Article 3:3 of Achieving Success
And here it is, the third and last of the three articles that Dr. Omer El-Hamdoon wrote for the CoachAmal website, based on the series of khutbahs that he gave in Sheffield last year.
All those of us who have ambition are striving for success in a variety of different areas of our lives, and this is highly encouraged by Islam. However, as Muslims we have certain standards that we have to maintain when we are working towards our goals. These standards are guided by Islamic ethics or Akhlaq.
In this article, Dr. Omer mentions a few of the most important ethics that we should abide by, all of which are supported by ayah (verses) from the Qur'an or Hadith from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)
I pray that we all can abide by these standards, for our successes to be accepted by Allah.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the article below.
By Omer El-Hamdoon
Achieving success by working towards an aim is commendable, but an important principle in Islam is that the end doesn’t justify the means. However, working towards implementing your vision has to be guided by rules and regulations, and these rules and regulations are what we call ‘ethics’. In Islam, these ethics are your Akhlaaq, or good character and moral values.
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) summarised his mission when he said: “I have – but - been sent to complete the noblest of manners.”
The mission of the Prophet was to teach people the code of behaviour that they should live by to achieve happiness and spread peace. And this is the third factor for achieving success; having a positive work ethic.
To discuss all the ethics related to work would take a longer time than I have in this article, as you can appreciate. So I will just summarise the most important work ethics of a Muslim here, supported by the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him):
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “Religion is sincerity…to Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and to the leaders of the believers and the public.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “No one has been given a gift better and wider than patience.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “Anyone who isn’t grateful to people, isn’t grateful to Allah.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “Two blessings that many people are deceived about are health and free-time.”
Allah the Almighty says: “Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due.”
The Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “Allah is Good and loves goodness, Clean and loves cleanliness.”
He also said: “Be clean, for Islam is cleanliness.”
Allah, the Most Gracious says: “The believers are but brothers.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim…” and He said, “And be, the slaves of Allah, brothers.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said to one of his Companions: “You have two qualities that Allah and His Messenger love: forbearance and steadiness.”
Allah, Exalted be He, says: “And upon Allah rely, if you should be believers.”
And He says: “And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him.”
Allah says: “You will not attain righteousness until you spend from that which you love.”
Allah says, describing the good qualities of those who support His Messenger: “And they give preference to others over themselves, even though they are in privation.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “A strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer. And in both is good.”
Allah, Glorified be He, says: “And for this (i.e. Paradise) let the competitors compete.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “Allah has revealed to me that you should be humble; that no one should rise above another and that no one should transgress over another.”
The Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: “Allah is Gentle and loves gentleness. And He gives for being gentle more than for being aggressive or for any other behaviour.”
The above are just a few examples of the work ethics that you should aim to achieve while you are working towards your vision. There are many more in the teachings of Islam, so please refer to the Qur’an and the Books of Hadith to find them.
I hope that you enjoyed this series of articles.
Article 1:3 of Achieving Success: Forming a Vision
Article 2:3 of Achieving Success: If there's a Will, there's a Way
Disclaimer: Any articles published on the CoachAmal website are here because they are felt to contain material that may be of use/interest to visitors to the site. They do not infer agreement with any other material that the author may have written.
If you’d like to contact Dr. Omer as a result of this article, please contact us and the message will be passed onto him, as he asked that you do so through this website.
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