The Workplace

All praise is for Allah Ta'ala. We praise Him and seek help from Him. We believe in Him and have complete trust in Him. There can be none to misguide the person whom Allah Ta'ala has guided and there can be none to guide the person whom Allah Ta'ala has caused to go astray.

I was a manager in a public listed company. I worked in the department that was considered the most powerful and glamorous within the organisation - the corporate legal. By the time I joined the organisation, I already had close encounter of the tablighi jamaat.

In early 1997, a few months after I joined the organization, I first went out with a jamaat of 3 days.  Subsequently, for more than two years, as a part of the maqami effort, I had been using all my paid annual leaves from office for dakwah and tabligh effort, utilising one and a half days every month to make up for the required three days period (in those days most organisations had been operating half day on Saturdays instead of 5-day week). Thus, every month I would take a Saturday and a Monday off to join my local jamaat for khuruuj fiisabilillaah, confining myself only in three days jamaat in addition to daily local dakwah and tabligh effort. I recall those period of time when I was really focused, concerned and steadfast in the effort of dakwah and tabligh, albeit much limitation and shortcoming on my part, not acquiring in-depth knowledge about the effort. Nowadays, I might have acquired much more knowledge about the effort in the course of time but I have lost much focus, concern and steadfastness in this great and noble effort. I seek forgiveness from Allah Ta'ala and I request your du'aa for me.

Despite the top management and the staff of the organisation were predominantly Muslims, Deeni environment was severely lacking at my workplace. There were fitnas on daily basis. Business dealings were boldly conducted against the Islamic teachings. In the environment where there is no boundaries between men and women, even the most religious-looking amongst them would shamelessly made physical contact with non-mahram by shaking hands. As if the general view was to unnecessarily accept the need to compromise and maybe even do things which may go against the moral codes and the teaching of Islam. I believe there is not much changes in the general view, if not worse than before. These dilemmas arise and encountered daily by most Muslims when one is going for a job, when asked to do something that conflicts with Deen, to please others, or even to show others that we are not 'extremists'. "Allah knows what is in my heart" is probably the lame excuse given by many when in fact it really is due to and a sign of weak imaan. I too had experienced this but, alhamdulillaah, as I constantly spent my time in the effort of dakwah and tabligh and became aware of the Sunnah of Rasulullah Sallalaahu Alayhi Wasallam, my conscience gradually changed. Some people foolishly said I started to become a tablighi.

Sometimes we avoid doing certain acts that are commanded by Allah Ta'ala upon us out of embarrassment when in reality it means embarrassment of our Deen, the very Deen that has given us honour, dignity and the legacy of past civilisations and prophets. I remember back then once the company organized a team building session for managers conducted by a team of training consultants.They were about 30 participants. We were asked to reach a decision in a short time on certain given issues.  The task was to reach the decision in a given short time with the involvement of all participants without leaving out a single person. I was appointed the leader (or the CEO as it was referred to). I gladly take the challenge and applied the basic principles of mesywarah or consultation in accordance to the Sunnah of Rasulullaah Sallalaahu Alayhi Wasallam that I had acquired during numerous 3 days trip on dakwah and tabligh effort. It is really a basic knowledge amongst the tablighi brothers.

I divided the fellow participants into 5 small groups and appointed a leader from each group. I told all the appointed leaders to consult for opinion with everyone from their respective groups. I managed to briefed them the Sunnah ethics of consultation. It was really fun. I even told female participants to pretend that they were behind the veil amid the grudge expression on their faces. From their consultation, each leader should form a collective opinion on the issues given. I was not involved at all at this stage,sitting in a corner alone. I then make consultation with all the appointed leaders and each one of them relayed to me their respective group's collective opinion. Thereupon, I formulated and concluded the decision. The head consultant was so impressed by the whole exercise which was concluded way within the given short time. To our pleasant surprise, he admittedly declared that no group of participants had managed to conclude the exercise on time before. Truly, the Sunnah is the best and flawless way in all aspects of life. 

Once I was going down in an elevator to the surau below in the building at my workplace for Dhuhr solah. There was a non-Muslim Chinese woman in the elevator with me. I was wearing a koffia (the white skull-cap) on my head and a pair of sandals on my feet. I let out my shirt that was tucked in my pants before to cover the part of my satar that I felt was exposed due to the tightness of my pants and my pants were rolled up above the ankles. She asked me, "Is it Friday today?" I replied, "No, today is Thursday." She then said, "Oh! I thought you are going for Friday prayer." I said, "No, we pray five times daily." I supposed she came to that assertion because she had not seen Muslims going for the prescribed daily prayers in large number as for Friday prayer.

We are presently passing through a phase of time where the overall spiriyual urge and religious zeal of the general masses is perhaps at it's lowest ebb. A basic solution lies in the returning to the Shariah and reviving the Sunnah. However, such a revival does not lie in mere lip service and empty slogans but in a genuine attempt to practically incorporate Islam within ourselves. The result would be an absolute irrefutable certainty that our effort would gain us tremendous rewards both in this world and in  the aakhirah.