by Abu Productive on February 17, 2011
You wake up in the morning, no idea what to do for that day, open your e-mails, check your facebook account, sleep some more, go to work/uni/school, do something to act busy, wait for the time to clock out, go home, watch TV, speak to some people on the phone, then sleep.
The example above is of a person who is not decisive. When they woke up, they didn’t DECIDE what they had to do, they didn’t DECIDE what their plans for the day would be, they didn’t DECIDE how to control the multiple variables that surround them so that they can lead a productive life.
Decisiveness is the characteristic of a productive Muslim – because only by making effective decisions will you be moving forward in your life. The more you linger, and let shaytaan play with your mind, the more you’ll be slowed down and become unproductive.
Master the art of effective decision making. The moment you lose grip of this art, others and circumstances will make decisions for you. I know that making a decision isn’t the most easy thing to do, especially since you’ll be responsible for the consequences of your decision. I know that it’s too comfortable not to make any decision and is actually very convenient to let others decide for you (after all, you can always blame others if things go wrong!). But is this how a Muslim should be? Is this why Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala) created your brain, your heart, and created logic, emotions and reason for you?
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by Abu Productive on January 18, 2011
If we were to look for an Islamic definition of Productivity, it can probably be summarised in the word “barakah” or Blessing. Being able to achieve more with few resources, doing much in little time, and generating a lot with little effort is surely a blessing from Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala). Yet Barakah has somehow become a lost treasure these days; everyone’s looking for it, but no one seems to find it! You always hear people complaining that there’s no barakah in their time, no barakah in their sleep, no barakah in their money and the rest of it.
In this article, we’ll solve this mystery inshaAllah: we’ll find out what Barakah is and where you can find it!
What is Barakah?
A Well-known daee explains it as follows:
والبركة: هي ثبوت الخير الإلهي في الشيء؛ فإنها إذا حلت في قليل كثرته، وإذا حلت في كثير نفع، ومن أعظم ثمار البركة في الأمور كلها إستعمالها في طاعة الله عز وجل.
“Barakah is the attachment of Divine goodness to a thing, so if it occurs in something little, it increases it. And if it occurs in something much it benefits. And the greatest fruits of Barakah in all things is to use that barakah in the obedience of Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala)”
Sources of Barakah
I’m a firm believer that Barakah is not a lost treasure, rather, it’s right in front of our eyes! This treasure is only available and ready to be handed over to the one who works for it. Below, I list some of the sources of Barakah. It’s not an exhaustive list, therefore, I do hope you can contribute to it with your comments inshaAllah so we can all share and extend our understanding of this great treasure at ProductiveMuslim.com!
1. Good Intentions
If you want something to have barakah attached to it, have good intentions for it. More specifically, make sure that deed is intended for the sake of Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala). Looking again at the definition of Barakah, you may guess that without us intending what we have or do for the Sake of Allah, the “Divine goodness” won’t be found in our deeds.
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by Abu Productive on December 16, 2010
A day of victory is remembered today. Victory of Truth against Falesehood, of the Weak against the Strong, of those who are with Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) against those who are with Shaytaan.
On this day, the 10th of Muharram, Prophet Musa – Moses – (Peace be upon him) was saved from Pharaoh. This was nothing short of a miracle, to the extent that the people of Musa could hardly believe it until Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) made the body of Pharaoh reach the shores and they confirmed he was dead.
I want to pick one element of this story which I believe is a key lesson for all of us to learn from, and that is the certainty of Musa (Peace be upon him) in the victory of Allah.
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by Abu Productive on November 1, 2008
The following is an article I wrote for the first nationwide Muslim Student magazine, known as Islam Central. I go into details into some of the Islamic tips of Management and Management concepts used widely in the corporate world, that helped me a lot in my time as the head of an Islamic student society. Although geared mainly for students, the lessons adopted here can be shared in a wide range of situations.
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.
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