Based on moral principles and etiquettes of business from the Quran and Sunnah, there is no doubt that Islam sets specific guidelines on how to conduct business in a way that is fair beyond measure. If one was to follow these etiquettes and morals, it still would not guarantee the person would have a successful business. However, it would definitely increase the chances of success.

Prophet Shu`aib (peace be upon him) was sent to the people of Madyan around the time of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him). Prophet Shu`aib was sent among a people who were very much involved in business. These people were very proud of their business knowledge and success, but they were dishonest. He told them to observe ethics in business. They became very angry with him and told him, “Don’t mix religion with business.” The Qur’an tells us that Allah’s punishment came upon those people and only Prophet Shu`aib and his followers were saved. (Hud 11:84-88)

As we can see here, business success and business ethics are intertwined and cannot be separated from an Islamic perspective.

It’s all very nice and dandy to sit and ponder about why Muslims CAN be successful entrepreneurs. But this does nothing to prove that Muslims ARE indeed great business people.

A better question to ask would be “HOW can Muslims BECOME great entrepreneurs?”. This question implies action – to proactively seek techniques on how to attain success in a business enterprise as a Muslim. Some follow up questions to ask on this topic: What are some fundamental business principles that must be followed for Muslim entrepreneurs? What types of businesses are halal? Which products/services yield the highest profits? How to effectively market products/services to increase sales? etc.

A good starting point for this would be to look at those Muslims who have already set the stage by becoming great entrepreneurs, and analyze what precisely makes their companies so great. If you have reach books like “In Search of Excellence” or “Good to Great”, you will find in-depth studies examining what makes great companies stand out from the competition. A similar analysis should be conducted on Muslim businesses in order to answer the HOW question. Such a study would aim to bring tremendous benefit to the Muslim world InshaAllah.

Having the ability to recognize that any good that my have come to you is not attributable to your own skill, but a product of Allah’s mercy and circumstances that you were blessed with that led to that end helps one overcome that barrier to providing sincere advice. Imagine how much more rapid growth an economy would experience if they trust the other person to give advice that is not tainted by personal interests.

SubhanAllah, what better way to be just, and at the same time have a happy workforce.

Hadith: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Ad deenu naseeha, ad deenu naseeha, ad deenu naseeha” (Sahih Muslim) – The deen is good advice, the deen is good advice, the deen is good advice.

Interpretation: I think we’ve all heard this hadith many times, probably because of how versatile it is in its meaning and application. What I want to highlight here is the focus in our deen on giving and receiving good, sincere, and useful advice. If Muslims are encouraged to give sincere counsel, then conversely we must know how to receive it. In fact, we often find that our pious predecessors spent their entire lives in this very endeavour; going from place to place, seeking sincere counsel regarding their religion. We also find several examples of how the Prophet (saw) would take advice, even from children and youth. One example is when the Muslims arrived at the wells of Badr and in preparation for battle the Prophet (saw) ordered that the army be formed at the first well they encounter. Hubab ibn al-Muhdir then asked if the decision was a result of divine decree, it happened that it was not and so he recommended that the Muslims first capture the well closest to the Quraishi army and then block the others. This advice was accepted by the Prophet (saw) and the Muslims went on to defeat the Quraishi army.

62. Honesty in trade:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When two people trade, they have the choice (to proceed with or stop the transaction), so if they are honest and clarify (e.g., defects in their merchandise) their trade will be blessed, but if they lie and conceal (defects) there will be no blessing in their trade.” (Bukhari)

Abu Safwan Suwayd ibn Qays said, “Makhrama al-’Abdi and I brought some clothes from Hajar and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to us and bargained with us over some trousers. I had a weigher who was paid to weigh. The Prophet* said to the weigher, ‘Weigh and give more.’” [Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi]