In 2023, I walked away from my business.
Not because it was failing. I stopped because something was missing, a piece of the puzzle I couldn’t name. I trusted that Allah would show me what it was when I was ready.
And He did. Alhamdulillah.
This one is long, so grab a cup of tea, find a cozy spot, and let me tell you the six honest reasons I stopped, and the conversation that changed everything.
Reason 1: I Started a Business to Make My Parents Proud
I wanted to be the son they never had, the one who would take care of them when they grew old.
Looking back, it was validation-seeking at its finest. Childhood wounds dressed up as ambition.
Working through my inner fears in business slowly freed me from needing that approval. But it was a big part of why I started.
Reason 2: I Didn’t Trust My Husband to Provide for Me
(This one makes me feel vulnerable.)
Deep down, I believed I had to make up for what my husband couldn’t provide. On the outside, everything looked fine. But in my heart, that was the belief running the show, and it took four years of working to dig it up.
Sometimes our hidden intentions are messier than we’d ever admit.
I made sincere istighfar and apologized to him. As Muslim women, part of our path is learning to live content within the means our husbands provide.
So pause here and check your intention. Right now.
Reason 3: I Was Selling Something I Didn’t Use
I don’t use social media. At all. Fridays are for memes, and that’s it.
For work, I’d open Instagram, post my stories, answer DMs, and log off. I never watched anyone else’s content.
I felt like a dealer who doesn’t touch the product but sells it to everyone else.
That’s why I now show up through email, and it feels so much calmer. In sha Allah, I’ll keep finding ways to share that don’t need my face or a dancing reel. 👀
Reason 4: Work Was My Escape From My Mother-in-Law
She’s my polar opposite. Not the evil-MIL type at all, but let’s be honest: a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law under one roof is hard about 90% of the time. And yes, we were in the 90%.
“I have work” became my always-ready excuse. (Lol.)
We don’t live together permanently anymore, so that reason quietly expired.
Reason 5: This Business Had Done Its Job: It Brought Me Closer to Allah
Here’s what I didn’t expect.
I started praying tahajjud, guarding my fajr, managing my time, and studying Islam, all for the business. Not to please Allah, but because it made me better at work.
Then, somewhere along the way, it shifted. For business became for Allah.
And it feels. so. good. to do it only for the Creator.
My business was the doorway that led me to truly love my Lord.
Reason 6: Business Isn’t for Every Woman
Business is failure after failure after failure before success, and you need real grit to keep going. If you make it through that, scaling opens a whole new can of worms.
In my program, I always told women the truth: there’s no 90-day blueprint, and $10K months don’t happen overnight. I was a small fish in a big sea while everyone else was selling white beaches and “it’s a business expense.”
But I kept seeing women start businesses because it looked beautiful online. FOMO pulled them in, and they called it legacy-building. In reality, what most of them wanted was:
- Discipline
- To deepen their Islam, for themselves and their families
- A simple, content life, happy with what Allah gave them
(That sounds simple. But building “the simple life” in a world this loud takes everything.)
What didn’t exist yet was a way for a Muslim woman to build the mindset, life skills, and discipline first, so that if she starts a business, she knows exactly why, and knows it’s truly for her.
The Conversation That Changed Everything
With all of this swirling in my head, I went to our local masjid and poured it all out to the sheikh. Was I doing something wrong? Was I leading women down a road they weren’t ready for?
He told me there are four roads:
- The white road: completely pure and halal
- The black road: mostly haram
- The grey road: halal, but may lead to problems later
- The high road: leaving something halal because you fear it might lead somewhere wrong
“What you’re doing is 90% white and 10% grey,” he said. “You’re not doing anything wrong. Allah won’t hold you accountable. Do you want to continue?”
I sat with it for a while.
“No. That 10% grey is bothering me.”
(The 10% was social media, and not yet knowing the right Islamic path for a Muslim woman who wants to build something beyond her primary responsibilities.)
He pushed back. “You’re doing a very good job. It’s not something to worry about.”
“No. I want to figure out the 10%.”
Then he smiled.
“Good. I was testing you, to make sure your answer was strong. You’re not doing anything wrong now. But your fear that it might go wrong, for you and your clients, is what’s holding you back. That means you’re giving up something you love for Allah. That’s the high road. It’s called wara’, one of the highest forms of taqwa. May Allah reward you for it.”
What Is Wara’ in Islam?
Being the nerd I am, I went home and researched everything I could about wara’.
It comes from the hadith: “Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.” Wara’ means leaving something that is halal out of fear it could harm your akhirah.
Among its fruits:
- Protection from Allah’s punishment
- Tranquility of the heart and mind
- Distance from what doesn’t benefit you
- Allah’s love, because He loves those who are careful with His commands
- Du’as more readily answered
- Truthfulness settling easily in the heart
But there’s a warning attached: wara’ isn’t the first step. Reduce your sins first, then the makruh, then the doubtful, and do it gradually.
(Source: Hadith 11 commentary)
I cried for three days.
One year earlier, I had chosen ihsan, excellence, as my core value. And here it was, leading me somewhere I never expected.
It was the most painful decision I’ve made. But knowing Allah was pleased made it bearable.
And finally, it made sense why I always felt my business was meant for something bigger.
When One Door Closes, Allah Opens Another
I know this isn’t your typical “how I hit $10K months” post. But let’s be honest: you don’t really care how much I made. 😉
Closing that door made room for the one Allah had prepared for me: a project intended purely for my akhirah.
A space to help Muslim women, and myself, become abundant in our thinking and build a legacy that pleases only Allah, whether it’s financial or not. And before the legacy, the skills, mindset, and lifestyle changes it takes to get there.
This is for the women who strive for excellence.
For the women who know the road is hard but worth the pain.
For the women who feel it in their bones that they were made for something bigger.
For the women searching for their breakthrough, and for what Allah created them to do in this world.
Make Ihsan Your Core Value
I wrote this to show you the messy road to my breakthrough. It doesn’t always come with a reward you can see right now. Sometimes the reward is saved for the hereafter.
If you made it this far, my friend, you’re clearly a woman looking for ways to please Allah and go the extra mile.
So I invite you, starting today: make ihsan your core value.
Ihsan in the food you cook. In the home you clean. In the Quran you read. In the salah you pray.
Ihsan doesn’t mean perfection. It means excellence, to the best of your ability.
Our Lord made this deen so beautiful that even the hardest decisions feel doable when the goal is His pleasure.
And ihsan is step one.