Results for MGT4110 (sem 2, 2010, 2011)

Results for MGT4110 (sem 2, 2010, 2011)

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There are 41 people who did the assignment.

- 33 said that they felt happier [this ranged from 'very happier' to 'a little bit happier'], which is about 80%

- 2 students did not really answer the question [5 %]

- 6 students said that they liked the assignment but did not feel any different, which is about 15%

Reflections on happiness

Reflections on happiness

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Reflections on Happiness

I am going over the assignments at the moment for MGT4110. There is a pattern that is obvious, which I would like to share. First, many students describe a process where they become more sad / frustrated as they experience cognitive dissonance (i.e. their behaviour is out of line with their belief). I call this stage the "Leaving your comfort zone stage". Second, many students report that the extra knowledge lead to reducing their doubts and confusions about Islam, which leads them to greater happiness. I call this stage the "Learning stage". Third, that extra knowledge makes it easier to behave in a more Islamic way, which reduces their cognitive dissonance and makes them feel happier. I call this the "Empowerment stage".

A lot of this is confirmed by the theory of happiness and unhappiness that you can find in psychology textbooks. In short,

a) Many people are unhappy because society sets very high expectations that they can never reach (e.g. being the perfect Muslim)

b) They deal with that by setting personal goals that satisfies their desires but contradicts their religious beliefs

c) Coming out of the comfort zone is painful at first because you need to learn how to behave differently and challenge your past

d) Learning involves three aspects
- Learning new things about Islam
- Learning how to learn independently from other people's expectations
- Learning that meeting other people's expectations in regards of religion is
a waste of time. The only thing you can do is improve yourself, one step at a
time, without worrying about expectations from others. You are not learning new things to impress others, you are learning new things because you want to become a better person

e) Once you have learned how to learn, you become empowered - you can achieve both your personal goals and achieve your religious goals

The big difference between the Islamic perspective on happiness and the secular perspective is the role of Islamic knowledge. Only with sufficient Islamic knowledge can people figure out how to balance their lives, live in harmony with God, other people, other animals and respect this planet. What I mean by "Islamic knowledge" is not textbook knowledge but Islamic knowledge that allows to deal with real problems - such as relationships, crises, expectations, .....- in everyday life.

Result from the 1st group

Result from the 1st group

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The first group of Masters of Management (MOM) students finished this project. They were asked to listen to religious talks once a week for 10 weeks. The 21 students submitted their report last week. The data was transcribed into Excel.

77% said that they were happier (the comments ranged from "the process of learning was fun" to "this assignment was inspirational"

9% said that they did not feel happier but their responses were quite positive ("I feel calmer than before")

9% said they did not change

5% (i.e. one person) said that she felt sadder because she realised how far away she felt from Islam

These results gave me some relief. I knew that theoretically the results would be positive but it's always a relief when the data confirms the theory. I would add that I have accumulated a lot of qualitative data and it will take some time before I really understand it. I have, by the way, invited another professor from UIAM to help me analyse the data so that we may develop an objective view of the data. One of the tasks is to represent the data in a format that SPSS can accept. This would allow some non-parametric tests to be done.

The importance of self-reflection

The importance of self-reflection

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The importance of self-reflection

A few days ago, I reviewed the 1st draft of my students' assignments. One thing that became clear is that the capacity for self-reflection is a pre-requisite for self-efficacy and self-efficacy is a pre-requiste to be happy.

Self-reflection means that you can "personalize" what is happening around you. For example, I asked my students to investigate the proper Islamic understanding of al qadar. Most of the assignments ended up being very academic. I then said, "Do it this way. What does qadar mean to you." So one Bosnian student started exlaining qadar in the context of the war in Bosnia. Another student started talking about qadar in the context of the civil war in his country in Africa. If you can't relate Islamic knolwedge to your everyday life, that knowledge is always "depersonnalized." It ends up being how the ulama talk about qadar.

Another example would be understanding the meaning of surah al fatihah. If you are not careful, you end up with Ibn Khathir's understanding of surah al fatihah. But that is depersonalized knowledge. What matters is what surah al fatihah means to YOU as an individual. Unfrotunately, our Muslim brothers and sisetrs have never been encouraged to personalize their knowledge. So their knowledge of Islam remains abstract and goes not influence their lives much.

Ultimately, the worst form of depersonalized knowledge is people's abstract belief in Allah. People end up believing in Allah in the same way that they believe that there is a town called Toronto or that the galaxy is very big. Personalized knowledge is when you are absolutely, totally, 100% clear about the fact that Allah has created YOU, because He loves YOU and He wants YOU to go to Paradise on condition that YOU obey the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the best of your ability. In the process , He will guide YOU, He will help YOU, He will protect YOU. Your prayers became a sincere form of appreciation, a way of saying "Thank You for loving Me, helping Me and guiding Me". It's personal, it's sincere.

In summary, I think that people's ability to be happy depends a lot on their ability of self-reflection.

Background to this project

Background to this project

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I am starting this project with about 180 UIAM undergraduate students that will take my courses. About 130 undergraduate students will take introduction to management (MGT2010) and 50 undergraduate students will take Organizational Behaviour (MGT4110). I will probably have another 30 or 40 postgraduate students who will take Organizational Behaviour (MGT6610). We will start, God willing, on the 15th December 2010. I will ask my students to listen to at least 1 religious talk every week. At the end of each session, I will ask them to assess whether they feel happier or less happy than before.

Before they start listening to these talks, they will receive a detailed (6 pages) hand out which includes the why of the project, the how of the project and a (short) literature review on the notion of happiness in the OB literature. My basic premises are:

a) People are happy because they are satisfied with what they have. They do not want more than what they have.
b) The more people know about Islam, the more they will appreciate what God has given them.


In terms of my lit review, I would like to say thank you to Fred Luthans, whose 2011 textbook on OB includes a chapter on "positive psychology". Reading that chapter was one of the catalysts for this project. Anyway, for me, the interesting 'twist' in this project is that I am using Albert Bandura as my theoretical framework. Apart from points a) and b), I am assuming that self-efficacy (i.e. the belief that Islam is an easy religion) and outcome expectancy (i.e. by being a good Muslim, I will be happy) are very important in determining whether somebody tries to improve himself or herself as a Muslim and - ultimately - becomes happy or not.

Readers may wonder. What will be the outcome of this project? Frankly, I am not quite sure. I suspect that one semester is too short to make a significant difference to their long-term level of happiness. However, I have learned one thing about doing research over the years. Often, the best thing to do is simply try it out. After the first batch of students have handed their report, I can get a better feel on the whole matter and how to progress.