Al Salam Alaikum 🌱 

We’ve convinced ourselves that faster equals better.

More successful.

More pleasing to Allah.

Launch faster.

Scale faster.

Grow faster.

Respond faster.

Ship faster.

Pivot faster.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) walked.

He didn’t run.

He took time with people.

He rested.

He reflected.

He moved through the world with hikmah- wisdom, deliberateness, divine timing.

Yet somehow, we’ve decided that this model doesn’t apply to modern business. We’ve got competition! Disruption! Market windows! First-mover advantage!

Translation: We’ve replaced tawakkul with velocity.

What we won’t admit through is that speed is not about efficiency. It’s about control. It’s about the feeling that if we just move fast enough, we can outturn our anxiety about whether any of this actually matters.

💨 The Contradictions of Velocity Worship

Let me show you what your calendar reveals about your real ‘god’:

You say salah is non-negotiable, but you squeeze it in between meetings and work.

You preach about presence, but you’re mentally drafting your next post while sitting with your family.

You claim to seek Allah’s pleasure, but you’re optimizing for dopamine hits from notification badges.

You talk about sustainable business models, but you’re running on unsustainable nervous system.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

But you’re in too much of a rush to be excellent (or a muhsin). You’re settling for fast.

Speed, unchecked, becomes arrogance. It assumes you know exactly where you’re going and that getting there faster is always better. It leaves no room for:

• Divine redirection

• Sacred moments (specific times, not just any time)

• The wisdom that only comes from sitting with difficulty

• The relationships that require you to slow down

• The insights that arrive in stillness, not motion

When we worship speed, we’re essentially telling Allah: “We know the optimal pace for our lives.” May Allah forgive us and have mercy on us.

That’s not hustle. That’s hubris.

The Quran tells us to “hasten” to forgiveness and Jannah- but notice the direction. We’re told to move urgently toward Allah, toward righteousness, toward what lasts.

We’re never told to hasten towards what’s fleeting.

In Surah Al Imran, Allah (SWT) reminds and encourages us to:

💎 Hikmah: The Prophetic Alternative

The Prophet (peace be upon him) demonstrated a completely different relationship with time. His pace was:

Hikmah means moving at the right speed- not the fastest speed. It means asking “Is this the time?” not just “Can I do this faster?”

It means trusting that Allah’s timing is perfect, even when it feels slow by Silicon Valley standards.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said:

The Prophet’s telling us that time is finite and precious. But the answer to finite time is not maximum velocity- it’s maximum intentionality.

You have one life. One shot at pleasing Allah with how you spend your days. And you’re wasting it trying to move at a pace that was never sustainable, toward a destination that was never the point.

Stop running.

Start walking- with purpose, with presence with the confidence that comes from knowing Allah’s timing is perfect.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) didn’t need to rush. He had Allah (SWT).

What are you running from that makes you think you need to?

This week, conduct a ruthless examination of your relationship with speed:

Day 1-2: Track Your Actual Pace:

Document every time you rush, hurry, or choose speed over presence. Include: prayers you hurried through, conversations you cut short, meals you inhaled, decisions you made reactively.

Day 3-4: Identify Speed Triggers:

What makes you accelerate? Fear of missing out? Competition? Anxiety? The need to feel productive? Write them down. Name the real driver.

Day 5-7: Practice Prophetic Pacing

Choose ONE area where you will deliberately slow down: Prayer? Meals? Conversations with family? Work on one project with depth instead of three with speed? Notice what happens when you give something the time it deserves.

💌 I’d Love to Hear From You!

If this reflection sparked something in you, I’d love to hear it. You can reply directly to this email- I read and respond to every message. Share your thoughts on this newsletter and feel free to suggest other topics you’d like me to cover in upcoming weeks! 🌱 

🤲 Closing Dua

“O Allah, we ask You for the good of this day and the good of what comes after it. And we seek refuge in You from the evil of this day and the evil of what comes after it. O Allah, we seek refuge in You from laziness and from senility.”.”

Ameen