Mohammed Faris - The Productive Muslim: Where faith meets productivity

Dedication

To my caring parents, my loving wife, my supportive family, the ProductiveMuslim team (current & old team members), and my newly born son...this book is dedicated to you.

Contents

Acknowledgements

When I embarked on writing this book, a friend of mine e-mailed me this quote by Winston Churchill:

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.

At first, I thought to myself, Mr.Churchill must be exaggerating. After all, how hard can writing a book be? Fast forward two years later, seven (or maybe nine) drafts, and countless revisions and edits and I now know exactly what he meant!

Having said that, Mr.Churchill forgot to mention one thing: That this adventure is never fought alone. But fought with a dedicated army of supporters, editors, designers, friends and critical thinkers, who all contribute to making this journey a fulfilling one.

I sincerely want to thank each and every person who worked on this book, some I mention below, others whom I never met but have nevertheless contributed immensely to making this book a reality.

From Awakening Worldwide, Id like thank Sharif Banna, the CEO of Awakening Worldwide, who believed in this book even before it was written. I want to thank him for taking a personal interest in the book, re-reading it many times and giving his personal feedback and comments. I also want to thank the entire Awakening Publication team, including the editors, designers, logistics managers, marketing team, and many others I never met - thank you!

I would like to thank Nils Parker, founder & Editor in Chief of CommandZContent and his team for taking the first stab at editing my manuscript and helping me re-structure it completely, thus developing a logical flow for the manuscript.

Of course, I wont be writing this book, without the wonderful support of the amazing ProductiveMuslim team. Ive been blessed to work with amazing people from around the world, who believe in the vision of ProductiveMuslim even before ProductiveMuslim.com became a popular platform - Thank you guys! Only Allah can reward you for your time, sacrifices, and dedication.

Special thanks to the following team members whove been with me since the early days or were instrumental in the growth and development of ProductiveMuslim: Amin Ebrahim Tily, Aneesah Satriya, Athif Khaleel, Asma Sheikh, Assad Masud, Azizur Rahman, Basit Rahman, Cyrille Ridhwan Bouzy, Dina El-Zohairy, Dina Mohamed Basiony, Faisal Farooqui, Fathima Nafla, Fatima Ahmed Ahmed, Fatima Mookadam, Fatouma Abdou, Faria Amin, Hafsa Taher, Ikramme Dibe, Iqra Sheikh, Kymelya Sari, Nadge Haddad, Nama Chaou, Naila Choudhary, Mai Mahmoud, Manar Ihmud, Malika Hook Muhammad, Mohamed Alaa, Muhammad Hassan Arshad, Mushfiqur Rahman, Lisa Zahran, Lotifa Begum, Quratulain Tariq, Rachel Vanway, Raheena Abdurehim, Raneez Mohamed, Rasha Jahfar, Sajid Ali, Sameera Hameed, Samira Menderia, Sanna Ali, Sarraa Hassan Tawfik, Sayema Zulfeqar, Sohail Iqbal, Syeda Fatima, Uswa Ali, Victoire Deerli, Zaynab Chinoy, and Zaynab Hamdi.

In addition to the ProductiveMuslim team members, I want to sincerely thank all the writers who are writing wonderful articles for the ProductiveMuslim platform and sharing the message of productivity to the Ummah. Your writing is the fuel that keeps our platform running - Thank you!

Thanks to all the ProductiveMuslim readers, followers, and fans. Your support is instrumental in making this project continue. Thank you for all the likes, comments, feedback, e-mail replies, critique, share, and many more. May Allah reward you all for everything you do for ProductiveMuslim.

Finally, I do not have words to express my thanks and gratitude to my parents who supported me to follow this unconventional path of starting a platform and writing a book and dedicating full-time to this initiative. Without their blessings and duas, I would not have reached here nor be able to continue - I pray that youll never be disappointed and Ill be the dutiful son to you always. Thank you for helping me become who I am today. May Allah bless you and have mercy upon you always.

To my sister and brother - thank you for encouraging me and believing in this project and wishing for its success. Your support means a lot to me.

To Hasan Khalu & Tahira Khala, I shall never forget the very favoruable conditions in which youve enabled me to write this book and help dedicate my full attention to the book. May you always be blessed, protected, and granted a healthy long life.

To my extended family - both mine and my wifes - Im blessed to have such a support network and deeply grateful to your support. Jazakum Allah khair!

To my baby child Umair, may this book illuminate your path and be a practical guide for you (and your future siblings) as you grow up and face the world.

Last but not least - to my loving wife, supporter, best friend, and voice of my consciousness, Farah. I thank Allah every day for you. Thank you for your love, affection, and loyalty. You help me find strength to pursue this path despite the challenges. Love you, always.

Mohammed Faris

January 2016

Foreword

One of the greatest challenges facing adherents of the Islamic faith is making Islam relevant in the post-modern world. Do Islamic values have a role to play in modern life? Can it address the serious challenges which the modern world poses to all believers and non believers alike?

By reducing humans to merely a biological and physical existence where survival of the fittest drives progress and innovation, it is then of no surprise that modern productivity is in essence the full maximization of human potential to meet targets and achieve the desired outcome from an action. In pursuit of material acquisition and a successful life where work, family and holidays are all sustained by being productive weve lost touch with the very essence of our being . Can faith restore that balance in our lives?

Life is a journey, an opportunity and a trust. The values which govern our lives will impact the outcome of this journey. It begins with our beliefs and I dont mean this in the theological sense but rather a paradigm of thoughts and ideas arising in the mind and consciously or subconsciously informing our behavior. I am as my servant thinks of me is a statement of God which is profoundly instructive. It teaches us that our destiny actually lies with us in how we think and behave . Meaningful existence is a life of hope, contribution and productivity.

The great Muslim scholar Ibn al-Qayyim spoke about not submitting to destiny but fighting destiny with another destiny. This paradigm of thinking gives us hope and it gives us the confidence that change is possible. Change is part of our destiny. We need to have a vision for that change and we need to appreciate and leverage the transformational power of Islam as a system of belief, values and ethics. Holistic productivity lies at the heart of that change in our own lives and in the world around us.

Mohammed Fariss book on The Productive Muslim: Where Faith Meets Productivity is a significant contribution in enhancing our understanding of how Islamic values impact productivity. Ive been following Mohammed with some interest for some time now, and what struck me was his single-mindedness and focus on productivity and faith. He kept going blogging, posting, delivering seminars and workshops, producing animated videos, interviewing productive people and building a global movement around the concept The Productive Muslim . Mohammed embodied what he articulated and this book is a result of that persistence. This book offers interesting insights and practical tips on integrating Islamic values in leading productive lives. This is the link between the metaphysical and physical in productivity. Productivity in Islam is multi-dimensional but holistic, balanced and integrated.