The TV commercials, recently debuted in major Middle-eastern channels, depict different scenarios which make your income non-halaal, and then cleverly interprets the Prophetic saying "hellfire is more deserving of every flesh which has been nourished through that which is unlawful” by showing fire burning on the faces of those you feed non-halal income. Scary but sooo visual and makes one think!

Although the commercials are in Arabic, yet they are mostly self explanatory. I’ve added some titles/sub-headings to help you understand the gist of what's going on. The last part of each video asks "Is your income halal?"

TV Commercial 1 - Accepting Bribery at work

TV Commercial 2 - A Doctor at his private clinic who over-prescribes tests/x-rays/medicines for his patients so he earns more money

TV Commercial 3 - A teacher who simply sits in front of her class and does not teach them anything, but sits and waits for the bell to ring so she can sign off and go home.

TV Commercial 4 - Arriving  late at work but having your friend sign you in early!

TV Commercial 5 - Waking up late and making up lies as excuses for not coming in!

TV Commercial 6 - A man having trouble with rent/bills/expenses calls his employer who hasn't paid him for 2 months, the employer gives him the excuse that he has no money even though he's having a lavish dinner with his family!

yup, i know..something to think about..."Is your income halal?" (lol sorry if this questions starts haunting you! But we need to think about this stuff!).

More posts coming up..(yup, we're not done yet..lol)

The question may puzzle some of you, but read on, perhaps you'll understand where I'm coming from in the following lines.

When something bothers me and I find myself in a “moral/religious dilemma” I go ask my good old shiekh. I said “Sheikh, what do you do if you’re sitting idle at work and have nothing to do, is your salary halal then?” The shiekh always with his amazing simple replies said “As long as you’re fulfilling the contract, your income is "technically" halal.”

I can sense there was more the shiekh wanted to say but kept quiet as not to burden me, I felt there was a deeper understanding of halal which will be too much for "employees" in general to bear than the technical answer given.

I had to step back and look into this whole halal income business..

When you sit in an office, working or idle, contributing or not, pushing paper or thinking strategically, you earn a standard set salary (sometimes bonuses are included but in most cases, it’s a standard set amount)... somehow I'm not convinced that this salary structure is 100% halal (at least on a personal level. Please note, I’m not speaking here on an institutional or religious level, I’m not giving fatwas, I’m just trying to find what will truly please my Lord).

My argument is that if you don’t “earn” your salary or work hard for it and constantly contribute, you shouldn’t get paid in full! How can you earn by just sitting down idle!? Doesn’t sound right! Now, you might say, "give me a break brother, you’re talking on an idealistic level and the concept of 100% halaal may be non-existent! Are you trying to say that the moment someone slacks or doesn't do their job properly, their income is not halal??!"

Ummm...yup!

Again, I’m not giving fatwas here, but as a scholar onces said "There’s “Taqwa” (Piety) and there’s “Fatwa” (Ruling)". The ruling may be clear cut and simple, but out of piety, you may look at things from a different perspective, and this is the other perspective inshaAllah.

So although part of me does not want to overburden the reader with a worrisome thought that if they spend 5 minutes around the water-cooler then their income is not halal, but I would argue that we need to at least keep it in the back of our minds that we need to be consciously aware of our income and it's sources.

Moreover, think of this concept as a way to push you towards being more productive! The moment you slack, ask yourself: “Is my income halal?”

Why is making sure 100% halal is important? The following beautifully summarizes why we need to worry about our income sources, and May Allah bless the writer for bringing it together so nicely.

"Allah Most High says, “O people, eat permissible good things out of what lies in the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of Shaitān (Satan); indeed, he is an open enemy for you.” (2:168)

Elsewhere, Allah Most High says, “O you who believe, eat of the good things We have provided to you and be grateful to Allah, if it is He whom you worship (in real terms).” (2:172)

Abu Huraira (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, “Verily, Allah is pure and He only accepts that which is pure. He has given the same command to the believers as He has given to the messengers saying, ‘O Messengers! Eat from the good things, and act righteously. Of whatever you do, I am fully aware.’ (23:51) and also, ‘O you who believe, eat of the good things We have provided to you’” (2:172). Then he (i.e. the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)) mentioned a man on a long journey, with dishevelled hair and covered in dust, stretching his hands towards the heavens saying, ’My Lord, my Lord’ but his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothes are unlawful, and he has been nourished by what is unlawful, so how will his supplication be answered?” (Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih)

Abu Huraira (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, “A time will come upon people when a man will not bother whether he takes from a lawful or unlawful source.” (Narrated by Bukhari in his Sahih)

Jabir (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, “That flesh which has been grown from the unlawful will not enter Paradise, and Hellfire is more deserving of every flesh which has been nourished through that which is unlawful.” (Narrated by Ahmad, Darimi, and Baihaqi in Shu’ab al-Iman)

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) was once asked, “What softens the hearts?” He replied, “Consuming halal.”

Abdullah bin Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “To return a dirham from a doubtful source is more beloved to me than spending one hundred thousand dirhams in charity.”

Imam Ghazali (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in Ihya al-Uloom al-Din that the wives of the pious predecessors used to advise their husbands when they would leave their homes to earn their livelihood, “Fear Allah regarding us and do not feed us with unlawful income, because we can bear patience upon hunger and difficulty but we cannot bear patience upon Hellfire.”

When Muhammad bin Seereen (may Allah have mercy on him) would bid farewell to a person, he would say to him, “Fear Allah and seek your share of lawful income, for if you take it from the unlawful, you will not be taking anymore than what has been destined for you. (Tabaqaat Ibn Sa’d)."

Source: http://halalmatters.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/hello-world/

So, I ask again, is your income halal?

We’ll continue this discussion tomorrow inshaAllah. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on this topic!

The majority of the content was from the original Arabic presentation, but of course I had to add a "ProductiveMuslim.com" design & content touch to it ;). Hope you like it!! 

p.s. feel free to pass it on! :D

Just wanted to share with you some highlights, posts and other good memories from this year inshaAllah:

Highlight ProductiveMuslim event of the Year:

ProductiveMuslim.com FOSIS UK Tour (See Gallery here or the Promo Video here)

Top 10 most read articles:

1. Ask Allah for forgiveness, boost your productivity
2. Interview with a Productive Muslima
3. ProductiveMuslims don't quit!
4. Elements of a Successful ISOC
5. From Kingdom to Kingdom: Reflections from Life in UK
6. Develop a habit of Reading
7. Waking up for Fajr: A boost of Productivity
8. What can I contribute?
9. Your Islamic Heritage, Your identity
10. Tools to capturing Ideas

(Missed a favourite article? Want to explore full range of topics covered? Find it in the Archive here)

Top 5 Discussion Post Submissions

Let's not forget the beautiful contributions from our readers in our discussion posts, the following are the top 5 posts:

1. True Beauty
2. Beneficial Things to Remember
3. Words of Wisdom from the Quran
4. Beautiful Story on Forgiveness
5. When will G.M.T actually equal GMT?

Thank Yous - "Whoever does not thank People, does not thank Allah"

Special Thanks to Indezinez Designs for the unique ProductiveMuslim Logo

Special Thanks to Sister Zohra Sarwari, Living Halal, and Salam BC for their continual support, mentoring and advice.

A HUGE thank you to the ProductiveMuslim fans on Facebook & Twitter who constantly comment, recommend and keep the discussion about Islamic productivity alive!

Finally, a BIG BIG thank you to all my readers! You kept me going! JazakumAllah khair!

What's next?

I guess you're wondering what's next for ProductiveMuslim, or what to expect from the coming year. I gave some hints in an earlier post..and mentioned some ideas in Facebook page, but I'd rather keep the rest as a surprise ;). Make dua though! I'll need it!

ShoutOut of Help!

With all that's going on, and with my recent relocation and starting a full-time job, ProductiveMuslim.com cannot sustain itself without your help. I'm still looking for a strong team that share the ProductiveMuslim vision to help move things further, faster!. Please send me an e-mail through the Contact Me page explaining your interest in joining the ProductiveMuslim team!

Ideas for helping out!

• Research books/articles that are of value for ProductiveMuslims and recommend them on the site!
• Write posts/articles to be included on ProductiveMuslim page
• Anyone with a design/flash/video editing/animation background <-- TALK TO ME!!
• Keep ProductiveMuslim Facebook/Twitter page ALIVE with updates/twitters!
• If you've a background in online startups/databases/ebooks/marketing <--TALK TO ME!!
• Leave a testimonial below for marketing of the website!
• Spread the word around about the website through mailing lists/blogs/facebook and teach people what you've learnt here!

Looking forward for yet another productive year, inshaAllah! :D

ProductiveMuslim.com

8th Rajab 1430H

We all know the famous story of Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), when her husband, Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) asked her to go ask her father for a servant to help them in their house chores. When she went to her father's house, she didn't find him. Later in the evening, Ayesha the wife of Prophet Muhammad, told the Prophet that his daughter was looking for him and what his daughter requested. The Prophet went to Fatima's and Ali's house, sat between them and said:

"Shall I tell you a thing which is better than what you asked me for? When you go to your beds, say: 'Allahu Akbar (i.e. Allah is Greater)' for 34 times, and 'Alhamdu Lillah (i.e. all the praises are for Allah)' for 33 times, and Subhan Allah (i.e. Glorified be Allah) for 33 times. This is better for you than what you have requested."

Here's the amazing bit, anyone who has actually tried this remembrance before going to sleep will actually wake up next morning full of energy! Scholars and pious men/women who've tried this would swear that it works! And I tried it too and it does work! 

So tonight, and for every night, before you sleep, say SubhanAllah 33 times, al-hamdulillah, 33 times and Allahu Akbar 34 times and watch the wonder of remembrance of Allah take place within you inshaAllah!

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“whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Bismillah

"..Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship."

I often liken the way we wade through life like an airplane that has to be sustained in the air and has to be in constant motion. If it drops a bit the pilot brings it back into control. This is how our lives operate. We are on continuous watch and are very scared of taking the nose dive, because we don’t know how to recuperate, and most importantly what will people think?! Then our subconscious inner chatter box whispers us “You are a failure”

What holds us back is what we think ourselves capable of, the moment we believe we are limited in knowledge, a skill or ability or anything – we have just stopped our growth potential. Brian Tracy, an world-renowned author and speaker, said, “Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy".

Have you found yourself in situations where you have done something silly? And perhaps said to you, “I will never do that again.” Then you find yourself in a similar situation and you repeat the exact same thing again. A limiting belief! Or you find you say “Nobody loves me”, “I am a failure”, “I am too old to memorise the Qur’an.

The thoughts that we think will either help us achieve our dreams in life or stop us dead in our tracks.

In life there are numerous life traps that hold us back and in most cases it’s attributable to the thoughts and ideas that swim around in our heads, thoughts we believe in and how we let these thoughts control us and shape our lives.

Some values and beliefs give us great strength and empowerment, these are the ones that serve us and help us achieve our dreams, and some beliefs no longer serve us and are more of an enemy of progress.

Sometimes our friends and family hold us back, out of their concerns for us. They tell us it can't be done, based on their own fears, doubts, values and limiting beliefs. Regardless of their intention, the problem is, if we buy into what they say, we end up giving up on our goals and dreams altogether.

Over the years, we have been told different stories that we believed in and have enacted as a part of our life whether it is true or not. We have been told many different reasons why we can't do certain things and we have believed them without question.

I tell you a story, Mohammad said to his wife “Why do you always dispose off the head of the fish?” Zaynab replied “wAllahu alam, we just do that in our family”. Mohammed took it upon himself to get to the bottom of this matter; he took a trip to his mother –in law. He asked “Umm Zaynab why do you not cook the head of the fish in your family?” Umm Zaynab replied “I don’t know, my mother always did and I never bothered to question the reason why”. “How amazing” replied Mohammad? It was time to visit grandmother. When she was asked she said “oh! That, in our days I only had a small pot, it was impossible to fit the whole fish in the pot, I decided to get rid of the head because it had more bone than fish!” This just demonstrates how a family of three generations just did what their grandmother did without question, only Allah knows how many fish heads have been wasted!

Limiting beliefs can be divided into various categories; I will mention a few;

1. Hopelessness: my goals cannot be achieved under any circumstances.

2. Helpleness: My goal can be achieved, but I lack the ability and willpower to achieve it

3. Worthlessness: I don’t deserve to achieve this goal, because of something I am/am not or have/have not done. E.g., I don’t deserve this job because I am not smart enough!”

4. Fear of the unknown the future, fear of failing and taking risks.

5. Blameless: Blaming external events or situations. E.g., -“I can’t setup my own business due to the current economic climate” this is a cover for hiding our self esteem.

6. Uselessness: Why bother getting a degree now? It won’t earn me anymore money than I already do.

How many times have you said to yourself “She/he will never marry me”, “I am too old to lose weight”, “I will never get that job”, “I always mess things up”, “I will never be able to memorise the Qur’an or speak Arabic”, “I feel powerless”, “Life is unfair” – the list is endless.

Your values and beliefs control what you think about, the people you identify with, the way in which you handle money, your level of self-expression, your self-esteem, your confidence and the people you choose as friends and companions...and the goals in which you aspire to. Most of us adapted these long ago from our parents, family, teachers, friends or media... and, although they may mean well, often the messages, values and beliefs they instill in young people are fear-based and limiting. They're also very difficult to erase once they are deep rooted in the subconscious mind.

Thus, our minds tend to become "over-crowded" with negative thoughts and Inner chatter, deeply ingrained bad habits, and old programs that keep sabotaging our effort to bring positive change into our lives. We will be discussing later how to get rid of these negative thoughts and beliefs by adopting the right mindset.

How do I know or identify what beliefs are holding me back?

“We are what we think. With our thoughts we make our world”.

The most intimate relationship is the one you have with your thoughts. Sometimes we can easily identify what thoughts or beliefs that are holding us back, and sometimes this could prove a challenging task, since our limiting beliefs have away of hiding from us. Much like the metaphor of the iceberg, what is beneath the surface is more substantial than what is apparent. We are most driven by our subconscious thoughts that have accumulated over many years of our “Life History”. Where would you be without your story?

It’s the thoughts in the subconscious mind that we need to realize and bring to the surface, they like sitting in the background. These hidden thoughts are generally negative memories that cause us depression low esteem, self sabotage and fear patterns where we get frightened to take action or try something new.

In order to identify hidden beliefs you have to question your thoughts; ask yourself are these thoughts true? Why is this goal not achievable? Why don’t I deserve this job? Why am I a failure? Etc.

The more you question your thoughts you will be able to start to unravel the beliefs that stand between you and your goal. You will realize that once you are aware of them you they become powerless and gradually fizzle away as you replace them with self affirming positive thoughts, by saying to yourself I will achieve my goals and be successful.

Question 3: Why do I need to do anything if it has all been decreed?

There is a lot of confusion around the belief in Qadar. We need to understand that the outcome of anything is dependent on the performance of the efforts that are necessary to procure it. In other words, it has already been decreed, for example, that some people will be rich in life, however this will not occur unless the individual takes the appropriate actions and puts in the efforts.

So even though we believe in divine decree, we must at the same time strive all we can to ensure that the desired goal occurs. And du'a is the means that one uses to achieve the desired goal that one has, and this in no way contradicts the destiny that has been written for us. This is made clear by the Prophet Salalahu Allaahu alayhi wa salaam said:"Nothing increases one's lifespan except good deeds, and nothing repels divine decree except du’a. A person may be deprived of sustenance due to a sin that he does" (Ibn Majah)! In other words, the performance of good deeds is a cause of increasing one's lifespan. So if a person puts in the necessary effort, the results will be achieved, and this is also destined.

So both the means to achieve a goal, and the fulfillment of the goal itself, are already decreed. Allah’s salvation will not come if we do nothing - as in the story of the drowning man who drowned to death because he was waiting for Allah’s salvation and would not except help from anyone.

At what point are you drowning in your life NOW?

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If you're a sister and interested in being coached by sister Khafayah, build your self esteem, self-confidence, self worth by achieving your biggest dreams. Help banish beliefs that hold you back, get rid of procrastination,find direction and focus in your life and finally being the change you want to be! Then e-mail sister Khafayah NOW and book a lifecoach session with her. Quote ProductiveMuslim.com when you e-mail. Her e-mail is:Khafayah@discoverulife.com

Wherever we are, whoever we may be, we all tend to live in some kind of a “box”. This box represents our current lifestyle, with its ups and downs, opportunities and disappointments, hopes and fears, and a glue-type element that make us want to stick to the box. Some boxes are good, some are bad but we all live in them.

Whenever we’re in one of these boxes (whether it’s a “good” box, or “bad” box), people are of 2 types: Some always want to get out, always want to leave, they want to “free” themselves from the box, they want to unstick themselves from it and find “freedom” elsewhere. Other people, love the coziness of the box, they love to relax therein and fear that if they even dare to peek outside the box, something detrimental will happen to them.

The first type, little do they know that if they leave their box, they’ll soon find themselves in a new box, and the "freedom" they were looking for is simply another box. Once they find themselves in a box, they’d want to leave again only to find themselves in another one, and so on. They carry on living their lives never satisfied with the boxes they are living in and constantly hoping between a box to another.

The second type, never leave their boxes, never develop or grow or try something new, they’ve created this phobia against moving out of their comfort zones that unless they are forced to, they won’t move out! These people will live and die in their box, never ready to take up a challenge or try something new.

Which do you think is better? Or more importantly, which one you think you are?

They both have their positives/negatives, for the first type person, the constant hoping between boxes keeps them fresh, alert, creative and “thinking on their feet”, but sometimes they might be in a very good box but they may want to hop for no reason, e.g. think of people who have a very good job/or happy marriage, but because of their constant hopping nature they’d want to move and can’t stay still hence getting themselves intro trouble.

The second type, although will not have the same opportunities as the first one, but he/she will be relaxed, calm knowing where everything is and you’ll find them “settled” quite well in life.

I sat for a long time thinking which is better, which one I would want to be? And the answer only occurred to me a few days back.

I realised that we do not choose our boxes, but they are given to us by Allah’s decree, therefore it doesn’t matter which box you’re in, what matters is what you do in that box and with that box!

I realised that we need to make the most of each box given to us by Allah, and by making most I mean making sure you please Allah within these boxes. And how do you please Allah in EVERY single box? You implement 2 ideals: Sabr (Patient) and Shukr (Thankfulness) in every single box. Or, my famous advice, "have good intentions and work hard" in every single box.

It doesn’t matter if you’re type A, or type B person. If you like hoping or like sticking around, those who like hoping, you can hop from one decree of Allah to the next, and you may keep running thinking things are better on the other side but my advice would be before you hop ask yourself have I pleased Allah in the box I’m hopping from, have I done everything possible in that box? Do you really want freedom? Then freedom is with obeying Allah and enslaving yourself to His commands, only then would you be truly free from the boxes!

And those who like sticking around, remember that the water that doesn’t run will become stale, and sometimes we need to move out of our comfort zone in order to please Allah, and you know what, you won’t be left alone to stay in the box forever, things will come to you (especially the more you get closer to Allah) that would push you to get out of the box, are you ready for that? Or will you still stay and make excuses?

What does this have to do with ProductiveMuslim?? On a personal level, this is a post reminding myself that I should make most of whichever box Allah has given me and that’s how you achieve success. But for all you ProductiveMuslims/Muslimas out there, I ask you a small homework from you: figure out which type of person you are, are you the constantly jumping from one box to another box OR are you the person who sticks around and never gets out of their comfort zone? Once you’ve done that, those who are constantly jumping I want you to look into a box you’re about to jump from and seriously ask yourself if you’ve done everything to please Allah in that box. And those who are in their comfort zone, do ONE uncomfortable thing that would please Allah TODAY. This could be anything, talking to your neighbour about Islam, changing from a haram career to a halal one, just one thing that would get you out of your comfort zone and enjoy the thrill!

Let me hear your comments below!

His son, Abdullah, once asked his father one day, “Abi when will we ever relax?” His father, one of the greatest revivers of the Sunnah, a role model for all Muslims, looked him in the eye and said, “With the first step we take into Jannah.”

Ya Allah, what a beautiful response!

There are days that come to you and you are tired, and you just want to sleep and relax and "shut off" as they say. Those are the days that you need to ask yourself, a critical question: Where am I going with life? If it's towards Allah and for Allah, then regain your strength and continue your work, for Jannah is precious and must be sought. But if you look into your life and realise that it's not towards Allah, but it is towards Dunya, then here tiredness becomes a blessing, for it is a reminder that you need to change direction.

I love the story on many levels. For one, it shows you that when someone's focus is Jannah, their priorties change, and their outlook on life is different. What we perceive as difficulty, they perceive as ease. What we perceive as calamity, they perceive as reward. What we perceive as obstacles, they perceive as opportunities for sincere dua. Moreover, when your focus is Jannah. This dunya and its constant demand becomes small and the least of our concern. 

Also, I love the way the son phrased his question, "Abi" sweet way of calling your father, and "when will we ever relax?" he didn't say, "when will I relax dad?". He wasn't selfish, he wanted to relax, but also cared for his father's condition. This also shows you how the father and son were working hard together. Again, when your focus is Jannah it reflects in your family, children, and those around you and everyone gears up towards that goal.

Our problem today is not that we're tired, our problem today is that we relax too much. We do everything so that we relax. We cheat, break promises, not fulfill vows, lie, take and give bribery..so we can relax. We don't stay up for tahajjud or wake up for fajr, we don't fast, or go for Hajj and Umrah...so we can relax. We don't walk towards the Masjid, open the book of Allah so we can understand it, all in the name "I need to relax!"

Brothers/sisters, there's plenty of relaxation where we're going, but this is not the time for it. Let's all work for Jannah and be productive in the path of Allah, and work so hard that one day our children would come to us and ask us "Abi"..or "Ummi".."when will we ever relax?" and you can smile and look them into the eyes and say "When we enter Jannah inshaAllah".

After a temporary interruption of the lifecoach sessions being provided by ProductiveMuslim.com, they are back!

So if you're a brother, go ahead, and book your FREE Lifecoach sessions TODAY! (Note, all booking time slots are GMT times).

For more information about life coaching and what it entails, please read the following post: http://www.productivemuslim.com/journal/2009/5/9/offer-50-free-lifecoach-sessions.html

**NOTE: This offer ends 1st July 2009**

For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve recently relocated to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the United Kingdom, and as I’m waiting to start work this Saturday inshaAllah, I just wanted to reflect on my time during the UK in the past 5 years. The lessons I learnt, character development I’ve went through, even this website, ProductiveMuslim.com was a result of the past 5 years.

I try to summarise below what I learnt and hope that people from both Kingdoms and beyond will reflect, learn, understand and implement what is found here inshaAllah:

• I’ve learnt that we in the Muslim countries take Islam for granted and hence we don’t taste its sweetness as much as we should. We take the mosques, Qurans, Ramadan, Eids, Halal food for granted hence we don’t care about Islam or working for Islam because everything is taken care of. The best example I’ve heard about this is like someone who walks into a park which is safe and secure, the parent will happily let their child go and play..but if you walk into a park that looks dangerous and scary you’ll hold your child tight to you and never let go. That’s the example of life in the Muslim world, vs. life in the non-Muslim world. In the UK, you’re so scared to lose your identity that you become more of a Muslim compared to in the Muslim world where everyone is Muslim and you feel relaxed and let go of things which you shouldn’t let go of.
• I learnt that we don’t need much from this world to make most of it; in the UK because I knew I wasn’t going to live there forever, I always tried to keep my worldly possessions to a minimum and I was surprised at how little I can live by. Now that I’m back in Saudi, I need to keep that mentality and not let this world and my nafs take over me with is demands and constant wants, I just need to remind myself that I’m not here forever, one day I’ll die.
• One of the benefits of life in UK is that you meet a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures in one small pot and by virtue of living with them, you’ll have to find a common ground. Al-hamdulillah, the common ground in each case was ISLAM, and what a beautiful common ground that was! The bond of brotherhood found in the UK I have never experienced elsewhere because nothing else brings us together and if there’s, then that’s a bonus. Again to keep that mentality in mind whilst in Saudi would be interesting and perhaps it begins with a simple instruction of Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) gave us and that is to say "Assalamu'alaikum" to those we know and those we don’t know.
• Dawah Dawah Dawah <-- again, living in UK has catapulted all the Muslims to the forefront of Dawah whether they like it or not. And the question is whether you take the opportunity to make dawah or not. Back here, the opportunities may seem small but in the wise words of a friend of mine “Take care of your capital before you look for Profits, take care of the current Muslims and improve their Islam before you look for new Muslims” so a lot of dawah work needs to be done here and if not, then I’m afraid of the warning of Allah & His Messenger which talks about Him replacing us with people who love Him more and who enjoin good and forbid evil.
• Constant remembrance of Allah: I’ve learnt how constant remembrance of Allah is the key to happiness and a calm and relaxed self in EVERY situation. In times of good, or bad, when Allah blesses you or tests you, constantly remember Allah and He’ll be there for you when you desperately need Him.
• I’ve learnt the concept of Productivity and how Islam pushes people to become productive, unlike what is commonly said about Islam that it makes people lazy and unproductive. And it made me determined to start ProductiveMuslim.com to bring this science back to the Muslim world because we desperately need to move forward in all that we do with vision and understanding.
• I’ve learnt that if you give time for Allah, Allah will give you time back. If you work for Allah, Allah will take care of your other affairs. If you’re sincere to Allah, Allah will be open up things for you which you don’t even expect.
• Finally, I’ve learnt that with sincerity and hard work, anything is possible and Allah is aware of all that you do.

To all my friends in the UK and those who made a difference in my life in the past 5 years, may Allah reward you and bless you and grant you all that you wish for in this Life and HereAfter. You’ll always be in my duas and I’ll never forget you, and I love you all for the sake of Allah. I ask one more favour from you: To make dua for me that I’ll always be the person whom you all knew and that I wouldn’t change for the worse, but change for the better inshaAllah and that Allah continues to open the way forward to all of us till He (SWT) is pleased with what we do so much so that He enters us in Jannat Al-Firdaus with The Prophets, Messengers, Martyrs and the Righteous People. Ameen.