What Muslims MISUNDERSTAND About Wealth and Success | Omar DaCosta-Shahid

For most Muslims, faith sits on one side and work sits on the other. In this OnePath Podcast, Omar DaCosta-Shahid argues that the separation is a recent invention, and that asking whether your income is halal is only the beginning of the question. If more than half of our waking life is spent working, what does it mean to make that work an act of worship? We explore why the ethical order of no harm first, then benefit, then profit, is the exact reverse of how most businesses operate, what the classical Islamic literature on trade and earning actually says, whether behaving ethically really costs you money, and how the Prophetic model of trade followed by withdrawal applies to a life of relentless deadlines. The conversation also turns to the harder questions. Does wealth change people for the better or the worse? Why do brands stay silent on Gaza? And is any of this just a spiritual pacifier for capitalism? Omar DaCosta-Shahid is an entrepreneur, public speaker and educator who specialises in integrating Islamic spiritual principles with modern business practice. He studies classical works on earning and trade with scholars in the UK and Malaysia, and has studied Islamic Finance with Mufti Faraz Adam. Before this he advised Fortune 500 companies on the Muslim market and worked as a journalist for The Guardian, The Times, The Independent and the New Statesman, writing on religion and politics. He founded the Muslim Influencer Network in 2017 and now runs Spirituality of Business, a platform built on the premise of business as a path to God. He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 listee and has been named among the UK's most influential Muslims in media. 0:00 Intro 1:35 From Fleet Street to the Muslim Influencer Agency 5:18 Why Spirituality and Business Were Ever Separated 7:54 It Does Not Start and End at Halal Versus Haram 10:22 Milton Friedman and the Motto of Modern Capitalism 12:47 Does Being Ethical Cost You Profit? 16:25 The Metaphysical Hierarchy of Professions 19:49 What