Wara - Living the highest level of Taqwa

PS: This is a looooongggg post, make sure you get ready with a cup of tea/coffee and a nice cozy spot before you start.

As most of you know I took a break from business for the last couple of months because I wanted to immerse myself in Islamic studies + be a chill housewife.

But there was also a part 2, which I hadn’t mentioned about earlier. The reason I didn’t speak about it was that I didn’t have the answer myself. I felt like there was a piece to the puzzle missing, and I trusted the answer would come to me when I was ready. And it did Alhumdullilah!

So in this blog let’s talk about part 2.

Ps: Part is a couple of reasons squished together.

Ready? Let's go!

Reason 1: I started a business to make my parents proud.

The boy they never had. To take care of them when they're old.

Seeking validation at its best. Yeah I know, daddy issues and childhood issues all combined into one.

Working on my inner fears for the business allowed me to overcome the need for validation a while back

Reason 2(feeling vulnerable here): I felt my husband wouldn't be able to take care of me financially when we got married 8 years back. In my head, I HAD to substitute for my not-so-capable husband. Feminism at its best.

By the way, this was a deep-rooted emotion. On the outside I was great and all but subconsciously inside my heart, this is what I felt. It took 4 years of working to unearth it. Sometimes we have subconscious intentions that are so messed up.

I made mad istighfaar and apologised to him. Because as an Islamic woman, we have to learn to live within our means. Means provided by the husband.

Check your intention right now.

Reason 3: I don’t use social media. Like at all. Only on Fridays, do I watch memes. But work-wise: I come on IG, upload my stories, answer the DMs and leave. I don't see anyone’s stories or posts. I felt like a drug dealer. I don't use the drug but sell it to others.

Which is why I now use email and it feels so much more chill. In sha Allah I plan to add more ways to generate content that don't include my face or dancing reels.👀

Reason 4: I started my business because it took me away from dealing with my mother-in-law. She is the polar opposite of me. Not that she is the bad evil type. But it's very difficult for a MIL and a DIL to live in a house(90% of the time). You can guess I fall in the 90%. So to not have to deal with her I wanted to have an “I have work” excuse always available.Lol.

I don’t live with her anymore. At least not permanently like it used to be.

Reason 5: I feel like this phase of business has completed its role. The role of getting me closer to Allah. I did most of my things FOR the business. Like getting up and praying tahajjud, fajr, time management, and Islamic studies. Not to please Allah but because it somehow helped the business. And somewhere along the way it turned from for business to for Allah.

And it feels.so.dang.good to do it ONLY for the creator.

This business became the gateway for me to truly appreciate our lord.

Reason 6: Business is great but it’s not for everyone. Because it is failure after failure after failure for success. And you gotta have the guts to keep going. Say you do keep going, scaling the business is another mountain because it opens a lot of can of worms.

In my program, I always told people business can’t be done in 90 days or 1k-2k-10k doesn't happen overnight. I was still one small fish in the sea who was speaking the reality of business.

The rest of social media was telling them about white beaches and buying things as business expenses.

Agree I filtered down a lot of people beforehand, but the right way to do entrepreneurship mindset, life skills and discipline for a Muslim woman hadn't been created yet.

She knows exactly why she is starting a business and is sure that business is for her.

Because I see many women come in to start a business because it looks so good online, they get FOMO and take it up as their form of legacy building. In reality, all they wanted was to be

Disciplined

An avid seeker of Islam to themselves and their family

Wants a simple content life and remains happy with what she has.

(Although this sounds simple, it takes a lot to build "the simple life" in a world filled with noise)

Now with all this in my head, I went to the local masjid sheikh and blurted out my issues. I asked him if I was doing something wrong? Or making a mistake or leading the woman down the wrong road of business which they might not be ready for.

Here is how the conversation went:

Sh. Ibraheem: “In Islam, there are 4 roads you can take.

The white road (110% pure and halal)

The black road ( mostly haram stuff)

The grey road (Halal things that may lead to issues in the future)

The high road ( Where you deny the halal road because you doubt it MAY lead to somewhat haram).

What you are doing right now is 90% white and 10% grey. So you’re good. You’re not doing anything wrong. Allah won't hold you accountable. What do you think? Do you wanna continue doing it?”

I reflect for a while

Kulsum:“NO! That 10% grey is bothering me”

(The 10% being, social media and not knowing the perfect Islamic route Muslim woman who wants to create something beyond her primary responsibilities )

Sh. Ibraheem keeps pushing me and telling me, “You're still doing a very good job. It’s not an issue to worry so much”

Kulsum“ Nope! I wanna figure out the 10%”

Sh Ibraheem: “Good! I was testing you to make sure your answer is strong. Although you are not doing anything wrong right now, the fear that things MIGHT go wrong in the future for you and your clients is holding you back.

That means you are giving up something you love for Allah. And that is the high road. The highest form of taqwa. It's known as Wara fil Islam and May Allah reward you for giving this up”

So as the typical nerd I am, I went home and stalked the word Wara'.

This is what it showed me

The main topic of the hadith is to leave the doubtful matters, and therefore by this, it also talks about the concept of ورع (wara’) ورع is leaving something that is halal, out of fear it will harm you in the aakhira

Benefits of ورع:

It saves oneself from the punishment of Allah

It leads to tranquillity of the heart and mind

It distances oneself from that which does not benefit as you would usually doubt between a makrooh or haram action

It leads to Allah loving us, as He loves those who are cautious in following His orders

It helps in being someone whose du’aas are always answered as most likely everything you do will be halal

Truthfulness sets in the heart very easily

If you find that a matter is doubtful, then leave it even if others tell you it is halal

Do not do this while you are still committing many haram actions. ورع is for those with a high status so focus first on reducing your sins, then on avoiding the makrooh, then on leaving the doubtful

Remember that the best process is the gradual process so don’t jump to this all at once, but start gradually

Source: https://hadithcommentary.com/nawawi/hadith11/

All this because 1 year back I made Ihsaan(excellence) my core value

I cried for three days after reading that.

I checked all the boxes above and it was the most painful journey to come to this decision, but knowing Allah is pleased with me, made it easier for me.

That’s when it made sense to me why I felt my business was made for something bigger.

Hence this proves my 5th reason. My business played its part of getting me up to here. I’d like to celebrate this win of mine with you. I know it’s not the typical How-I make-10k-months email.

But let’s be honest you don't give a crap about how much I made. lol.

And by closing that door of business allowed my brain to open the new door Allah had created for me.

A road where my next project is purely intended for my aakhira.

A project to help Muslim women and I become abundant in thinking and create a legacy that’s only pleasing to Allah (whether its financial or not).

But before they create the legacy I want to teach them the skillsets, mindset and lifestyle changes you need to make to get there.

This is for the women who strive for excellence.

The women who know the road will be hard but also know it's worth the pain.

The women who feel it in their bones, that they are made for a bigger purpose.

The women who wants to figure out her breakthrough and what Allah created her to do in this world.

I write this blog with the intention of showing you the messy way I had to go through to find my breakthrough. That it’s not always a pretty sight that results in a reward right now but rather to keep hope for the hereafter.

But my friend if you got this far, its pretty obvious you’re a woman looking for more ways to please Allah and take that extra mile.

If that’s the case, I invite you today to make your core value Ihsaan.

Ihsaan in cooking good food, cleaning the house, reading the Quran, in praying.

Ihsaan doesn't mean perfection,it means excellence to the best of your ability.

Our lord has made our religion so attractive, that even difficult decisions seem doable if the goal is to please Allah. And Ihsaan is step 1 to please Allah.