Trusting Allah for Business Success with Zahra from Practical Muslim
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In a recent episode of the Muslim Business Network podcast, I had the honor of interviewing Zahra Aljabri, a spiritual coach and co-founder of Practical Muslim.
Zahra works with Muslims to help them feel secure in their identity, confident in themselves, and deeply rooted in the belief that they have Allah’s support. She also helps them become comfortable being visible and seen in their work and purpose.
What struck me most about Zahra is that her coaching didn’t come from theory, it came from her own personal experience when she first started her business.
Zahra is an attorney by training. After working as a lawyer, she transitioned into entrepreneurship and started a modest fashion e-commerce brand. That experience, she says, became a mirror she couldn’t avoid.
“Starting a business,” Zahra shared, “is the intense spiritual training ground.”
As she tried to grow the business, pursue VC funding, and chase big media features like the New York Times, all of her “shadows” showed up—her insecurities, fears, doubts, and a loud case of imposter syndrome.
Eventually, she made a powerful du’a: “Please Allah, expose to me what is the difference between me and them.”
Why were others succeeding while she felt blocked?
Allah answered that du’a by taking her on a spiritual journey that revealed a hard truth: the core issue wasn’t strategy, branding, or even skill. The barrier was belief.
“I lacked faith,” she said. “I lacked belief in myself and belief in Allah’s support.”
Zahra explained how this shows up especially for Muslim women from the global south and women of color. Many of us internalize the belief that we have to overwork just to be considered, that it must be harder for us, and that people are against us. We carry stories like, “Of course it’s hard for a Black woman,” or, “Of course it’s harder as a hijabi.”
But Zahra challenged that “obviously it has to be hard” narrative. Underneath our fear of failure, there’s often a deeper, quieter fear that shows up as thoughts and inner dialogue like: “What if Allah doesn’t want this for me?”
What if you’re reaching for success, and Allah just wanted you to work a simple 9–5 and not “make a fuss”?
Those thoughts are so real—and we laughed together because, yes, those are exactly the whispers that go through our heads.
From there, Zahra explained how many of us were taught Islam in a fear-based, rule-based way. We learned what is halal and haram, what to do and what to avoid, but not necessarily how to feel, nor how to connect to Allah from a place of love, trust, and intimacy. That creates a shakiness in our relationship with Allah.
We start to imagine Allah as a harsh, petty figure who might “punish” us for saying no to an opportunity or for wanting something different. Zahra reminded us that this is NOT who Allah is.
“Allah is there by our side, supporting us, championing us, and wanting us to succeed,” she said.
Building a real connection with Allah makes us more stable, and that stability leads to better, calmer decisions in business and life.
We also explored the impact of white supremacy and capitalism on our ideas of success. Zahra pointed out that even if you’re in a Muslim-majority country or a Black / Brown majority country from the Global South, you’re still influenced by western ideals around money, growth, and productivity. The focus becomes revenue, milestones, and constant growth.
“In our modern society, we worship money,” she said. “In Islam, we worship Allah. Allah is our source and provider.”
She broke down the myth of consistent revenue, the idea that true safety comes from 5K or 10K “consistent months.” Even big corporations don’t have perfectly consistent income quarter after quarter. So why do we demand that of ourselves as small business owners and then panic when it’s not perfectly predictable?
Real security, Zahra reminded us, can only come from Allah. “Nothing in this dunya is guaranteed, not real estate, not investments, not business, not income. When we understand that, we can operate our businesses from a calmer place,” said Zahrah.
“I’m running this business because I have a gift, a service, a product that is valuable to others. Allah placed this desire in my heart. My job is to give and trust the exchange.”
Another important theme we discussed was being human in a system that wants us to be robots.
Capitalism expects us to operate the same way every day—no grief, no hormones, no down days, always “on.” Islam, on the other hand, is built around cycles: the lunar calendar, Ramadan, our menstrual cycles, times of rest and times of worship.
“You’re allowed to be human,” Zahra said. “You can feel good and then feel bad. Your iman can be high and low. That doesn’t make you a bad Muslim.”
Finally, we talked about visibility and why so many Muslim women struggle to show up online. Zahra explained that we become most insecure when all of our attention is on ourselves, how we look, how we sound, whether we’re “doing it right.” The shift she teaches is to focus instead on the woman you’re serving.
When you imagine the sister who’s struggling, overwhelmed, and in need of what you have to share, it becomes easier to speak. You’re no longer obsessing over how you’re perceived; you’re thinking, “What does she need to hear from me so she can get up again?”
Zahra now guides women through this kind of inner transformation inside her business, Practical Muslim, and her flagship year-long coaching program, Limitless Life, which she co-facilitates with her husband. Together, they help women rebuild identity, confidence, and visibility through a deeper connection with Allah.
If you’re a Muslim woman in business who feels tired of the hustle, anxious about money, or unsure if you’re “allowed” to want more, make sure you listen to this entire podcast episode.
Connect With Zahrah:
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