"Ya Allah is this what you created me for….?" This is the heartfelt dua that changed the direction of Mohammad Arshad's life. In this blog post, we dive into the incredible life story of the founder of Muslim CEO, Mohammad Arshad. Come with us on this journey as we discover what it takes to be Muslim Entrepreneur.
The Iftar that changed his life
Born and raised in London, Mohammad has lived most of his life there. At the age of 15, he visited Pakistan for an extended period, where he attended a private school. He was confident that he would easily get through the exams. But what happened turned out to be a wake-up call for him. It was then that he realized the importance of education and the importance of achieving his potential. In his words, this was the best thing that happened to him. He failed in all subjects except English and Geography!
At 17 he had to go back to the UK. He had no real qualifications and he was also without his parents. It was a scary time for him and he had to start from scratch.
But Alhamdulillah, he knuckled down and managed to get into University a few years later, where he studied Business.
Life at college and the Iftar party
By this point, Mohammad was cruising through University, having a good time, and studying fairly hard. He was on course to achieve a First Class Honours degree, so he thought life was good and he was on track.
But then, in his final year, in Ramadan, he was invited to an Iftar at the Islamic Society. He wasn't practicing Islam at that point. But one thing he saw changed his life forever.
The brothers hosting the iftar were working tirelessly, serving everyone. He was particularly amazed when he saw a brother with sweat beads dripping down his face; he was carrying huge boxes of chicken under both arms and ensuring everyone was happy and well-fed.
At that point, he remembered feeling like a complete loser as he was there to eat, and other brothers were there to serve. He felt embarrassed and selfish and felt like he had wasted a lot of time up to now. The pain was real.
Something changed within him that day...
He realized that life is too short and that we must live a life of purpose and impact.
So from that day on, he swore that he would dedicate his life to serving others, in sha'Allah.
From that point, he tried to serve others in every spare minute he had outside of his corporate sales job at Xerox.
The heartfelt Dua to Allah
During his time working at Xerox, he was doing well and living the dream for a few years. Big bonuses and promotions. But again, the question of his deeper purpose was niggling away in the back of his mind.
He recalls that moment when one of his colleagues at Xerox kept talking to him about how much money she would make and he phased out. As he phased out of the conversation he made this dua to Allah silently...
"Ya Allah is this what you created me for….?"
Launch of AlMaghrib Institute
Not long after that heartfelt dua, he volunteered for Muslim Youth Helpline, where he would counsel people struggling with things like self-harm, sexual abuse, and suicide for over five years.
He then left to launch AlMaghrib Institute in the UK and was their first Ameer.
A few years later, he was headhunted by Abdurraheem Green to run the dawah charity iERA from launch. Subhan'Allah! It was his dream job!
Check out this interesting conversation between Mohammad Arshad and Abdurraheem Green
However, he had to soon give up his dream job at iERA as he still felt he had a deeper vision and problem that he wanted to solve in the world.
Helping Muslims get ‘Rich with Impact”
Mohammad along with his team built the first program under Muslim CEO. They honed the model for a few years, tweaking it and responding to market changes before building a brand new program in September 2021, fully focused on helping Muslims to get ‘Rich with Impact.” Here is how he explains it on his website.
More about Mohammad Arshad's present life
Mohammad has been married for over ten years now and is the father of two beautiful children.
His family is currently traveling around Turkey.
His life is now dedicated to one core mission: to help Muslims to inspire people, influence change, and impact the world.
He does this in two ways: to build their mindset, confidence, and communication and, secondly, to help them to free up their time and increase their income, which will enable them to have an impact on the world in sha’Allah!
In almost two decades of serving Muslims, he has learned that one of our biggest problems is not having the foundations in place to have an impact. Most, if not all Muslims have aspirations to give back, to contribute to the community, and to a cause greater than themselves.
What holds most people back from following their passions and having an impact on the world are usually the same things. Not having enough free time, or not having the finances to be able to focus on the area of change they are most passionate about.
So he helps to resolve some of these core issues for them, so they can live a life of purpose, and passion and fulfill their potential.
He believes that a lot of times it’s easier for people without previous experience because they don’t have to UNLEARN anything. They just need to jump into action.
Checkout the details of his program on his website muslimceo.com
