Last week, I had a long conversation with a friend of mine who runs a family business in construction in Türkiye. We discussed the role of faith in business and how it shapes the way he runs his company.
Three lessons I learned from him that I want to share with you:
1. The purpose of business is to add value to a community
We often hear that the purpose of business is to make money or maximize shareholder value. But my friend sincerely believes that the purpose of business is to add value. If a business makes all the money in the world but destroys the environment or hurts people, it has failed at the very purpose of business. Think what this means when you make this intention as you start/run your business.
2. The hardest part of running a business is not making money, it's treating people with Ihsan consistently even if it costs you money
My friend shared a story about a sub-contractor who was working on one of his buildings. The contract was for three months, but SubhanAllah, during the project, the worker injured his hand and couldn't work anymore.
My friend continues to pay this worker till today, years past the contract, with no legal obligation requiring him to do so.
His reason was simple and clear: as a business owner, you must deal with your workers with rahmah (mercy) and adl (justice), even when it costs your business.
3. Hire for Amanah, and fire with mercy and dignity
My friend's father, who founded the company, kept repeating one prophetic saying:
لَا إِيمَانَ لِمَنْ لَا أَمَانَةَ لَهُ، وَلَا دِينَ لِمَنْ لَا عَهْدَ لَهُ
"There is no faith for one who has no trustworthiness, and no religion for one who does not honor his covenants."
Musnad Ahmad
So the company hires for two qualities: technical strength and trustworthiness. The same two qualities the daughter of Shu'ayb noticed when she recommended Musa (peace be upon him) for hire:
قَالَتۡ إِحۡدَىٰهُمَا يَٰٓأَبَتِ ٱسۡتَـٔۡجِرۡهُۖ إِنَّ خَيۡرَ مَنِ ٱسۡتَـٔۡجَرۡتَ ٱلۡقَوِيُّ ٱلۡأَمِينُ ٢٦
"One of the women said, "O my father, hire him. Indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong and the trustworthy.""
Surah Al-Qasas [28:26]
But what happens when someone's role no longer fits the company, or a person becomes toxic to the team?
"I simply go up to them and tell them they should look for work elsewhere," my friend said, "and I give them 3-4 months to transition smoothly."
Part of me couldn't believe this, it felt so different from the usual Zoom-based terminations we often hear from friends who got laid off. Made me wonder, have we lost the ability to let people go with mercy and dignity?
I know some of you might call my friend's approach 'soft' or 'impractical'. But I want us to challenge ourselves and ask: have we lost our way as an Ummah, even in the way we do business? Have we imported business models from the secular corporate world and stripped business from its spiritual underpinnings?
My friend's business practices should not be the anomaly amongst Muslim business owners. If anything, they should be the norm: the Barakah Culture way of doing business.
Perhaps you too have business practices that make no 'business sense' but make a lot of 'Barakah sense'. I'd love to hear from you and learn from you. Hit reply and tell me your Barakah business story.
May Allah put Barakah in all our businesses, and allow us to worship Him through business building and beyond. Ameen.
Running a business this way takes both skill and real trust in Allah — the same balance behind the hadith of the tied camel. If you're a faith-based trainer or educator, Tie Your Camel can help you build that balance:
