Faith-Conscious Stocktaking: Aligning the Heart For Us To Lead
– How leaders can internalize muhasabah in the workplace with sincerity and clarity
THE QUIET WORK OF RETURNING TO OURSELVES
In leadership, strategy and work, we review performance, numbers and outcomes. Yet the most important review often goes untouched: the one inside.
The scholars call self-examination Muhasabah, or Stocktaking.
The book The Wayfarer’s Journey Towards Allah, which is an abridgement of Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s Madārij al-Sālikīn, describes Stocktaking as awakening to blessing, responsibility, doubts and duties.
My accountability buddy powerfully summarised three reminders on Stocktaking from the book, as follows:
- Awareness. Become aware of what belongs to oneself and what one owes. Distinguish what comes from Allah and what one does for oneself.
- Comparison. Every blessing is a favour. Every disfavour is an act of justice. Prior to drawing this comparison, a person is totally unaware of one’s own reality and the Lordship of one’s Creator. The comparison shows a person that the soul is the source of every flaw and evil and that the soul ignorantly embarks on wrongdoing.
- Humility. Stocktaking relies primarily on self-doubt. To think well and highly of oneself precludes proper examination and leads to confusion. People of firm resolve, and good insight pray most for forgiveness immediately after doing some good thing, such as voluntary prayer or fasting. They realise that despite what they do, they remain short of fulfilling their duties.
To me, what is profound about the three ideas is that they are paradigm shifting. Digesting them can give rise to realizations, perspectives and epiphanies to make us change our behaviour, practice and amal (work, deed).
These paradigm shifts are also something leaders can pull up at work. Many of us already practice various forms of reflection in our professional and leadership context. Faith-conscious Stocktaking goes deeper and brings sincerity into the heart of our leadership. It is an inward audit that automatically makes us take rightful outward action.
In this edition I suggest practical steps for undertaking Stocktaking in work and life, based on lived experiences, my coaching sessions with professionals and from my own renewal journey after major surgery. These steps I propose are inside first and less about outward actions and behaviour, because I believe:
Stocktake, shift the paradigms, then the right actions will follow.
THE FAITH CALL TO STOCKTAKING
Allah says:
“…and let every soul look to what it has sent forth for tomorrow.” — Qur’an 59:18
This is the spirit of Stocktaking. We pause to examine the condition of our hearts, relationships and responsibilities before we move forward. Don’t be shamed by it. It prepares us for improvement.
The Prophet ﷺ taught the virtue of self-examination through his consistent nightly habit of reviewing his day, seeking forgiveness and realigning intention. This practice helps leaders cultivate sincerity even in high-pressure environments.
Stocktaking may seem demandingly brain racking, heart wrenching. Yet it is a needed leadership undertaking that brings meaning into routine.
STOCKTAKING OUR PARADIGMS
Below are four considerations for us to examine our current paradigms in life and in work, drawn from the above three reminders. May I be clear in the thoughts I offer.
⓵ Begin With “What Belongs to Allah, What Belongs to Me?”
Text principle: “Become aware of what belongs to oneself and what one owes.”
Contrarion: When we achieve our goal or make a breakthrough, we tend to attribute it to our own intention, creativity, resourcefulness, effort, discipline, etc., not always remembering that God allowed it to happen, He eased and facilitated it, He decreed it.
When things don’t work out, it’s less stressful to explain it as due to external circumstances than dissecting how we could have been responsible for it.
Practice: Attribute success to Allah… always! He is Al-Fattah (the Opener), Ar-Razzaq (the All-Provider).
I silently say to myself and sometimes say to my coaching clients that any a-ha’s the client gets in a coaching session comes from (“whispers” of) Allah and his angels, that (unprepared,) I can raise relevant and powerful coaching questions or give timely and succinct responses.
Any “experience” or “wisdom” from me came from decades of Allah having provided me the “training.” I seek forgiveness (from the client, sometimes when appropriate; from Allah, more times) if I might mislead the client.
(And I seek forgiveness from readers of this and other articles and posts if I am wrong. I stand corrected.)
⓶ Treat Every Blessing as a “Favour” — Do a Gratitude Audit
Text principle: “Every blessing (Allah grants) is a favour. Every disfavour is an act of justice.”
Contrarion: Blessing as a favour is easy to understand. Disfavour is often explained “There is a reason for everything,” and we can expand on that. Hardship and tribulations we have to (or willing to?) endure, like my painful post-surgery recovery. But Allah gives these as tests for us to pass, especially with sabr (patience).
Unbeknownst to us is Allah’s hikmah (wisdom) with the positive turn of events coming much later. Have tawakkul (trust and confidence) that it will come sooner or later. It may take a long, long, long time, in His timing, following His pace
Practice: Be grateful. Be grateful to who? To Allah, of course! Excessively. Excessively. I am not saying that we say Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) loudly in every sentence to everyone we tell of our success, lest people think we are weird. Say it excessively in our heart, and say it aloud just enough when with others.
Say it even when under tests and tribulations.
The most dramatic “disfavour” I have witnessed in my lifetime is the Palestine genocide, and what do I see in the videos? The Gazans cry out aloud Alhamdulillah, and:
…Hasbunallah wani’mal wakil (“…Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.”) — Quran 3:173
⓷ Question Your Own Motives First (Self-Doubt Before Self-Defense)
Text principle: “Stocktaking relies primarily on self-doubt… to think highly of oneself precludes proper examination…”
Contrarion: What??? Haven’t we been taught to erase self-doubt, be “confident” of our capability and expertise, disregard imposter syndrome, then be proud of our accomplishments??? The problem is:
“No one who has an atom’s weight of pride in his heart will enter Paradise” — Hadith
Allah is Al-Kadir (the All-Capable), and so we are capable, in the spirit of His name.
Practice: I’m not suggesting we demean or humiliate self. Rendahkan diri bukan bermakna kecilkan diri! (Be humble does not mean make yourself small! [Somehow the direct translation doesn’t work so well.]) Don’t be a doormat to be stepped on.
But silently check ourselves against these diseases of the heart: kibr (pride, arrogance), ujub (self-amazement, vanity, self-conceit) and riak (ostentation, showing off, bragging).
⓸ Turn Every Achievement Into Humility (Celebrate With Istighfar)
Text principle: “They realize that despite what they do, they remain short of fulfilling their duties.”
Contrarion: This is the hardest for me, the biggest paradigm-shifting for me. I say istighfar (Astagfirullah – I seek forgiveness from Allah) for my shortcomings and sins, but “pray most for forgiveness immediately after doing some good thing” or achieving a positive outcome???
Practice: Say (even sillently) the istighfar. Excessively. Excessively. Realize that we are still short of our duties to Allah. Isn’t the immediate dzkr (remembrance of Allah) immediately and repeatedly after salah (the prayer) the istighfar?
The Prophet ﷺ reportedly asked for forgiveness over seventy times a day, despite his past and future sins having been already forgiven. To the Prophet ﷺ, even moments of distraction or inattention were considered minor slips in his remembrance of Allah.
“IMBALANCING”
Which of the above four paradigm-shifting considerations should we prioritise and rank? Which of them deserve higher niyyah (intention) and in turn ardent follow-on action? (Obviously, mine is no. ⓸.)
Remember, on Judgement Day deeds are assessed by their weightage and not so much their quantity (weighing scale versus calculator).
My buddy and I had this conversation in this video clip:
(If you can’t view the video above, click here.)
From that conversation, we came away with a simple thought: stocktaking helps us place our limited hours, energy and attention where they matter most. When we determine rightful weightage and deliberately design imbalances into our work and life, we quietly adjust. We make space where we have been neglectful. We strengthen where we have been light. We refine our intentions where they have become unclear.
Stocktaking then grows into a habit of steadiness. Over time the heart becomes more aware, the mind more intentional and leadership more grounded in sincerity.
STOCKTAKING AS A QUIET COMPASS
Instead of making Stocktaking a dramatic act, use it as a quiet compass.
Leaders who practice it regularly show clearer judgment, calmer presence and stronger integrity. They navigate the noise of work with grounded hearts. They become more patient with challenges and more sincere with people.
In a world that rewards speed, Stocktaking teaches us to slow down just enough to see ourselves clearly. After that, what shows up outside may be dramatic!
The real renewal happens quietly, inside…
