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.

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.

At the outset, this seemed like a harmless proposal that would improve coordination and planning in modern society. You won’t have to print new calendars each year. And the school year and other holidays can be fixed on the exact same date each year. However, a more critical review of the proposal would make you realize that the World Calendar (intentionally or unintentionally) would impose homogeneity across cultures feeding global commercial interests that wanted to align consumer behaviors to a single Western Christian calendar.

Thankfully, Muslim nations and other religious groups opposed this proposal, which saw that the 2 x 24-hour World Days would disrupt the 7-day week cycle, thus disrupting Jumuah and other weekly religious holidays. The U.N. dropped the proposal in 1955. 

The above is a cautionary tale of the power and importance of calendars in driving economic, political, and social interest. In this article, I want to share why calendars are important, why the Islamic lunar calendar matters (beyond calculating Ramadan, Eid, and Hajj), and how to align your personal and professional life to the Islamic calendar.

We stand to lose much when we neglect the powerful Hijri calendar that’s aligned with Divine Order. We need to take responsibility to revive it now. Click the button below to join the #LetsGoHijri campaign!

Join the campaign!

The Blessing of Calendars

For centuries, humans have observed the succession of days and nights, the waxing and waning of the moon, the movement of the sun, and the rhythm of seasons, and they used these cycles to measure time and organize their central activities around them (particularly for agriculture and trade). The Quran highlights this as a sign of Allah and His Divine Order for people to ponder.

هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ ۚ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ ذَٰلِكَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ ۚ يُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ

“It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases – that you may know the number of years and account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know.” [Quran 10:5]

Beyond aligning with the natural Divine order, humans developed calendar systems mainly for economic, political, and religious reasons. It provides a rhythm and pattern for societies to follow in daily life.

Today, the Gregorian calendar is the predominant calendar used globally. However, we should not forget that for fifteen centuries, the Muslim world had an equal powerful time system that was the primary calendar for society from Indonesia to Spain.

Although Muslims worldwide still use the Islamic calendar, however, it’s been deregulated as a secondary calendar that we only refer to when we want to know when is Ramadan, Eid, and Hajj.

My argument in this article is that we stand to lose much when we don’t make the Islamic calendar the primary calendar to organize our lives, and we need to take responsibility for the revival of this calendar.

The Islamic Calendar: Restoring Divine Order

إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِندَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ۚ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنفُسَكُمْ ۚ وَقَاتِلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَافَّةً كَمَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ كَافَّةً ۚ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ

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. That is the correct religion, so do not wrong yourselves during them. And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. And know that Allah is with the righteous [who fear Him]. [Quran 9:36]

Before Islam, Pagan Arabs used a lunisolar calendar system to calculate their month and years. The months were calculated according to the lunar cycle; however, they would add 10-11 days to the lunar calendar to align with the solar calendar. Hence, the pre-Islamic Arabian calendar started and ended in the fall of each year.

The pre-Islamic Arabic months’ names are the same as the one we use in the Islamic calendar, and some scholars note that the Arabs inherited this calendar system from Prophet Abraham and his son Prophet Ismaeel when they settled in Arabia. The proof for this is that the Arabs had the same four sacred months in their calendar as those in the Islamic calendar with very similar rituals, e.g., Hajj would be in Dhul-Hijja, and fighting was prohibited during the sacred months.

However, the Pagan Arabs manipulated these 12 months and each sacred month’s position to align with business and political interests. This manipulation of the months of the year was what Islam referred to as Al-Nasi’ (or in English intercalation) and was forbidden in the Quran. Allah says in the Quran:

إِنَّمَا النَّسِيءُ زِيَادَةٌ فِي الْكُفْرِ ۖ يُضَلُّ بِهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُحِلُّونَهُ عَامًا وَيُحَرِّمُونَهُ عَامًا لِّيُوَاطِئُوا عِدَّةَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ فَيُحِلُّوا مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ ۚ زُيِّنَ لَهُمْ سُوءُ أَعْمَالِهِمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ

“Indeed, the (nasi’) – postponing [of restriction within sacred months]- is an increase in disbelief by which those who have disbelieved are led [further] astray. They make it lawful one year and unlawful another year to correspond to the number made unlawful by Allah and [thus] make lawful what Allah has made unlawful. Made pleasing to them is the evil of their deeds, and Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.” [Quran 9: 37]

According to Tafseer Maududi:  “The pagan Arabs practiced nasi’ in two ways:

1. Whenever it suited them, they would declare a sacred month to be an ordinary month in which fighting, robbery, and murder in retaliation were lawful for them. Then they would declare an ordinary month to be a sacred month in order to make up for the missed sacred month.
2. The other way of nasi’ was the addition of a month in order to harmonize the lunar with the solar year so that the Hajj would always fall in the same season and they would be saved from the inconvenience of the shifting Hajj seasons that are experienced by its observance according to the lunar year.”

When Islam came, it inherited the Arabic calendar; however, it purified it from the above pagan practices. Prophet Muhammad in his final Hajj, announced the end of “playing” with time through (nasi’) intercalation and adopted a strictly lunar calendar (disconnected from the solar calendar) that we still use today. Through his sermon, it became clear that the dates of Hajj have occurred exactly at their natural and proper time after a long period of circulation, and that this will not change from that time onwards.

The practice of nasi’ was considered a rebellion against Divine Law and Order – trying to manipulate sacred months or shifting Hajj to suit economic interests. In essence, just like Prophet Muhammad restored the sanctity of the Ka’aba to its original purpose as a House of Worship for Allah , he restored the Islamic calendar to its Divine purpose reconnecting it to the lunar cycle and the perfect balance of the cosmic rhythm.

الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ

“The sun and the moon [move] by precise calculation,” [Quran 55:5]

خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ ۖ يُكَوِّرُ اللَّيْلَ عَلَى النَّهَارِ وَيُكَوِّرُ النَّهَارَ عَلَى اللَّيْلِ ۖ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ ۖ كُلٌّ يَجْرِي لِأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى ۗ أَلَا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفَّارُ “

He created the heavens and earth for a true purpose; He wraps the night around the day and the day around the night; He has subjected the sun and moon to run their courses for an appointed time; He is truly the Mighty, the Forgiving.” [Quran 39: 5]

By removing human manipulation from the calendar system, Prophet Muhammad was sending a powerful message to His community that we need to submit fully to the Will of Allah in all matters including how we organize our day, months, and years and not try to manipulate the calendar for political and economic interests. This purification of the calendar from market interests is why the Islamic lunar calendar survived all these centuries without alterations (compared to the Roman/Christian calendar, which went through various adjustments and changes throughout the centuries).

A Civilizational Identity

After the death of Prophet Muhammad and specifically during the time of Caliph Umar Bin Al-Khattab , he assigned a calendar committee on how the new lunar calendar can be used as a unifying calendar for the growing Islamic empire. The committee chose Friday, July 16th, 622 CE, as the evening of the lunar crescent that marked the beginning of the lunar year in which Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina, hence the Hijri calendar began.

Although the calendar system was developed for practical reasons to conduct the Islamic caliphate’s affairs and correspondence, we cannot underestimate how much the institution of the Islamic calendar was essential in constructing a cultural and civilizational identity over unprecedented distances. One could travel from Morocco to India and find that everyone has Ramadan around the same time (plus or minus a day depending on moon sighting). People would come for Hajj from all over the Islamic lands and arrive in the same month (a miracle, given that this was before satellite communication and TVs).

Moreover, this was a low-maintenance calendar system. By adopting the strictly lunar calendar, any person living in Muslim lands could determine the start and end of each month by looking at the moon or visiting their local mosque. There was no need for complicated adjustments that plagued the solar calendars adopted by different religious and political authorities.

Sacred Time vs. Non-Sacred Time

In a powerful Friday Khutba, Sh. Abdul-Hakim Murad shares the critical importance of the Islamic calendar in today’s materialistic society. We live in a world where spirituality is removed from public space and hidden into private corners. Time is governed by clocks and a Gregorian calendar that’s devoid of spiritual meaning or significance. The Islamic calendar instead connects us to the spiritual realm through time and helps us organize our time into sacred and non-sacred days and months.

Consider the annual Islamic cycle (See Figure below): You start the year with a sacred month, and the blessed days of Ashura (sacred time), you then enter Safar (non-sacred time), then comes Rabi Al-Awwal which (leaving Mawlid debates aside) is considered a special time for many who commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammad , then comes three months of Rabi-II, Jumada I, and Jumada II (non-sacred time), then enters Rajab (sacred time), then Sha’baan – which although is not a sacred month, but the Prophet Muhammad emphasized its importance, then comes the highlight of the year – Ramadan, followed by Eid in Shawwal, then we end the year with the two sacred months of Dhul-Qi’ da and Dhul-Hijja, before starting a new lunar year with the sacred month of Muharram.

Moreover, within each month, there’s the rhythm of fasting created by the waxing and waning of the moon where we’re encouraged to fast on the White Days (the 13th, 14th, and 15th of each Islamic month) when the moon is full.

The Islamic calendar creates a spiritual rhythm to life through alternating between sacred time and non-sacred time. Moreover, the purpose of sacred time is to prepare us and purify us to be the best version of ourselves during the non-sacred time, just like the five daily prayers are meant to be daily purifiers to help us become better people outside of prayer times.

Compare the above rhythm with the flat, secular, Gregorian calendar of January, February, March, April, etc. which is devoid of any relevant meaning. Unfortunately, global corporations invest in creating special seasons around these months to drive consumer behaviors through seasonal gifts and exclusive’ deals.’ Hence we have the annual consumer cycle of New Year–> Valentine days–>Mothers day–>Fathers day–>Summer holidays–>Back to school–>Christmas etc.

Can you see how much we lose when we disregard and forget the Islamic calendar? We genuinely lose on a robust spiritual calendar that would align us to a fitra (natural disposition) lifestyle, one that is aligned with the Divine Order.

But isn’t it complicated to adopt the Islamic calendar?

Before I delve into the practical ways to align the Islamic calendar to your personal and professional life, I want to address a common argument against adopting the Islamic calendar as a primary calendar in one’s life. Mainly, that modern life is built around the Gregorian calendar. And with the challenges of accurately sighting the moon each Islamic month, it would be impractical to adopt the Islamic calendar in our personal and professional life.

There are a number of counter-arguments for this:

1. Let us firstly accept and submit that this is the calendar that Allah and His Messenger chose for humanity. Therefore it must be the best calendar system to organize our life around.
2. Early Islamic societies had to deal with the same issues of figuring out how best to align moon sightings across regions, hence the powerful scientific renaissance in Muslim lands, especially in Mathematics, Astronomy, and Geometry. This led to the adoption of a ‘civil’ Islamic calendar that was calculated astronomically and distributed across the Muslim world and an Islamic religious calendar that remained dependent on local moon sighting. With advances in technology, these two calendar systems have pretty much aligned with each other for most months (minus the annual Ramadan/Eid moon sighting debates).
3. If, as a community, we uphold the importance of the Islamic calendar in our lives, more serious efforts would be taken by Governments and technology companies to figure out a way to be able to use the Hijri calendar as a real alternative to the Gregorian calendar (already Apple, Google, and Microsoft allow adding the Islamic calendar to one’s digital calendar and smartphones).
4. Although we think that the Gregorian solar calendar is accurate, it’s not. Read the history of the Gregorian calendar and how it shifted from the Roman calendar to the Julian calendar and finally to the Gregorian calendar and the scientific, political, and religious alterations it went through. Even today, the fact we have to add an “additional day” every four years, is evidence that the solar calendar is far from accurate.
5. The Islamic calendar is perhaps the last institution we have as a global Muslim society that gives us a unique civilizational identity. It connects us at a deeper Ummah level – just see how the Ummah comes together during Ramadan and Hajj. This unity can be achieved outside Ramadan/Hajj by integrating our personal lives and institutions with the Islamic calendar.

My contention in this article is that we have much to lose – spiritually, psychologically, and socially – if we don’t accept the Divine calendar that Allah chose. Moreover, the pressure for a globalized “World Calendar” is far from over. I won’t be surprised if there’ll be a renewed effort towards adopting a World Calendar in the not-so-distant future. We need to start taking the revival of the Islamic calendar seriously today.

Conclusion: How to align the Islamic calendar to your personal and professional life?

I want to be clear that I’m not asking you to abandon the Gregorian calendar overnight; this will not be practical nor feasible in our modern life. However, I’m asking you to set your intentions to please Allah by aligning your life primarily to the Islamic calendar in whatever capacity you can. It’s about living a Hijri-first lifestyle. Below are a few examples of how you can do this:

• If you’re a professional, try to organize your vacations around the Islamic calendar.
• If you’re a stay-at-home parent, organize kids’ activities around the Islamic calendar.
• If you’re a business owner, pay your employees according to the Islamic calendar (your staff would love you since they’ll get a bonus pay every two years!).
• If you’re a school principal, organize your school events around the Islamic calendar.

We can all do our bit, and it starts by setting the right intentions, taking responsibility to revive the Islamic calendar in our lives, and living by example to show others how it can be done.

My challenge to you is for the upcoming year 1442H, try to make the Islamic calendar your primary calendar in as many areas of your life as possible.

We stand to lose much when we neglect the powerful Hijri calendar that’s aligned with Divine Order. We need to take responsibility to revive it now. Click the button below to join the #LetsGoHijri campaign!

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Calendar
• “By Noon Prayer: The Rhythm of Islam” By Fadwa El Guindi
• “The Day Begins at Sunset: Perceptions of Time in the Islamic World” by Barbara Freyer Stowasser
• “The Sacred Nature of the Islamic Calendar” by Sh.AbdulHakim Murad.
• Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Quran 9: 37.
• Tafsir Maududi, Quran 9: 37.

The post Why The Islamic Calendar Matters More Than You Think appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Modern-day business travel is harrying enough for professionals, especially IT executives. On a typical travel day, I run through an airport to catch a flight, work on my upcoming presentation/proposal on the flight, pick up some airport food upon landing, hurry to catch a cab ride to the customer office, then lead a multi-hour workshop with demanding customers, and then sometimes rush back to the airport to catch a flight to the next destination. And, not to mention, I am on multiple business conference calls during the day (typically during the cab rides and waits in the airports while I am eating, as well as have a growing backlog of emails (and/or SMS/voicemails) to read/listen and respond to.

On top of this, as Muslims, we also have to worry about daily obligatory prayers (salah) on time (amid travels and business meetings), finding appropriate halal food at odd places like airports and address issues of Islamic cleanliness – in a predominantly non-Muslim majority society which does not attend to our religious values and needs. However, I’ve found where there is a will, Allah makes the way easy.

Mastercard-Crescent rating Muslim Business Traveler Insights 2016 conducted an online survey and interviews with 250 frequent Muslim business travelers. Results showed that the top concerns for Muslim Business travelers are the availability of prayer facilities (78 %) and Halal dining options (71 %). [1]

In this article, I would like to document my practical experiences, resources including the travel management software (plovertrip.com/travel-management/), and tips on observing the tenets of Islam during my extensive travels. I am hoping this will provide some practical guidance for other frequent travelers in non-Muslim majority countries. I will describe my experiences from the following principal perspectives – prayers, food, cleanliness, and behavior.

Disclaimer: Please note that I am NOT an Islamic scholar.  So this is not a scholarly thesis. This is a practitioner’s experiential guide in attempting to observe Islamic tenets amidst the bustle of modern business travels. I acknowledge there may be mistakes and shortcomings in my practices and approaches. I seek forgiveness from Allah for my mistakes. And I would appreciate guidance from scholars and knowledgeable folks for corrections and improvement.

Also please note that none of the practices I discuss here are new. They are all based on the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet in the etiquettes of travel. This is simply an articulation of how to adapt and observe the Sunnah in the context of modern business travels. May Allah guide us, grant us his forgiveness and mercy and make it easy for all of us.

Download the Business Traveler’s Spiritual Checklist to make your next work trip physically, socially & spiritually productive here:

How to Keep up with the Daily Prayers (Salah)

Let’s start with the most important topic of prayers (salah). Generally speaking, this is my top concern and priority during travel – how do I offer my obligatory prayers on time and not miss my prayers. There are several approaches I follow:

• First, I observe the principle of qasr prayer (shortening and combining of prayers). This is major mercy from Allah to ease the traveler’s affairs. This provides me with a broader window of time to offer Dhuhr  (noon) and Asr (afternoon) prayers together as well as Maghrib (sunset) and Isha (night), as opposed to being available for each during its time-slot. I typically plan my workday so that I free myself up once between Dhuhr and Maghrib (typically in the airport, or in the office, or sometimes on flights) and once after Maghrib (typically after work in my hotel). Fajr (dawn) prayer is rarely an issue since I can offer that in the hotel.
• Planning is key to making the above approach work, especially during the shorter days in winter wherein praying Dhuhr/Asr is sometimes challenging.

When traveling by air, where permissible, I fly out early in the morning (since the gap between Fajr and Dhuhr prayers is the biggest) so that I arrive at my destination at least one hour before Maghrib – which allows me to pray Dhuhr/Asr together -especially when I am flying from west to east (thereby effectively shortening the daylight time). Else, I plan my transit in such a way that allows me to pray the Dhuhr/Asr at the transit airport.

To be prepared, I look-up the prayer times in the cities I am visiting or transiting through. You can use various sites like IslamicFinder.

Unfortunately, the based-laid plans can sometimes go awry (for example due to flight delays and other circumstances). Hence, I also consider the prayer times in-flight using sites like halaltrip.com  (or their mobile app on the go), which provides me the correct prayer times and direction based on origin, destination and flight times – just in case I am forced to pray during the flight.

Some of my Muslim friends prefer to journey by night (i.e. red-eye flights) especially during winter months since nights are long. This provides the maximum allowable time between the mandatory prayers (Isha and Fajr) and probably the least disruption due to travel. And there are narrations where the Prophet recommended traveling at night unless one is alone, then it’s not advised.

Anas reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Keep to traveling by night because the earth is folded (traversed more easily) during the night.” [Abu Dawud]. However, this is not recommended if one is alone. As the Prophet said: “Were people to know of what I know about the dangers of traveling alone, no rider would travel alone at night.” [Al-Bukhari]

A couple of key points I’d like to include:

1. Praying at airports: I often pray at airports – either during travel or transit. I always look up whether the airport has prayer facilities – like the airport chapel. Alhamdulillah, most major airports in the USA have some form of a facility for worship. You can look-up the list of US airports with worship facilities in many sites such as halaltrip.com, Pew Research or Directory of Airport Chapels or the respective airport website. Alhamdulillah, my “home” airport (Dallas-Fort Worth) has the most number of chapels (5) – one in each terminal!

Most of the airport chapels have prayer rugs, so you can use them. When praying at multi-faith airport facilities, please be respectful of others who may be there. I have never had any trouble praying at chapels at airports. Matter of fact, I have had people going out of their way to provide me more privacy and some even ask about my prayer and faith. SubhanAllah, what an excellent opportunity Allah gives us for dawah on these occasions!

Often I have to transit through my “home” airport (DFW) since it is a hub for American Airlines. A question arises if I get an opportunity for prayer during transit – do I pray the full prayer (since I am within 50 miles of my home) or qasr (since I am in the middle of a journey)? The general guidance is that unless the journey has ended, we can observe qasr prayer since we are still in transit.

In airports where there are no worship facilities and it is impossible due to circumstances to pray while standing, I pray either sitting down or on a portable prayer mat if I can get appropriate space and privacy.  The recommendation for mandatory prayers while seated (due to circumstances) is to make them up while standing later.

2. Praying at work/office: Sometimes, we have day-long meetings at my employers or customer offices, which requires me to pray at work. Generally speaking, I can find an empty meeting room where I can pray during a break. Some offices (like those of my employer) have dedicated “Wellness Rooms” which offer additional privacy for prayers. In general, I have never had anybody object to my prayers. Once at the General Motors headquarters in downtown Detroit, I had to explain to security why I took off my shoes since someone complained I was barefoot!

Sometimes I have to attend long customer or business meetings in the afternoon that cover the entire time of Dhuhr and Asr (especially during winter months when daytime is short). Depending on nature and criticality, it may sometimes be difficult to break out of such meetings. In such situations, I pray for Allah’s help and make my best effort. I remember once I broke out of such a meeting saying that I have another urgent meeting. When asked what other meetings could be more urgent than the meeting I was attending, I said “I have a meeting with God” – who can object to that? 

3. Prayer direction: Where applicable, I use mobile apps to correctly determine the Qibla direction. HalalTrip and Qibla Compass are both great apps for this.

4. Praying inside the airplane: Occasionally, the only opportunity to offer prayer is during the flight. In such cases, I pray sitting on my seat, regardless of the direction of travel. To calculate the correct time of prayer while on a flight, I use the inflight prayer time calculator on halaltrip.com website. Only twice while flying Etihad Airways, I found dedicated space for prayer on an airline, but I have never seen that on US airlines.

5. Duas/dhikr before Maghrib time: Even though I generally combine Maghrib and Isha prayers at a later time, I always make time for duas and dhikr just before Maghrib time. Here is a list of the Sunnah/recommended duas and dhikr (or get the app “Fortress of the Muslim”). It does not normally take more than 15 minutes but has huge benefits.

6. Dhikr during travels: Ironically, I have found that occasionally travel actually provides me some much needed “downtime” for greater remembrance of Allah . As we are all armed with connected mobile devices, we feel we can be productive every minute even while we are on the go. However, think of specific pockets of time during travel when it is difficult to get meaningful work done – for example, going through airport security checkpoints, boarding/disembarking a flight, the times during takeoff/landing when they ask you turn off laptops, rushing through a transit airport to catch a connection, etc. I find these (and other such occasions) great opportunities to do Dhikr rather than idly thumbing through my smartphone. See examples of recommended Dhikr here.

How to Find Halal (Pure & Lawful) Food

Food is generally my second biggest concern during travel especially in places like airports or in the workplace. Typically I eat fish or vegetarian foods in such places, but such veggie/seafood may not necessarily be halal – they may contain alcohol or other meat by-products like chicken stock (you won’t believe how many so-called “veggie” products have chicken stock in them) or maybe contaminated by other haram (unpure/unlawful) food through use of common utensils.

When eating out, I always ask about ingredients in detail and do the best effort in due diligence, and leave the rest to Allah . It is generally difficult to find good fish (or seafood) in airports, where salads are the best option.

American salads (without meat) are generally a bland fair, and not very appetizing, so I look for Mexican and Mediterranean salads where possible. Such salads don’t just have leafy vegetables, but also feature nutritious beans (great source of protein and fiber) and delicious sauces. Specifically, at Qdoba, I have verified that their black bean and vegetable sauté do not have any meats in it.  Additionally, Qdoba now features the tasty Impossible “vegetarian meats”, which is considered halal.  Another popular option for me at airports include Panera Bread (they always have veggie soups and sandwiches) and Subway (veggie subs).

Outside airports and the workplace, I generally look up halal restaurants using Zabihah.com, which is a great resource (online or mobile app). However, it is always a good idea to call the restaurant ahead to verify the halal status.

Maintaining the Tahara ( Cleanliness/Purity) While Travelling

Another key thing that concerns me on travels includes the use of public bathrooms and ablution (wudu).

Use of public restrooms

We all know Islam emphasizes cleanliness. However, I often find private stalls in men’s restrooms – especially in airports – quite dirty. Using the toilet seat in a sitting position may in fact cause more uncleanliness (apart from the risk of infections) – use of porous toilet seat covers notwithstanding. In such circumstances, I found a ruling that says it is permissible to urinate while standing. I am not sure how women travelers deal with this issue.

Wudu (ablution)

Similar issues are related to wudu where we have no choice but to perform them in public restrooms. Taking off shoes and socks in unclean restrooms is somewhat concerning, so I am careful to take off one shoe at a time so my feet do not touch the ground. I ignore the stares that I get sometimes. During winter months, I sometimes wear leather socks (khuffayn) that makes it somewhat easier. Our Imam says that we can also do masah over regular socks, which also is a great blessing from Allah , especially during travels. Occasionally I perform wudu in the restroom on the airplane. But what happens when you are unable to go to the restroom in an airplane (for example when the seat belt sign is on) and the prayer time is elapsing? Well, as a backup, I carry a pair of clean stones in my carry-on bag so I can perform tayammum in a hurry.

Islamic Behavior while Traveling

Finally, I would like to discuss how we behave during travels. I am not going to discuss the usual guidance and restrictions on how Muslims need to carry themselves in public but focus more on how we behave in the modern workplace.

Some circumstances in the workplace are of concern. For example, we often have get-togethers (both in the workplace and during offsite dinners) I need to attend where alcohol is served. I make it well known to my colleagues (and customers) that I do not drink, and they always respect that.

I also generally never attend the “after dinner” drinking socials that are so common in professional circles. Most times, when these social occasions overlap with prayer times, I get out early or skip them altogether. Similarly, I do not engage in un-needed joking or small talk.

Interacting with members of the opposite sex in workplace contexts is also something I am very careful about. My philosophy is to keep such interactions to a necessary minimum without being disrespectful or awkward.

Communication about our Islamic practices in non-Muslim majority societies is key so that we are not misunderstood, especially in professional circles.

Consider for example, when we go to the common restroom to do wudu while in the workplace. Our colleagues typically relieve themselves, wash their hands and leave. To perform wudu, however, we need to take off our jacket and tie, roll-up our shirt sleeves, take off our shoes (and maybe socks) while performing wudu….all of which would look unusual to non-Muslims, and some of whom may even find it offensive. Hence it is important to communicate proactively about our practices.

Over time, people around you begin to better understand your ways. Most of my colleagues think of me as being “religious and disciplined” and most appreciate it.

One thing I have learned from my experiences is that we need to stand up for our Islamic needs. In the USA, discrimination in the workplace based on religion is considered illegal.

Final Thoughts

I have spent a limited time working in Muslim majority countries (KSA and Emirates). Most of these issues I discussed here do not exist there. Most food everywhere is halal, people take breaks from work to pray, there are mosques in every street corner and airports, and people generally observe Islamic decorum in terms of behavior. It is not so in non-Muslim majority countries, so we need to conduct ourselves accordingly. Hopefully, I have provided you with some new insights based on my experiences.

I would be happy to hear back from you on your experiences and guidance. May Allah forgive our shortcomings and make our affairs easy in this world and the hereafter.

[1] Muslim Business Traveler Insights 2016

Join Barakah Academy to engage with like-minded global Muslim professionals on their journey to live the best version of themselves: spiritually, physically and socially.

The post #TravelingWhileMuslim: A Practical Guide for Muslim Business Travelers appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

The following manifesto was written in the city of Barakah, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah (The illuminated City), the city of Prophet Muhammad in November 2019. 

Click below to get the above Manifesto in high-quality 18″ x 24″ poster delivered to your home.

Backstory: Blessings upon Blessings

When I visited the blessed city of Prophet Muhammad in November 2019, I set the intention of writing a manifesto for the Barakah Culture that we’re spreading globally as part of our new company direction. What better place can someone write a ‘Barakah’ Culture Manifesto than in the city of our Beloved Prophet who supplicated for this city saying:

“O Allah, shower blessings upon us in our city, and in our fruits, in our mudd and in our sa’s, blessings upon blessings” [Sahih Muslim]

And He said as Anas b. Malik reported that the Messenger said:

“O Allah, increase in Medina twice the blessings (You showered) on Mecca.” [Sahih Al Bukhari]

Thankfully -and all praise is due to the Decree of Allah -, I realized after arriving in Madinah that I forgot my writing journal and I only had a few scraps of hotel notepads to write down the manifesto!

Due to the limited resources, Allah inspired me to follow the Prophetic example of saying only a few words but capturing many meanings. So I sat from ‘Asr until Maghrib prayer in the Prophetic mosque writing, scratching, and re-writing until I came to the first draft of the manifesto with the Help of Allah .

After a few iterations with the help of my team and advisors, we were able to refine these words to precisely 100 words – alhamduliAllah.

We ask Allah to accept it from us and to put Barakah in these few words so that they spread globally and guide all those who read them towards living a life of Barakah and embracing the Barakah Culture.

The post Barakah Culture Manifesto in 100 Words appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Being more concerned about work outcomes can lead us to sweep our feelings under the carpet when we face a painful work experience ignoring thereby our holistic well-being. But the truth is, you’re not a work machine, you have feelings and emotions, and more importantly, nothing happens to you without a purpose. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“No calamity befalls ˹anyone˺ except by Allah’s Will. And whoever has faith in Allah, He will ˹rightly˺ guide their hearts ˹through adversity˺. And Allah has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.” [Qur’an 64: 11]

When we explore organizational psychology & leadership research, we find abundant evidence for growth following stressful/painful moments [1]. Leaders report that painful moments of hardship were fundamental to their development and understanding of their values [2]. We also learn that people’s levels of cognitive awareness and reflection are among the reasons that allow them to construe benefit from adversity [3].

What we need to acknowledge is that painful work experiences WILL happen to everyone in any organization. The key here is how people can consciously turn those experiences into opportunities for peace, growth, and success.

This brings us to one of the 17 Barakah mindsets we identified as part of our Barakah Culture Toolset (See our Barakah Culture Cards) which is: introspection & self-accountability.

Introspection & self-accountability is a powerful mindset that helps us grow through painful work experiences in a way that brings internal and external peace and growth.

Three benefits of introspection & self-accountability

1. When you adopt the Barakah mindset of introspection and self-accountability upon facing a painful work experience; you reflect and think about where you went wrong and what you can do to change the situation, instead of playing the victim card of why you didn’t deserve this and who’s fault it is.

So the first benefit of such a mindset is that you start taking responsibility honorably for the mistake and figuring out how to tackle it.

Yes, reflecting on one’s own mistakes and blaming the self instead of others can be painful but it’s a sign that your nafs (self/ego) is uncomfortable with making the mistake and you could have done better. And that’s a good sign – it means your heart is alive. (We all know people who make mistakes and feel no regret; if anything they try to justify their mistakes which makes the situation even worse!).

2. The second benefit of the introspection and self-accountability mindset is that it ignites life in your heart and holds you accountable to a higher standard. Allah in the Qur’an gives an oath by the self-reproaching soul.

“I do swear by the Day of Judgment! And I do swear by the self-reproaching soul!” [Qur’an 75: 1-2]

In the above verses, Allah swears by the Day of judgment when people will be held accountable for their deeds. Then He swears by people’s self-reproaching soul that innately holds them accountable and rebukes them for their mistakes BEFORE the day of Judgement. If we don’t hold ourselves accountable in this life, we’ll surely regret in the hereafter.

3. Thirdly, when we introspect and hold ourselves accountable and think of our mistakes from a hereafter-perspective, we shift the focus to the Judge, and the Judge here is The Most Merciful. In the hustle culture we live in, we let our managers be our judge, and sometimes to them, we’re never good enough and our mistakes can never be forgivable. But knowing that Allah is The One who’ll ultimately judge us for our mistakes and that He forgives everything -once asked- no matter how big or how many times mistakes have been repeated brings a sense of ease and helps release us from the pain that’s gripping our hearts.

From pain to hope

The word for ‘blamed’ in Arabic is لام ‘Lam’. Those 3 letters in ‘lam’ لام also form the word الم ‘Alm’ (Pain), i.e. Blame leads to pain. But, the same 3 letters can be rearranged to form the word امل ‘Aml’ (Hope).

The message is clear: Blaming the self can lead to pain. But pain is not a fixed, endless state. The pain must carry and turn into hope…

• Hope because the heart is alive and not numb.
• Hope that this is not the end (and we’ll be held accountable on the Day of Judgement with a Merciful Lord).
• Hope for a better self that can come out of this situation and mistake
• Hope in the mercy of Allah that encompasses everything
• Hope in His promise that with difficulty there must be ease.

What exacerbates painful experiences for some people is their inability, lack of desire, or refusal to see any hope in their situations. But sometimes Allah places pain purposefully to guide people to Him and to a more meaningful realization about life.

“No calamity befalls ˹anyone˺ except by Allah’s Will. And whoever has faith in Allah, He will ˹rightly˺ guide their hearts ˹through adversity˺. And Allah has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.” (Qur’an 64: 11)

Finding peace knowing that your pain is valued & rewarded

When we’re talking about painful experiences, we’re not necessarily talking about big disasters. It could be a very small event, but it did leave you feeling pain. Still, to Allah , your pain is not meaningless, purposeless or in vain.

Abu Sa’id and Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said:

“Never a believer is stricken with a discomfort, an illness, anxiety, a grief or mental worry or even the pricking of a thorn but Allah will expiate his sins on account of his patience ” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The Prophet cared for and valued the pain of a little child who was grieving over the loss of his little bird. Anas b. Malik said:

The Messenger of Allah used to come to visit us. I had a younger brother who was called Abu ‘Umair’ (nickname). He had a sparrow with which he played, but it died. So one day the prophet came to see him and saw him grieved. He asked: What is the matter with him? The people replied: His sparrow has died. He then said: Abu ‘Umair! What has happened to the little sparrow? [Sunan Abi Dawud]

The Prophet didn’t say “brush it off, young man. Toughen up and move on. There are much bigger problems in life.”

Rather, the Prophet took the time to listen and validate the feelings of the little child, engage with him and console him mercifully. This is the mercy of the Messenger of The Most Merciful, imagine the mercy of the Most Merciful Himself!

Every small moment of pain you go through is seen and heard by Allah and is rewarded by Him. Be it a harsh word you read in an email, a tough meeting that left you uncomfortable or an unpleasant manager who keeps you on your toes, stressed and unable to enjoy life… All of those moments can be rewarded and they also happen for a greater reason.

“We have made some of you a trial for others. Will you ˹not then˺ be patient? And your Lord is All-Seeing.” [Qur’an 25: 20]

If one is patient, i.e. not giving up, rebelling or defensively turning away, it could be an opportunity for spiritual connection with Allah because Allah says, “Indeed, Allah is with the patient.” [Qur’an 8: 46]

So patience puts you in the ma’yya of Allah (the company and care) of Allah. Sometimes we get so self-absorbed or consumed by our lives that we completely forget about the One who gave us life. Those temporary moments of discomfort or pain help us slow down, remember Him, turn to Him and engage with Him.

While we might fixate on the current perceived pain and magnify it thinking it’s the end of the world, we are reminded through painful experiences that this life is not the end, it is just an episode and there is an eternal dimension to it. What are those moments, days, weeks, years of pain, in comparison with an eternity of unlimited pleasures if He is pleased with you…?

“Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account.”[Qur’an 39:10]

Shifting your mindset & taking action

As we mentioned earlier, pain is not the end. It’s a means to an end. The end is guidance, growth, and connection with Allah . In those painful moments, as a means of relief, try shifting from being ego-centric to being Allah-centric. When one is Allah-centric, he/she thinks about what pleases Allah , instead of what pleases the ego/self.

The nafs can be angry, vengeful, greedy, competitive, restless, hard to please and limited. But Allah is Ever Kind, Generous, Appreciative, doesn’t compare you to others, accepts and aids you in every step, His Name is the Peace and the Giver of peace; He owns everything and has no limits. The Real King.

Submitting to Allah instead of submitting to the self is liberating to the soul from the injustice and limitation of the self. So, in those moments, try thinking like an ‘abd’ (slave of Allah), instead of thinking of yourself as a false master who is entitled to receive everything and be served relentlessly. Free yourself from your own self for a while, and think about Allah . Ask yourself: Did you do something that displeases Him that needs repentance and seeking forgiveness? Are there shortcomings in your duty to Him or others?

When you’re more concerned about Allah , Allah will take away your concerns. The Messenger of Allah says:

“Whoever is focused only on this world, Allah will confound his affairs and make him fear poverty constantly, and he will not get anything of this world except that which has been decreed for him. Whoever is focused on the Hereafter, Allah will settle his affairs for him and make him rich in his heart, and his provision and worldly gains will undoubtedly come to him.” [Sunan Ibn Majah]

Thought experiment

Think about a painful experience you went through/or are going through currently, and ask yourself:

• What does this experience make you grateful for?
• What does this experience make you hopeful for?
• What can you learn from this experience? How can it make you a better person?

Now, turn the answers into hamd (praise of Allah), tasbeeh (glorification of Allah), and dua (supplications to Allah). Praise Allah for the good things you’re thankful for, the countless moments of ease and well-being you experienced before, then glorify Allah above any negative/flawed perceptions, then seek the help of Allah, ask Him for resolutions and have hope in Him and His relief.

Are you going through a painful work experience? Can you use the above to the situation into a powerful mean for spiritual connection, peace, and growth? Let us know in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this article, order your set of the Barakah Culture Cards for the full list of Barakah Values, Mindsets and Rituals to adopt in your personal and professional life.

—

References

Affleck, G., & Tennen, H. (1996). Construing benefits from adversity: Adaptational significance and dispositional underpinnings. Journal of personality, 64(4), 899-922.

Boyd, E. M., & Fales, A. W. (1983). Reflective learning: Key to learning from experience. Journal of humanistic psychology, 23(2), 99-117.

Defense mechanism. Encyclopedia Britannica. Human Psychology.

Helgeson, V. S., Reynolds, K. A., & Tomich, P. L. (2006). A meta-analytic review of benefit finding and growth. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 74(5), 797.

Moxley, R. S., & Pulley, M. L. (2003). Tough going: Learning from experience the hard way. Leadership in Action: A Publication of the Center for Creative Leadership and Jossey‐Bass, 23(2), 14-18.

Tennen, H., & Affleck, G. (1999). Finding benefits in adversity. Coping: The psychology of what works, 279-304.

Tennen, H., & Affleck, G. (2002). Benefit-finding and benefit-reminding. Handbook of positive psychology, 1, 584-597.

The post How a Painful Work Experience Can Turn into a Powerful Opportunity for Peace & Growth appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

The Barakah Culture Cards will help you develop the values, mindsets, and rituals that attract Barakah in your personal and professional life.

Designed for Muslim professionals, families, and teams, each card will help you have deep and meaningful conversations with family, friends, and colleagues on what it means to live the life of Barakah.

This product is a great companion to the Barakah Journal.

Each deck contains 17 mindsets, 17 values, and 17 rituals that are drawn from Quranic verses, sayings of Prophet Muhammad , and Islamic tradition that promote Barakah Culture in a person and team.

It is our intention that with these cards, we can equip individuals and organizations with the tools to have a meaningful conversation on how to adopt Barakah Culture in their lives and fight the madness of Hustle culture.

Getting the Cards

How to use the Barakah Culture Cards for yourself and your team?

There are several ways to play with these cards, and you can use your imagination and creativity to come up with imaginative ways to make the most of these cards for learning and training purposes.

Below is our recommended ways to use the cards:

Step 1: Give each individual a set of cards.

Step 2: Ask each person to go through all the cards and divide them into 2 piles:

PILE 1: Place here the mindsets, values, and rituals that you’re currently adopting/implementing in your life.

PILE 2: Place here the mindsets, values, and rituals that you need to work on (or adopt in the future).

Step 3: From PILE 1, pick 3 mindsets, 3 values, and 3 rituals that are MOST important to you (this is not to say that the rest are not important, but these 9 cards are your non-negotiable ones, no matter the circumstances you face in life).

Step 4: If you’re playing these cards with a team, share your top three mindsets, values, and rituals with the rest of the team and explain why. This would lead to eye-opening discussions on what’s most important to each individual team member, and how all team members are complementing each other on Barakah Culture.

Step 5: From PILE 2, pick ONE mindset, ONE value, and ONE ritual that you’ll focus on as an individual in your personal/professional life in the next 3 months.

Step 6: If you’re playing these cards with a team; after everyone shares their one mindset, values, and rituals that they need to work on. Decide on what would be the ONE mindset, ONE Value, ONE Ritual that you’ll work on together as a team.

STEP 7: REGULAR CHECK-INS.

At this point, the exercise is over, however, to ensure that  Barakah Culture becomes part and parcel of your personal and professional development, it’s important to set up regular “Barakah – CheckIn” days with yourself and team to discuss the progress and challenges of adopting Barakah culture in your personal/professional lives.

A FUN AFTERNOON WITH BARAKAH CULTURE CARDS

Here is a fun and educational way for using the Barakah Culture Cards in your organization.

1. Divide the team into 2 teams: Team A and Team B.
2. Place one deck of cards face time in the center of the room divided into the 3 sets of mindsets, values, and rituals.
3. Ask for a representative from team A to come forward and pick one mindset, one value, and one ritual from the deck.
4. The Challenge: They have 1 min to get Team A to guess what is the mindset, value, and ritual they picked up without saying those 3 words! They can give clues or share a story, but they can’t use the 3 words they picked up.
5. If Team A gets the 3 words correctly, they get 5 points. If they can’t guess all 3 words correctly by the end of the 1-minute challenge, Team B will have one chance to guess the 3 words and get the 5 points.
6. Switch to Team B and repeat the challenge! The team with the highest scores wins the game.

The keyword here though is “play”. We want people to engage with these cards as a playful, yet meaningful and thoughtful, exercise.

Additional Discussion Prompts

1. Connecting Barakah Culture Cards to Issues: Identify issues affecting the team and organization. Connect the cause of the issue to a lack of any Barakah Values, Mindsets or Rituals. Discuss actionable steps.
2. Connecting Barakah Culture Cards to Experiences: Ask team members to share one Barakah Mindset, Value, or Ritual which they learned through experience and the impact that experience had on their personal and professional development.
3. Connecting Barakah Culture Cards to Family: Identify a card that represents a Value, Mindset or Ritual you have learned from a parent or grandparent, or that you have taught to your children. Share the value and what it means to you / your family.

We’d Love Your Feedback

We’re excited to release these Barakah Culture Cards globally and we can’t wait to hear stories from individuals and teams on how these tools have helped them bring tangible success, motivation, and Barakah in their personal and professional lives. To share your story (or any feedback) you have with these cards, please email us at contactus@productivemuslim.com with the subject line: Barakah Culture Cards.

Acknowledgments

All praise is due to Allah for enabling us to produce these cards and peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad who is the embodiment of Barakah and role model for the Ummah. The following Productive Muslim Company team members and partners were involved in the development of these cards: Dina Basiony (Author), Aneesah Satriya (Designer), Mohammed Faris (Editor), Quratulain Tariq (Illustrator), Khadijah Alston (Logistics Coordinator), and Mohamed Hendi (Printing & Production). The cards are still a work in progress and we’d love your feedback to keep improving the quality and content of these cards with Ihsan.

The post The Barakah Culture Cards: A Practical Tool to Cultivate Barakah Culture Mindsets, Values & Rituals appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

My accidental discovery and deliberative usage of my inner power – the Power Within – has been one of the more difficult of my life journey to share. The difficulty lies in both confessing how unconscious I was when uncovering my inner power as well as how desperate the circumstances when I realized that, unless I harness it, I may perish. However, I decided to dig deep into my soul to find the best way in which to make this journey accessible for an audience needing to search for an inner power in order to radiate outwardly the barakah or blessing inherent in its positive harnessing.

This journey goes back to 6 June 1987. After my first stint in apartheid South Africa’s prison, I spent the next 18 months ‘underground’, escaping the draconian powers that the state of emergency conferred on the already powerful police: the power to detain people without trial indefinitely, to disappear them, to isolate them in solitary confinement, and to interrogate them relentlessly. They finally caught up with me.

I was to spend the next 14 months as a political detainee, firstly in a Wynberg police cell, and then Pollsmoor prison, where Nelson Mandela too was a political prisoner. The first four months of my detention were in solitary confinement where the only people I engaged were the security branch interrogating me.

For this period in prison, especially the months of solitary confinement, the only resource I had was the Qur’an. It was the Qur’an around which my life and survival would depend. Every conscious moment was based on finding sustenance, strength, and power from the Qur’an. Around the morning prayers, I simply sought to complete as many Arabic recitations as possible. After breakfast, I memorized my favorite verses and chapters. In the afternoon I read it in English in a conscious search for meaning, my interpretations of which I recorded on the blank spaces left by Yusuf Ali. In the evening I did an index of the themes of the Quran on toilet paper (the only paper available) with the refill of a pen smuggled from a warden.

For me, the Qur’an was my conversation with God . It was about its melody, but also being attuned to its spirit. It was about its rules of worship and living, but also about its intent. It was about reading the history of Prophets, but for the purpose of being inspired to act today. At that moment in prison, the Qur’an was my conversation about how not to break and betray under interrogation, how to remain sane and in charge against your enemy, and how to remain intact by limiting the damage to my soul.

However, it was not the Qur’an itself that stepped into the breach against my interrogators. Rather, it was the Qur’an that alerted me to the power within and linked it to the Source of Power.

The Qur’an was a manual on how to harness internal power to radiate barakah (blessing) externally. This was a journey that had seven tips I only made sense of in retrospect.

Tip 1: Plug into The Ultimate Source

The Prophet [SAW] said to his companion: “I will give you the ultimate treasure of paradise: Say ‘La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (There is no power and no strength except with Allah).” [Sunan Ibn Majah]

This affirmation that all original power comes from Allah, the Ultimate Source of Power, is at once a statement of humility and a safeguard against arrogance; a possibility to share in this power and a warning against becoming a competitor source; and an invitation to access of this ultimate power and then to harness it for good. The Prophet did not seek to disempower us as human beings because such an interpretation would negate the unique characteristic of human beings to utilize the power of choice and decision, and would relegate us to the level of other creatures that possess instinct without a will, and hence are free of responsibility and accountability.

We are encouraged to be powerful devices. Every device has a unique and magnificent capability when it is powered up. However, this only happens when connected to a power source, whether plugged in or having a battery inserted. It has to be charged. Therefore, the precondition for discovering, uncovering and harnessing the power within is to submit first to getting charged from the power source, the Ultimate Origin of Power: Allah Al-Qawy (The All-Powerful, Source of Power)!

Tip 2: Be whole to be powerful: the Qur’an is not a supermarket

The first two weeks of my detention was defined by mixed emotion. I needed to be strong and powerful to resist the relentless interrogation. Simultaneously, it was about denial: I was not so powerful and important and therefore, I was sure to be released when the statutory two-week review occurred. In that period of hopeful desperation, my reading of the Qur’an was as if I was in a supermarket: I went to my favorite aisles – all the socio-political chapters – seeking the shelves with my favorite products – the verses exhorting unrelenting battle against injustice – and choosing my favorite brands – promises of martyrdom and paradise for my efforts. My reading was a relentless search for Divine affirmation for why I was in detention and the promise of Divine deliverance from suffering or Divine reward for sacrifice.

But was I reading the Qur’an – conversing with God [SWT]– any differently from the Muslims I was questioning: The Imam who stands up for Fajr, but not moved by it to stand for justice, who reads only to perfect the rituals? The devout who reads to affirm their length of pants and extent of hijab, but oblivious to human sacrifice? How different was I to those who choose the aisles and products and brands that only deal with their preoccupations? Was I, too, only reading the Qur’an to confirm what I know and who I am?

At the two-week mark, in a cruel blow to my hopes of release, the police indeed asked me to pack my belongings, sign my release form, and exit the door of the detention cells. As I stepped out, they re-arrested me, having complied with the letter of the law. As I reconciled myself to a long stint in prison, a verse from the Qur’an jumped at me:

“Do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject a part?” [Qur’an 2:85]

This was the Qur’an telling me to be whole, comprehensive and complete if I were to access the ultimate source of power and plug into it. There is a middle way between the solitude of the ritualist and the activism of the jihadi that prevents the former from being a coward and the latter from extremism; between escapist spiritualism and soulless social commitment; and between the rules and regulations of Islam and the intents, values, and principles thereof. But to find this middle way, I needed to read the whole Qur’an, from cover to cover, engaging in the conversation with Allah [SWT], but not on my supermarket terms!

Tip 3: Be disrupted to disrupt: worship vertically and serve horizontally

Being whole allows social activism to emerge from a deep spiritual commitment, and ensures that spiritual commitment leads to social action. Those whose life is based on perfecting the rituals – their vertical worship – are reminded in the Qur’an that their standing at night must be balanced with their social commitment by day, and must, therefore, be tempered. Similarly, those whose activism – horizontal service – is so consuming that they find no time for meditation, reflection, and spiritual connection can be as one-dimensional.

For me, at that moment when the consequence of my social commitment was that I was vulnerable and isolated, I needed to disrupt my own life: how to interrupt my meetings so that I could pray; how to fast outside of Ramadan even in the midst of life and death struggles; how to donate from even the little you earn from an informal existence; how to have an ideological viewpoint that could be subject to scrutiny and ridicule in a world grown skeptical of God when so much suffering is justified in the name of religion.

My reading of the Qur’an then taught me that it could just be that in the very design of every prescribed worship, there was the dual impact of being disrupted to disrupt! Prayer, sometimes at odd times, vertically connects to God , but is simultaneously the means ‘to enjoin good and avert wrong’; while fasting teaches God-Consciousness and solidarity with the poor simultaneously; just as zakah purifies the giver while assisting those disadvantaged; and even the pilgrimage to Makka ultimately gains you knowledge of God , but only after you have come to know yourself.  Indeed, the disruption to the self allows an even more powerful ability to disrupt the forces of injustice, poverty, hunger, ignorance and the many more. This is the barakah – the blessings that radiate horizontally – when the vertical axis is allowed to be disruptive. This vertical axis is the point at which the power flows from the Ultimate Source to the appliance.

Tip 4: A two-way conversation with God : asking and listening

In those desperate first weeks in prison, I was frantically communicating with Allah . I wanted to be relieved of my ordeal. I wanted to be released from prison. I wanted to withstand my interrogation. I wanted mercy and I wanted forgiveness and I wanted paradise and I wanted my family taken care of…. It was about me. It was an unfulfilling communication.

As Ramadan approached, and I was preparing for fasting, the prison authorities thought I was embarking on a hunger strike, the ultimate weapon of political prisoners, the decision to starve yourself and draw attention to the injustice you’re facing.  Suddenly the menu changed: a mishmash of food became, by prison standards, a gourmet meal, served at the moment of your greatest hunger to entice you out of your hunger strike or fast, carefully weighed before serving and then at the point of collection to refute – even by a milligram – your claims to hunger strike. But resolve at that moment wasn’t my most important Ramadan lesson.

The lesson emerged from a more intensive reflection on the usual verses of the Qur’an that deal with the month of fasting:

“O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that you may (learn) self-restraint.
(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill or on a journey the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (with hardship) is a ransom the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more of his own free will it is better for him and it is better for you that you fast if you only knew.
Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur’an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting but if anyone is ill or on a journey the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you, and perchance you shall be grateful.
When my servants ask you concerning Me I am indeed close (to them); I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me; let them also with a will listen to My call and believe in Me; that they may walk in the right way. [Qur’an 2:183- 186]

It was especially verse 186 that caught my attention:

“When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close to them: I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when they call on me. Let them too, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me; that they may walk in the right way.”

How many times have I missed Allah’s side of the conversation because I was obsessed with my needs and wants?

I was very good with the first part of the exchange, where I am listened to, but often oblivious to the reciprocal part: to listen with a will!

And Allah knows what distracts from listening to His message, the failure to listen diminishes our own power and barakah. The Qur’an therefore, advises even about the best time to enter into this conversation. The ‘reading of the Qur’an at dawn is ever witnessed.’ [Qur’an 17:78]

Allah is ever-present. Allah does not only suggest the time that is best, but at the moment of the Prophet’s [SAW] greatest vulnerability, when he was taking refuge in his cloak, a chapter of the Qur’an was revealed to elaborate the idea of this conversation, and to motivate for this to occur when distractions are at their most limited:

“Stand to pray by night, just a little, half the night, or even less, or a little more. And read the Quran in slow, measured, rhythmic tones. Soon will you receive an important message.” [Qur’an 73:2-5]

After emphasizing the time, duration and manner of reading, as well as the anticipation of an impending message, the rationale for such detail is unveiled:

“Truly the rising by night is most potent for governing the soul and most suitable for framing the Word of prayer and praise. True, by day there is for you prolonged occupation with ordinary duties.” [Qur’an 73:6-7]

I realized that I was not receiving the message – the other side of the conversation – because I was either distracted by my daily preoccupations or by my own obsessions. I needed to govern my soul to be free of these competing interests.

What was intriguing was the notion of ‘framing the Word.’ The Word of Allah, the text, is inviolable, but its framing requires a soul free of competing interests, biased intentions, the exigencies of now and here as the main determinants. For the Word to be heard, understood and internalized, the soul needs relative purity and discipline. In other words, for the Word to be suitably framed the text must at once be responsive to, but not overwhelmed by, the context – time and place – nor by the pretext – what needs you bring to it – and neither by the subtext – preceding scholarship. The solitude of the night may well be the best atmosphere for such a conversation where I may be liberated from fears and anxieties, distanced from anger or excessive affections, or devoid of distractions. A conversation thus framed, unleashes the power within because the link to the Ultimate Source thereof is unshakeable.

Tip 5: Intentionality: the power of establishing the purpose

The notion of niyyah – intention – is in danger of becoming cliché-ic or ritualistic. With a two-way conversation opening up falteringly, imperfectly, but ultimately empoweringly, I had, at last, the courage to ask ‘why?’ One of the whys was about the dozens of formulas we learned by rote before each prayer, ablution, entry to, and exit from, the toilet, the home, transport, and in almost every life event. Why the “I intend…”? Because I was building sufficient will to also listen, my mind was opening to meanings that transcended ritual. If God [SWT] says that human beings were created ONLY to worship, then is this an exhortation to be only in the mosque, in constant prayer and fast mode? Or is intention (niyyah) the mechanism with which to transform every act, event, or engagement in life into an act of worship? Have I understood worship only as ritual – which is crucial – but missed the even greater opportunity to transform life itself into worship by harnessing the power within and radiating barakah and blessing?

At every moment of loss, we remind ourselves about the two fixed points in life: our origin – ‘from Allah we come’ – and our destination – ‘to Allah we are returning’. What a privileged worldview we have in which we build purpose into everything we do, we build intentionality, because we are aware of our destination. We start not simply by expressing intentionality, but by purifying intention – ‘for the sake of God’. Thus, barakah is embedded – more obviously in the ritual acts of worship – but more importantly in the daily acts of life when working, playing, learning, relaxing, relating or pondering, if we allow them to be transformed by intentionality.

Tip 6: Finding true north: what is worth dying for?

In the midst of my time in Pollsmoor Prison, a warden contrived to set up an encounter with Nelson Mandela. This was a moment that could make any ordeal worthwhile. Imagine meeting someone whose image, voice and words were banned and prohibited under apartheid. Imagine being with someone about whom you sang freedom songs and for whose freedom you marched and under whose inspiration you confronted the apartheid machinery. Now you met a leader, undiminished by almost 25 years in jail, optimistic about our future and knowledgeable about you, Ebrahim Rasool, a mere activist in a nation of heroes.

On reflecting on Mandela’s resilience, faithfulness and hopefulness, I was drawn to his words – which we recited in hushed tones – at the moment that he was to be sentenced to a lifetime in prison, where he and the other Rivonia Trialists stood between that life sentence and the death penalty. In anticipation of the death penalty, Mandela issued both a challenge to the judge and a statement of his life creed: “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society. It is an ideal I hope to live for and to achieve, but if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” 

With those words, Nelson Mandela distinguished himself from populist leaders who manipulate for short-term achievements, but unable to sacrifice for long-term values; from extremists who are fully capable of dying for their cause, but unable to live it; and from leaders driven by rage and those inspired by the finest human ideals.

Mandela was prepared to die for his ideals, but he was far more intent on realizing and living them.

At that moment in prison, I had my purpose renewed, I refined my goals, and clarified life values from personal ambitions, injury, and motives – I knew what was worth sacrificing and, if needs be, dying for! Then I knew what I wanted to live for! I was helped in that the quality of my conversation with God [SWT] was improving, I was developing a more conscious sense of intentionality, and now I was developing a life purpose in support of values. The power within was less latent and more apparent, and as people outside of prison were mobilizing for my release, spray-painting my name on walls, demanding my freedom, I knew that the barakah was radiating because in a small part my personal story became part of a bigger human and political narrative that could only advance the freedom we yearned for.

Tip 7: Take the plunge: “We will show you the way”

There is a fundamental difference between one’s inner power and one’s ability to control life. Rather than thinking that you can chart each course in your life, predict each choice at intersections on the road, and find the straightest way to a destination, the most important thing is often to pitch up at the departure point, to take the plunge into life! So many make perfect planning of this journey, perfect choices at intersections, perfect companions on the journey, perfect assurances of success the preconditions for living conscious lives, for harnessing their inner power and radiating their blessings to the world. To use a cliché: The perfect should not be the enemy of the good!

This came into perspective when I encountered the Chapter in the Qur’an called The Spider Al Ankabut:

“Those who strive in Our way, We will show them the way.” [Qur’n 29: 69]

There is very little to fear when you have taken the steps of plugging into the Ultimate Power when your reading of the Qur’an is whole and your conversation with Allah [SWT] is about both speaking and listening in ways that worship is a means to higher purposes, and when you have both intentionality and life purpose. When these frame your living, you must not fear your inner power and not withhold your barakah or blessing from the world, especially when your next iteration of the journey is yet unknown and your choices at the intersections of life are unclear. Allah [SWT] will show the way, but you have to take the plunge. The Prophet [SAW] once even advised that fatwas (rulings) from the heart may even become your guide.

Wabisah bin Ma’bad (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
I went to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he asked me, “Have you come to inquire about piety?” I replied in the affirmative. Then he said, “Ask your heart regarding it. Piety is that which contents the soul and comforts the heart, and sin is that which causes doubts and perturbs the heart, even if people pronounce it lawful and give you verdicts on such matters again and again.” [Ahmad and Ad- Darmi].

But we have to pitch up at the point of choice and decision. We must neither fear our power within nor withhold our barakah!

Want to unlock your power within? Join our upcoming 6-week Masterclass to learn practical strategies for tapping into the power within the Quran, Sunnah, and Peak Performance science to live the best version of yourself. Learn more here

The post Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool: How the Qur’an Helped Me Find My Power Within & 7 Tips to Radiate Barakah appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

A few weeks ago, I was discussing with my supervisor a situation at work. I  ended up overreacting or -as the supervisor said, “catastrophized” the situation. With a bit of introspection, I realized how my reaction was disproportionate to the issue at hand and I felt bad about my misjudgment. I was inclined to retreat and delve in self-blame which would have affected my mood, and productivity. But then I remembered a powerful verse from the Qur’an:

 “And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate” [Qur’an 85: 14]

This transformed my feelings. It replaced the negative self-talk that was playing in my head with self-compassion. I thought if Allah forgives mistakes affectionately, how can we not forgive ourselves in moments of unintended mistakes or perceived failure…?  How can we let ourselves drown in negativity when Allah constantly gives us hope and pushes us to move forward?

For some people, negative self-talk after making mistakes can turn into self-torture and lead to depression, anxiety or self-hate even^[1], as well as inhibit their creativity and productivity at work. However, the issue we need to remember is: mistakes happen and will continue to happen in every workplace. This is inevitable and unavoidable.

When you make mistakes, how can you deal with the perceived failure so that you can grow as a person and turn an unfortunate event into success? Research has found that we can learn much more in moments of failure than those of success [1].

I wanted to approach this topic from a spiritual angle – specifically by reflecting on the Beautiful Name of Allah , The Affectionate (Al-Wadud), and how through understanding this Name and its manifestations, we can find solace in those inevitable office blunders.

How Divine Affection in the context of mistakes can lift you up

When you think of affection, what usually comes to your mind? Possibly how you feel towards someone you like or someone you’re in harmony and agreement with. But the question is: will you continue to have affection towards someone who’s done you wrong?

In the Qur’an, the Name of Allah Al-Wadud (The Affectionate, The Source of Affection) is mentioned twice. In both cases, it is not associated with those who’ve done great or has done likable things; it’s mentioned in the context of forgiving sins and mistakes.

 “And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate” [Qur’an 85: 14]

“And ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is Merciful and Affectionate.” [Qur’an 11: 90]

In the first verse, notice how Allah specifically added His Name The Affectionate right after the Forgiving. So, it’s not like He’ll forgive but won’t like us anymore. It’s that He forgives simultaneously showing intense affection. There is no “and” for pause or interruption; as though the process of forgiveness did not decrease His Affection one bit or for one second.

When people make mistakes, they don’t expect to be met with affection. They actually expect the opposite and most often receive what they expect. This is because as human beings, we often operate from a scarcity mindset, a mindset that there’s not enough forgiveness and compassion to forgive mistakes. But this is not the Vastness of The Creator, and it’s not the Barakah Culture’s values of gentleness, mercy, and compassion that we aim to adopt in our professional work environments.

Think of the last time a colleague or a team member has done a mistake at work that cost you a great deal. What were your immediate reactions and feelings towards that person?

It is understandable that our most impulsive way to deal with the mistake is to tell the employee off. It takes the anger and frustration off your chest as a manger. It is also a way to make the employee more wary of repeating the same mistake, and it acts as a lesson (or an indirect warning) for the rest of the employees. But while this yields some positive short term results, research shows that it is NOT the most effective and productive way of dealing with mistakes.

Research shows that the most powerful way of dealing with mistakes is actually the most compassionate one [Emma Seppala, Science Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University]. There are several studies that suggest for practitioners (CEOs, top management teams) to practice more acts of compassion if they want to boost job performance of employees.[3] The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science provides multiple research and evidence on how compassion can transform individuals, organizations and teams’ performance. Basically, the studies show that employees who feel compassion are more likely to persevere in challenging tasks than those who’re met with other emotions.

What compassion does is that it increases the employees’ loyalty, trust, and devotion to their work and manager. It creates a greater derive and willpower for success. And the opposite approach leads to the opposite results.

Neuroscience tells us that when we tell people off, a sense of fear and anxiety arise in them, which leads to reducing their creativity. Thus, it acts as a long-term counterproductive approach. According to James Doty, Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, “If people have fear and anxiety, we know from neuroscience that their threat response is engaged, their cognitive control is impacted. As a consequence, their productivity and creativity diminish.”  [Psychology Today]

How does that impact you?

Allah knows that when people make mistakes, deep down they’re inclined to not love themselves (and others don’t meet them with affection either), so He reminds us through His Name the Affectionate to re-love ourselves/others in order to grow and continuously learn and improve.

Yes, as people dealing with those who make mistakes, we can never measure up to Allah’s level of affection, but in our spiritual pursuit to connect with Him and seek His Closeness and barakah, we can attempt to reflect His Names more in our lives.

The Name of Allah the Affectionate can teach us to be more compassionate towards others who work with us/under us when they make mistakes. And this actually can bring more barakah professionally.

Compassion: The most powerful way of dealing with mistakes

In the next two sections, we’ll go a bit deeper and be more practical on how a leader should deal with an employees’ mistakes and how an employee should deal with their own mistakes from a spiritual and scientific perspective.

As a leader, how should you deal with mistakes

1. Leniency vs. harshness

Prophet Muhammad said: “The strong man is not the one who wrestles, but the strong man is in fact the one who controls himself in a fit of rage.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Imagine being in a competition with a competitor whose main aim is to destroy you completely. You make a solid plan to win. You approach winning but towards the end, your team violates your instructions and their mistake directly results in your team’s catastrophic loss.

How will you react?

This might be a hypothetical nightmare for you. But it is – more or less- what happened to the Prophet in the battle of Uhud. The believers were defending themselves against those who were out to viciously prosecute and eliminate them and their message entirely from the surface of the earth. Despite early winning, some of the companions disobeyed the clear and direct commands of the Prophet . Their mistake directly led to major defeat as well as the injury of the Messenger of Allah himself.

But did Allah and His Messenger tell them off as a result of this mistake?

If there was a time to act angrily and tell people off, it would have been there and then.  But instead, Allah told His Messenger:

“So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].” [Qur’an 3: 159]

Pardon them, forgive them and consult them. First, pardon, overlook the mistake because deepening people’s sense of guilt will lead to more despair rather than a willingness to move forward. And research shows that blame, especially the one conducted openly, provokes defensiveness as opposed to enhancing problem-solving tendencies[4]. Then, forgive them as when you supplicate for the forgiveness of others, you internally heal from negative feelings towards them. Then consult them as they are internally inclined to feel ashamed, outcasted and detached, so consulting them makes them feel re-engaged, revalued and accepted.

This teaches leaders to compassionately contain rather than humiliate and exclude their people. And this approach, if adopted, can increase employees’ loyalty, boost their desire to rectify any wrong, and prevent them from immersing in paralyzing guilt, and anxiety.

2. Pardoning & coaching

Your reaction as a leader correcting a mistake can have a deep spiritual, psychological and professional impact on your employees. So, an interesting way to consider while correcting a mistake is what Allah Mercifully says to His Messenger in this verse:

“Allah forgives you (O Muhammad)! But why did you give them leave to stay behind? (You yourself should have not given them leave) so that it would have become clear which of them spoke the truth and which of them invented false excuses.” [Qur’an 9: 43]

When Allah was giving instructions to the Prophet about correcting a certain situation, He started by saying “I forgive you”, then He said what needed to be done. On the other hand, when we correct someone by starting off saying for example: “This is unacceptable…you needed to do so and so” …before even thinking about the instruction you give, the person already feels threatened and expelled. You already aroused fear and anxiety in them, and this will most probably lessen his/her attentiveness and ability to correct the wrong. Imagine instead saying, “may Allah forgive you X…why so and so is happening?” OR, “I forgive you X, but why so and so happened, you needed to do XYZ instead”.

This way, the person knows there is a mistake and they have a healthy level of guilt that urges them to rectify the wrong, but they also still feel included. The situation doesn’t arouse feelings of threat, anxiety, or panic that have a negative impact on their productivity.

3. Do not let a mistake make you forget all the good

It’s important to know and understand that people cannot and will not perform in an excellent productive way all the time and in all situations. Their human nature and the mental/emotional/social circumstances in their lives will affect their performance. They might not open up to you about what is going wrong in their lives, but you can observe it in their performance and reactions.

Allah Himself is telling people that if they sincerely believe and actively attempt to do their best, He will judge them by the best of what they used to do and overlook their misdeeds.

“And those who believe and do righteous deeds – We will surely remove from them their misdeeds and will surely reward them according to the best of what they used to do.” [Qur’an 29: 7]

“That Allah may remove from them the worst of what they did and reward them their due for the best of what they used to do.” [Qur’an 39:35]

This is not a license to make mistakes. This is to say that if someone has a good record of doing well; it’s courteous to not let the mistakes they make out of their human nature make you forget all the good they presented.

Tip: if you do notice an unexpected shift in the performance/attitude of an employee, instead of thinking about the work retaliation, think about the human connection and their human condition. Either speak with the person directly in a friendly way checking on their health and life or find someone in the team most suited to do that. Maybe they’re going through a tribulation that is burdening them and just feeling that someone cares can lift the burden up a bit and boost their morale, and in turn boost their performance and loyalty to you and their work.

4. If you are merciful, you’ll be shown mercy

The Prophet said: The Compassionate One has mercy on those who are merciful. If you show mercy to those who are on the earth, He Who is in the heaven will show mercy to you. [Sunan Abi Dawud]

It’s important for us to remember that maybe we are in a position of control now and we can choose to show mercy and compassion or not. But, what goes around comes around. There will come a time when we too will need mercy. So what we plant for ourselves now is what we will reap later.

5. Do not harm or reciprocate harm with harm

A major rule in Islam is – as the Prophet said- “Do not cause harm, nor respond to harm with harm”. Be mindful not to harm people with words or actions. A word you might say casually or mindlessly to an employee can make them sleepless for days or scar them for years.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, “A slave (of Allah) may utter a word which pleases Allah without giving it much importance, and because of that Allah will raise him to degrees (of reward): a slave (of Allah) may utter a word (carelessly) which displeases Allah without thinking of its gravity and because of that he will be thrown into the Hell-Fire.” [Sahih Al Bukhari]

So be careful with the words said in meetings, emails, or messages in whatever work platform you use. Your words can increase employees’ engagement and commitment, or it can lead to the opposite.

Anas said:

“I served the Prophet for 10 years, and he never said to me, “Uf” (a minor harsh word denoting impatience) and never blamed me by saying, “Why did you do so or why didn’t you do so?” [Sahih al Bukhari]

This doesn’t mean to not take disciplinary actions if/when needed. If for some reason after coaching and training someone seemed to be unfit for the role, then you can let the person go in a dignified way without emotionally or psychologically damaging them.

Sadly, there are many reported cases of workplace bullying harboring mental and psychological health problems for those involved. Research shows that among the forms of bullying is judging a person’s work unjustly or in an offending manner, as well as restricting a person’s possibilities to express his or her opinions[5]. An initiative concerned with workplace bullying, the Workplace Bullying Institute, reports that the majority of workplace bullying is conducted by bosses.

In the Islamic tradition, major emphasis is put on how someone in power should treat those under him. We can recall here, for example, that Abu Mas’ud Al Ansari said,

“I was beating a slave of mine when I heard a voice from behind me saying “Beware, O Abu Mas’ud! Beware, O Abu Mas’ud! Allah has more power over you than you have over him [Allah is able to call you to account for this slave].’ I turned around and there was the Messenger of Allah . I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, he is free for the sake of Allah!’ He said, ‘If you had not done that, the Fire would have touched you (or the Fire would have burned you).” [Sahih Muslim]

Just thinking about it, if, as the Prophet said, “removing harmful objects from people’s way in the road” is a level of faith as per a hadith, then how about removing the harm from people’s hearts, minds, and souls at work and beyond?

People have honor and dignity Divinely granted to them. As Allah says:

“And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.” [Qur’an 17: 70]

So we are not allowed to humiliate the people whom Allah honored. Even when taking rightful disciplinary actions against them, it must always maintain their honor and dignity.

And treating people honorably, in-and-of-itself is a rewarded act of worship for you that brings you peace and blessings. Yes, some people make nasty mistakes. But consider this situation…

A man walks into the noblest, most holy, most sacred place of worshipping God, and then takes off his pants and urinates in it! How would you react?

This is something that the Prophet dealt with, and notice his calmness and compassion in dealing with the man who did that. Abu Hurairah reported:

A bedouin urinated in the mosque and some people rushed to beat him up. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Leave him alone and pour a bucket of water over it. You have been sent to make things easy and not to make them difficult.” [Al-Bukhari]

The Seerah (biography of the Prophet) is filled with lessons on how the Prophet meets ignorant behavior with compassion and forbearance. One of my favorite incidents, for example, is this:

Anas b. Malik reported: I was walking with the Messenger of Allah and he had put on a mantle with a thick border. A Bedouin met him and pulled the mantle so violently that I saw the violent pulling leaving marks of the border of the mantle on the skin of the neck of the Messenger of Allah . And he (the Bedouin) said: Muhammad, issue command that I should be given out of the wealth of Allah which is at your disposal. The Messenger of Allah turned his attention to him and smiled, and then ordered for him a gift (provision). [Sahih Muslim]

The Prophet didn’t get offended nor did he react to the violent, ignorant behavior of that Bedouin. He calmly, mercifully and compassionately just smiled and helped him.

You might say that “this is the Prophet. I’m not a prophet, I can’t and I’m not expected to do that.” But in reality, Allah did not send an angel who we can’t emulate. Allah sent a messenger from us, a human being like us, to live the life we need to live in order to be our best self—if we want to live up to the best version of ourselves.

“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.” [Qur’an 33: 21]

“Certainly did Allah confer [great] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error.” [Qur’an 3: 164]

Thoughts for employees in dealing with mistakes

The discussion here is by no means an invitation for people to deliberately make mistakes, slack off giving their best at work or become passive and indifferent about their mistakes. Rather, remembering the Affectionate forgiveness of Allah is a means to help you deal with negative/destructive emotions that prevent you from pulling yourself up and moving forward productively.

It is important to know that you should not dwell in sadness or lose hope. There is always always a chance to rebuild yourself. Remember that sadness is one of the key tools of Satan…

“…that he may grieve those who have believed” [Qur’an 58: 10]

Satan wants you to lose hope and give up, but Allah wants you to have faith and He will help you move forward. So, do not grieve.

Even if a mistake led to you getting fired, Allah is still the Provider and He is The Affectionately Forgiving. The Barakah of Allah can open for you doors from where you never expected.

“…And whoever fears Allah – He will make for him a way out. And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent. [Qur’an 65: 2-3]

Most importantly, researchers tell us that among the healthy ways of coping with failure is to make a plan to move forward. And the verses about the Name of Allah, The Affectionate, already gives us a plan. Allah says in the other verse mentioning His Name the Affectionate:

“And ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. Indeed, my Lord is Merciful and Affectionate.” [Qur’an 11: 90]

We know in the Islamic tradition that repentance has conditions and a plan to be accepted, which is to:

1. Regret the mistake (don’t be indifferent about it)
2. Stop the mistake, and
3. Sincere desire to not repeat the mistake and rectify the wrong.

So, the verse gives us the plan:

Ask forgiveness = apologize for the wrong

And then repent = Stop the wrong don’t make it worse, try to fix and not repeat as much as you can.

This is a plan of action instead of submitting to panic or paralyzing guilt.

Divine Affection means that Allah will forgive your wrong directly and affectionately once you seek it no matter how many times it’s repeated AND encourage you to be better so you won’t destroy yourself or others along the way. Not only that, but Allah also promises:

“Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection” [Qur’an 19: 96]

So not only will He forgive, but since Allah is The Creator and Controller of hearts, He will appoint for you affection in the hearts of the right people once you start seeking rectification of the mistakes. You might find that people will love you and/or open doors for you without you even knowing how it happened.

This is Divine Affection that soothes the person and encourages self-betterment. It is holistic guidance to transform the person internally and externally. 

Remember the work story I mentioned at the beginning of this article about “catastrophizing” a situation and feeling bad about it?

Well, after remembering the verse, I also remembered the Divine process:

1. I am affectionately forgiven by The Most High Himself (this helped me internally);
2. I can then do what’s within my capacity to correct the situation and maybe do something extra as well to make up for the lapse —which I did, and things went back to being peaceful internally and externally.
3. And it was then when I decided to write a reflection piece on the Name of Allah, The Affectionate and its implications to help anyone who may benefit from the reminder or the reassurance.

Discussion points:

The discussion here is for us to think about how the Barakah values of gentleness and compassion can fill the workplace with more peace and productivity rather than stress and anxiety.  To cement this learning, answer the following questions:

• When you make a mistake, are you able to affectionately forgive yourself, apologize and take actions to rectify the problem? Or, are you more inclined to run away, hide, not face people and/ or give up and ruin everything else further?
• When a team member fails you, instead of blame and criticism, how can you affectionately and compassionately contain and help reform the person’s behavior?

 If you’re looking for a place to practically learn more about the Barakah values and mindsets, then check our Barakah Academy. 

The Barakah Academy is your online platform to train with professionals who want to learn practical personal and professional development skills that are faith-based and linked with the latest research and science. It’s your global community of like-hearted professionals who want to live a better version of themselves spiritually, physically and socially. 

References

[1] Healthline. Negative Self-Talk: What it is & How to Deal

[2] Cannon, M., & Edmondson, A. C. (2005). Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail (Intelligently): how great organizations put failure to work to innovate and improve. Long Range Planning, 38(3), 232. doi: 10.1016/j.lrp.2005.04.011

[3] Hur, W., Moon, T., and Rhee, S. (2016), “Exploring the relationships between compassion at work, the evaluative perspective of positive work-related identity, service employee creativity, and job performance”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 103-114. doi: 10.1108/JSM-05-2014-0180

[4]  Tjosvold, D., Yu, Z., & Hui, C. (2004). Team Learning from Mistakes: The Contribution of Cooperative Goals and Problem-Solving. Journal of Management Studies, 41(7), 1223-1245. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00473.x

[5] Vartia, M. A. (2001). Consequences of workplace bullying with respect to the well-being of its targets and the observers of bullying. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 27(1), 63-69. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.588

The post How Divine Affection “Al-Wadud” Can Help You Deal with Work Mistakes appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

How do you filter what you read through the worldview of iman (faith)? 

As the saying goes “if you read what everyone else reads, you’ll think what everyone else thinks”. And in an age of information overload and viral content, we’re reading what everyone else is reading more than ever. Hence, it can be difficult to nurture our Islamic worldview and find ourselves more secular in our thinking and approach to life.

A Muslim believes with certainty that the purpose of life is to worship Allah [SWT]. As Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And I have not created the invisible beings and men to any end other than that they may [know and] worship Me.” [Qur’an 51: 57]

That puts our world view immediately at odds with many ideals that are taught and promoted.

Books written from a secular perspective, by definition, adopt a different paradigm. This paradigm argues that by eliminating religion, you eliminate bias. Therefore, a secular worldview enables looking at the world through observable reality which is more tangible and less controversial than a faith perspective that many people may not believe in.

The problem with this is that a secular or even academic approach is its own worldview. It presupposes certain ideals. Business books and personal development books are full of assumptions; such as the ultimate goal being the fulfillment of one’s own potential.

In a secular worldview, the potential must be measured on – again – “observable” realities. These measures often come down to tangible markers like money earned. I remember hearing a popular leadership author speak about the idea of adding value to others. He said when you add value, you get rewarded with certificates of appreciation – the green kind with president faces on them (i.e. dollar$!). Adopting this world view means acknowledging to some degree that those who add the most value to society are those who generate the most profit. Clearly, this is not the case and yet, people internalize it as motivation in their quest to succeed.

Intangible measures of success in a secular worldview will often come down to ideals such as ‘doing whatever makes you happy’, or ‘being so passionate that you never feel like you’re working’, or ‘be the best version of yourself.’

The secular paradigm will always be handcuffed by the popular ideals of society at any given time. That means the definition of “best version of yourself” is subject to change based on what society values. As an example, if society de-emphasizes the importance of family while lionizing the ideal of the individual – then the family can be seen as something that holds someone back from the personal success they feel destined for.

A faith-based world view is meant to be more holistic. Islamically, we do not separate religion from other aspects of life. Religion (deen) is a way of life. This way of life regulates not only how we define success, but also the means by which we attain it.

The best version of yourself, from a faith lens, is fulfilling your purpose in life in being a true ‘Abd (slave) of Allah and fulfilling the rights and responsibilities of those around you as ordained by our Deen. This paradigm may very well mean that you’ll turn down a lucrative job due to the sacrifice it would require with family. Monetary gain is not a scoreboard by which to measure your value. Rather, monetary gain is looked at critically by how it was attained and for what purpose.

A faith-based world view demands much more than evolving ethics – it introduces a component of morality which simply cannot (again, by definition) exist in a secular paradigm.

Many books are written about leadership, communication, marketing, psychology, interpersonal dynamics, persuasion, media, and so on. A secular world view cannot regulate what people do with that information or education. For example, grit and perseverance are revered characteristics. They are part and parcel of every feel-good story in which someone works hard to triumph against all odds. Unfortunately, grit and perseverance are also found in the stories of those who rise to power and cheat or oppress others.

It is a faith-based world view that provides the regulation, by way of religious ethics, to ensure these tools are used for good. An Islamic world view means filtering what we learn through the lens of the Hereafter. What am I learning? How am I using it? How is this helping me to improve? How is this helping to improve the lives of others?

What we need then, is a way to critically examine and filter the information we consume. We must find a way to benefit from the observed realities in books while also understanding the biases that helped create the conclusions the author reached. We need to critically assess how we can implement the lessons learned in a way that increases our spirituality instead of decreasing it.

Which Leads Us To … A Different Kind of Book Club

It is with all of the above in mind that I am, alhamdulillah, excited to announce the launch of a new book club as part of the Productive Muslim Company’s new Barakah Academy that’s starting October 1st, 2019.

In this book club, we will tackle a theme each quarter. That means we will read 2-3 books every 3 months around one subject, looking at it from different angles.

In the next quarter (October-December 2019) we’ll cover the theme of Leadership and read 21 Laws of Leadership, Leadership BS, and The Leadership of Muhammad (saw).

Within the book club is a weekly reading plan to help you not only keep up but also develop a habit of reading. There will be additional resources every week to go deeper on the topics covered. You’ll also have a chance to engage with other members of the academy going through the book in a dedicated Slack channel as well as get your questions addressed during the quarterly mastermind calls.

Click this link to sign up, and join our book club that will help you grow spiritually and professionally. 

If you’re tired of reading personal and professional development books whilst scratching your head wondering what our faith says about the concepts within, then this book club is for you. And if you’re not a regular reader, but want to get into the habit of reading, then this book is for you. We look forward to having you in the book club. Join us today!

The post Why We Need to Develop Faith-Based Critical Reading Skills appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.