I’ve managed teams. I’ve been part of teams. I’ve seen what leadership looks like when it inspires — and what it looks like when it drains the soul. And what I’ve come to learn, both from experience and from Islamic tradition, is this: you don’t lead people by extracting output. You lead them by honoring…
My Intermittent Fasting Journey: What I’ve Learned, What I Use, and Why I’m Not Stopping
Intermittent fasting started off as a curiosity. I wasn’t overweight by most people’s standards, but I didn’t feel like myself—sluggish, unfocused, and heavier than I wanted to be. I was 35, sitting at 92 kg, and I knew that if I didn’t reset, I’d slip into a health spiral that would only get harder to…
Raising Core Skills for 2030 (One Bedtime Story at a Time)
The other night, as I tucked Khawlah and Thauban into bed, Khawlah asked me a question that made me pause:“Papa, when we’re big, what kind of work will we do?” It’s a simple question, but beneath it lies the real challenge of parenting today:We’re raising children not just for 2030 — we’re raising them for…
Revenue Is Clarity: 14 Hard-Earned Lessons That Shifted How I Build
You can burn weeks sketching the perfect idea on a whiteboard. Run around in circles planning, tweaking, perfecting… and still have nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, someone else out there is winging a cold DM, stumbling through a sales call—and getting paid. What’s the difference? One’s moving. The other’s perfecting. I’ve been on both…
The Night My Kids Met the Librarian Robots
It started like most evenings in our home a bit of noise, a lot of laughter, and that post-supper chaos where everyone has something very important to say right before bedtime. Khawlah, our oldest, had just finished brushing her teeth when she caught me near the doorway. “Papa,” she asked, “how do those smart robots…
The Struggle Is the Point: Why We Need to Think Before We Ask
The goats were fighting again. I was trying to sort out a small programming bug while keeping one eye on the kids outside. Somewhere between chicken feed and line 84 of my code, one of the kids ran up and asked: “Papa, how do I spell ‘galaxy’?” I paused. I knew the answer, obviously. But…
When Boys Were Men – The Forgotten Standard of Youth in Islam
It’s quiet. Subtle. But it’s happening right in front of us. A generation of boys who never really grow up. Men who wear the title but never shoulder the weight. And a society that keeps pushing adulthood further and further into the distance — like some finish line we were never meant to cross. “Relax,…
The Goodly Tree Podcast Has Officially Launched!
Alhamdulillah — it’s finally real. After weeks (months, really) of thought, preparation, and a lot of sitting outside wondering if it would ever happen — The Goodly Tree Podcast is live. It’s here. It’s raw. It’s real. And honestly? It feels like the beginning of something special. 🎧 Listen now: Spotify Apple Podcasts 🎉 We’re…