Rizq comes from Allah ONLY

I got this from a brother who works at a reputable company:

coming back here, work is excellent, very good actually, after getting that review things became very clear and a lot more satisfying. I know this Muslim who is having serious issues with his bosses, they gave him a bad review just because they don't like him, and i know him to be very hard working. Basically its a case of fate: his bosses want him out. they destroyed his performance review and now he has 3 months to shape up according to them, which is pretty much saying in other words he is out. He is really good and he tells me that he is learning that, as hard as one works, you can never guarantee that you will get ur salary. which is a good lesson that confirms the idea of rizq, so mama yes it can happen, meaning that if i lose the job in the future in some case, it does not necessarily automatically mean i screwed up. it is just in our hands to guarantee our salaries at our jobs ( corporate or business). That was a good reminder that nothing is for certain, except uncertainty itself.

This is an issue I would like to tackle in my movie.. the common conception that look brother, you must do your best in school, get the best job, and that's how you become a good Muslim. And in order to do good at school, don't bother with the affairs of Muslims (I had a father of a friend of mine complain to me why did I show his son the movie 'Road to Guantanamo', he said that such disturbing and distressing movies distracts us from our real goal as Muslims, which is doing good at school).

There are countless stories that proves the point that while we must do our best to earn our living, rizq at the end of the day comes from Allah. When we bear this in mind, 'doing our best to make a good living' must be a concept shaped by the criteria of Islam. In other words, there can be no excuse to delay prayer, to delay dawa, for the sake of getting better marks, or getting the best job. Especially when we know that such delaying will in fact not result in getting a job better than what Allah has already chosen for you, it will only result in one thing for certain: Allah's wrath with you, and that's something even the best student or the richest man on earth can't afford.

So again this is a theme that I would like to discuss in this movie, specifically in the context of
- How most of our parents, who come from back home, always try to convince us that job first, Islam second (because some how that’s what Islam says, according to them at least)
- Our own experiences at the workforce, and how do we feel if do compromise some Islamic obligation in hope of a raise or a promotion. And conversely, how do we feel when we don't compromise, even if that results in a dismissal or bad review.

If you have any story or experience in this context that you would like to share, please do so.

salam

Welcome to my Blog!

Salam alaikum and hello everyone,

My name is Abdullah Bakhach, an aspiring filmmaker, and one determine to make an impact on this world.

I'm currently writing the script for this movie I'm planning to make. The movie's main idea is to address and show several issues that young Muslims living in the west face. The plot will be about a frosh student who has spent all his life sheltered with his parents, living his life like how most Muslims do, in fact like most people do, whether Muslim, Christian, Jew, atheist, agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, etc etc. They live their life according to what they're told to live it like, without thinking, without verifying.

So this young man gets out of that environment, and starts school. And in school, he is faced with all sorts of problems and dilemmas. He will have to take a stance, but will it be based on what his parents, and their culture (ie Islam, at least according to the boy) expect of him, or based on what his Canadian (or western for that matter) society expect from him? Because more often than not, he can't please both.

I would like to base my movie on real life situations that has happened to me personally, to my friends, and based on stories I hear in the community. Stories like intercultural marriage, issues at co-op (ie temporary work) such as when it comes to doing things that are questionable from an Islamic point of view, issues such as peer pressure, generation gap, discrimination (and dealing with it), Muslim identity (or dual identity as some say most Muslims who are raised in the west suffer from), opposite gender relations, modern vs radical Islam.. and so on.

This is where I need to hear from you. What's your story? If there is something that you want to tell the world, your society, or even just the Muslims community you're living in, I would like to know about it. If you have a story that fits the above description, or you think is relevant to the topic of the movie, I would like to hear it from you. But this won't be a one sided discussion, I promise that inshallah as I proceed with the script, I'll post the headlines and some details as well, I want this movie to express your voice, your thoughts, as varied and different as they may be.

If you've read this far I thank you for your time and attention, and I pray that Allah makes something out of this movie.

I conclude by talking about what is motivating me to do this: I see around me, I see all these young Muslims, rich and poor, knowledgeable and not too knowledgeable, religious and secular, and I see a huge potential that is not realized, I see faces that want to do so much more, but not given the chance to, or at least so they've convinced themselves.. I'm one of these people, and I want to make a change, and try my best to inspire others to make a change themselves. And by change I don't mean just attending the Jumaa halaqua and going to Tim Horton's (or which ever local donut shop you frequent) and talking about things over a coffee. Rather what I mean is putting everything aside, be it your job, your education, or whatever commitment you may have, and doing something serious for the deen. And I think one of the best times to do this, is after you graduate from school, and before you commit yourself to a fulltime job or marriage or whatever.. but leaving that aside, you can always make change, you can always do something.. and in Islam we see that urgency of work stressed in many ahadeeth, the one I recall is the one where the prophet PBUH says: if the day of judgement were to happen, and you have a plant in your hands, then plant it in the ground.

Let's do our best brothers and sisters to make some change.

salam