Islamic Careers

Islamic Careers

While the focus of this course is on improving self-image through positive thinking, having a more positive attitude can make you open to a world of physical changes. In addition to changing your way of thinking, you can also change your behavior and abilities by learning new skills.
But the bottom line is, you play a huge part in your happiness, and you can greatly increase it by taking action and changing your attitude toward yourself. You are responsible for yourself. Your happiness (or your misery) depend in a great part upon what you tell yourself, how you treat yourself, and how you interpret your world.
Believe in yourself and believe that you are capable of handling life's problems.

Have you ever heard the saying "only you can make yourself happy"? Well, as trite as it seems, it may be true. A surprising survey of adults by the American Psychological Association has shown that the most important factor to happiness and well-being is self-esteem. Also important were feelings of independence and competency, often brought about by high self-esteem. Surprisingly, common traits like popularity, power, money or luxury were rated the lowest.

Having a positive self-image can be difficult, especially if one is affected by life's hardships, such as a disability, poor health, or financial or other major problems. But there are things you can do to improve your self-image and self-esteem. These things can, in turn, improve other aspects of your life like academic or financial success, relationships, and even health.

Reminding yourself of your positive qualities is one of the fastest ways to improve and maintain a positive self-image. This worksheet is intended to help.
Use the following list as a guide, or write your own list. What are you good at? What qualities do you have that make you feel good about yourself? What are positive things people have said about you? Print this worksheet, and circle or highlight the words that describe you.
Put this list someplace where you can see it and remind yourself regularly of all your good qualities.

I AM ...
• Adaptable
• Adventurous
• Affectionate
• Ambitious
• Artistic
• Assertive
• Broad-minded
• Capable
• Caring
• Charming
• Cheerful
• Clear-headed
• Clever
• Compassionate
• Competent
• Confident
• Conscientious
• Considerate
• Courageous
• Creative
• Dependable
• Determined
• Devoted
• Dynamic
• Easy-going
• Efficient
• Energetic
• Enterprising
• Enthusiastic
• Fair
• Faithful
• Flexible
• Friendly
• Funny

The best way to improve your self-image is through practice. Below are a number of experiences you may have that require you to question your self-image. Try practicing your responses to the situations below. You may want to ask a relative, friend, or advisor, whom you feel has a positive self-image and confidence in you, to listen to your responses and offer advice. Or, call your local Mountain State Center for Independent Living. Counselors there can listen to you and help you improve your self-image.

Scenario 1. Your friend has invited you to a party, which you'd really like to attend. Unfortunately you have nothing new to wear and you haven't got the money to buy a new outfit. Which of the following would you do:

A. Turn down the invitation.
B. Go, but know everyone realizes you couldn't afford a new outfit.
C. Think of some way to modify an old outfit and go.
D. Realize that you were invited, not your clothes, and go.
Responses:

What is the philosophy of money in Islam?
How could a man stop worrying about his sustenance?
How could he avoid doing wrong in order to obtain his sustenance?
How could he avoid having to accept humiliating positions to earn his living?
Who is the (real) owner of money?
How did man come to be its administrator?
Why should we take care of money?
Why has Allah prohibited prodigality, extravagance and any other act of wasting money?
Why does Islam make it obligatory for a man to earn his living as an individual duty?
Are there any illicit means of obtaining sustenance which most Muslims are unmindful of?
How could we increase our sustenance according to the teachings of Islam mentioned in the Noble Qur’an and in the Sunnah of the Prophet?
These are the questions people are often anxious about, and they are the subject of this lecture.

The description of money in the Qur’an and the Sunnah:

1 – To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth:

Trade has played a role in the spread of Islam since the beginning of the religion. As an important trading post with vibrant economic activity, the city of Mecca, in the Arabian Peninsula, was a valuable setting for Islam, providing important context for Islam's relationship to trade. Expansion through trade, in tandem with conquest and missionary work, led to the development and spread of Islam throughout all of Africa, parts of Europe, Asia and beyond. Whether small minorities or entire regions converted to Islam, the relationship between trade, missionary movements and conquest are integral in understanding Islam's worldwide presence.

Early Trade Connections

"Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity"4(Quran 2: 276).

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: Allah's Messenger cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses; and he said: They are all equal (Muslim).2

Abu Huraira related that the Prophet said: On the night of the Miraj I came upon a group of people whose bellies were like houses. They were full of snakes which could be seen from outside their bellies. I asked Gabriel who they were, and he told me that they were the people who had practiced Riba (Interest). (Ahmad, Ibn Maja)

Abdullah ibn Hanjalah related that the Prophet said: A dirham of Riba (interest) knowingly taken by a man is a sin worse than committing Zina (fornication) 36 times (Ahmad, Daraqutni).
Zakah-what you owe from your money

The global economy has grown continuously since the Second World War. Global growth has been accompanied by a change in the pattern of trade, which reflects ongoing changes in structure of the global economy. These changes include the rise of regional trading blocs, deindustrialisation in many advanced economies, the increased participation of former communist countries, and the emergence of China and India.

Changes in the global economy
The main changes in the global economy are:

The emergence of regional trading blocs, where members freely trade with each other, but erect barriers to trade with non-members, has had a significant impact on the pattern of global trade. While the formation of blocs, such as the European Union and NAFTA, has led to trade creation between members, countries outside the bloc have suffered from trade diversion.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to quit your job, be your own boss and earn a paycheck from the comfort of your own home? The good news is that with a little planning and some startup money, it is possible!
Let's delve a little deeper into how to start a small business from home and help you decide how much planning and money you'll need to be your own boss.

Creating the Concept

Before quitting their jobs, the potential entrepreneurs must first think of a concept, product or service to generate a steady income. And while that may sound easy, it's not. You should conceive a plan that puts your knowledge, experience and expertise to use but in a way that allows you to make the most amount of your money.

Communication is neither the transmission of a message nor the message itself. It is the mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the receiver. Communication needs to be effective in business. Communication is the essence of management. The basic functions of management (Planning, Organizing,Staffing, Directing and Controlling) cannot be performed well without effective communication.

Business communication involves constant flow of information. Feedback is integral part of business communication. Organizations these days are verly large and involve large number of people. There are various levels of hierarchy in an organization. Greater the number of levels, the more difficult is the job of managing the organization. Communication here plays a very important role in process of directing and controlling the people in the oragnization.

Conventional wisdom fails to understand that operating
in a time-limited mode involves significantly different
behavior and attitudes from operating in a goods-limited mode
OF THE THREE types of input that every activity needs – material goods, skills, and time – I’ve come to feel that perhaps the least understood is time. In conventional economics, it is treated as a commodity (“time is money”) to be bought and sold at will, and therefore needing no special consideration. Yet experience suggests that the economics of time is not quite so simple. The following excepts from The Household Economy by Scott Burns bring out some of the key issues.

Mohammed was born in the Arab trading and pilgrimage city of Mecca, in the Arabian peninsula, between 570and 580 AD. His parents were part of a family of traders, not among the ruling families of Mecca, but certainly not poor either. Mohammed himself however grew up poor, because both his parents died when he was still very young. Probably his grandfather brought him up.

When he grew up, Mohammed married a wealthy widow named Khadija, whose first husband had been a trader, and so he became well-off again. Probably he became a trader himself.

While writing to a friend, colleague, client, or a business partner, the content must be clear, concise, persuasive, accurate, and confident. Read on to know some tips for making the letter / memo / presentation worthwhile.

1. Avoid being verbose: Choose shorter words and sentences. For e.g. “I wanted to bring to your notice that the meeting has been cancelled”. [10 words] This sentence could be rephrased as “Please note the meeting has been cancelled”. [7 words]

2. Use objective subject lines: The subject of the memo / letter / e-mail should be objective and should reflect the content of the message. For e.g. “Tips on Effective Writing for Business” conveys to the reader that the message content will be related to information on effective writing.

Business communication roles: Business communication occurs between two or more parties to exchange business related information. The success of a business depends on the efficacy of business communication. For this, communication is regarded as the lifeblood of business. The role or importance of business communication is discussed below:

1. Exchanging information: Communication is mainly the exchange of information between two or more parties. Through communication, organizations exchange information with internal and external parties. Communication also brings dynamism in organizational activities and helps in attaining goals.

2. Preparing plans and policies: Communication helps in preparing organizational plans and policies. Realistic plans and policies require adequate and relevant information. The managers collect required information from reliable sources through communication.

In the beginning, the Arab community, before the advent of Islam is an advanced society in terms of the economy at all. This is evident (Arab jahiliah- ignorance). They are good at all in trade within the country or across the country so as to make them widely known to the other Nations on the Arabian Peninsula. This caused the trade has been entrenched in the tradition of the Arabs at that time.

Arab or more specifically the city of Mecca in General has become a place of knowledge or the bustling trading center visited by traders from a wide range of areas such as Egypt, Syria, Syria, and so on. In addition to the center of trade between regions, the city of Mecca is also the world's trade routes that connect between North, South, Sham, and Yemen, between East and West, the Persian Empire, as well as Egypt, (Mufrodi, 1997: 10).