To operate a Successful Business we need Faith-based Discipline
Our spiritual life must be given priority over material things. To maintain faith in the face of worldly pressures and temptations, we have to control and discipline our thoughts and all other senses. Likewise in business too we must maintain focus and ensure we control our moods and possess a high EQ to manage customers, employees and suppliers.
In this connection, the pillars of Islam- Salat (Prayer), Zakat (Alms Tax), Fasting and Hajj (Pilgrimage) all contribute to making us better people not only in spiritual matters, but also in our worldly life.
Prayers encourage mindfulness and wards away distracting thoughts especially during prayer times. One who regularly prays in congregation on time gets imbued with a sense of discipline and completing one’s tasks with a sense of urgency.
Zakat or mandatory charity ensures we keep records of our financial assets throughout the year so as to pay Zakat. We also have to ensure we have excess liquidity during the Month of Ramadan to pay Zakat. For this we need to be proficient in proper cash flow management.
Fasting creates empathy towards employees’ difficulties (on account of the hunger we undergo) and helps us understand the reality of this world where poverty is rife and our role in alleviating the sufferings of the needy.
The Hajj or Pilgrimage to Mecca requires making effort and sacrifice in both our time and money. It also teaches us some great lessons including tolerance and patience which often comes into play during the Hajj. The challenge of being accommodative towards large crowds in close proximity and from different backgrounds and countries with different behaviours, mannerisms and language peculiarities is both a lesson and a challenge as any good Muslim who has performed the Hajj would tell you. Hajj also ensures completely forgetting our status back home and keeping our egos in check. It underscores the importance of humility in everything we do.
A practical example of Discipline during the Hajj could be seen during the commencement of five times prayer at the Kaaba. Initially we see a large mingling crowd of people (2.5 million pilgrims or more) jostling with each other and circumambulating the Kaaba in a more or less disorganized manner, but no sooner they hear the Adhan (Call to Prayer) within a period of 5 minutes you will see them all neatly arranged in rows, ready for the prayer. This discipline is purely an act of faith.
How important discipline and self-control is, is tellingly illustrated by what the Prophet told his companions after returning from a military campaign: The Prophet told his companions, you have just finished one battle but there is a greater battle. The surprised companions asked the Prophet what he meant The Prophet said “The Battle of disciplining yourself”
An excellent example of well-disciplined and consistently successful enterprise modules are Multinational Corporations. They prosper in any country and continuously expand, despite being driven by CEOs who are not even Shareholders. They consistently invest and leverage state of the art technology in all areas of the business. However their main tool to create positive cash flow growth is based on the right information on time all the time.