Opinion page 2

Archives

Business Directory

About Us

Home

NEWS & EVENTS

Community News

CHAI CORNER

By Bilal Rauf

Muslim Businesses – To support or not to support

In this edition of the Chai Corner, I want to share some thoughts about the topic of Muslims and Muslim businesses. Do we actively support them no matter what or do we deal with them as we would with any other business?

As a general principal, it makes sense to positively support Muslim businesses. It also makes sense to support non-Muslim businesses which make an effort to provide for, or accommodate, Muslims; halal restaurants and so on. This, in my view, is one thing which the Islamic community is particularly poor at. An attitude seems to pervade the Muslim consciousness whereby the priority is “me”. What’s in it for me? Why should I join or support that person? In other words, the focus is on the individual and what benefit is in a particular act for the individual.

In contrast, there are many other communities which are more focused on the greater good and their welfare. That is, they are more prepared to refer to one another, support one another, buy of one another and give discounts to one another. It’s all about supporting one another and sharing in that success. This might mean going a step backwards but it is all about striding forward many steps as a community.

Some of you will know that I am the secretary of the Muslim Business Network (MBN). In this role, one focus has been to get more people on board. However, I have been met with a common response: What’s in it for me? If I had approached life with this attitude, I would not have done many things which I have done. I certainly would not have allowed myself to be persuaded to be appointed as the secretary of the MBN. However, getting active through the MBN has provided me with a vehicle to benefit the community. It has required a lot of time and effort with little reward and, at times, in the face of unrelenting criticism from the arm-chair critics and detractors, but so be it. Such is life and one can either stride on or be overwhelmed and come to a grinding halt.

But I digress. My discussion of the MBN is simply to present an example of the common attitude which confronts any suggestions of supporting businesses and organisations.

However, there is also an important quid pro quo for businesses and organisations. They have to make more of an effort to accommodate and value their Muslim clientele and members.

It is a sad reality that many Muslim businesses and organisations take their Muslim clientele for granted. I have lost count of the number of times that I have gone to halal restaurants and experienced poor service. At times, the food has also been less than ordinary. It is as if the owners took for granted that Muslims will flock to their restaurants. It is as if the owners felt they had a licence to get away with much more than they otherwise would have just because they had a Muslim clientele base.

It is no wonder that so many Muslim businesses open up only to close some months later. One reason for their failure might have been a failure to appreciate the need to make their clientele feel valued.

So it is a case of give and take on both sides. Just as Muslims generally need to overcome individual concerns and support Muslim businesses and organsations, Muslim businesses and organisations in turn need to value their clientele and not take their support for granted. And in this way, we hope that our community can progress and share in the successes of each other. With this attitude, we hope that our community can stride forward instead of falling backwards and splintering.