Are You A Professional??

MuslimShadow

Junior Member
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu

I hope my brothers and sisters are having a good time.
And i pray to ALLAH that He makes the path smooth and easy for those brothers and sisters who are facing difficulties and struggling at the moment.Ameen.

There must be a lot of professional people on this forum.If you are one of them,then i have got some questions to ask.

Do you find it difficult to maintain a balance between your deen and profession??

Is your profession a hindrance to the deen and prevents you from getting closer to ALLAH??

Are you always struggling to take out time for salah,to read Quran, and attend islamic lectures.??

IF NO
then kindly give some suggestions, advices or tips as to how you keep it balanced, so that others can benefit from your experience.

IF YES
then has the "thought of changing your profession" ever crossed your mind.?

Thanks for reading.

Wassalam.
 

UmQassim

New Member
walaykum As Salam warahmatullahi wabarakatu,

This is a very good question Masha-Allah. I hope that it will generate some helpful responses for all of us. I am certainly not an expert in this area and I am not among the people of knowledge so please understand that some of the things I say will be based on personal experiences.

First of all, we should remind ourselves that work is Ibadah provided we do it with sincerity and according to the sunnah. We have to do our best to stay away from the haram and stick to what is permissible Insha-Allah.

Currently I work from home responding to suicide crisis calls and Alhamdulillah, it has not interefered with my ability to pray, read, learn (mostly online) and take care of the children. Plus, I do not have to worry about my attire so much because I don't meet any of the clients I assist over the phone. I work during the day till 6:00pm and I deliberately chose these hours so that I can dedicate my time to the children when they come home from school.

I am also currently enrolled in a Teaching program startinng september whereby I will attain a degree and certification in teaching elementary school Insha-Allah. I do have some prior teaching experience in an Islamic School and Alhamdulillah it did not conflict with my daily obligations- for example, the school was attached to a mosque and we always took breaks for prayers and juma Alhamdulillah.

However, once I am licensed, there is a possibilty that I could work in a regular Public school. I will be training in the public school system insha-Allah and so I may be facing the same challenges that you are facing and will have to take these reminders as useful tips.

The main philosophy here is plan everything around Islam and do not plan Islam around everything. That being said, we have to learn how to prioritize and stick to it Insha-Allah.
For instance, we all know that we have to guard the salah no matter what. This means engaging in better preparation or altering a few things to ensure that we do not compromise the salah in any manner.

Some things you can do are:

1. Make a schedule for work and home where you ensure your salah is performed on time and set fixed times for reading the quran, gaining knowledge etc.

2. Do not schedule appointments and meetings during times that conflict with salah times.

3. If you know that some of your work may involve mandatory engagements that conflict with your salah time frames then talk to your employer/clients ahead of time and inform them that you will be leaving for a few minutes and arrange coverage during that time. This will not be an issue (Insha-Allah).

4. Whenever you get a few moments at work or at home, like in between clients, during your break or when the children are sleeping, use it to do something beneficial like reading the quran or gaining some knowledge Insha-Allah.

5. If you are a mother like me, then understand that our responsibility with respect to our children and household takes precedence over our work. So when you are home with them, focus 100% on them to ensure that they are also on top of their priorities (e.g. salah, quran, academics) and that they are getting the required nurturance from you. The same goes for the hubby ;) And if you find that there may be times when you are running late from work or away from home, then arrange to have someone reliable and trustworthy to look after the children (preferably a practicing muslim who is nurturing, can ensure that the children are doing what is expected of them and who can be a positive influence on them).

6. Set up a strong support system (like family, in-laws, other sisters in the community) to help you cope with some of life's challenges.

7. If you find that you are making compromises when it comes to your acts of worship (whether its salah, hijab, your role as a wife and mother, avoiding freemixing or any other haram activities etc), then you might want to consider cutting back some hours (i.e. working part-time) or changing employers or careers.

A reminder for myself first and then everyone else: Plan everything around Islam and not the other way around Insha-Allah :)

I can't come up with anything else for now but If I do remember anything else, I will let you know Insha-Allah.

Jazaka Allahu Kheiran Sister

Insha-Allah
 

helpinghumanity

Junior Member
Wa-alaikumus salam wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu

Initially my guess was that this thread is targeted specifically to the developed professional and not developing professionals. :)


It is difficult for a student who is also a part time/full time employee to maintain a balance between deen and profession. However the key to this problem lies in prioritizing the work and to be in a company of believers.

Whenever one finds a conflict between deen and dunya, then at that moment one has to think and make a decision. Does he/she want to please Allah or he/she want to acquire a worldly benefit at the expense of displeasing Allah? Then that decision will determine his/her action. If the decision is to please Allah, then inshallah Allah will make the task easy for the slave and will put barakah in his/her efforts.

EXAMPLE: CONFLICT BETWEEN SALAH AND CLASS

In college, I always tried my best to register classes at such a time that it doesn’t conflict with jummah or salah time. However the reality is that I was not always blessed with that.

During one of the semester, I had an engineering class which was during the jummah time. I had two options **Either go to the class and miss jummah or go to the jummah, miss and fail the class** However I tried the third alternative option (which I don’t suggest to anyone..but I did it coz I had to do it). I went to the class, sat down for few minutes, took the attendance and left from the back door so that I can perform the Jummah.

Likewise, if I noticed that I will be missing a salah by attending the full lecture, then I would simply go out and perform salah and come back to attend the lecture. Even if I had to cut the class, I did so to perform salah.

Bottom line is **One should NOT comprise on salah**
Now my cutting, missing or being late to the class didn’t affect my studies. Alhamdolillah tomorrow I will be receiving another award but this time it is from the Physics Department.

UTILIZING THE FREE TIME:
I usually took public transport to college. The commute was about 50 minutes – 1 hour. During that time, I would either read tafsir Ibn Kathir or listen to a lecture (Not all the time though). Alhamdolillah, that helped me in not looking here and there at the odd stuff.

TO BE IN THE COMPANY OF BELEIVERS:
A man is known by the company he/she keeps. If you are among those who constantly remind you to please and fear Allah, then it will be easier for you to find a balance between deen and dunya.

Please remember small but consistent effort is far greater and better than large but non-consistent effort.

I hope it helps

Wassalam
 

Akram Fakir

Junior Member
Jannah
Earth
If someone asks you what you want first.What will be the answer?

If jannah than we have to pray and than think about earning.
If earth than go a head what are you doing now.

But only one you have to take.
Make the perfect decision.

May Allah let us know the truth
 

MuslimShadow

Junior Member
ASSALAMU ALAIKUM

Thanks a looooooooot.!!.May ALLAH reward you.

Sister Umqassim and brother helpinghumanity for your excellent response.That just made my day..:):)
 

helpinghumanity

Junior Member
ASSALAMU ALAIKUM

Thanks a looooooooot.!!.May ALLAH reward you.

Sister Umqassim and brother helpinghumanity for your excellent response.That just made my day..:):)

Wa-alaikumus salam wa rahmatullah

You are welcomeeeee sister. My day just started :). It almost 12:26am and inshallah hoping to have few nice hours of sleep.
 
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