The Barakah Cheat Code for Muslim Entrepreneurs
Alot of us have started a business on the wrong foot and then we wonder why it didn't work or how we ended up in a bigger ditch than we started in. I've started many, but also failed at many. That's because I'd put Islam second to my business instead of incorporating it into my business.
We are conditioned to think business is only about strategy and in order to be successful you need to be good at
Marketing
Pricing
Scaling
Growth
Yes, all these things matter, but as a Muslim there is something that matters more than all of those things put together. Barakah
Because let's be real, you can make a lot of money and still feel like nothing is working in your life. We see it everywhere we go.
Billionaires going into depression because money can't buy them happiness
Celebrities surrounded by millions of people yet feeling completely alone.
People with every luxury imaginable, but take drugs to feel happiness.
This is what happens when wealth grows, but the soul is completely neglected.
Defining Barakah
I'm sure there will be some non-muslim readers here, so let's quickly break down what barakah means. Barakah, root meaning (blessing) the deeper meaning stability, success, abundance.
What it feels like?
Barakah is when a little becomes more than enough.
Barakah is when your money serves you instead of controlling you.
Barakah is when your work does not pull you away from Allah but actually brings you closer to Him.
Imagine growing up with very little. No luxuries. No extras. No abundance by the world’s standards.
But every single night, your mother places a simple bowl of rice and eggs in front of you. And somehow, it is always enough. Your stomach is full. Your heart is calm. You go to sleep satisfied.
That is barakah.
It is not about what is on the table. It is about how what is on the table fills you in a way that goes beyond food.
You start to realize success is not about how much you have. It is about how much goodness flows through what you have.
You can have a small business that feeds your family, allows you to pray on time, keeps your heart soft, and lets you sleep peacefully at night. That is more successful than a massive empire built on stress, ego, and constant chasing.
Because in Islam, success is not measured by numbers. It is measured by the state of your heart, the purity of your income, and the intention behind your work.
Your Intention & Your imaan
See, none of my other businesses were successful.
I would stay up late trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Why every dollar that came in felt like it disappeared just as fast. Why I kept hitting the same invisible wall. Why growth would stop at the same point every single time. Why no amount of money actually made me feel satisfied.
Why I'd spend every single penny I made.
Why my business would always hit a wall.
Why I couldn't grow more than a certain amount.
Why I didn't feel satisfied with my earnings.
And the truth I did not want to admit back then was this.
My imaan had slipped.
I was so focused on building a business that I slowly stopped building myself. Salah became rushed. Dhikr became rare. My days became about chasing clients, chasing numbers, chasing growth, and I convinced myself that once the business “made it,” I would fix my relationship with Allah after.
But it doesn't work like that, ever.
And if it did work even though I wasn't doing anything I was suppose to, honestly I would've been scared for my akhirah (afterlife)
When your connection with Allah weakens, everything else starts to feel heavy. Your work feels exhausting. Your money feels like it disappears. Your mind feels restless. You are doing more but receiving less.
Not because Allah wants to withhold from you, but because you stepped away from the very source of barakah.
So I stepped away from that business and decided that I'm going to start something different with the right intentions.
Starting off by making changes I knew would change everything for me.
Was it hard? Of course, but Allah made it easier for me. Alhamdullilah
I quit the job that didn't allow me to pray
I left the job where I was surrounded by men 24/7
I stopped listening to music
I started reading more Quran
I started a business working from home
I learned the hard way that success without imaan is just constant running without ever feeling like you arrived. And when I boosted my imaan, I incorporated those things into my business and it made it easier for me.
That's where I created my list of
Non Negotiables for Running a Business as a Muslim
I will never market in a way that manipulates people into buying
Manipulation is so normalized that people seriously don't even see it a lying anymore.
Honestly, so sad.
Stop telling you viewers you have one spot left if it's not true.
Stop telling your viewers they'll fail without your course.
Stop telling them they need something if they don't.
because half the time it's not true. That's not marketing, that's pressure.
Manipulation + haram transaction = haram money. Welcome to Islamic math.
When you really think about it you're convincing someone to spend their money through panic and fear instead of trust. You might get a sale today, but when that person wakes up a week from now and realizes they didn't really need your product, they're never going to trust you again.
You want people to buy from you because they feel confident, informed, and safe. Trust build slower than pressure, but trust is what brings barakah to your business because of it's longevity. If someone trusts you, they'll always come back to you and they'll always refer people to you.
“The seller and the buyer have the right to keep or return goods as long as they have not parted or till they part; and if both the parties spoke the truth and described the defects and qualities (of the goods), then they would be blessed in their transaction, and if they told lies or hid something, then the blessings of their transaction would be lost.”
I will never sell something I don’t truly believe helps people
Yes, there are so many things you can sell to make quick money.
Digital products
Trendy services
One on one calls
But if it doesn’t actually help someone, why are you selling it? The purpose of selling a product is because you truly believe that it works. If you don’t believe in what you’re offering if it’s not something you’d pay for yourself then you’re not running a business. You’re running a hustle. And hustles burn out. Businesses built on value don’t.
Let's look at the food industry. Most big chain fast food places wont even touch their own food because they know what’s in it and it’s not clean, it’s not tayyib, and it’s definitely not something they’d serve their own families.
That’s what happens when profit becomes more important than people.
In Islam, business isn’t just about money. It’s ibadah. It’s worship. You’re accountable not just for what you earn, but how you earn it.
Sell things you believe in. Sell things that serve. Your rizq is written. But your integrity? That’s on you.
“Abu Sa’eed narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “The truthful, trustworthy merchant is with the Prophets, the truthful, and the martyrs.”
I will never copy, steal, or take inspiration that crosses the line
As creatives and business owners, we know how easy it is to blur the line. Sometimes it feels harmless, especially when we see others doing it without consequence. But deep down, we know when we’ve crossed it. And once we do, no amount of justification makes it right.
You can’t ask Allah to bless something that didn’t come from your own effort. You can’t expect real fulfillment from work that was lifted from someone else’s process. Real creativity takes time. It requires patience, clarity, and the willingness to think for yourself. But the result is clean. And clean work feels different lighter, quieter, honest.
You don’t want your work to carry the weight of someone else’s ideas. You want it to reflect your own thought, your own struggle, and your own growth. That’s the kind of work you can stand behind. That’s the kind of work that deserves to be seen.
Yes, originality is hard and it takes time, but the result is so worth it. Benefits?
You trust yourself more
You get better day by day
No "I feel like I'm going to get caught" feeling
I see so many people copying others and they wonder why their business isn't successful ... it's because the work and identity isn't yours. You're pretending to be someone else.
Copying the aesthetic
Stealing the tone
Stealing the artwork
And in Islam, your niyyah (your intention) matters. Your rizq (sustenance) is already written for you. You don’t have to mimic someone else to get what’s yours. In fact, copying someone else could be the very thing that blocks your blessings, because now you’re chasing what was never meant for you in the first place.
Being inspired and copying are two different things, don't block your blessings by getting them confused.
““Whoever deceives us is not one of us.””
I will never look at someone else’s success and feel jealous
Jealousy is the worst emotion to have as a business owner.
You don't want your head to always be filled with "Why them? Why not me?" But when I really sit with it, I know what it’s saying is: "I don’t trust that what Allah has for me is enough."
and as a Muslim business owner that is not who you want to be, trust me.
Jealousy only leads you through a hateful and insecure path.
Jealousy doesn’t just reflect insecurity, it reflects a lack of trust in Allah’s qadr. It’s a quiet accusation that someone else received something meant for you, as if Allah could make a mistake. As if your rizq your provision, your success, your recognition, could be stolen by someone else's timeline.
But Islam makes it clear: what is written for you will never miss you, and what misses you was never written for you. That principle alone is enough to cancel out envy at the root.
Someone you know on Instagram made 10k in one month... big deal. You don't need to be jealous. Learn the same skills, study the same field and build yourself up to do the same thing, but don't be envious and hateful. You'll only hurt yourself.
That sense of jealously will never go away if you continue to let it consume you and if roles were reversed I'm sure you wouldn't want someone else being jealous of you.
We should want the best for our brothers and sisters, always. When someone else wins, it’s not a loss. It’s a test. Will you compare? Will you resent? Or will you make du’a that Allah grants them more and grants you what is best?
I will not take on a haram project
There will come moments in business where the stakes feel high and the rewards even higher. A major opportunity lands on the table, well-funded, high-profile, and promising thousands in profit. It looks like the breakthrough, the moment everyone’s supposedly waiting for. But then, beneath the shiny numbers and smooth contracts... it’s clear: this project is haram.
This is one of the biggest tests of all. In Islam, the source of income matters just as much as the income itself. Money earned from impermissible means doesn’t bring barakah, it brings consequences. Maybe not right away. Maybe not visibly. But slowly, it corrodes things: the heart, the home, the clarity of purpose.
Have you ever had that moment where you spent all of your money on things that didn't matter and you're looking at your -$25.00 bank account regretting every purchase you made? Yeah this is exactly what happens when you take on that haram project.
Sweet looking at first, but pure regret later because nothing good comes out of it.
You're not fulfilled.
You probably spend more than half of that money or all.
You're miserable.
It's important to understand that not all profit is progress. Just because something pays well doesn’t mean it’s worth it. A deal that compromises faith is a deal that empties the soul even if the bank account fills up.
The one who walks away from haram, despite the temptation, is not weak they’re strong. Strong enough to trust that Allah provides through halal means.
True success isn’t just about what you build. It’s about how you build it.
And when you choose purity over profit, you’re not missing out. You’re rising above.
The barkah cheat code list
→ Be honest even when lying would be easier
→ Say no to money that makes your heart feel uneasy
→ Never pressure someone into buying from you
→ Only sell what you genuinely believe helps people
→ Pray on time even when you’re “too busy”
→ Under promise and over deliver
→ Give people more than they expect without announcing it
→ Keep your intentions clean when no one is watching
→ Create original work even when copying would be faster
→ Be patient with clients the way you want Allah to be patient with you
→ Rest without guilt
→ Trust that your rizq does not need to be chased
→ Walk away from anything that goes against your deen
→ Fix your character before you fix your marketing
→ Remember that Allah is a witness to every email, every invoice, every project
Because barakah in business doesn’t come from doing more.
It comes from doing things right.
