Abolishing Unemployment

Every Complaint Is an Opportunity

In the opening of the Qur’an (al-Faatiḥ ah) Allah has us say:

“Eeyaaka na`budu (we work for only you)
wa-eeyaaka nasta`een (and we ask only you for help).”

A servant of Allah is never out of work, because as long as we are servants of Allah (which is forever) we have work to do.

Several centuries ago, the Muslim historian and father of modern sociology, ibn Khaldun, pointed out that human effort is the only producer of value.

We are all billionaires. If not in dollars or euros or yen, then in forms of currency which we have not learned to value and utilize – forms of currency which are immediately available within ourselves, as individuals and as communities. When you look in the mirror, when you look at your brother or sister, do you see a billion dollars? If not, then you cannot see.

Abolishing unemployment, in practical terms, is a three-part cycle:

• A job is something that needs to be done. See something that needs to be done, and do it.
• Work is doing a job. When you are doing something that needs to be done, you are working.
• Investment is supporting work. When you give an encouraging smile or word, when you give a hand, when you share food, clothing or other useful things, or supply money to someone who is working (as defined above), you are investing.

Every complaint is an opportunity. If it is broken it needs fixing. If it is dirty it needs cleaning. If it is lacking it needs to be supplied. If there is a surplus it needs to be removed. If it is blocked it needs to be opened. If it is crooked it needs to be straightened. Jobs are all around us. There is an abundance of work to be done. Those with vision see great opportunities for investment.

If you want to destroy your world and your society, invest money for the sole purpose of getting more money. Instead, invest money in what you want the world to be. Those with vision see what is not yet manifest.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

4 Sha`baan 1434
June 11, 2013