1992-June-5

Muslim Journal

Protecting The Future Through Sound Economics Assisted By "Regardfulness" (Excerpts)

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

The Discipline of Giving Due Regard

Most failures in anything are failures of disciplines. If you fail a life of disciplines, then you fail. And there are some basic disciplines that make for success in almost anything that you may endeavor to do or take up as an interest. Those essential disciplines are not addressed in any specific focus other than regard for what should be regarded.

Muslims always say, "Regard for Allah". That is the number one regard for Muslims and other God fearing people, whether Muslims, Christians, Jews or whatever. Regard for the Lord Creator. This term "regard" in our religion is not only for Allah first but for other things as well.

Our religion is the Qu'ran itself, the universal Book of all Muslims, whether they are black, brown, yellow, red, or some other color, or whether they belong to this nation or that nation of the Continent of Europe or of the Continent of Africa or some other Continent.

In that Book Allah says we should regard Allah. That we should regard the family ties and it is translated in a very literal way by some as "regard the wombs that bore you." It means regard close family ties. And we should regard "a day in which there will be no one" to come to our aid. Every person will be alone, no friend to help. We should regard "the fire of hell."

Pleasing Allah Assures Success

If we strive to please our Lord Creator, then we are assured success. I don't care what you want to go into, you are assured success. If you want to go into business, if you want to go into religious work or dawah (propagation work), or if you want to be in education, if you want to be in medicine; if you really make up your mind and you are very serious, you are assured success. Now this does not mean that you are going to be rich if you want money and business, but you are assured success.

It is not always the rich person who is successful. Sometimes his wealth destroys his family. Sometime his wealth destroys him. Sometimes his wealth lands him in jail. Sometimes his wealth gets him killed. So it is not always success the way we are apt to see success. The real success is "to be pleased".

If I get all the money in the world and I am in hell mentally, I (in my soul) am not successful. So there is no way to guarantee that you are going to be rich. The guarantee is that you are going to be pleased.

Most likely, and in fact I can guarantee this, you can take the same number of those people and match them with the other people who care nothing about the kind of respect for God, and let the two groups go (racing) at business. There will be more from the God-fearing group succeeding in business than there will be from the non-God-fearing group succeeding in business.

The Ideal Human Model in Business

There is a particular passage from the Qur'an that ties in business with hope for success. It puts business into focus with the hope for success. The passage says we are missing the real thing when we are going away from Allah to the dollar for success. This is the way I am commenting on it, because this is the way I am getting it.

"Oh you who believe. Shall I turn you on to a business deal that will save you from a punishing affliction? Believe in Allah and in His Messenger and strive in Allah's path with your possessions, your wealth, and with your own souls, your own selves. That is best for you, if you only knew." That is what God says in the Qur'an.

Now God used the term "tijaarah". Tijaarah means commerce, business, enterprise. The term means something that invites and promises profit, something that offers material gain. Allah says, "Shall I turn you on to a business deal? (Shall I turn you on to a business interest that will save you?) " He (S.T.) did not say, 'that will make you rich'. Many people are rich but they are lost. Then He tells us what to do; "Believe in Allah and His Messenger." He didn't just say “believe in Allah.” It says, ". . . believe in Allah and in His Messenger".

Why? We have to believe in Allah and in ourselves. The Messenger is the model for ourselves. The Messenger is the type that Allah wants in us. Allah wants us to be like the Messenger. He (Muhammed, A.S.) is the ideal human model.