I personally find the mobile software space to be fascinating, especially the iPhone’s app store. There are new innovative Islamically centered applications released on the app store every day that can considerably improve Muslim lifestyles. Sophisticated applications like iQuran and iHadith may be the best and most effective ways to read our religious texts digitally. iPray is the easiest way to check prayer times and find the direction of qibla, it even uses the iPhone’s GPS and compass capabilities to customize timings and direction specifically for where you are.  Zabihah Halal uses GPS to display nearby masjids, halal groceries and halal restaurants with reviews and ratings from thousands of users. It’s a very exciting time in the mobile industry and the best applications are yet to come. To make sure I’m always up to date, I always browse through the iPhone app store to see what’s new.

When I came upon iHijab while browsing for new applications I was immediately intrigued and installed it to check it out. The application allows you to choose different styles of hijab that you can place on top of pictures from your photo library. You can zoom and move around the picture you choose so that the person’s face fits the hijab, it’s not perfect but it’s pretty close to faking the look of a hijab. The creators of the application, Fishbone Consultancy, describe the app on their website as follows:

The hijab selection screen, shown to the right, shows the different types of hijabs you can choose. This is where I started to become suspicious, I had no mixed feelings about the application up until I saw this screen. As you can see, some of the photos have ridiculous facial expressions and odd backdrops. Is this making fun of Muslims? I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but I couldn’t get over some of the thumbnails for hijab selection. Take for example, the one with the White House in the background on the far left in the second row. What is the purpose of this picture? It shows the man in the hijab clearly mocking the camera while in front of the White House of the United States. Is this implying that Muslims criticize the U.S. government? And what about the hijab selection in the top right where the man is under a camel?

Okay Tareq, slow down. I realized I might have been over reacting and I looked for others opinion. I brought the application to my Mother, explained it to her, how to use it and asked her what she thought. “This is so stupid” she said. I asked “Why? Do you find it offensive?”. She replied “Yes, it’s just stupid”. “I asked what if it were an application showing cowboy hats? There are many people around the world that wear them as a part of their culture.” She still felt uncomfortable about the application but couldn’t specifically say why.

I then brought it to my sister, I showed her the application and let her use it. In minutes there was a picture of me in a hijab and giggles all around. She loved it! She didn’t find the application offensive and took it as a joke, she saw no considerable attempts at real mockery.

What started to really intrigue me was not the application itself but rather how people viewed the symbol of the hijab. The application description said nothing about Muslims or Islam, was it really targeting us at all? Is the hijab not much more than a piece of clothing but a sign of modesty and respect? This application could simply be a look into a world that is unknown to many people, it could be seen equivalent as an application that dresses one in a Japanese kimono or an Inuit snow jacket. Would that be offensive? Then again, the hijab is also a very prominent symbol to represent Islam. It is used in marketing to symbolize and stereotype Muslims as much as long black beards and salwars are.

I wanted to see more views on the application so I started looking at customer reviews and ratings on the app store. The average rating was 2.5 stars of 5 star with most ratings being 1 star. Here are some of the reviews:

Again, mixed thoughts. I was still confused and I didn’t know whether I found this application offensive or not. I guess there is nothing wrong with the idea but the selection screen really bothered me. I left the application on my to-do list to review for ProductMuslim and decided I should give it some more thought. The next time I opened the app store I noticed there was an update for it. The description of the update was: “new hijab overview screen”. I installed it and the only change was the selection screen now with attractive women with normal smiling facial expressions. Now why did they do this? It was the only change in the update so they must have considered it significant enough to alter.

The selection screen has changed, shouldn’t my mind now be at ease? I still don’t know. As I mentioned, evaluating my view on this application has more to do with the hijab than the app itself. I realized I’m trying to understand what the symbol means to me. Is it offensive because I’m being defensive? Would I raise this question if it was a religious symbol from something other than islam?

What do you think? Do you find this application offensive? If so, why? Ask others around you, I think you’ll be surprised to hear so many mixed reviews.

Looking forward to hearing what you all think!

I had the opportunity to interview Baba Ali this past summer at MuslimFest 2009.

In Part 1 of the interview, Ali discusses how he started each of his projects from his board games to his YouTube channel. He explains how he got others involved and provides links to resources he utilized. In Part 2 of the interview, Ali provides some amazing advice and life lessons for any Muslim interested in business.

Takeaways

A truly inspiring and motivational interview! I would recommend watching both parts of the interview but, for convenience, I have summarized some of my favourite takeaways.

Ali encouraged Muslims to be more creative and original with their ideas rather than “Islamify” already existing ideas. He emphasized that with unique ideas we can inspire others and become the standard for high quality products.

Ali is convinced that if you make a high quality product the people will come to you. During MuslimFest 2009 he simply sat at his booth for Kalimaat and didn’t once call anyone over. People who were interested approached him and asked him what it was all about, he demoed it people to show them the quality of the product. Kalimaat sold itself.

When Baba Ali decided to make board games he didn’t know much if anything on how and where to start. In the interview he emphasizes that to learn, you must ask others for advice and help and become more knowledgeable about your field of work.

Failures can be tough to swallow but Ali advises to not let them keep you down. He mentions how every failure is an experience to learn from ones mistakes and then start over again. The experience teaches more than just how to avoid another negative scenario but rather humbles oneself.

I’d like to thank Ali Ardekani for his spending his time to chat with us and share advice from all his experiences. You can follow all the projects that Ali is involved with on his own blog, http://www.ummahfilms.com/

An automatic wudu washer? Seriously?

As ridiculous as it may sound, the product has some merit. I’ll be honest, the first time I watched the video I was very doubtful and simply labeled it as a ’stupid gimmick’. Then I came to realize that their target demographic, Muslim majority countries, may need such a machine more than they think. Why? Well it enforces a simple lesson taught by our Prophet  (peace and blessings be upon him):

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform ghusl (ritual bathing) with a sa` (around 4 mudds) of water, and he used to make wudu’ with one mudd of water” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Note: A mudd is that amount of water which is held by the two hands cupped together.

As the video claims, the device actually conserves water usage. Now it doesn’t state whether the amount used is a mudd or not but I’m sure it could be configured to act as such.

Imagine if this was installed across all washrooms within a Muslim majority country, no doubt, there would be significant amounts of water saved. Clean water is a precious resource and as it becomes more valuable each day, with wide adoption, using this machine could be a significant mechanism used to save money. So it’s both economical and helps others follow the Prophet’s sunnah!? What’s not to like?? The fact that it’s not needed.

I’ve personally always tried keeping things simple. Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used one mudd to make wudu with out the need for such a fancy contraption, can’t we learn to do the same? The sad fact is that many people won’t learn. I’m sure, just like I’ve seen, you’ve all witnessed the massacre of public washrooms by other Muslims. There is water all over the sink, puddles on the floor, and sometimes water even dripping from the ceiling (which to this day I still can’t rationally understand). The machine would help many people who are irresponsible when making wudu but that to me doesn’t justify its purchase, I’d rather teach others the importance of conservation rather than enforce it in just one situation.

Am being too hard? Perhaps since it seems expensive it doesn’t seem worth it, would it seem viable if it were affordable for the average consumer? Maybe I don’t like it because it’s a change to something that I’ve done for so many years? I’d love to hear what you think, what would (if anything) motivate you to purchase a wudu washer? Post your comments below!

Source

Creating the Ethical Business

Somebody had to do it.

With large multinationals seemingly taking over the world, there seemed to be a perfect little gap in the market for a new brand of soft drinks. So in 2003 Qibla Cola was born.
Talk about message in a bottle – Qibla had one. The real alternative to globalisation came in the form of an ethically aware drinks company who donate 10% of their profits to good causes around the world, and produce drinks that TASTE GOOD!

Qibla Cola brands a good moral character for its company to differentiate themselves from other cola brands which they imply are unethical. Their bottle (shown in the image on the left) markets their aim for social responsibility by displaying a parody of nutritional information.

Personally, I think the intentions behind the product are great. The founders are cousins and have been involved in numerous charitable organizations before starting Qibla Cola Company. When being involved with charitable efforts it’s easy to become frustrated trying to raise funds and it seems this is why Qibla Cola started. I see Qibla Cola being a proactive and sustainable approach to fundraising and I think it’s based on the best of intentions.

Their aim to help social causes is great but is it the right way to brand their products? Do they represent and market the quality of their actual products through their branding? Unfortunately they don’t. This is where I disagree with the approach Qibla Cola has taken. They try to appeal to customers by convincing them that their products are produced ethically and that as a company they are unlike their competitors and are socially responsible. This approach appeals only to those who care and are educated about the activities of other beverage companies. When a customer sees their product the first thing they see aside for the logo is their slogan, “..liberate your taste”. I find that this doesn’t properly advertise their actual product’s quality and for a customer who doesn’t care about social causes or doesn’t believe what they’ve heard about other beverage companies they have no reason to buy the product.

Also, they’re not very transparent as to which charities they donate to. One has to go to their website to find information about the charities and projects they’ve worked with but no where does it list the criteria used to choose such initiatives. I would be much more inclined to buy their product if I knew where the donations were going to by simply reading the product’s label. I’m not suggesting limiting the donations to just one cause but rather better showcasing how they choose the charities and which ones they’ve helped. Perhaps on their products they could have a section that shows how the product has helped and specify one of the initiatives they’ve sponsored.

What concerns me most about Qibla Cola’s branding is their repetitive claim that they are an ethical business without any proper evidence. When I first heard about the product I was very excited to know how they incorporate social responsibility into all aspects of their business. Unfortunately, the only evidence of such is the 10% of profits donated to charity. There is no mention of how their products are produced, are their processes environmentally sound? Where do they buy their raw ingredients and are they fair trade? How do they treat their employees? Are they paid adequately and given safe working conditions? It’s answers to questions like these and more that to me determine a company’s moral character, not just a simple donation of profits.

Qibla Cola has the best of intentions but needs to market their products to better advertise quality and they need to show others aspects of its business that promotes social responsibility before making a claim that they are an ethical business.

What do you think? Does the fact that Qibla Cola donate 10% of their profits influence you to buy their product? Do charitable causes in general affect your spending? What do you think of Qibla Cola’s marketing? We would love to hear your opinion, please comment below!

Sources
http://www.chillyoislamyo.com/qibla-cola/
http://www.qibla-cola.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibla_Cola/

Now I realize this might not sound like a big deal but this simple act of marketing speaks volumes. It’s one thing to sell halal meat (most major supermarkets in Canada already do) but it’s a completely different thing to incorporate it into your brand. Food Basics has sold halal meat for years but this is the first time they’ve focused their marketing around it. Not only that but they’ve branded it like all the other signs in their store that read “always more for less”. So not only are they making a conscious effort to market ‘halal’ but they are incorporating it into their company’s identity. It’s clear that Food Basics recognizes that there is a significant Muslim population out there, enough so that they branded themselves to appeal to it.

Now it’s not like Food Basics has gone all Halal, removed all it’s pork and placed shrimp in a new section called “Mashbooh?” with question marks all around it. It’s far from that. But this small act of marketing shows that product developers are starting to consider Muslim market demands. I personally think this will be the first example of many inshAllah.

What do you think? Have you seen any similar marketing for halal products where you live? Is anyone as excited as I am!?