25th Rabi’II 1448 |
Assalamu'alaikum, |
Last week, I shared an article imagining what a typical day in 1500 Hijri could look like if the Ummah recovered its strength and unity. The response was overwhelming. Our inbox was flooded with beautiful feedback and thoughtful conversations. |
Today, I want to zoom in a little and imagine what the workplace could look like in 1500 Hijri. (As always, feel free to share your thoughts and feedback by hitting reply.) |
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the read. |
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It’s the year 1500 Hijri, and the Ummah is strong and united. |
Today is the 1st of Rabi’ al-Thani 1500, the first day of the second quarter in your company’s Hijri planning cycle. This afternoon, you’ll present the company’s first-quarter results to the board of trustees. |
Since unification, everything runs on Hijri: reports, contracts, invoices, even salaries. You remember when the Ummah was colonized even in its calendar, when even Muslim companies ran their financial year from January to December. Alhamdulillah, those days are gone. People love being paid in Hijri because they get an extra month’s pay roughly every 2.5 years. (You’ve even heard that workers in some non-Muslim countries are lobbying their employers to switch to Hijri. How times have changed!) |
You arrive at the office shortly after sunrise. The building is quiet, but not empty. Like most companies these days, yours reserves the morning for deep Barakah flow sessions: quiet time for people to focus on important work that matters, not wasted on “busy” work with minimal impact. The Prophet ﷺ prayed for barakah in the early hours of his Ummah’s day, and companies have built their day around it. From sunrise until Dhuhr, nobody schedules meetings or interrupts you unless they truly have to or you’re working on a team project. This way of working is called the Jama’ah and Fard working style. Sometimes you come together and work in Jama’ah (teamwork/collaboration), and sometimes you work quietly alone. Just like in Salah. |
By late morning, your presentation is ready. The meeting is scheduled after qaylulah and Dhuhr, which suits your energy levels perfectly. Normally, from Dhuhr till Asr, people go home to have lunch with their family and pick up their kids from school, but today is an exception that you arranged in advance so you can maintain total “haqq-balance” across your roles. |
After your nap and Dhuhr prayer, you sit back at your desk and open the Amanah Portal, the software nearly every company uses now to keep prayer times, Hijri plans and daily intentions in one place. Before any important meeting, it asks the same question: |
What is your intention for this meeting? |
You type: To present our Q1 results with Ihsan and get the board’s approval for next quarter. |
There’s a knock at your door. It’s Ustadh Idris, the company’s Chief Murabbi Officer, a member of the leadership team whose job is the spiritual and emotional care of everyone in the company, from the newest intern to the CEO. He always comes by to check on you before a big presentation. |
“How’s your heart?” he asks. |
“Nervous,” you admit. |
He suggests you send abundant salawat on the Prophet ﷺ and reminds you that this presentation is not about you. “It’s about serving Allah with excellence, and serving the people who trusted you with their work this quarter.” |
As Ustadh Idris leaves, you think about how strange that conversation would have sounded back before the Ummah was united. |
Back then, bringing faith into the workplace was almost taboo. Faith was considered a private matter. The company’s only interest in your inner life was whether it affected your output, and even then, they’d just refer you to a secular therapist who had no idea about your faith. |
As the Ummah recovered and shook off the grip of secularism on its hearts and minds, it became natural again to bring the soul back to work. Now a knock from the Chief Murabbi Officer is simply part of an ordinary workday. |
You walk into the boardroom a few minutes early. On the wall hangs the plaque the company received last Dhul-Hijjah: Recognized as a Leader in Barakah Culture. It’s one of the most respected awards in the Ummah, given to companies that don’t just perform well but leave society better than they found it. |
For a moment, you feel a glow of pride. Then you catch it and whisper, “Ma sha’ Allah, la quwwata illa billah.” And recognize that all success comes from Allah and not from you. |
The room fills up: five trustees, the CEO, the CFO, and Ustadh Idris. Everyone has come straight from Dhuhr, still in a state of wudu. |
The chair of the board, Hajjah Maryam, a retired engineer from Kano, opens the meeting the way every meeting opens these days: a conscious Bismillah, said slowly enough that everyone actually means it, followed by praise of Allah and salawat on the Prophet ﷺ. |
Then the personal check-in. Before getting into “business,” each person shares how they’re arriving at the meeting on a personal level. The CFO admits he barely slept; his mother is in hospital. Hajjah Maryam moves his agenda item to next week and asks everyone to make du’a for her. |
Before handing over to you, she says what she says at the start of every board meeting: “Remember, this company doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to Allah. We are only its stewards for a while, and we will be asked how we looked after it. So please be honest in your presentation and constructive in your feedback. We’re not here to ‘look good’ but to please Allah by doing our job as best we can.” |
You stand, say Bismillah, and begin your presentation. |
You present last quarter’s IKRs (Intentions and Key Results): what we intended, what we did, and how we did it. You talk about the new hires, each chosen for being strong and trustworthy, and confirm that each offer was made after shura (consultation) and istikhara. One manager was let go with three months’ notice because they weren’t the right fit. According to their exit interview, they were honored to have served the company and appreciated being let go with dignity and a public thank-you. |
Then you click to the last slide, the one you’ve been dreading: Q1 profit. |
Profit is down 9%. |
You explain why: sales were down due to difficult market conditions and rising labor costs. Things are beyond your control despite your best intentions, your hard work, and duas you’ve made. |
One of the trustees, an investor from Istanbul, leans forward and challenges you, saying sharply, “I don’t think you’re doing enough!” |
The room tightens. You feel your face getting warm. |
Ustadh Idris says quietly, “Let’s not let Shaytan play games between us.” The tension eases just enough for the real conversation to begin. |
A proper shura begins on how best to handle the fall in profits. In the end, the board decides to give more in sadaqah through their waqf fund, test out a new product line which they were hesitant about but seems the right thing to do, and they should trust in Allah and have tawakkul. |
Just as Hajjah Maryam begins to wrap up, the Asr athan rises from the masjid next door. The room falls silent, and everyone repeats after the mu’adhin. |
She closes the meeting with the kaffarat al-majlis: Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdik, ash-hadu an la ilaha illa ant, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk. Then she asks the board to pray istikhara on the decisions made today. |
On the way to the masjid, the investor from Istanbul catches up to you and says, “I was rather rude in there; please forgive me.” |
You smile and put a hand on his shoulder. “Only if you forgive me too.” |
You walk into Asr and pray side by side. |
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Almost nothing in this story is impossible to implement today: Saying a conscious Bismillah before a meeting starts. Praying istikhara before a hiring decision. Asking a colleague “How’s your heart?” before asking about the numbers. Saying sorry if you get into a heated debate. Every one of these is something a Muslim leader could start tomorrow morning. But it requires intention and practice. |
What’s one practice from 1500H you could bring into your workplace this week? Hit reply. I’d love to hear it. |
Sincerely, |
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P.S. If you want to start building the workplace of 1500H today, we’re launching the founding cohort of the Barakah Culture Leadership Program in Jumada II 1448H (November 2026). Details will be announced next week, insha’Allah. |
