The Little Book of…

Yes, its true. A publication by the name of “The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality” actually exists. How did I come across this? Here’s the story:

I was recently in one of my favorite classes in the Master of Entrepreneurship program studying about commercializing high-tech ventures. The Professor, who is a famous researcher across North America, brought up the topic of Business Ethics. The class discussed a number of issues around this topic, and how they relate to entrepreneurs, but I was most interested in discussing the “circularity” of Business Ethics in the West. When dealing with ethics, the problem is that there is no real conclusion in the West because you aren’t allowed to make any definitive statements (some food for thought for Freedom of Speech Advocates). You can refer to Aristotle, or Jesus (peace be upon him) or Mother Teresa, but you can’t end the discussion at any of their philosophies because nothing is supposed to be absolute. When life is all about relativism, personal truths and individualism, how can you possibly arrive at a universal conclusion?

Islam on the other hand is different. Truth is clear from falsehood and with the Mercy of God, the ensuing scriptures, the Quran and Sunnah, actually address day-to-day issues. For this very reason, I propose the writing of new piece of literature called “The Little Book of Islamic Business Ethics.” Through this book, readers, especially Westerners, will be able to get a glimpse into the wisdom, depth and vastness of Islamic Business ethics and how tough decisions can be made simply and beautifully using treasures of knowledge from the past.

I propose the following topics to be included in “The Little Book…” and I will be adding to the list as YOUR comments come in.

May Allah reward you for your contributions:

(1) Valuations

(2) Intellectual Property

(3) Buying and Selling

(4) The Profit Motive

(5) Social Responsibility

(6) Bargaining Power

(7) Lending

(8) Ownership

(9) Partnerships

(10) Market Research

(11) Your suggestion

(12) Your suggestion

(13) Your suggestion

Thanks for reading,

Mak.

Why do Muslims make great entrepreneurs?

Assalamo3laykum:

If you are reading this post, you have either been forwarded this link by me or by a friend who considers you a noteworthy Muslim Entrepreneur, consider yourself special mashAllah!

Ever since I got involved with the entrepreneurial community in North America I have been carrying a baggage around with me. By baggage I don’t mean anything negative, it’s just something that has been on my mind and I haven’t been able to put it on paper. Now is the time to act!

There are definitive commands, injunctions, principles and philosophies in the Quran and the Sunnah that make Muslims great entrepreneurs – the proof is all around us. With your help I want to start a discussion through which we can answer this question by using solid evidences from the Quran and Sunnah, linking them to current-day business best practices. Right now you’re probably thinking “What the heck is he talking about?” So let’s look at an example.

It is narrated in Saheeh Muslim:

“There are seven categories of people whom God will shelter under His shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His.  [One is] the just leader.”

It goes without saying that leadership an essential part of entrepreneurship and that entrepreneurs are required to be leaders at some point in their careers. I find that knowledge about the hadith above, supplemented by a firm belief in Allah (subhanuhu wata3la) can single-handedly make a Muslim entrepreneur act with justice when leading ventures and projects. Thus, a sense of “Justice in Leadership” makes Muslims great entrepreneurs and we have seen the proof of this in the hadith.

In a more organized fashion:

Quality: Justice in Leadership

Verse/Hadith: “There are seven categories of people whom God will shelter under His shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His.  [One is] the just leader.”

Interpretation: Leadership is an essential part of entrepreurship and justice is an essential part of great leadership. Muslims make great entrepreneurs because they have a strong sense of justice and accountability within them whether they are in public or private.

I hope you will all contribute at least 1 comment each to this discussion so that we can compile an extensive list of relevant qualities and related Verses or Ahadith, that show why Muslims make great entrepreneurs. These can all be compiled into an inspirational presentation which can be shown to Muslim communities all over the world.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

‘T’ for Educate

 

The setting:
Al-Maghrib Seminar – Rays of Faith @ Westin Harbour Conference Centre, at the lakeshore

The question:
The too-cool Sheikh asks the question on how to educate the community about Islam in new and innovative ways

The rules:
Write your suggestion on a sticky note and stick it on the board, if your suggestion has already been posted before you have to think of a new one – only one note per suggestion

The result:
Despite the rules above, atleast 4-5 notes posted on the board spoke about having T-shirts with Dawaa/Solidarity messages on them to promote education about Islam in the community.

My thoughts:
I found this whole exercise and the result of it quite interesting. As I walked through the seminar room I saw a brother with the T-shirt shown in the picture above. It was something that wasn’t laugh out loud but it still made me smile and amused me.

Do you have any quirky, intelligent, thought-provoking or funny ideas for T-shirts that would engage the community? Share your ideas and maybe we can work together to make it happen.  

News Story: Digital Prayer Rugs

A few weeks ago a bunch of us were eating at a local restaraunt and someone brought up ProductMuslim. As usual people started throwing out wacky ideas for Muslim products. One of the brothers suggested a digital prayer rug that spoke to you when you went over the prescribed number of rakaahs and had other cooky features like a scalding grill that would prevent you from doing extra sujoods. Today another brother randomly forwarded the news story below to me. Amazing don’t you think?:

Prayer rug links high-tech, spiritual worlds
eRug has built-in sensors that alert the user to prayer time

May 15, 2008
Shauna Rempel
Toronto Star

Name: Wael Aboulsaadat
Age: 36
Program: Fourth-year PhD student, department of computer science at the University of Toronto.
Thesis: Computer user interfaces for religious practice.
The device: Aboulsaadat has designed a prototype of a digital device called eRug that Muslims can use to enhance their daily prayers. The rug has built-in sensors, lights and a display screen to show scripture, alert the user to the next prayer time and find the direction of Mecca. “It will increase their understanding of the scriptures and the quality of the prayer,” says Aboulsaadat.

Full Story: http://www.thestar.com/living/article/425375 

Guest Posting: Mahir Basheer – Glow in the dark dhikr stickers

Recently I lay down in my bed to go to sleep at night and realized that I couldnt remember the adhkar for going to sleep and that sometimes I would forget to say these adhkar all-together.

This got me thinking, imagine if I had these adkhar near my bed, on the wall … not just that but when I switched off the lights to sleep these adhkar would glow … this way I would never forget to say these adhkar for sure … Insha’Allah. It would help me fulfill the sunnah, have the protection of Allah (swt) when I go to sleep and allow me to sleep in a state of islam insha’Allah …

What a great way to teach kids adhkaar too… Allah o alam, so thats the idea… Glow-in-the-dark Adhkaar… what do you guys think?

Review of an Existing Product: Travelling Prayer Mat and Qibla Finder

 

While on my flight back from Karachi to Toronto I was browsing through the in-flight, consumer product catalogue. Initially my eyes stopped at the Travelling Prayer Mat and Qibla Finder package, not because it seemed like such an awesome product, but because it was the only thing I could really afford! I decided it would be a nice experiment purchase and decided to purchase one. It turns out it was one of the best $5 I had ever spent. The package contained a prayer mat, made out of a fine material that neatly folded up into a small rectangle and a qibla finder that was easy to hang to my car keychain – it is surprisingly accurate. A few months after I landed back in Toronto, a friend of mine saw the Qibla finder dangling from my key chain and loved it so much that he asked me if he could have it (that doesn’t happen much!). 

Anyway, this is an awesome product and could be a great gift for Muslims. I would highly recommend grabbing a few of these when you are on a Muslim airline (I learnt that Saudi Air offers this product as well when I did a google search). They are also useful to keep in the car for when you’re on the road.    

Concept Product #1: Muslim Prayer in Progress Sign – Demo Video

This is the demo video for the Muslim Prayer in Progress concept product

from video.msn.com posted with vodpod

Concept Product #1: Muslim Prayer in Progress Sign – Concept Sketches

I have always had trouble praying in public places like empty classrooms and parking lots, because if a non-Muslim passes by they get confused. I would like to be able to carry around a pocket sized sign that I could put up next to me so that people couldnt get confused. This would make me and passerbys more comfortable. I am not a designer myself so I am not sure these sketches make sense but I did a quick video with my friend Abdullah to demonstrate how it could work. Comments from the community and professional industrial designers about the usefulness/feasibility of this product would be much appreciated.