Yet, there seems to be a law of Allah running in the Universe which says that everything starts small and will grow given the right factors and conditions. This seems to apply in anything you do, any project you participate in. If you jump straight ahead to the top position, without understanding the ground work of things, or how things develop, you won't be able to contribute as effectively as if you know the organisation/project inside out.

The above thought might be a demotivator to some people, who really don't like the idea of making "their way up the ladder", thinking it is slow and painful process. Yet, my answer to them is that yes, it might be slow, but which is better: you heading to the top position and messing it up, or working your way up slowly but surely and building relations, information sets, and procedures along the way that help you lead the organisation/project effectively later on.

Having said, there's a method to "speed up" you career ascension, and this is to ask yourself at every level of the organisation, whether you're a leader, a follower, or a soldier, ask yourself: "What can I contribute?". People who ask themselves this question will be easily noticeable, as at each level they'll be enthusiastic, eager, and selfless. They'll get promoted quickly because they've proven themselves that they can take more responsibility and can give more than they take. 

Living by "What can I contribute?" is a powerful lifestyle and can be implemented in all areas of your life: "What can I contribute to my family?" "What can I contribute to my local Masjid" "What can I contribute to Islam?" Keep on asking yourself this question, and your attitude towards life in general will change bithniAllah! :).

In every mosque, there was either a water fountain or a pond, so you'd think that people waste water when it comes to wudu. Quite the contrary, in every masjid I've been, next to each of these water sources were small buckets. Each person filled up one bucket, then sat on the side and performed the ablution.

I could not believe that I could do an entire ablution with such small quantity of water, even more amazing at an info I received of ablution done in Madagascar in a small cup!!!! Goes to show how much water we waste daily just by doing wudu.

Here's a picture from my phone of a small mosque's ablution area with one of the buckets (apologies for the low resolution):

Amazing. This idea definitely needs to spread across the Muslim world, we will save so much water and actually contribute positively to maintaining this blessing of Allah, and in fact follow the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) who told us not to waste water even if we're next to a running river!!

The masjid is known as Al-Qaraouine, better known as the oldest continuously operating institution of higher learning in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. But even more amazing to me is the story behind this mosque.

The story goes that the mosque was built by a pious woman known as Fatima Al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Mohammed Al-Fihri. The Al-Fihri family had migrated from Kairouan (hence the name of the university), Tunisia to Fes in the early 9th century, joining a community of other migrants from Kairouan who had settled in a western district of the city. Fatima and her sister Mariam, both of whom were well educated, inherited a large amount of money from their father. Fatima vowed to spend her entire inheritance on the construction of the mosque.

What's incredible about this vow was that not only did she vow to spend her entire inheritance on the mosque, but she also made sure that any money that goes into building this mosque comes from a purely halal source. Moreover, whilst the mosque was being built, Fatima spent her days fasting until the mosque was complete.

The result, was not just a mosque, but Al-Qaraouine quickly developed into a place of learning, understanding and debate. The University of Al-Qaraouine became the pinnacle of the Muslim land higher education years before Oxford or Cambridge hosting a wide range of subjects, (not only religious but even sciences & mathematics). 

It's amazing how when you walk into Al-Qaraouine and realize that this was a place where Muslim scholars taught, kings sent their sons to learn, and knowledge was produced, that you cannot but feel awe at the place.You can only wonder at the powerful nature of the blessing of Allah, which when someone taps into it with their sincere intention and hard work, remains eternally attached to whatever you worked hard for. Fatimah Al-Fihri combined tapped into this blessing with her spiritual side (the fasting) along with her hard work (ensuring every dime is halal) and Allah blessed it in ways she could not even imagine, and that's the key to Productivity in Islam.

I'll be away for 5 days to attend a friend's wedding abroad, but back in 5 days inshaAllah. In the meantime, take this opportunity to browse through my archive and read some of the old articles and posts before you start getting bombarded with new ones to come ;).

Salam! :D

[For those who attended the seerah class, I apologise, I'm still talking about sheep!]

Being a shepherd, teaches you the true meaning of Responsibility.

This is paramount in the Prophet Muhammad's hadeeth, "Everyone of you is a guardian and is responsible for his charges. The ruler who has authority over people, is a guardian and is responsible for them, a man is a guardian of his family and is responsible for them; a woman is a guardian of her husband's house and children and is responsible for them; a slave ('Abu) is a guardian of his master's property and is responsiblefor it; so all of you are guardians and are responsible for your charges."

When you're a shepherd, you are hired by the sheep owner to take care of the flock, that's your responsibility. If anything goes wrong, you'll be blamed and not the sheep! Let's take this lesson within the field you're working in: You've been appointed as a manager over a group of staff. If you deal with the situation as a shepherd taking care of the flock, you should feel responsible over the outcomes of your team. Although the actions of your staff are theirs, but the consequences in the end is your responsibility. With that, you'd take extra care to make sure that you fulfill your responsibility and that nothing goes wrong, and if things do go wrong, then make sure you've enough evidence to show the that you did your best to sheep owner (the big boss).

Sheep are short-sighted!

Sheep are naturally short-sighted, but the shepheard standing on 2 feet can see the surrounding and much further down. He's got a vantage point that the sheep don't have. Similarly, at work, whilst your staff are busy with the day to day operations, you should be like the shepherd looking far into the horizon trying to predict opportunities, and anticipate dangers, and the best managers and entrepreneurs I've met were the ones who can see 5-10 years down the line, rather than 1-2 months vision.

The job you're in affects you

Imam Anwar comments on why was the Prophet a sheep shepherd and he didn't shepherd cows or camels. And one of the answer was that when working with sheep, one learns compassion and mercy, necessary characteristics of dealing with the flock, and who's the Prophet of Mercy? Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)!

There's an important lesson here for all of us: your job affects you! your profession will leave certain traits in you. For example, teachers are more fatherly/motherly, even amongst peers, always giving advice, always teaching. Lawyers are argumentative (most, not all, I hasten to add before I start getting hate mails from lawyers arguing that's not true..!)..etc. Politicians are...do I need to say more?. 

So as a Muslim, be aware of this, and notice any "abnormal" characteristics crossing into your personal life from your work life.

-- These are some of the lessons from Prophet Muhammad's experience as a Shepherd. SubhanaAllah, notice how nothing in the Prophet's life (nor in ours) was random, everything happens for a reason and you might not understand it till later in your life (even taking care of sheep!!!).

What started off as a corporate tradition, has now become an annual ritual of every office in the country, with those who don't attend either have to have a very good excuse or risk being a total social outcast for at least a month or two after Christmas. The higher up you go and the more associates/networks you develop due to your job position, the more impending upon you is to attend.

So how do you, as a practicing Muslim, who does not want to attend such social circles where drinks are served, and potential promiscuity develops (as we hear so often), avoid such events?

The key thing to understand here is that most non-Muslims don't understand the discomfort these social event have on you. Hence, a simple explanation of your religious stance on these issues should be enough to avoid such issues. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the respectful nature of the replies you'll get, and you'll even gain a much deeper appreciation of your disciplined religion.

For some people, having to explain the reasons why they can't attend can be difficult, so you can simply excuse yourself with "thats fine but its not my thing, sorry but I'll pass but you have a good time."

Other important notes regarding Christmas:

*If Christmas cards are sent to you, smile and say thank you, after quitely say, I don't actually give Christmas cards as I give Eid cards instead (explain what Eid is here). Remember, do not embarrass, that's the golden rule. Better still, when its Eid, take in nice biscuits for the office and hand them round and say..'Its our Eid and I would like you to share in it' Then when Christmas comes, life becomes very easy as you have already got ahead of the game.

*Always refuse mince pies as lots have alcohol in, be careful of liquer chocolates for the same reason...but ordinary sweets at Christmas is fine to share and if you have done you Eid thing then you have proved that you are one of them without compromising your religion.

*Again be yourself. Polite smiley but be yourself.

Hope this helps! Share your comments about awkward Christmas office moments and how you dealt with it below.

I find it easier as well to divide tasks into contexts (following David Allan's "Getting Things Done" method), this means, that you group the tasks you want to do in that day according to certain set contexts, e.g. @E-mail, @Calls, @Meeting, @Boss, @Computer...etc. So you place all the phone calls you want to do that day under @call, and all the e-mails under @e-mail  (the @ sign is simply a Getting Things Done conventional symbol for separating different contexts). You'll grow much more efficient as a result, as you "batch process" your tasks under certain contexts.

I know some of you might be thinking, "But I don't want to think of work outside the office", that's a fair point, but if you truly want to be productive, if you truly want to stand out from the crowd, if you truly want to be the honest and loyal servant to Allah (not your boss) by doing your best in all that you do, then this tip might just get you that much closer to achieving that level. 

Being a productive muslim is not just about working more efficiently, but literally it's about fulfilling the trust that has been placed in your hands, no matter how simple that trust might be. You're trying to walk out each day from work, raising your eyes to the heaven and saying: "O Allah, I did my best today, and you're my witness".

Training Programme

I'm starting to establish links with some Islamic organizations/individuals to deliver some training around the theme of linking Islam to productivity. As this is a learning curve for me at the moment, I'm going through a trial phrase of "testing out" the training material. Moreover, I'm offering for a limited time only, free training to any Islamic organisation that is interested in training their management team on 'islamic productivity', asking your duas in return (& cover any transportation/accommodation cost incurred). Please contact me to discuss this in more detail if interested.

Shop

A lot of you loved the new ProductiveMuslim logo and some have even asked for merchandise material with the logo on it. I was a bit concerned with the hassle and cost involved in such a venture, but thankfully, came across CafePress, which simply allows you to open a shop and sell various types of merchandise with your logo on them. CafePress deals with all the selling and shipping headache, and ProductiveMuslim.com gets a commission from every sale made. I do aim to reinvest these commissions earned into maintaining the site and expanding the above mentioned training programme inshaAllah.

So contact me if you need some ProductiveMuslim training, and if you're that much into the logo, grab some goodies from my cafepress shop, and let me know if you have any other product in mind we could sell so we can really expand this site inshaAllah..

A number of people have asked me to write my personal experiences in the ISOC, and how it developed from being a structure-less society filled with politics to a well-structured, project orientated, organic society. Instead of boring you with my experiences, I thought it would be better if I simply wrote down elements of success that worked with ISOC, and that I believe can transpire to all ISOCs across the country.

1. Keep your focus upon Allah

The difference between a successful ISOC and not a successful one is the difference between the one that has a team that solely focuses on how to please Allah (SWT) on campus and not on how to build up the ISOC’s name. When an ISOC team solely focuses on Allah, their vision becomes sharper, their priorties become clearer, and sacrificing time and effort for ISOC becomes second-nature. The call from ISOC, becomes a call from Allah, and you find your body, heart and mind switched on and ready and eager to help ISOC at all times. This is regardless of whether you’re an ISOC member, ISOC committee member or even ISOC president. 

2. Five-worth-twenty Rule

The five-worth-20 rule is a tried and tested rule where 5 brothers and sisters can be as good as twenty if they are truly sincere. I’ve seen in my own eyes how an entire Islamic Awareness Week was brought together by 2 brothers and run by 3 brothers and 2 sisters (this was done within 2 weeks!). I know a lot of ISOC either suffer from over-staffing, or under-staffing, and my message is for those who think they are under-staffed: even if you’re only 2 in the committee, that’s enough to move and shake the University, just be sincere, focus and work hard.

3. Get a structure

Don’t be a structure-less society, it’s inefficient and time-consuming. Get a structure! The type of structure you adapt depends on the ISOC and its history and number of committee members, but do get a structure  which your committee members agree with and stick to it. End of the year, you may review it. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll achieved within a structured society. 

4. Sincerity & Hard work

An advice I heard personally from Sheikh Bin bayya, when I visited his home last summer, which truly and utterly made sense and has become a rule which I aim to live by: “Have good, sincere intention and work hard.” Having sincere intention to help your ISOC without working hard is fooling yourself, and working hard without sincere intention can fall into “riyaa”. Have both and you’ll see the seeds of your efforts grow, and Allah will place barakah in your work.

5. Listen & Obey

Listen & obey to your ISOC President. There’s hikmah and wisdom in prophet Muhammad’s injunction of listening and obeying to our leaders, and it’s one of the elements of successes of any successful ISOC. Your ISOC President, is your amir, Allah has placed the burden of leading the mini-Ummah at your campus upon his shoulders, ease his work by listening and obeying him. Imagine an ISOC that does not listen to its amir, what a nightmare that would be, and how disunited the Muslims will seem. WARNING: This is not a license for ISOC Presidents to become dictators, (which is my next point) rather this is a tried and tested formula in any successful organization, there should be a voice that is listened and obeyed.

6. Seek & heed advice

This is for ISOC Presidents: seek advice from your committee members. Don’t be a snob in your perceived throne expecting all your decisions and ideas to be treated as divine decree. Ask your committee members, and listen hard to their advice and their reasoning,  when they advise you. Many times I was corrected in my presidency whenever I was about to make a decision to the detriment of the society by listening to the advice of sincere brothers and sisters. Also if you have a plan or event in mind, make sure you put a case forward for it, and not just “because I said so!’’.

7. Istikhara, Duha, and the 2 rak’ahs + Wudu at all times 

These should be the spiritual tools of any ISOC committee member especially the President. Pray Istikhara prayer whenever you are unsure of a decision. Make sure you start your day with the duha prayer, and of course the 2 rak’ahs before any ISOC event, meeting, function will make a world of a difference. Also, try to be in Wudu almost all of the time, I occasionally used to instruct my committee members to come to the meeting having their wudhu on, one way to ensure this is to setup a meeting before salaat time and explain that we all need to have wudhu so we can start praying immediately before the meeting starts. Having wudhu has a great effect to lessen the effect of shaytaan on everybody in the team and less feuds/arguments occurring during meetings/events.

8. Don’t forget the sisters

A common feature, particularly of small ISOCs, is that they become an all-boys club, marginalizing the sisters activities (if they hold any at all) and our sisters through their shyness usually keep quiet about it.. that is, until you get a pretty loud one that storms in the mosque and sends you hate mails, or even worse takes you to the union court. Usually when that happens, I’m amazed at the reaction of the brothers: “Where did she come from?” “astaghfurullah” “Didn’t we try to hold such and such event for the sisters and they never turned up, it’s not our fault, it’s theirs!” And the war begins. To the all-boys network, I say: WAKE UP! If sisters organised the brothers only social gathering, will you go? Umm.. mostly not. The truth is, it’s a catch-22 situation: you need sisters to get more sisters involved, but where will you find the sisters who are ready to get more sisters involved..?! That’s another article... but basic message here is get the sisters involved from the beginning, make them feel they are part of a team, and listen to their advice, as most sisters are natural organizers and experts in the fine detail that makes an event run flawlessly, making your lives much easier Don’t think or treat them as just an extra small branch of ISOC. 

9. Don’t compromise  

- ask for the best When dealing with the University don’t compromise your faith, or your principals just to please the University. State your principles loud and clear, (e.g. having segregated events). Also ask for the best, and you’ll be surprised at what Allah enables at your hand. Never say this is “too much to ask”, just ask. As Prophet Muhammad said, if you ask Allah for Jannah, ask for the Firdaus, the highest part of Jannah.

10. Professionalism

Always be professional within the team and outside your team. E-mails should be clear, with a clear subject and clear instructions (no more lols, and hahas, and salamzzzz peeps). Meetings should have an agenda that you stick to, a start and end time, and minutes be sent after the meeting. Events should be professionally organised from uniformed ushers down to feedback forms given out to attendees. Be professional, and you’ll avoid 90% of the problems that plagues ISOCs across the country. (For more advice on how to develop a professional working team, please contact me).

11. Thank people

This is one of my favourite. Ever received a thank-you card from a random person? How did you feel? great wasn’t it? Now imagine if you could be that random person and you send out thank you cards to anyone and everyone who helped, supported, cared for the ISOC in any way or form. This could include the University official who helped to book your venue for last week’s event, or the porters who stayed for the night shift so you can successfully complete your event, or the cleaners who clean your prayer room regularly. Sending a thank you note to these and more, will make a world of a difference and truly improve the image of Islam and Muslims on campus.

12. Tuesday Lunch

Another favourite of mine: Every week, the ISOC President, ISOC External-affairs officer or ISOC’s general secretary should schedule their Tuesday lunch with the President of a society, University or Union official, or even a company representative. The idea is to meet with someone that may benefit the ISOC in one way or another. The power of this method is contacts. Remember, we live in a world of not what you know, rather who you know, and if you could build a positive relation with different people at your University and Union, you’d be surprised at the outcome. Such meetings usually lead to unexpected joint events, (a debate with the atheist society?) a sponsorship opportunity (meet with your local Islamic banking solution, we had Lloyds TSB Islamic banking sponsor our freshers week!) or at least a form of dawah. Be proactive, pay for the lunch, and watch ISOC’s reputation build within Uni and beyond.

13. One-on-One & Feedbacks

This is a management tool from the corporate world and it helps any ISOC president or team leader to build a positive working relationship with his team. It’s a simple 30 minute weekly meeting scheduled in advance either via phone or in person where for 10 minutes you ask for updates from the team member, listen to it and note it down so you won’t forget and for the next 10 minutes you tell them of any updates, and the last 10 minutes is spent to plan for the following week. This ties in  beautifully with the weekly review below, and helps to keep everyone updated and on the same page. Now, on an honest basis, I didn’t use the above formula entirely, my one-on-ones were very relaxed in the form of a casual telephone conversation or a breakfast after fajr or a dinner at home but it definitely worked. Another tool is feedbacks, and the simple rule is: ALWAYS GIVE FEEDBACK. It doesn’t have to be negative, this can also be positive. e.g. you walk in Jummah, and you find everything is in place, and everything is prepared, you give feedback of how wonderful that jummah went. You hold an event and someone is late to start, you give feedback on that. My only advice regarding giving feedback is to be aware of the mentality and psychology of the person you’re giving feedback to, it’s a science, which can be easily acquired but hard to master, as you may easily offend and demotivate if you aren’t careful.

14. Have a vision

Don’t be a blind ISOC! Have a plan, a vision. Worse ISOC meeting I attended was attending an event meeting with the team leader asking, “so, any ideas?” That to me was a waste of time. The leader needs to set the vision and at the meeting, the vision may be discussed or edited, but not drafted from scratch! The beauty of having the vision is that once the end of the ISOC year comes, you can review it and see how much of it was achieved. One of my favourite ISOC moments, was at the last exec meeting held, where we pulled out a mind-map which we set beginning of the ISOC Year and we went around it to tick those events/activities which we were able to achieve, and hamdulillah we managed to do even more that what we planned for.

15. Play the brainstorm game

Sometimes you do need ideas for an event, but instead of sitting in a meeting and asking your team member “so, any ideas?” you should be stimulating the idea generating process through a simple game. I call it the everything-goes-even-a-peanut-butter brainstorm game. Simply put, get a flip chart, and ask your team to put forward as many ideas as they can in a space of 10 minutes. They should blurt out the first thing that comes in their mind, could be as random as anything, and in fact, you as the facilitator or team leader should write down all their ideas on the flip chart, regardless of how absurd that is (trust me, I have had some pretty whacky ones!). This team idea generating process is far more productive than sitting around a table and toying with pens waiting for a revelation of a new idea! Also, you never know which of your team will come up with THE idea! 14. Weekly Review Every week, schedule a 2 hour time with yourself  and think carefully, how else can you improve the ISOC? Think of everything, including the prayer room, jummah, up coming events, team relationship, your meetings, your website...etc. Just by reviewing the ISOC on a weekly basis, and consciously trying to improve it, will take ISOC through perceived  barriers in no time.

16. The ISOC hour

Coupled with the weekly review, have a daily ISOC hour in the morning/evening in which you think what needs to be done for the ISOC that day or in the near days to come. Send out e-mails here, text instructions, plan agendas, as well schedule meetings. This helps to keep you focused, and staying on top of things (at least - ISOC related).

ProductiveMuslim.com 2008

The question is, as a Muslim, one who wants to be productive and representative of their religion, how should you face such a situation? The classical answer is to get out of there!, and find a halal job with a halal environment, but one can imagine, the repercussions of such an answer on the wider spectrum of the Muslim community. This question has been on my mind as I was recently thrust into an office environment, and realised that things are 'slightly' different there than in my usual 'All-Muslim' work environment. I turned for advice to a couple of very experienced friends of mine, and I've put their answer below plus a bit on my take about this whole issue in the following top 10 tips:

1. Make sure the job you're working at is at least halal (from an ethical and religious point of view), it's bad enough you having to face with a non-halal environment, at least make sure the income you earn is halal.

2. Set your religious parameters as soon as you start work: Prayer times, Friday Prayer breaks, not shaking hands with those of the opposite sex, whatever it is, make sure it becomes clear as soon as you enjoy. The way to do it, is not to announce these actions, but simply go about and do them, as if expecting the other person to understand. If they raise any questions, then you explain briefly about your religious customs and duties, otherwise you may go into more detail if they show more interest. If you've had a bad start to the job, and now suddenly you wanting prayer breaks/friday break..etc, expect some resistance, and people's saying "well, he didn't used to pray before!?" Best thing here is to speak to your manager about your new demands and explain its importance.

3. Smile, talk, and be polite to everyone. Don't form mini-groups within the office, you don't want to be associated with 'them lots' or 'those over there', be neutral, and you'll avoid 99% of office politics. This is especially true if they are a group of Muslims/Non-Muslims in your office, be pleasant to both sides.

4. Never ever gossip/backbite. It's forbidden in our religion, and will only lead you to trouble. I remind you here of the dangerous repercussions of backbiting, simple read Chapter 18, verse no. 12, where Allah says: "O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear Allah. For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful." Moreover, regarding gossip, Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said in a simple hadeeth that a person who leaves what's none of his/her business is a sign of their good islam. If other people start gossiping, attempt to change the subject, or simply ignore it, never ever add fuel to the fire!

5. If a person starts regaling you with their sexual exploits, night out stories or chat up thoughts about another member of staff, a half smile is needed and either a polite withdrawal or excuse to leave, just mentally thank Allah he made you who you are and a wish he brings the other person to their senses. Do not stand listening unless you can't get away, in which case, if you have to stand or sit there, just mentally make a list of the things you need to do so you look disinterested but not rude, you don't have to join in the laughter at dirty jokes, just the half smile and leave, when possible. If you can change the subject then do so if not withdraw. If someone asks 'don't you find it funny', just say 'its not really my humour' or ' a big smile and 'not really'. Don't forget to smile, that way you are not insulting.

6. If anyone starts teasing you or making jokes about your behaviour. such as reading the Quran, then a chuckle and 'well its the best book I've ever read' will work wonders. I find a half laugh, half smile, shrug and 'well thats how I am' works wonders. Only offer a religious explanation if someone asks straight out and not during teasing.

7. If the office is mixed (which will most probably be) and any woman or man starts hitting on you just refuse to be drawn and make certain your behaviour is exemplary. Never allow a woman or man to stand too close to you or walk you into a corner. Invites trouble. If they do, reverse quietly. If you find anyone starts getting too personal, buys you gifts, food or hangs about by your desk, then be polite but slightly preoccupied.

8. If you find yourself getting attracted to a member of staff in the office (it happens, we're only human! & Shaytaan is working hard) ask Allah for guidance & strength, and start doing voluntary fasts, it'll push these thoughts away and set your mind straight. (I'm assuming here that the person you're attracted to in the office is not someone you'd actually consider for marriage, but just a result of blind love and devil's whispering).

9. Most important people in the building are the support staff, e.g. post room, reception, cleaners....always give them a polite greeting and a smile and if they empty your bin whilst you are there thank them, but keep the smile muted if they are from the opposite sex.

10. Finally, every morning make sure you pray the 2 rak'ah of Duha (minimum 2, you can pray up to 8 rak'ah if you want) before you go to work, it'll help put barakah/blessing in whatever you do. Constant remembrance of Allah at all times, and dua dua dua! You'll be fully equipped inshaAllah to face any situation that comes up at in any office.

These are some of the tips that myself and close friends of mine were able to brainstorm together, what about you? Any ideas? tips? Have you ever faced situations as a Muslim which you found particularly hard to tackle. Share your experiences in the comments box below and help each other inshaAllah :).