Recently, a group named Niqabiz contacted ProductMuslim about a hijab collection designed for children. Niqabiz seems to be a small personal business and currently does not have a web store available, however, some of their collection can be seen at http://niqabiz.blogspot.com and they receive orders via email at niqabiz@gmail.com.

I couldn’t help but post about this product. Each design looks well thought out with careful attention to detail. Even external parts of the hijab, such as the antenna and wings shown in the bee themed decorative hijab above, are well incorporated with the overall design. I can imagine any child looking adorable in one of these, if the above wasn’t enough to convince you then I present to you Ms. LadyBug Hijab and Miss Queen Hijab:

I think I’ve proven my point regarding the ‘cuteness’ factor of these decorative hijabs.

The question I pose now is if they’re appropriate? Unfortunately, in this world of misunderstanding, there are many, many misconceptions about the hijab. Muslims know that children of this age do not need to wear a head cover but most others do not. Heck, many non-Muslims still think our sisters shower with their hijabs on. Is this sort of image for children harmful towards others understanding the role of the hijab in Islam? Or is it a trivial issue of misunderstanding that could help start useful dialogue and discussion among people?

These decorative hijabs could also act as a great way for children to practice wearing a head cover at a young age. I’m not sure if girls ever practice wearing the hijab before wearing it full time but my thinking is that everyone needs to start somewhere, why not do so in a fun way?

Since I’m not a woman nor have any children of my own, I thought it would be best to ask others what they thought of the product? Would you dress your loved one in a children’s decorative hijab? Why or why not?

I was personally surprised hearing some of the responses from the iHijab article and so I’m excited to hear what everyone thinks of these.

Looking forward to everyone’s thoughts!

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/

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!?

Yes, its true. A publication by the name of “The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality” actually exists. How did I come across this? Here’s the story:

I was recently in one of my favorite classes in the Master of Entrepreneurship program studying about commercializing high-tech ventures. The Professor, who is a famous researcher across North America, brought up the topic of Business Ethics. The class discussed a number of issues around this topic, and how they relate to entrepreneurs, but I was most interested in discussing the “circularity” of Business Ethics in the West. When dealing with ethics, the problem is that there is no real conclusion in the West because you aren’t allowed to make any definitive statements (some food for thought for Freedom of Speech Advocates). You can refer to Aristotle, or Jesus (peace be upon him) or Mother Teresa, but you can’t end the discussion at any of their philosophies because nothing is supposed to be absolute. When life is all about relativism, personal truths and individualism, how can you possibly arrive at a universal conclusion?

Islam on the other hand is different. Truth is clear from falsehood and with the Mercy of God, the ensuing scriptures, the Quran and Sunnah, actually address day-to-day issues. For this very reason, I propose the writing of new piece of literature called “The Little Book of Islamic Business Ethics.” Through this book, readers, especially Westerners, will be able to get a glimpse into the wisdom, depth and vastness of Islamic Business ethics and how tough decisions can be made simply and beautifully using treasures of knowledge from the past.

I propose the following topics to be included in “The Little Book…” and I will be adding to the list as YOUR comments come in.

May Allah reward you for your contributions:

(1) Valuations

(2) Intellectual Property

(3) Buying and Selling

(4) The Profit Motive

(5) Social Responsibility

(6) Bargaining Power

(7) Lending

(8) Ownership

(9) Partnerships

(10) Market Research

(11) Your suggestion

(12) Your suggestion

(13) Your suggestion

Thanks for reading,

Mak.

Assalamo3laykum:

If you are reading this post, you have either been forwarded this link by me or by a friend who considers you a noteworthy Muslim Entrepreneur, consider yourself special mashAllah!

Ever since I got involved with the entrepreneurial community in North America I have been carrying a baggage around with me. By baggage I don’t mean anything negative, it’s just something that has been on my mind and I haven’t been able to put it on paper. Now is the time to act!

There are definitive commands, injunctions, principles and philosophies in the Quran and the Sunnah that make Muslims great entrepreneurs – the proof is all around us. With your help I want to start a discussion through which we can answer this question by using solid evidences from the Quran and Sunnah, linking them to current-day business best practices. Right now you’re probably thinking “What the heck is he talking about?” So let’s look at an example.

It is narrated in Saheeh Muslim:

“There are seven categories of people whom God will shelter under His shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His.  [One is] the just leader.”

It goes without saying that leadership an essential part of entrepreneurship and that entrepreneurs are required to be leaders at some point in their careers. I find that knowledge about the hadith above, supplemented by a firm belief in Allah (subhanuhu wata3la) can single-handedly make a Muslim entrepreneur act with justice when leading ventures and projects. Thus, a sense of “Justice in Leadership” makes Muslims great entrepreneurs and we have seen the proof of this in the hadith.

In a more organized fashion:

Quality: Justice in Leadership

Verse/Hadith: “There are seven categories of people whom God will shelter under His shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His.  [One is] the just leader.”

Interpretation: Leadership is an essential part of entrepreurship and justice is an essential part of great leadership. Muslims make great entrepreneurs because they have a strong sense of justice and accountability within them whether they are in public or private.

I hope you will all contribute at least 1 comment each to this discussion so that we can compile an extensive list of relevant qualities and related Verses or Ahadith, that show why Muslims make great entrepreneurs. These can all be compiled into an inspirational presentation which can be shown to Muslim communities all over the world.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

The question:
The too-cool Sheikh asks the question on how to educate the community about Islam in new and innovative ways

The rules:
Write your suggestion on a sticky note and stick it on the board, if your suggestion has already been posted before you have to think of a new one – only one note per suggestion

The result:
Despite the rules above, atleast 4-5 notes posted on the board spoke about having T-shirts with Dawaa/Solidarity messages on them to promote education about Islam in the community.

My thoughts:
I found this whole exercise and the result of it quite interesting. As I walked through the seminar room I saw a brother with the T-shirt shown in the picture above. It was something that wasn’t laugh out loud but it still made me smile and amused me.

Do you have any quirky, intelligent, thought-provoking or funny ideas for T-shirts that would engage the community? Share your ideas and maybe we can work together to make it happen.