Hajj e book-productive-muslim

Table of contents

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Part 1 | The Call
When Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) completed the But he relied upon Allah and did his best: he climbed
structure of the Ka’bah, Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) Mount Arafat and called out in his loudest voice, “O
commanded him to call the people to Hajj. Ibrahim People! Verily Allah has prescribed upon you
(Peace be upon him) got confused he said, “O Allah! Hajj, so perform Hajj.”
How shall my voice reach all of those people?”

Every human being on earth at that time heard that
Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) told him that his duty call and Hajj began since that day. Allah (Subhanahu
was only to give the call, and it was up to Allah to wa ta’ala) revealed in the Qur’an:
make it reach the people. We should never stop ourselves from making the

Here we have a beau- “And proclaim the Hajj among mankind. They
tiful productivity les- will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on
son; don’t worry every camel, lean on account of journeys
about the results/ through deep and distant mountain highways”.
outcome of your (Surat Al-Hajj, Ayat 28)
effort; rather, worry
about making the
necessary effort to achieve something just because
effort and ensuring you do the task to the best of
your ability. If Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) saw that we think the results are impossible to achieve.
the expected outcome of his task is impossible, he Do your part and leave the rest upon Allah
would have given up and there would have been no (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala).
Hajj.

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There are 2 important ingredients for Ibrahim’s suc- I’ve always been in awe at the verse that talks about
cess in this task : Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) and Ismail (Peace be up-
on him) building the house of Allah. The verse says:
1. He took all necessary means to complete his
task; he went to the highest mountain at that
time, mount Arafat, and called with his loudest “And remember Abraham and Ismail raised the
voice. foundations of the House (With this prayer): “Our
2. He was sincere! He sincerely believed that Allah Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For Thou art
(Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) would deliver his call to
all mankind. the All-Hearing, the All-knowing” .
(Surat Al-Baqarah, Verse 127)
These 2 ingredients - sincerity and hard work - are
the ingredients for true success in dunya and akhira.

One of the most respected scholars I know of our Notice that although they were doing the most noble
time gave me advice I’ll never forget it: “have good task on earth at that moment, they weren’t arrogant
intentions and work hard”. I’ve carried this message about it and asked Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) to ac-
wherever I’ve gone and it’s a formula of success I try cept it from them.
to live by.

Write this message down, place it somewhere on When you’re being productive, always be humble
your desk, and remind yourself daily to have good in- about it and don’t boast. Remember, it is Allah
tentions and work hard in whatever you do and see (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) who gave you the means to
how Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) will open the doors be productive at that time, so be thankful and always
of success for you, inshaAllah! ask Him to accept from you your hard work.


Notice how their prayer ended with “For Thou art the
All-Hearing, the All-knowing.” Imagine if in all our
work we remember that Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala)
is watching us and knows what we’re doing; how will
our work be? What sort of tasks will we choose to
do? What would happen to our level of productivity?
How far would we go to ensure that the task is done
perfectly or in an excellent manner?

Here’s a practical homework exercise for you: pick a
task you need to do, perhaps something you’ve been
procrastinating upon for a long time, and ask your-
self, “If I was to do this task sincerely for Allah
(Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) knowing that Allah
Allah says in the Quran about the building of the
(Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) is watching me do it, how
Ka’bah:
should I go about it and get it done?”

The answer may surprise you.
“And remember Abraham and Ismail
raised the foundations of the House
(With this prayer): “Our Lord! Accept
(this service) from us: For Thou art the
All-Hearing, the All-knowing” .
(Surat Al-Baqarah, Verse 127)


So far we’ve derived 2 lessons from the story of Ibra- Try your best when you undertake a task, project, or
him (Peace be upon him) and Ismail (Peace be upon good deed that you do it with other people – whether
him) building the Ka’aba: it’s with your spouse, children, co-workers, friends, or
even random people who passionately belief in your
task. Working with someone, or within a team, will im-
1. When you’re being productive, be humble and don’t mensely help you keep up the productivity and work
boast, but thank Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) and ask hard to get the work done inshaAllah.
Him to accept from you.

2. Whenever you approach a new task, you should re-
member that Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) is watching
you and you should try your best to do the task sin-
cerely for Him.

A final lesson that we can draw from the story is the
following; notice how Ibrahim (Peace be upon him)
and Ismail (Peace be upon him) were working togeth-
er to build the Kaa’ba. Good companionship (whether
related or unrelated) is a true helper in making you
productive.

Sometimes being along or doing something alone can
be discouraging and you might easily give up, but if
you work with people and work within a team, it’ll
force you to be productive.


Part 2 | Persistence
Now we move to a different Hajj story: the story of to have this belief that Allah will not forsake you.
Hajar (May Allah be pleased with her) and her son Is- You’re a Muslim, you believe in Him; He’ll not forsake
mail (Peace be upon him). you. Do your best in all your endeavours regardless of
the trials you face, and Allah will not forsake you. This
feeling of certainty in Allah’s help will boost your
Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) woke up one day and productivity when you feel like giving up.
asked Hajar to prepare herself and baby Ismail for a
Hajar went on nursing Ismail and drinking from the
long travel. Ibrahim and Hajar kept walking, crossed a
water until it was all used up. She became very thirsty
fertile land followed by barren mountains till they ar-
and the child was crying. She left him on the al-Marwa
rived at the Arabian Desert. Ibrahim brought Hajar to a
hill and hurried to the nearest hill, as-Safa.
high hill called al-Marwa, made her and her baby sit
under a tree, placed a bag of dates and some water
near her, and simply walked away. She stood there and started looking at the valley
keenly so that she might see somebody, but she could
not see anybody. She descended from as-Safa,
You can imagine Hajar’s reaction at this - she ran after
crossed the valley running, and reached al-Marwa hill.
him and said, “Are you going to leave us in this desert
She stood and started looking but could not see any-
where there is no one to keep us company?” She re-
body. She kept running between as-Safa and al-
peated this many times, but he would not look back at
Marwa seven times. When she reached al-Marwa for
her. Finally she asked, “Has Allah ordered you to do
the last time, she was exhausted - and there, the mir-
so?” He said, ‘Yes.” She replied, “Then He will not ne-
acle happened! Angel Jibreel dug the earth until water
glect us.”
flowed underneath Ismail (Peace be upon him) & Zam-
This story teaches us a very beautiful lesson: When zam was born!
Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) is testing you, you need


I always ask this question to my students; Ibrahim (Peace be upon him) saw a vision of himself
Why did Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) make Hajar slaughtering his son, knowing that it’s a command from
(May Allah be pleased with her) run 7 times before Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala), he spoke to his son Ismail
this miracle happened? (Peace be upon him) about his vision and the obedient
son dutifully agreed. As Ibrahim (Peace be upon him)
was taking his son to the slaughter location, shaytaan
If He (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) wanted, he could have pro- appeared 3 times in 3 different locations “advising” Ib-
vided her with Zamzam without her even lifting a finger, rahim to abandon his task and go back home with his
but there’s a lesson here for all mankind: you need to son. Angel Jibreel came down and told Ibrahim that this
work hard for miracles to happen!
is shaytaan trying to tempt him from obeying Allah, he
should throw 7 pebbles at him and he’ll disappear.
The sky does NOT rain gold - you have to be proactive,
do your best, and push yourself; and Allah will provide When they reached the designated spot, Ibrahim placed
from where you didn’t expect! his son Ismail face down on the ground, reached for his
son’s neck with the knife and pulled it! Nothing hap-
This is a message to the Ummah of Islam: Sitting down pened. He did it again, nothing happened. He tried a
and doing nothing for the Ummah and hoping that our third time but still, nothing happened and the miracle
Ummah’s situation will change does not grant us victory. occurred. Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) says in the
Quran:

We need active societies, people who care more about “So when they had both submitted their wills (to
those around them than their own comforts. Each one of Allah, and he had laid him prostrate on his
us needs to be productive in an area of our lives, and forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to him “O
boost those around us to be productive as well. This is Abraham!” “Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!”
how we’ll rise as an Ummah, inshaAllah. – thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
For this was obviously a trial- And We ransomed
The story of Ibrahim’s (Peace be upon him) sacrifice of him with a momentous sacrifice: And We left (this
Ismail (Peace be upon him) is probably the most famous blessing) for him among generations (to come) in
story of Hajj and one that we all memorize. later times” (Al-Saffat, Verses 103-108).


What productivity lessons can we learn from this story?

Here’s the productivity lesson I wanted to share with you: remember the part when Shaytaan was coming to
“advise” Ibrahim not to obey Allah? This is the sort of “advice” that we mostly fall for each day that makes us un-
productive! Shaytaan each day turns up and tells you “no need to work on that project...it’s too hard, leave it today,
you seem tired”…OR “you can’t do that, you’re too young/old/incompetent/busy to work on this project, someone
else will do it.”

Day in and day out, he comes to us and distracts us, acting as our trusted advisor to stay away from good deeds
and keep us lazy and unproductive. Today, I want you to pelt shaytaan with stones of knowledge, hard work, sin-
cerity and perseverance whenever you hear such ‘advice’ from him!


Part 3 | The New Year

Even though there are no prescribed celebrations for a new
year in Islam, however, it’s always good to take such occasions
as opportunities to reflect on how well you’ve performed over
the past year, in terms of dunya and akhira, as well as what
you want to achieve over the coming year.

When reflecting back, if you see that you were successful in
achieving lots of good deeds and good work, then say “Al-
Hamdulillah!” and ask Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) for more in
the coming year.

If you see otherwise, then ask Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) for forgiveness and start a new sheet with the new year
promising yourself to do better, inshaAllah.


When we think about the Hijrah (migration of the This spiritual migration won’t be easy and might be
Prophet from Makkah to Medina), we rarely imagine challenging at times, but if done for the sake of Allah
the difficulty it must have been for our beloved (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala), it will be beneficial in the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his companions to end inshaAllah.
leave their homes, their businesses, their families,
and migrate to a different new city. Can you imagine
yourself doing it? Leaving all the comforts you’ve Here’s an article I wrote on Productivity lessons from
built over the years in your hometown and simply the Hijrah, which I hope you’ll find beneficial:
starting a new life in a new town? http://www.productivemuslim.com/productivity-
lessons-from-the-hijrah-part-2/

It’s not easy. But sometimes such migration is need-
ed in order to kick start a new life and propel us to-
wards productive pursuits just like it was needed at
Hope you like it!
the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in order
for Islam to find a new home in Medina and be able
to spread more freely in the Arabian peninsula.

Today I invite you all to a spiritual form of Hijrah, a
Hijrah for the sake of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala)
from sins to good deeds, from bad friends to good
friends, from non-halal job to a halal job, from living
for dunya to living for akhira, and of course from un-
productivity to productivity!


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