Balancing Faith and Work

 

Your alarm rings at 6:15am.  You have to pray, prepare breakfast and lunch, get dressed and head out quickly so you’ll arrive at work and start jumping from one meeting to the next, making phone calls, replying to emails, and dealing with your boss and co-workers all day.

 

Besides your fajr prayer in the morning, what else do you do during the work day to remind yourself of Allah and keep your faith high? It’s hard enough to keep your sanity at work sometimes and barely get dhuhr prayer in.

 

Balancing our faith and work life is certainly not an easy equation.  Here are some tips that may at least set us on the right path:

 

1) Renew Your Intentions and Perfect Your Work

 

Islam lays great emphasis on work. In many places in the Qur’an it is made clear that time should not be wasted.  The Qur’an directs a message to humanity that it should contribute positively to the earth meaning we should traverse the universe and make use of all the abundant resources that have been created for us.

[That man can have nothing but what he strives for; That (the fruit of) his striving will soon come in sight: Then will he be rewarded with a reward complete.] (An-Najm 53:39-41)

In Islam work is given special importance to the extent that, if we have sincere intentions, it is considered as an act of worship in itself.   Although some people believe that they are not obliged to work because they dedicate themselves to worshiping God, this is actually a wrong perception of the concept of worship.  Umar ibn Al-Khattab, used to stress this point by telling people, “Never should anyone of you think that du`aa’ (supplication) for sustenance without work will avail him, for heaven never rains gold nor silver” (The Book of Provision, Chapter 1).

Therefore, Islam is a religion of worshiping the Creator, with an essential part of that worship being working for survival.

And again by renewing our intentions in order to have work be considered a form of worship, we will try to perfect it to earn the maximum reward.  The Prophet peace be upon him is the best example of this as even before he was chosen as a messenger of God, he was a hardworking person. This earned him the respect of his employer, our mother Khadijah, who later proposed marriage to him because of all the merits and virtues she saw in him.  This also reminds us of the Prophet’s hadith: “Allah loves that if one does a job he perfects it.”

2) Read/Listen to Quran or Islamic literature/lectures on your way to work

In a big city like Ottawa, most people’s commute to work can range from 20 minutes to an hour.  If we take one hour of commuting per day as the total amount of time spent and multiply it by 20 working days per month, we have 20 hours.  Imagine what we could do in 20 hours.  We could read at least one book, memorize a chapter of the Quran, or listen to an entire lecture series.  Whether we’re taking the bus or driving, taking that time in the morning to engage in the remembrance of Allah will set a blessed tone for us for the rest of the day and help us focus as well.

3) Share Special Holiday Seasons  such as Ramadan and Eid with your co-workers

We all know actions speak louder than words and that our moral character should be the factor that best represents the beauty of Islam.  However, most people are interested in learning about other cultures, especially if it involves tasting their cuisine.  Once Ramadan or Eid arrives, we can take the opportunity to organize an iftar or a small gathering with cultural sweets and displays about the value or meaning of these special occasions.  By involving our colleagues in Islam, in a wise and fun way, we will be more comfortable with talking about and practicing our faith at our workplace.

4) When you take time out for prayer, make the best out of it

When we do find those five minutes amidst our busy schedules to pray, we should really maximize them in order to regain focus and peace in our bodies, souls, and minds.  After all, the Prophet peace be upon him said amidst a long hadith that we should feel ‘tama’neena’ –tranquility and serenity during our prayers.  If we’re just trying to complete the physical actions of prayer as quickly as we can while thinking about that email we have not sent yet or phone call that we have not made yet, we have really not gained anything from our prayers.

5) Ensure you attend an Islamic gathering (‘halaqa’) or are engaged in Islamic education outside of your work

Most of us who grew up in Canada may have attended weekend schools which taught us Arabic and Islamic studies while we were in elementary and high schools because our parents encouraged us to.  And we may have attended Islamic classes or ‘halaqas’ in university or college as it was on campus and convenient.  However, once we graduate and enter the world of work, it may be difficult to find time and find the right form of Islamic education or gathering that we would like to attend.  Nonetheless, it is of prime importance that we are engaged in continuous Islamic education throughout the rest of our lives because as human beings, we are prone to forget.  There are various Islamic gatherings organized for brothers, sisters, or both around Ottawa.  This leaves us with no excuse and even the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself was told by Allah (SwT) to always keep company of those who remember Him:

“And keep yourself in the company of those who call upon their Lord in the morning and evening seeking His pleasure and your eyes should not see others leaving them; would you like the adornment of the life of this world? And obey not him whose heart We have made neglectful of Our remembrance and who followed his own desire and whose affair exceeded the limit.” (Surat Al-Kahf, 28)

By keeping these tips in mind, the most important of which is to renew our intentions, we will remember that the true message of Islam is not just for a Muslim to profess faith and do nothing for his or her society.  The prophet always sought refuge from laziness and idleness and made it clear that getting one’s sustenance from one’s work is one of the praiseworthy acts of worship.  Therefore, Islam teaches that true faith is what is demonstrated through sincere deeds that make a noticeable addition to the betterment of society.