Muslim Employment Guide

The Muslim community has seen a heavy increase in racial and religious discrimination in the United States since 9/11. As a result, those of the Islamic faith may have a more challenging time finding a job or a role with a company or organization that shares their same core values. However, resources and job boards are available on the internet to help Muslim job seekers of all skill levels. Throughout this article, you will find examples of job boards along with links that have open positions posted daily. You will also find examples of companies and nonprofit organizations that practice Muslim values in their work or in their mission and vision, as well as resources for unemployed Muslim workers or those looking to make a career transition into a field that better suits their religious beliefs and values.

Vocational Goals as a Muslim

As a practicing Muslim, the ultimate goal of success is reaching Paradise, however that may be. The Quran paints the picture of what success looks like for all Muslims when it says, “Not alike are the dwellers of the Fire and the dwellers of the Paradise. It is the dwellers of Paradise that will be successful,” (Quran 59:20). The Prophet Muhammad also describes success in a more lifetime accurate representation by saying, “Three things follow the dead person to his grave, two of which return and one of which remains with him. His family, money and deeds accompany him, then his family and wealth return, and his deeds stay with him…Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only a deceiving thing,” (Quran 3:185).

The definition of success for a practicing Muslim should be a lifelong practice of these traits:

• Remembering Allah in every act
• Believing in both Paradise and Hellfire
• Establishing prayer as a priority
• Giving to charity
• Calling others to the goodness

Muslim Job Boards

If you are seeking employment with a company or organization that closely matches your religious values, here are some of the best job boards for Muslim job seekers that may provide you with career opportunities and vocations that fit your lifestyle.

Job Boards for Muslim Job Seekers

WorkHalal.com

WorkHalal.com is arguably the best job board for Muslim job seekers. The site provides job listings filtered by classification, department, job type, and location. WorkHalal.com offers resources for posting resumes and direct links to the companies and organizations that are hiring and listing their jobs. This job board was created in 2007 as an ultimate career-finding resource for job seekers looking to work in an Islamic environment. It also allows employers to connect directly with millions of Muslims looking for a career change.

Muslim Women Professionals

Muslim Women Professionals is an organization that promotes empowerment for professional Muslim Women in the U.S. They have a vision to uplift Muslim women across all generations and backgrounds by educating, uplifting, and mobilizing a global network. They feature a job board for Muslim women with career options across the country.

Indeed

Indeed.com is one of the country’s largest public job boards and allows for job seekers to directly search for careers and companies that fall under the Muslim category. While their primary focus isn’t directly for Muslims, they do offer the option to search for jobs and companies that reflect your religious expression. Indeed.com also provides plenty of resources for both employers and job seekers, such as resume writing and resume building.

SimplyHired

Like Indeed, SimplyHired is a generalized job board that allows job seekers to search for jobs and companies that reflect their Islamic values. They feature jobs with companies and nonprofit organizations supporting Muslim communities across the country. SimplyHired allows users to easily search and apply for positions, and resources for employers to find qualified candidates.

Companies with Strong Muslim Values

As a Muslim job seeker, you will likely want to find a company that fits the same moral values or vocation as you. In this section, you will find a list of companies and organizations that have strong Islamic values in their mission and exemplify Muslim values in their work.

Inner-City Muslim Action Network

The Inner-City Muslim Action Network is a nonprofit organization based primarily out of Chicago and Atlanta. They define themselves as a community organization that fosters health, wellness, and healing in the inner-city by organizing for social change, cultivating the arts, and operating a holistic health center. The project employs holistic interventions to address a spectrum of structural and systemic injustices by incorporating primary and behavioral health, artistic expression, leadership development, organizing and advocacy, housing, and job training to significantly improve the quality of life for marginalized groups of people. You can view their open positions here, with volunteer positions also available.

Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research

The Yaqeen Institute has quickly become one of the top resources about Islam in the world, thanks to the amazing work from founder Imam Omar Suleiman and his team. Starting out as a think tank and media production company, the Yaqeen Institute works with SEO experts to build back up key Islamic keywords and phrases that have been tainted by online Islamophobia. They also worked with Google to better define what is good content beyond the normal bounds of SEO, which changed Google’s larger SEO policies. You can find their job board here.

LaunchGood

Another nonprofit that is making an impact in Muslim communities around the globe is LaunchGood. LaunchGood is a crowdsourcing organization and platform with about one million users in 145 countries with the goal of raising money for Muslim startups around the world and bringing Musim values to communities across the globe. View their open positions here.

Haute Hijab

Haute Hijab has become one of the most popular modest fashion brands in the world and in the United States, where modest fashion has made somewhat of a comeback. Founded by a Muslim husband and wife team, Haute Hijab is becoming a staple fashion brand for Muslims and has made its way into the sporting world with its athletic line of hijabs. You can visit their careers page here.

How You Can Trust God While Looking for a Job That Aligns with Your Beliefs

When facing a hardship such as unemployment, finding relief in your religion can seem tougher than finding a job. For Muslims, this is considered one of the many tests of hardship you will endure in your lifetime, but you must remember to continually seek ways to purify yourself and nourish your soul. Keeping optimism and belief in Allah during times of hardship is extremely important, so try to see the good in every situation, despite how difficult it may be. He is the one who will bring you from the darkness to the light time and time again. If you maintain this belief and faith, you will be rewarded in your life, and in your passing as you will surely go to Paradise for remaining faithful during these testing times of hardship. Keep looking inwards towards the heart when you have feelings of doubt and despair, as that is what will keep you grounded in your beliefs.

Religious Accommodations and Discrimination Protection

In the United States, you are protected from discrimination as a practicing Muslim. The law protects you from multiple conditions, including firings, pay, job assignments, and specific benefits based on your religion. It is also illegal to harass someone based on their religious beliefs, as well as if they are required to abide by a certain dress code, such as wearing a hijab in the workplace. The law also states that the employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, meaning they might be required to include flexible scheduling for holy days, shift substitution or swaps, job reassignments, and more. Alternatively, an employer does not have to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs if it causes undue hardship to the employer, such as a compromise of workplace safety, a decrease in productivity or efficiency, or requires other employees to do a greater share of a shared workload.

However, it is illegal for the employer to adjust your job assignment based on your religious beliefs or practices.

For example, if you regularly work with customers on a daily basis and the employer assigns you a non-contact role because you’re a Muslim and they fear that a customer or customers will be offended by your beliefs or the way you dress, this is a violation of the law and is considered to be religious discrimination. Unfortunately, Muslims do face an incredible amount of workplace discrimination and harassment based on their religious beliefs and garb.

Muslim Unemployment and Community Resources

Unemployment can be a hardship for anyone, regardless of their religious beliefs. As Muslims, unemployment can be hard, and it can truly test your resilience and belief in the Islamic faith. It can be easy to doubt your beliefs and lump all your negative emotions together, but there are fantastic job search resources and community career services to aid you and help you reach your career goals. Here are some of those resources to help you find employment.

Indeed

Indeed.com is one of the world’s largest job search sites and offers plenty of career resources and training courses based around finding a Muslim career. They offer tips on how to build an excellent resume, job training services, and resources to build up your skills to find your next job. On Indeed, you can find jobs with companies and organizations with Islamic values, positions with a mosque or Islamic community center, and more opportunities matching your criteria!

Muslim Americans in Public Service

Muslim Americans in Public Service, or MAPS, is an umbrella network that has the mission of serving the growing community of public servants and their organizations. Their initiative honors, supports, and magnifies the worthy contributions of Muslim public servants, and aims to nurture and advance the public service leaders of tomorrow. They offer resources for unemployed Muslims as well as employment and financial aid resources.

Muslim Aid USA

Muslim Aid USA is a network of teams and partners around the globe that are focused on assisting and helping other Muslims in their beloved community. They offer many resources, including emergency response, financial aid, civil action, employment assistance, clean water initiatives, and education to practicing Muslims in the United States and around the world.

Muslim Community Network

The Muslim Community Network is a New York based nonprofit organization that provides Muslim-Americans across the country with career development resources, education, and other community resources to keep the Muslim community strong. Their vision is to help facilitate the emergence of a Muslim-American identity that transcends generational, ethnic, gender, racial, and class-based boundaries while building bridges with other faith communities to build peaceful, just, and inclusive communities.