Bukola Hameed
A productive Muslim is he whose ideal is premised on the precept of rethinking, refocusing, reinventing, and re-engineering his careers and businesses, with a view to survive the present and the future.
This was the position of Dr Ogunkoya O.A, the Sub-Dean, Faculty of Administration and Management, Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU at the July edition of Ash-Shumuliyah Forum held today.
The researcher and management consultant, in his lecture titled Post COVID-19: Realities and Lawful Sustenance harped on the need for Muslim individuals to embrace Allah’s provisions, legalising lawful trade, business and investment, and bid permanent farewell to poverty, pennury and provoking idleness.
The University don highlighted an array of lawful businesses and non-interest interventions/ opportunities to tap into, for economic survival. These fallow lands, according to the lecturer, are; Islamic Investment Club, Venture Capitalists, business plan competition, and crowdfunding options. Others include Anchor Borrowers Programmes, Creative Industry Financing Initiatives and The Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), and so on.
To survive in this trying period of human existence, he said, one needs to identify COVID-19 challenges and opportunities, and develop new business models that capture leveraging relevant business growth strategies (Intensive, Integrative and diversified growth strategies).
In his drive to encourage Muslims to seek halal wealth, he cited Allah’s word that, “But seek, that which Allah has bestowed on you, the home of the Hereafter, and forget not your portion of lawful enjoyment in this world; and be generous as Allah has been generous to you, and seek not mischief in the land. Verily, Allah likes not the mischief-makers”. (Q28:77)
Dr Ogunkoya, acknowledging the emergence of two types of people as evident in their disposition, philosophy, towards the ravaging global pandemic, pointed out that the position of Muslims remains that of entrepreneurs whom he described as problems solvers. He therefore advocates frantic, calculated efforts in ensuring “Multiple Sources of Income, MSIs, which he described as a veritable tool to meet family needs, build growing wealth and earn sustainable Cash-flows from diverse sources”.
While establishing the fact that today is in every body’s hands, he said the best type of mindset to exhibit this trying time is an enterprise mindset, which he dubbed as Energy, Need to Achieve, Task-Oriented, Empathy, Risk-Taking, Planning, Resourcefulness, Innovation, Skills and Endurance.
“The world is made of three days: Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today. As for yesterday, it has vanished, along with all that was in it. As for tomorrow, you may never see it. As for today, it is yours, so work in it”, he concluded.
This is an eye opener to all and sundry. I think there’s a great need for us to be proactive, and take the bull by the horn.