Muslim mum non-preneur, I commend you

Recently, there has been a huge wave in Muslim businesses founded and run by Muslim mums. Along with it comes high praise for the super-mums who can manage to pull off looking after children and running a household, whilst simultaneously running a business.

Whilst, without a doubt, this praise is well-earned, I felt the strong need to write this post in praise of all muslim mum non-preneurs…mothers who maybe feel that they are not good enough because they do not have the time or energy to do anything other than being a mother and wife. Mothers who maybe have such zeal to set-up their own little company but restrain themselves because they feel that if they did that, then they would not give their other responsibilities due right. Mothers who maybe just feel undervalued as the spotlight falls on the “super-mumpreneurs.”  

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe mothers don’t feel like this at all. But as a mother, as an author and  as the co-founder of a small publishing company, this is the feeling I sometimes get when people say to me things like “ma shaa Allah, how do you do it all?”

But let me tell you the reality – I am not doing it “all,” and I am no more of a super-mum than you are. “But you publish books to inspire Muslim children at the same time as raising your own children!” you may say.

Yes, this is true, but in reality, I often feel like less of a super mum because of it. “Why?” you may ask. Because sometimes my mind is so clouded with ideas and to-do-lists for Education Enriched that I find it difficult to focus on my children. Because sometimes I stay up too late and am so tired the next day that I become a more impatient mother. Because sometimes I feel that my priorities become out of line and that I lose focus on my ultimate goal of pleasing Allah. Because I struggle at times too, just like you.

So muslim mum non-preneur, I commend you, I really do. I commend you for fulfilling your amazing role as the one who raises the next generation.  I commend you for trying to take care of yourself in those few minutes of rest, just so that you can give more to those who have rights over you. And I commend you for trying to keep your priorities straight, even if it means that your own aspirations sometimes, just sometimes, have to wait a little while.

I often hear the example of Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) and her success as a business woman being mentioned over and over again. But just as the mother of the believers, Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), is remembered as a successful business woman, let us not forget her more important role as a wife, a mother, and ultimately, as a true believer. And if that is not enough, I leave you with the statement of the beloved Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), whose beautiful words just sum it up.

 “Indeed Allah did not grant me better than her; she accepted me when people rejected me, she believed in me when people doubted me, she shared her wealth with me when people deprived me, and Allah granted me children only through her.” (At-Tabarani)

© RS Khan 2017