By Imam Numaan Cheema, Zubaida Foundation, Pa

It’s a strange sight: Muslim businesses built on halal food and wholesome spaces now marketing themselves with soundtracks that contain impermissible elements. Scroll through social media, and the contradiction is everywhere. This has been on my mind for some time now, and instead of fading, the trend only seems to be growing. The impression is almost as if a reel can no longer be considered engaging without a soundtrack that our tradition has long warned against.

But let’s speak plainly: why surrender so quickly to an element that generations of scholars across the madhāhib have deemed impermissible^[1]? Why weave it into the very promotions meant to highlight halal food and wholesome gathering spaces? Food is never just about filling the stomach; it is about strengthening the body for worship and orienting the heart toward Allah. If even eating itself carries this higher purpose, then surely the way we present and promote food should also reflect integrity, purity, and obedience rather than compromise.

Some may dismissively say, “It’s just marketing. Music grabs attention and adds emotion.” But that excuse reveals more than it hides. If we really believe that a borrowed soundtrack is more persuasive than obedience to Allah, then the crisis is not in our marketing but in our faith. It means we trust fleeting trends over the Lord who turns hearts. And that is not a business strategy; it is a spiritual bankruptcy disguised as branding.

The question isn’t whether reels without music can go viral. The question is: do we want our success built on likes, or on barakah? Blessing can’t be quantified in views.  It shows up in loyalty, in growth, in sustenance, in unseen ways. Time and again, the examples that endure are those rooted in taqwā, while ventures built on compromise rarely last beyond their moment.  When water was scarce in Madinah, ʿUthmān ra purchased the well of Rumah^[2] from a Jewish merchant who was exploiting high prices, and then dedicated it to Muslims for free (Tirmidhī). The Jewish merchant’s business model was unsustainable because it thrived on compromise and exploitation, while ʿUthmān’s model rooted in taqwā and generosity continues to earn him reward until today. Centuries later, Muslim merchants from Yemen, Oman, and beyond spread Islam to Southeast Asia not through flashiness but through trust, honesty, and morally excelling dealings. Local people noted the Muslims’ refusal to cheat or mix ḥarām in their business, and entire communities embraced Islam because of that integrity.  This is where barakah in business literally became daʿwah.

If Muslim businesses are not setting out to do daʿwah but simply to run profitable ventures, that still doesn’t justify surrendering their identity to trends and algorithms. We understand that a business exists to make money but money earned with compromise is not the same as money earned with barakah. The point isn’t to turn every restaurant or café into a daʿwah center; the point is that even a business run for profit should reflect the values of the community it claims to serve. The strength of our food, our gatherings, and our spaces will never come from background beats designed to entertain fleeting attention spans. It comes from honesty that builds credibility, from trust in Allah rather than in borrowed sounds, and from the courage to run a Muslim business without dressing it in the garments of disobedience.

Clicks fade. Trends vanish. Barakah remains for “The Hereafter is much better and much more lasting”^[3]

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^[1] As for listening to musical entertainment, such as beating with a stick and the like, it is ḥarām and a sin, due to the statement of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “Listening to musical entertainment is a sin, sitting with it is wickedness, and taking pleasure in it is disbelief.” He said this by way of stern warning and emphasis. If one hears it unexpectedly, there is no sin upon him, but he must strive with all effort not to listen to it because it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ put his fingers in his ears. As for reciting the poetry of the Arabs which contains mention of sin, wine, or boys, it is disliked, for it involves mention of indecencies. (Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd), Fatawa Qādi Khan

^[2]  شَهِدتُ الدَّارَ حين أشرَفَ عليهم عُثمانُ رضِيَ اللهُ عنه، فقال: أنشُدُكم باللهِ، هل تَعلَمونَ أنَّ رسولَ اللهِ صلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّم قَدِمَ المدينةَ، وليس بها ماءٌ يُستَعذَبُ غيرُ بِئرِ رُومةَ، فقال: مَن يَشتري بِئرَ رُومةَ، فيَجعَلَ دَلْوَه فيها مع دِلاءِ المُسلِمينَ بخَيرٍ له منها في الجَنَّةِ؟ فاشتَرَيتُها من صُلبِ مالي، فجَعَلتُ دَلْوي فيها مع دِلاءِ المُسلِمينَ، فإنَّهم اليَومَ تَمنَعوني أنْ أشرَبَ منها حتى أشرَبَ من ماءِ البَحرِ؟ قالوا: اللَّهُمَّ نَعم … [إلى آخر الحديث].
الدارقطني ، والترمذي ، والنسائي

^[3] 87:17 – Al-’Ala