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

Stop rolling, start tapping!

Ever been really excited about something, and then your friend says:

“Isn’t that haram?”

Yeah it can be a real downer. I was telling my friend about our new found love for Monopoly and the epic games that had been taking place downtown Toronto, when he quoted a pretty solid hadith about the use of dice. It goes like this:

“He who plays with dice will be deemed as a person thrusting his hands in pig’s blood.” (Reported by Muslim on the authority of Buraydah)

http://www.islamonline.net/english/In_Depth/Religious/SportsinIslam/PlayingSports/Articles/05.shtml#ixzz0dGo4plqV

Yeah, I know all you super chilled out, Islam is love, peace and goodwill people are going “How extreeeeme! Dude, this is not what our deen is about!” However, the least we can do is to read the hadith a couple of times, let it sink in and get some scholarly opinions about it. OR, we can just go invent a Random Number Generator (RNG). This is one of the best things about the Shariah, it forces you to be creative and think outside the box. The RNC will not just be a bareboned LED Digital Clock (like some of you NON-creative people would have come with), it will actually be embedded in the middle of the boardgame (as shown in the picture). All you have to do is tap the interface and it will come up with a random number for you – Genius eh!

Anyone wishing to contribute to the development of this product, comment below with improvements and additions. It’s going to make millions!

Happy rolling, umm… tapping!

Good things come in small Pakis

I sat on my Aunt’s couch in North York checking mail as usual when my cousin walked into the house and threw something at me:

“Check this out. What do you think? I got it at Noor Cultural Centre.”

For a minute I thought I was holding up a rumpled Pakistani flag in my hand and then realized it was a T-shirt that said, in bold white letter across the front:

“Good things come in small Pakis.”

The simplicity in design, effective play with words, and a touch of color genius using deep green and white colors (which immediately made my mind connect with the Pakistani flag) brought a smile to my face.

I don’t think a single day has passed when I’ve worn this shirt (usually at the gym) when people don’t come up to me and say something like:

“Hey, nice shirt dude/man/buddy.”

(surprisingly its not FOBs who come up to me but mostly CBCDs – pardon my acronyms).

After acknowledging undeserving compliments on the shirt for about a year now (I didn’t even buy the darn thing!), the icing on the cake happened when I attended a Muay Thai class in Karachi, Pakistan and I got the same reaction from a local brother. I finally decided that enough was enough – this called for a review on ProductMuslim!

Moral of the story – Hijabman is a genius because his work is universal, catches attention, and stimulates the intellect. Check out more of his work like ‘Make Chai Not War’ and ‘Whoops… there goes my wudu’ on Hijabman.com.

Hijabman, we hope to see more great things emanate from your brand – let us know how we can support you.

Fi AmanAllah!

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.

Prayer rug links high-tech, spiritual worlds
eRug has built-in sensors that alert the user to prayer time

May 15, 2008
Shauna Rempel
Toronto Star

Name: Wael Aboulsaadat
Age: 36
Program: Fourth-year PhD student, department of computer science at the University of Toronto.
Thesis: Computer user interfaces for religious practice.
The device: Aboulsaadat has designed a prototype of a digital device called eRug that Muslims can use to enhance their daily prayers. The rug has built-in sensors, lights and a display screen to show scripture, alert the user to the next prayer time and find the direction of Mecca. “It will increase their understanding of the scriptures and the quality of the prayer,” says Aboulsaadat.

Full Story: http://www.thestar.com/living/article/425375 

Recently I lay down in my bed to go to sleep at night and realized that I couldnt remember the adhkar for going to sleep and that sometimes I would forget to say these adhkar all-together.

This got me thinking, imagine if I had these adkhar near my bed, on the wall … not just that but when I switched off the lights to sleep these adhkar would glow … this way I would never forget to say these adhkar for sure … Insha’Allah. It would help me fulfill the sunnah, have the protection of Allah (swt) when I go to sleep and allow me to sleep in a state of islam insha’Allah …

What a great way to teach kids adhkaar too… Allah o alam, so thats the idea… Glow-in-the-dark Adhkaar… what do you guys think?