By: Tamim Abu Daqqa<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the late 1990s, I was working within a consortium of two engineering companies\u2014one of the largest engineering firms in Jordan and the other a globally renowned American corporation. These collaborations typically handled major water engineering projects, usually supported by USAID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This consortium included Jordanian engineers alongside senior experts and engineers, mostly from the United States. The project manager was a British engineer named Robert, who came from the UK branch of the American firm. I was responsible for a specific section of the project, managing a team of junior engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frankly, I didn\u2019t find Robert particularly outstanding or brilliant in engineering to justify his managerial role. Later, I realized that American companies often appoint British or Irish managers not due to competence, but because they\u2019re more cost-effective than Americans. Robert seemed to operate with a strange mindset, perhaps a remnant of British colonial mentality. He appeared intent on sowing division within the team, ensuring no one developed loyalty to any superior. He would incite my engineers\u2014both men and women\u2014against me, aiming to embarrass me, and put me in trouble, particularly during deliverables. He made them feel like he was on their side, validated their complaints, and even added his own criticisms. This emboldened them and increased their defiance. Simply put, he wasn\u2019t focused on productivity or fostering a healthy work environment\u2014he just wanted to maintain control, believing he was pulling all the strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was well aware of these actions, and so were the rest of the staff. Yet, I didn\u2019t confront him, not even in private meetings. Some even thought I was oblivious to the schemes. One day, a concerned female engineer approached me (I later became close friends with her family, and she eventually became an Ahmadi Muslim). She warned me: \u201cBe careful. Everyone sees how they\u2019re conspiring against you with Robert and feels sorry for you.\u201d I replied, \u201cI know. But I place my trust in Allah and leave the matter to Him. I\u2019m confident He will support me because of my trust in Him. And I quoted: \u2018Indeed, whoever fears Allah and is patient \u2013 then indeed, Allah does not allow to be lost the reward of those who do good.’ “<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the worst that can happen?\u201d I continued. \u201cThat I lose my job? My provision is in Allah\u2019s hands\u2014He is the best of providers. I always see such schemes as opportunities to earn divine support, provided I act in a way that pleases Him. In times like these, I delegate my affairs to Allah, Who is the Best of Planners. If I try to handle it myself, I might win once and lose the next. But if I remain patient, then surely the outcome is for the righteous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after, I received a job offer from another American company\u2014better conditions, double the salary. I praised Allah, accepted the offer, and submitted my resignation, planning to serve the one-month notice period as per labor law. When the resignation reached Robert, he panicked. I managed a critical section, and it wouldn\u2019t be easy to replace me without a proper handover or training period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was at the printing office collecting design prints when Robert spotted me behind the glass, waving the resignation letter. \u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d he asked. I replied calmly, \u201cI\u2019ll come to your office after I\u2019m done here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I visited him, he asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s the problem?\u201d
I said, \u201cI\u2019ve received a better offer, and honestly, I wasn\u2019t comfortable with the work environment.\u201d
He pressed, \u201cWhy?\u201d
I replied, \u201cBecause, unfortunately, you contributed most to making it uncomfortable. Instead of facilitating my work and encouraging the engineers to cooperate, you listened to their complaints, sided with them, which put me under pressure as their supervisor. It seems your management style follows the \u2018divide and rule\u2019 policy, which you believe brought Britain its former glory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He responded, \u201cI listened to them only because I didn\u2019t want them taking their complaints to the Americans\u2014they\u2019re emotional and easily swayed.\u201d
I replied, \u201cThere was a better approach: just instruct them to cooperate. That would\u2019ve been best for all. Instead, you spoiled them.\u201d
He said, \u201cI know they\u2019re manipulative. I didn\u2019t believe their words, but I feared if I didn\u2019t listen, others would. Still, if you want, I can fire any of them now!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I answered, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t want anyone fired.\u201d
Then he said, \u201cYou always told me that Earth turns (meaning that we may meet again and need to work together somehow). So, I hope you\u2019ll reconsider your resignation. We can fix things.\u201d
I replied, \u201cI\u2019m heading to Aqaba (A port city 350kms from Amman the Capital) tomorrow for a week for our project. When I return, we can talk. But remember, my new offer is double the salary, and I\u2019ve been asking for a raise for months without results. Maybe we can reach a solution after I\u2019m back. Let\u2019s pause here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I returned from Aqaba, I found a letter on my desk from the finance and admin department. It thanked me for my service, confirmed acceptance of my resignation, and invited me to settle my dues once the notice period ended. I thought to myself, \u201cSo, he made his decision. That\u2019s fine\u2014I won\u2019t be late for my new job.\u201d I didn\u2019t follow up with Robert and continued my remaining three weeks as planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few days later, Robert\u2019s secretary entered my office. Her face showed signs of emotion and tension. She politely asked to close the door. I agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had barely spoken to her before\u2014just brief greetings. Honestly, I even felt shy around her; she was elegant and beautiful, and not particularly conservative in dress, but she wasn\u2019t vulgar either. She was a competent, professional executive assistant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She began: \u201cFirst, I want you to know that I value integrity. I\u2019ve worked in many companies and never breached confidentiality. But I\u2019ll be resigning soon, so this won\u2019t be a breach. I need to tell you something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I appreciated her ethical foresight\u2014how she anticipated that I wouldn\u2019t want her to betray her position, even if it benefited me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She continued: \u201cA few days ago, I was with Robert, as I usually read Arabic documents to him. I told him this was a letter from HR confirming your resignation. As soon as I said it, he exploded with rage, grabbed the letter, and rushed to the department. He stayed there for a while and came back visibly upset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I asked, \u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She explained: \u201cHe had forwarded your resignation to HR with a note saying \u2018FYI\u2019. They interpreted it as acceptance and issued the confirmation letter. He stormed in to argue, claiming he hadn\u2019t accepted it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I said, \u201cGlory be to God! How He made Robert write with his own hand what protected me and preserved my rights\u2014foil to his scheming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added, \u201cRobert is cunning\u2014perhaps the most cunning manager I\u2019ve worked with. We all saw how they conspired against you and felt sorry. But it seems God has taken revenge on your behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thanked her and asked, \u201cSo, what will you do next?\u201d
She replied, \u201cI\u2019m done with this kind of job. I\u2019m resigning to stay home.\u201d Then she quoted: \u2018And stay in your homes.\u2019 (Quran 33:33)
\u201cI don\u2019t need this life or this kind of work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thanked Allah for the entire episode\u2014how He fulfilled His promise and granted me victory in His own extraordinary way because I placed my trust in Him. I was even more grateful that this woman\u2014whom I had never lectured\u2014believed so deeply in professional integrity, enough to resign before revealing to me the incident. And I praised God that she independently came to believe that a woman\u2019s true dignity can be in her home\u2014not that women shouldn\u2019t work, but that work shouldn\u2019t come at the expense of family or moral values. True success for a woman isn\u2019t necessarily in her career advancement, but in being a loving wife and nurturing mother\u2014creating a home filled with love and peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few days later, she indeed left her job before I did. I haven\u2019t seen her since and don\u2019t know where she is now, but I pray that she found peace and dignity in her home, won Allah\u2019s pleasure, and lives a calm, fulfilling life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By: Tamim Abu Daqqa In the late 1990s, I was working within a consortium of two engineering companies\u2014one of the largest engineering firms in Jordan and the other a globally … <\/i>Continue reading …<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1017,"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions\/1017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunsitejo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}