There is a simple principle that can guide us in our transactions and relationships to bring goodness to everyone involved. I’ve found, at the very least, it brings peace to my mind. But it also helps bring the kind of work associates into my life who I would choose as friends. It makes my life feel more meaningful. It is said to bring blessings. It is the principle of barakah.
In Islam, barakah is a divine force that can be present in objects, people, transactions, and relationships in the material world. It brings prosperity, protection, and happiness. It embodies the property of being blessed and bringing blessing to everyone involved.
In a business transaction or a relationship, for example, the divine force of barakah will only be present in a transaction or relationship that does good and is kind to all involved. Meat coming from an animal treated cruelly will not carry barakah to the eater. Oil extracted from land won by war cannot carry barakah.
The principle of barakah is that when we work to ensure that our transactions are good for everyone involved, those transactions will ultimately be better for us. Barakah is present and we will be most blessed by a relationship and transaction only when all parties in the relationship give and receive kindness.
Whether or not you believe in divinity or blessings, isn’t that the kind of relationship you’d prefer to participate in? The kind that adheres to the principles of barakah? The kind where you both get and give both security and meaning?
Tell me your thoughts in the comments. Do you have an example of barakah working in your life?
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