah (SWT).

If it wasn’t for Dhuhur (Noon) and Asr (afternoon) prayers, we could probably go through the entire day and not remember Allah (SWT) even once.

The problem with this spiritual distraction and heedlessness from remembering God is that Satan occupies your mind and heart and tries to lead you to all sorts of inappropriate thoughts, actions, and behaviors. That’s why we sometimes find ourselves doing things and saying things at work, which we would be embarrassed to do or say in front of our families or at the mosque. 

Simply put, when your heart is empty of remembrance of God for 8-10 hours per day, your heart becomes weaker and more susceptible to Satan’s whispers.

8. ANGER

حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عَدِيُّ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنَ صُرَدٍ، رَجُلاً مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ اسْتَبَّ رَجُلاَنِ عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَغَضِبَ أَحَدُهُمَا، فَاشْتَدَّ غَضَبُهُ حَتَّى انْتَفَخَ وَجْهُهُ وَتَغَيَّرَ، فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ إِنِّي لأَعْلَمُ كَلِمَةً لَوْ قَالَهَا لَذَهَبَ عَنْهُ الَّذِي يَجِدُ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَانْطَلَقَ إِلَيْهِ الرَّجُلُ فَأَخْبَرَهُ بِقَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَقَالَ تَعَوَّذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ‏.‏ فَقَالَ أَتُرَى بِي بَأْسٌ أَمَجْنُونٌ أَنَا اذْهَبْ‏.‏

Narrated Sulaiman bin Surat: A man from the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Two men abused each other in front of the Prophet (ﷺ), and one of them became angry, and his anger became so intense that his face became swollen and changed. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “I know a word the saying of which will cause him to relax if he does say it.” Then a man went to him and informed him of the statement of the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “Seek refuge with Allah from Satan.” On that, the angry man said, ‘Do you find anything wrong with me? Am I insane? Go away!”

Sahih al-Bukhari

When I was a young professional, I remember having a meeting with my boss. Suddenly, a senior professional barged into the office screaming angrily because he recently got demoted and was asked to move to a smaller office.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced ‘office rage’ and how somebody who may look perfectly normal can become this angry human being that you hardly recognize.

Now, some anger is justified (and perhaps needed), especially if directed in situations that require courage and standing up to authority when they cross ethical boundaries. However, anger over petty matters or those that are driven by enmity and envy, are those inspired by Satan. 

One trick of Satan is to convince us that we need to have anger in order to get what we want and move ahead in our career. We see examples of CEOs and famous personalities who used anger to drive their employees and get results. Unfortunately, even though it may seem to work in the short-term, in the long run, if you’re unable to control your anger, it can destroy your career and tarnish your brand. 

To succeed in life (and our afterlife), we need to manage strong emotions such as anger and not let them run wild.

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ لَيْسَ الشَّدِيدُ بِالصُّرَعَةِ، إِنَّمَا الشَّدِيدُ الَّذِي يَمْلِكُ نَفْسَهُ عِنْدَ الْغَضَبِ ‏”‏‏.‏

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself while in anger.”

Sahih al-Bukhari

9. WASTEFULNESS

إِنَّ ٱلْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوٓا۟ إِخْوَٰنَ ٱلشَّيَـٰطِينِ ۖ وَكَانَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ لِرَبِّهِۦ كَفُورًا

Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful. 17:27

(Quran: 17:27)

I’ve been to so many corporate and non-profit events where there was so much waste – whether it’s lavish gala dinners or extravagant decorations of the CEO office—or simply wasting paper because the office is paying for it. 

This wastefulness is all inspired by Satan and makes us poor vicegerents of Allah (SWT) on earth.

In a world that’s becoming more conscious of the environment, we need to ensure that Satan doesn’t trick us into wasting precious resources for the next generation.

If organizations don’t show leadership in how all stakeholders can be less wasteful, employees and team members will cue that being wasteful is okay. 

10. HASTE

وَعَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ ‏-رَضِيَ اَللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا‏- قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ ‏- صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏-{ اَلْعَجَلَةُ مِنَ اَلشَّيْطَانِ } أَخْرَجَهُ اَلتِّرْمِذِيُّ

Sahl bin Sa’d (RAA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Haste comes from Satan.” Related by At-Tirmidhi

Bulugh al-Maram

Hustle Culture rewards speed and efficiency so much so that we consider it as a badge of honor that we’re busy and rushing from one meeting to the next.

The phrase “move fast and break things” is revered in Hustle Culture, even though there’s no evidence that being hasty leads to success.

When we rush as professionals, we lose our mindfulness and become raptured in our heedless state. Moreover, we are less likely to do our work with Ihsaan (spiritual excellence) and more likely to make mistakes that in some cases can be fatal.

Satan likes to see us always in a state of haste because then we’ll be heedless and distracted from remembering God.

Moreover, we’ve seen companies that make it a deliberate practice to rush their staff from one task to another and not give them enough breaks that they end up having to urinate in bottles on their way to the next task. Such debasing of human value and human dignity can only be inspired by Satan.

10 Antidotes to fighting Satan in the workplace

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As a professional and an organization – how should you deal with all the above negative influences of Satan? For example, how do you tackle arrogance and envy as an organization? Or manage your anger as a professional? How do you set up your workplaces so that men and women can work together respectfully and without fear of inappropriate sexual behavior?  

These questions and more are complex and require a whole industry of Islamic psychologists trained in organizational and professional development that can offer both spiritual and practical solutions to some of these challenges.

Below I share ten antidotes that professionals can practice to reduce the influence of Satan on their lives and five additional antidotes that organizations can adopt as well. As you read them, pick one or two to focus on in the next week, and come back to this list often to practice the rest as build your immunity against Satan’s influence.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, and I hope you can share more antidotes you’ve tried in the past in the comments below.

1. Awareness

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” — Charles Baudelaire 

When you raise your awareness and recognize that there’s a force of evil that can influence you and your colleagues, that by itself will help put your guard up and be aware of some of the negative influences around you. 

2. Personal Spiritual Protection

We take out insurance for our homes and cars to protect them against fire and theft. We take our medicine and multivitamins to protect us against disease and bad health. Similarly, we need to arm ourselves with spiritual protection against Satan through morning and evening remembrances that give us specific spiritual prescriptions against the influence of Satan. Other spiritual protections include:

• Making the dua for leaving the house.
• Praying Fajr/Isha in a congregation.
• Reciting Surat Al-Baqarah often (yes, even at work).

3. Being in a State of Wudhu (Ablution)

Constantly being in a state of Wudhu will help reduce the influence of Satan upon you. So make it a habit to be in a state of Wudhu, and renew your Wudhu whenever you lose it. This can be very helpful if you’re entering an emotional discussion with colleagues and don’t want Satan to create enmity between you and your colleagues. I encourage my team members to attend our meetings in a state of wudhu, if possible.  

4. Avoid being alone with the opposite gender

Make it a personal policy that you’ll never be alone with someone from the opposite gender. Keep your door open if you have a private office. If you need to have a one-to-one conversation, hold it in a meeting room with glass doors or in a public area, e.g., coffee shop or cafeteria. Be respectful and professional in all your engagements with them and build a ‘personal brand’ that you’re somebody who does not tolerate inappropriate behavior with the opposite gender.

5. Say Bismillah Consciously

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بِشْرٍ، بَكْرُ بْنُ خَلَفٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَاصِمٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ جُرَيْجٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي أَبُو الزُّبَيْرِ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ ‏ “‏ إِذَا دَخَلَ الرَّجُلُ بَيْتَهُ فَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ عِنْدَ دُخُولِهِ وَعِنْدَ طَعَامِهِ قَالَ الشَّيْطَانُ لاَ مَبِيتَ لَكُمْ وَلاَ عَشَاءَ ‏.‏ وَإِذَا دَخَلَ وَلَمْ يَذْكُرِ اللَّهَ عِنْدَ دُخُولِهِ قَالَ الشَّيْطَانُ أَدْرَكْتُمُ الْمَبِيتَ ‏.‏ فَإِذَا لَمْ يَذْكُرِ اللَّهَ عِنْدَ طَعَامِهِ قَالَ أَدْرَكْتُمُ الْمَبِيتَ وَالْعَشَاءَ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

It was narrated from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: “When a man enters his house, and remembers Allah when he enters and when he eats, Satan says: ‘You have no place to stay and no supper.’ If he enters his house and does not remember Allah upon entering, Satan says: ‘You have found a place to stay.’ And if he does not remember Allah when he eats, (Satan) says: ‘You have found a place to stay and supper.'”

Sunan Ibn Majah

In addition to saying Bismillah when you enter your home and eat, say Bismillah consciously when you enter the workplace and start a meeting or open your laptop. Making it a habit to say Bismillah before action will reduce the influence of Satan upon you for that act.

6. Fast at least once a week

If you want to heavily reduce the influence of Satan upon you, especially at work, make it a habit to fast once or twice a week (Mondays and/or Thursdays). Fasting can help ‘reset’ your spiritual capacity to deal with the negative influences of Satan. Also, fasting at the beginning and end of a workweek can be a great way to start and end your week on a solid spiritual high note. 

7. Follow the Sunnah when you get Angry

حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَنْبَلٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا دَاوُدُ بْنُ أَبِي هِنْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي حَرْبِ بْنِ الأَسْوَدِ، عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ، قَالَ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ لَنَا ‏ “‏ إِذَا غَضِبَ أَحَدُكُمْ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ فَلْيَجْلِسْ فَإِنْ ذَهَبَ عَنْهُ الْغَضَبُ وَإِلاَّ فَلْيَضْطَجِعْ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

Narrated Abu Dharr: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to us: When one of you becomes angry while standing, he should sit down. If the anger leaves him, well and good; otherwise, he should lie down.

Sunan Abi Dawud

Change your position when you get angry and seek refuge with Allah (SWT) from Satan. If you can, remove yourself from that meeting or phone call that’s making you angry, make Wudhu, and come back with a renewed intention to deal with what’s triggering you but without anger.

8. Get 3 important things done per day 

As Satan tries to distract you and make you procrastinate, make it a habit that no matter what you do all day, even if you find yourself on YouTube half the time, you won’t leave work until you complete at least three important things that day. Ideally, try to get these done early in the morning before meetings and distractions pile up, and you can use the Pomodoro technique to help you stick with the task even when every ounce of you craves distraction.

9. Make constant dua against laziness/procrastination

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to often make this dua:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ الْهَمِّ وَالْحُزْنِ وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالْبُخْلِ وَالْجُبْنِ وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ

‘O Allaah, I take refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, weakness and laziness, miserliness and cowardice, the burden of debts and from being overpowered by men.’

Sahih al-Bukhari

We call this the “Productive Muslim Dua” because it seeks refuge from all the factors that destroy productivity and are usually influenced by Satan.

10. Don’t be wasteful

Don’t be a wasteful employee at work (or otherwise!). Recycle your paper, use a mug instead of a paper cup, and don’t waste food. If you have management power, make this a priority for organizing events or decorating your office.

How can Organizations Reduce Satan’s Influence in the Workplace?

If you’re a CEO or in HR of a predominantly Muslim workforce, you can adopt the following practices to help reduce the influence of Satan in the workplace:

1. Openly discuss the role of Satan in the workplace

We need to break the taboo of talking about Satan in the workplace. Show awareness of Satan and his influence and discuss how you will not let Satan affect your team culture. Perhaps add it as an agenda-item in your weekly/monthly check-in so it becomes an item to be discussed by the team instead of an ignored fact of life.

2. Encourage using the phrase “I don’t want Satan to play games”

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْيَمَانِ، أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ أَنَّ صَفِيَّةَ، زَوْجَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَخْبَرَتْهُ أَنَّهَا جَاءَتْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم تَزُورُهُ فِي اعْتِكَافِهِ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ، فِي الْعَشْرِ الأَوَاخِرِ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ، فَتَحَدَّثَتْ عِنْدَهُ سَاعَةً، ثُمَّ قَامَتْ تَنْقَلِبُ، فَقَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَعَهَا يَقْلِبُهَا، حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَتْ باب الْمَسْجِدِ عِنْدَ باب أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ مَرَّ رَجُلاَنِ مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ، فَسَلَّمَا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ لَهُمَا النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ عَلَى رِسْلِكُمَا إِنَّمَا هِيَ صَفِيَّةُ بِنْتُ حُيَىٍّ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَقَالاَ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ‏.‏ وَكَبُرَ عَلَيْهِمَا‏.‏ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏”‏ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَبْلُغُ مِنَ الإِنْسَانِ مَبْلَغَ الدَّمِ، وَإِنِّي خَشِيتُ أَنْ يَقْذِفَ فِي قُلُوبِكُمَا شَيْئًا ‏”‏‏.‏

Narrated `Ali bin Al-Husain: Safiya, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) told me that she went to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) to visit him in the mosque while he was in I’tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. She had a talk with him for a while, then she got up in order to return home. The Prophet (ﷺ) accompanied her. When they reached the gate of the mosque, opposite the door of Um-Salama, two Ansari men were passing by and they greeted Allah’s Apostle . He told them: Do not run away! And said, “She is (my wife) Safiya bint Huyai.” Both of them said, “Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of any evil) O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)!” And they felt it. The Prophet said (to them), “Satan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it, (everywhere in one’s body). I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds.”

Sahih al-Bukhari

Encourage your employees and team members to clarify situations before ‘Satan plays games.’ For example, if a team member comments in a meeting that may be misunderstood or a situation arose between two members of the opposite gender that may be perceived as inappropriate, give the team members the power to ‘clarify’ and not let Satan play games.

3. Encourage remembrance of God in the workplace

You want to encourage remembrance of God in the workplace by having the athan played in loudspeakers, play the morning and evening athkar as people enter and leave the building, having a prayer room and a place where people can renew their spirituality in the hustle and bustle of work. 

Try to encourage team members to pray together in the congregation. I know a CEO of a large Malaysian conglomerate who used to lead dhuhr prayers at his company every day, and after prayer, he’d give a short spiritual reminder to his staff. Another CEO of a large Islamic Bank led tahajjud prayers during Ramadan at the Bank’s headquarters, which many of his team attended.

4. Hire a “Chief Murabbi Officer”

This can be a novel idea that’s worth exploring. A chief murabbi officer is someone whose responsibility is the spiritual development of staff members. Their role includes connecting with staff spiritually, holding regular talks and events to remind people about the importance of spirituality, and warning people against the influence of Satan. 

5. Setup physical spaces & policies to protect against inappropriate sexual behavior

Think of your workplace environment and how it can be set up to protect against sexual abuse. This can be as simple as installing glass doors on all offices and meeting rooms, having many public collaborative spaces, and implementing policies for late-night working in an office building, or inviting team members for lunch/dinner. 

6. Have zero tolerance against backbiting and gossip

Don’t let Satan thrive in the workplace by allowing gossip and backbiting, which may lead to enmity and envy. If a situation that’s causing much gossip arises, make it a point to publicly clarify the situation. Don’t let Satan run loose at your company!

I hope that you found this article and the tips above valuable and beneficial. Again, I want to be clear that Satan’s role is to whisper/suggest and make false promises to us, but, in the end, it is us who decide whether to act on these influences or not.

I hope that many professionals and organizations will take this article and share it with their colleagues to discuss and come up with even better ideas for tackling Satan’s influence at work. 

We can’t simply continue working as if he doesn’t exist – let’s commit to doing something about it.

A final thought

Our workplaces are not heavenly sanctuaries where Satan does not influence us because “we are all professionals”. If anything, they can be the perfect breeding ground for Satan to thrive, creating havoc in our spiritual selves and our workplaces.

Remember that Satan’s power over us is relative to how much we feed him. If we listen to him, ignore guidance from the Quran and Sunnah in terms of litanies and rituals to protect ourselves, and allow him to influence our daily decisions and lifestyle, we might find ourselves chained to Satan and following every conceivable demonic practice vs. fulfilling our true purpose in life of being true slaves of Allah SWT.

Audhu-billahi min ash-shaytaan-ir-rajeem

The post How Satan Impacts Workplace Productivity appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Alhamdulillah, the Productive Muslim Company, spent the last 12 months making internal and external modifications to adopt the Hijri-first lifestyle. Here are some of the changes we made:

1. We switched all our communications to Hijri-first, i.e., all the dates on our website, email campaigns, and social media posts display the Hijri date first, followed by the Gregorian date. 
2. We planned our masterclasses and events to align with the Hijri calendar and will soon publish a 1443H calendar for all our upcoming programs.
3. We held our annual company retreat during Ramadan (instead of Dec/Jan) so that we plan from one Ramadan to the next, and we hold quarterly reviews according to the Hijri months.
4. We set up company-wide vacations around the Hijri calendar, so all team members can enjoy Eid and special Islamic events with their families and friends.
5. Our Team payroll is now aligned with the Hijri calendar, i.e., team members are paid at the end of each Islamic month.

The above changes may seem subtle, but they significantly impacted our internal team culture, and they resonated with our readers. Here’s what a board member of an Islamic school wrote to me and said:

“I want to thank you for displaying the Hijri date so prominently and forcing us to look at the regular date in parenthesis. This is such a small, subtle change, but I think this shows leadership and may soon be followed by other masjids in their communications. It will eventually change our culture and help us focus on the Hijri dates. This has motivated me to start using Hijri dates on our communication from our Islamic school now.” Abu Sabiq, Board Member, Montessori School of Excellence

The Barakah of Switching to Hijri First

I have to admit that initially, the above changes took some adjustment. Team members had initial frustrations figuring out the Hijri date and communicating in Hijri-first, even in quick internal messages. However, being a small company, we could quickly make these changes and iron out any issues that popped up during the switch.

Moreover, after a few months of adopting a Hijri-first lifestyle, we noticed the benefits of making the switch, including:

• We were more conscious of the sacred months of Islam and aligned our communication and messaging around them.
• We felt the Barakah of planning our annual retreat in Ramadan discussing future company plans during the most blessed month.
• We became more aware of special Islamic events in history and aligned our communication around them.
• It helped us align with our internal Barakah culture mindsets, values, and rituals.

How can your company/organization switch to a Hijri-first lifestyle?

If you are a company/organization that serves the Muslim community, it makes sense to adopt a Hijri-first lifestyle. However, making your team switch to Hijri first can be challenging since it’s more practical and efficient to stick to the Gregorian calendar. 

Here are 4 steps to help your team make the switch:

1. Explain the Why: As a company/organization that serves the Muslim community, you must show leadership and honor the calendar that Allah SWT chose for this Ummah. If we as companies/organizations operating in the Islamic space don’t step up to protect and propagate the Islamic Hijri calendar, then who will? Making the case that going Hijri-first is critical for the benefit of the community will help rally your team around this switch (If you need help to make a case for your team to go Hijri, share this article with them).
2. Be a Role Model: As a leader, you need to adopt a Hijri-first lifestyle in your personal and professional life and be comfortable communicating dates according to the Hijri calendar. It would be best if you communicated in Hijri-first even in daily ‘quick’ messages, whether it’s an email, slack, or Whatsapp message. When your team sees that you’re sticking to a Hijri-first communication and this is not another ‘management fad’ – they will get that this is important to you and make the switch.
3. Setup a Plan: Once you agree as a team to switch your company to become Hijri-first. Set up a plan on how you’ll make the switch. For example, for The Productive Muslim Company, we started going Hijri-first in all our external communication. By Ramadan, we switched our annual planning to Hijri-first. Finally, in Shawwal, we switched payroll to Hijri. Don’t try to make all changes at once, as it might disorient you and the team. Also, download our Hijri-Adoption Framework so you can measure yourself and team on your progress going Hijri.
4. Hold Your Team Accountable: During the first few weeks of implementing a Hijri-first plan, you’ll need to constantly give feedback to your team to communicate according to the Hijri calendar. This might come across as bothersome – but after a few weeks and a couple of nudges – your team will be aligned, and your company will be a Hijri first inshaAllah.

I hope this encourages your team and company to adopt a Hijri first lifestyle. If you need more help to understand the concept of going Hijri, watch this webinar, where I go in-depth on how you can adopt a Hijri-first lifestyle:

The post How The Productive Muslim Company Went Hijri-First & How Your Company Can Do So Too appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

If you’re more of a visual/auditory learner, check out the webinar below, where we’ll go in-depth on how to use this framework to live a Hijri first lifestyle:

Why #GoHijri?

For fifteen centuries, the Islamic calendar was the primary calendar for Muslims globally. Unfortunately, it lost its status in the last 100 years and became a secondary calendar for many of us, only referring to it for Ramadan, Eid, and Hajj. 

Last year, The Productive Muslim Company launched the #GoHijri campaign to save the Islamic calendar from being a forgotten relic of the past. In an article titled “Why the Islamic Calendar Matters More Than You Think,” I made the argument that we stand to lose much when we neglect this powerful calendar, including: 

• Not aligning ourselves with the Divine Order: The Islamic lunar calendar is the chosen calendar aligned with Allah’s Divine Order. Allah says in the Quran: “Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve [lunar] months in the register of Allah [from] the day He created the heavens and the earth; of these, four are sacred…” [Quran 9:36]. When we don’t align ourselves with the chosen calendar of the Divine – we become misaligned with the Divine Order.
• Losing touch with our Islamic civilizational identity: The Islamic calendar is the last institution we have as a global Muslim society that connects the Ummah. Look at how we come together for Ramadan, Eid, and Hajj (differences of moon sighting aside). It’s a time system that has lasted for fifteen centuries, and we need to take responsibility to revive it.
• Forgetting the spiritual rhythm of the past: The Islamic calendar creates a spiritual rhythm to life by alternating between sacred time and non-sacred time. Moreover, there’s a rhythm of fasting created by the waxing and waning of the moon as we’re encouraged to fast on the 13th, 14th, 15th of each Islamic month.

Going Hijri is not All-Or-Nothing

A year after launching the #GoHijri campaign, I reached out to #GoHijri enthusiasts to ask about their experiences going Hijri-first (a term we coined to mean that you prioritize using the Hijri calendar in your life more than other calendar systems). Below is a sample of their responses:

The #GoHijri Adoption Framework 

Shifting our lives from being Gregorian-first to Hijri-first, can be challenging. However, we can make this shift in stages. 

Below is the #GoHijri Adoption Framework that we developed at The Productive Muslim Company to help individuals shift from being aware of the Hijri calendar to fully adopting it. Enter your name and email below to download it.

The #GoHijri Adoption Framework is divided into three levels:

Level 1: Awareness

The awareness level is when a person becomes consciously aware of the Hijri calendar and its changing seasons. Below are five indicators that you’re at the aware level:

• You know which Hijri year you’re in (e.g., 1443H)
• You know which Islamic month you’re in (e.g., Muharram 1443H).
• You know the exact date according to the Hijri calendar (e.g., 1st Muharram 1443H)
• You are aware of the sacred months of the Hijri calendar and when they’ll occur during the year.
• You track the moon-sighting in your local area and are aware of the start of each Islamic month based on your locality.

Level 2: Alignment

The alignment level is when you proactively align your personal and professional life to the Hijri calendar. The five indicators that you’re at the alignment level are:

• You plan your voluntary fasting according to the white days of each Islamic month.
• You increase acts of worship during the sacred months.
• You are extra vigilant from committing sins during the sacred months.
• You’ve added the Hijri calendar to your phone/computer calendar system.
• You align special events in your life (wedding, new job, etc) with special dates in the Hijri calendar.

Level 3: Adoption

Level 3 is when you start living the Hijri first lifestyle. You think, plan, and organize your life around the Hijri calendar. Below are five indicators that you’ve adopted the Hijri calendar:

• You plan your month according to the Hijri calendar.
• You plan your year according to the Hijri calendar.
• You adopted your Hijri-calendar age as your true age.
• You communicate with family and friends in Hijri-first
• You adopted a Hijri-first mindset, i.e. you’re more comfortable dealing and interacting with the hijri calendar than the Gregorian calendar

How to use the #GoHijri Adoption framework? 

The #GoHijri adoption framework is a valuable tool to help you assess where you are in your journey of living a Hijri-first lifestyle and where you need to be.

At the beginning of each Islamic year (or any time you’re ready to #GoHijri), assess yourself against the above framework. This would give you a benchmark to measure yourself and work towards a higher adoption level by the next Islamic year.

Living a Hijri-first lifestyle requires conscious effort in the first few weeks, however, after a while you’ll be surprised how you naturally gravitate towards a Hijri-first life and prefer it even to the Gregorian calendar.

The post The #GoHijri Adoption Framework: A practical tool to living a Hijri-first lifestyle appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.