Assalamu alaikum everyone
ok basically ive just sat infront of my computer watching an ummah films video and writing up what Ali was saying (can someone please check for mistakes? Jazakallah)
and here it is:

Bismilahirrahmanirraheem
The Fisibilillah Discount

Why is it just because it’s a Muslim product it’s more expensive?
Uuh, I dunno
Example, when was the last time you saw Halal meat cheaper than non Halal meat?
Uuh…
Hey, skip that, when was the last time you saw Halal meat at a competitive price?
Umm…
At a decent price?
(shaking head)
Ok, skip the meat, what about the Islamic products you see at the conferences?
Why are they so expensive?
You would think that because it’s da’wah related, it would be sold at a good price with good quality
But sometimes brother will try and sell it to you at a high price and at cheap quality
What’s up with the hat?
“O brother, it’s from back home”
You know where all the major cooperations make their products:
BACK HOME
So save your excuses bro.
At the price of some of these Islamic products,
It’s like comparing a supermarket to a convenient store
YOKE!!
“Excuse me, how much is this book?”
“Fifty dollars”
(Laughing) “No, seriously!”
“Fifty dollars”
“For a book?”
“Fifty dollars!”
“For a BOOK?! Are you kidding me? Are you KIDDING ME?!”
You know what’s worse than buying a fifty dollar book?
Having a guy walk up next to you and buy the same book for half the price
You know what I’m saying? No seriously, do you know what I’m saying?!
“Excuse me, how much is this book?”
“Fifty dollars”
“For me Habibi, for me, how much is this book for me?”
“Alright, twenty five dollars”
“Shokran habibi, shokran”
Wait wait wait wait! What just happened here?! I just bought the same book, for fifty dollars!
What happened to “Fifty dollars!”
Hello? Where everyone go?
Is it a fifty dollar price and start negotiating price?
How about putting two different price tags on the product?
One for those who have ten minutes to practice their negotiating skills, and one for the rest of us who have like ten minutes to get to the next lecture
You know what I’m saying?
Yeah, I know what your saying
You know what I’m saying?!”
Yeah! I know what your saying!
Right before I started these video blogs, I invented a game called mecca to medina
But it hasn’t always been easy selling the game
Sometimes it feels like I’m in a mid century bizarre
Where everyone thinks everything’s negotiable
I’m selling games here, not used cars!
Unfortunately, sometimes it’s easier selling the game to non Muslims than to Muslims!That’s because when a non Muslim wants to buy the game, they say, “Hey , I like the game, I want to buy it!”
But when Muslims want to buy the game, they’ll say, “I like the game, let’s play let’s make a deal!”
“What is this game?”
It’s called mecca to medina
“Humph! What is game about?”
It’s a game about collecting resources and building trade arounds between the cities
“What type of game?”
It’s actually really fun: It’s a negotiating game
“I take special discount ”
You misunderstood. This is not a negotiating game, this (mecca to medina) is a negotiating game
“How much is game? How much is game?”
It’s normally twenty five dollars but at this conference we’re selling it for twenty dollars
“Ok, I buy half price”
Sorry bro but-
“You know, I am Muslim”
People have this idea that because their Muslim their entitled to some kind of special discount, like a senior citizen in a lunch bouffet
“Ok, ok, Fisibilillah brother, fisibilillah ”
Now he’s throwing the fisibilillah at me. Fisibilillah means for the sake of Allah, but in this situation, this guy’s trying to get free stuff, FREE STUFF!”
Now if your poor, and you don’t have the means of buying the game, and you really like the game, I’ll give you the game for free.
But some Muslims take advantage of the generosity of their brothers, and they try and get free stuff out of it.
YOKE!
But bro you have two big bags of gifts in your hands and your swinging brand new BMW keys on your key chain!
COME ON MAN!
So let me think about it, NO!
This is the part he walks away and then slowly turns around to make eye contact with me.
I guess he’s expecting me to say: “O no brother, come back, come back, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, no no no no”
But I don’t
Instead I just smile and wave
Usually when I end up dealing with people like this, they end up coming back and buying the game later anyway
As a Muslim business man, I try to sell good quality products and at a fair price
If you have a good product and at a fair price,
People will buy it
Both Muslims and non Muslims buy the game and they enjoy it
Alhamdulillah
You see, the whole “O brother, please give me a discount” thing, is nothing new
The thing that really gets to me is that they try to take advantage of you just because just because you’re a Muslim brother
And I see it happen so many times
Especially when it comes down to a service, which requires labour
The brother that normally charges $1000 for the service, you ask him to it for 500 bux
Then you tell him that you don’t have enough money so you have pay in payments
So you give him the 1st month’s payment, of $100
Unfortunately for him, your first month is also your last month of payments
Because you don’t stick with your agreement to pay him back monthly
“O I have bills!”
The guy has bills too!
Months go by and he’s completed all the work for you and he’s only got 100 bux
Other things come up in your life and your like “O, he’s my Muslim brother, he’ll understand, I’ll pay him back later”
Hello, the poor guy has bills too!
1000 bux, you cut it down to 500. 500 you cut it down to 100. The $100 is the 1st payment, the last payment
He doesn’t receive more money
“O, come do business with me!”
Hey I do business with you no more man!

This doesn’t happen once, it happens all the time
The funny thing is that they don’t pull the same stuff with non Muslims
They wouldn’t negotiate the price, they would just pay them a $1000 up front
And it’s a done deal
Don’t think you’re off the hook just because you ask for Allah (sbt)’s forgiveness
Because if you do someone wrong,
You have to ask for their’ forgiveness too
Otherwise they can hold you accountable on the day of judgement
Often, when I buy products from Muslims, I shy away from negotiating
Because I want to support the people who are doing things the right way
Be that a good service or a good product
You see, we can’t sit here and complain about the lack of Islamic products out there,
If we don’t support the ones who are making them for us
We don’t negotiate with the cashier at the supermarket,
So why do you think we can negotiate with our brothers and sisters in Islam
Finally, since we’re talking about business, let me throw this one out:
In Islam, you’re supposed to pay your worker before your sweat dries
Which basically means pay them ASAP…As Soon As Possible!
Some people don’t get it though
“Ali just finished his job here, should I pay him?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah hold on, hold on… No no no! He is a good practicing brother. We’ll pay him later… Yeah, uh, go ahead, what? Hehehehe”
JOKE!
We’re supposed to be examples here
Why is it that we throw Islam out the window when it comes to business?
Is it the fitnah of money?
Money’s nothing more than a trial
A test
Business is something that causes interaction with people from different backgrounds.
No matter what religion they come from
And an honest businessman is someone who stands out
As Muslims we want to stand out by being the best of character
By being the best of business people
The Prophet’s (s.a.w.) character really stood out, especially when he dealt with business
Let me remind you, the way he dealt with Khadijah’s business transactions, made him stand out
She asked him to marry her
Islam teaches us to be the best of business people
By dealing honestly and justly
By following Qur’an and Sunnah in everything we do, including business
As a reminder to everyone, our rizq is set
So you won’t get one more penny from doing things unislamically
Like all the reminder videos, I speak to myself before I speak to anyone else
This is Ali reminding you just in case you forgot
This is Ali reminding you just in case you forgot