A Financial Model Fit for Islam

Ambreen Ahmed, who works with domestic violence victims at a Fairfax social service agency, wore a green lace head covering to Unus's continuing education class on a recent Wednesday night. She has been with the 6 1/2 -year-old agency almost since it opened and said she is taking the class because she wants to learn how to strengthen connections with other agencies.

She said she appreciated how Unus wove in management principles with the Koran.

Sura 31:20, which says, "Allah has subjected to your use all things in the heaven and on earth," reflects the importance of using resources wisely, the teacher said. A hadith cautions a farmer not to be stuck "at the last hour" with a baby tree to plant, which means being decisive in planning for a business's future, even if things seem uncertain, Unus told the class.

"It just clicks more if he brings references from the Koran and the life of the prophet," she said.

Morsy Ibrahim said he has been trying to weave his faith and finance in the United States. After emigrating from Egypt as an electronics engineer, he said, he came up against employers who had trouble honoring his requirement to pray five times a day and not work with businesses that sell alcohol or promote gambling -- which ruled out, for example, a job fixing gaming equipment. He considered going into real estate but couldn't find a bank that would accommodate the Koran's ban on charging interest.

Since 1990, he has been owner of the Warrior Emporium in Baltimore, where he sells push-up bars, yoga mats and swords, among other equipment.

"Everything I do in business, I have to go back to my religion," he said. That means he doesn't charge extra for customers paying on layaway and closes for three hours on Friday, Muslims' holy day.

Although Muslim-owned businesses in the United States are growing and becoming more sophisticated, there is a lot of room for development, said Javaid Karim, project manager for the nonprofit Muslim Yellow Pages, which began in 1992 and lists thousands of businesses.

Some of the Muslims he has contacted about advertising in the directory "don't understand marketing," he said. "Sometimes I scratch my head at the business principles."

In Unus's class, students were talking about the Islamic concept of ihsan , or excellence. In the secular business world, he told them, there are quality teams, standards -- things that fit squarely with their faith if they can simply unite their Muslim selves with their work selves.

"Doing things in a better way is a very Islamic concept," he said. "Always trying to be better is part of the Muslim psyche."