Ismail Hagi-Aden

Quietly building an empire, one brick at a time. Tweets once in a blue moon.

[Ismail Hagi-Aden @Hagi_Aden]

I couldn't be more honoured to have a father as great as him. He's an incredible human being.

[Jim Watson @JimWatsonOttawa]

Congratulations to Mohamoud Hagi-Aden, Community Connections Coordinator, for retiring after 30 years with the @SEOCHC. Thank you for your many years dedicated to being a community leader & helping people in our our city!

[Ismail Kamdar @IsmailKamdar]

If I had the funding, I would start a Muslim media house dedicated to producing movies, tv shows, animations, and videogames telling our stories, as a way of turning the culture war in our favor.

[Ismail Kamdar @IsmailKamdar]

Once in a Jumah Khutbah on relationship advice, I advised men to take their wives out for dinner once a week as a way to strengthen the relationship.

After the khutbah, some young men approached me and asked me, "Is it wajib or mustahab to take your wife out once a week?"

I responded, "Neither, this is not Fiqh. This is just generic marriage advice."

They looked at me all confused. They could not think outside of Fiqh rulings. This is what Fiqh maximalism is doing to people's brains.

NOT EVERY LITTLE THING NEEDS A FIQH RULING!

[Carmichael Dave @CarmichaelDave]

BREAKING:

The NBA has now traded Paul George for:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Jaylen Brown
Domantas Sabonis
Victor Oladipo
Danilo Gallinari

And

7 1st round picks plus 4 pick swaps

Paul George is the Most Valuable Player in NBA history.

[Jaylen Brown @FCHWPO]

Nobody has won more combined regular season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago

[Islamicize @islamicize]

The Qur'an repeatedly tells the stories of past nations because human beings keep making the same mistakes with better technology.

[Father2aQueen👑 🇪🇸 @Father2AQueen]

Brings to mind that statement of Ibn Al-Qayyim wherein he says,

"ما أغلق الله على عبدٍ بابًا بحكمته، إلَّا فتح له بابين برحمته "

“Allah does not close a door on a slave out of His wisdom except that He opens for him two doors out of His mercy.”

[Russell Brunson @russellbrunson]

"Don’t sell features. Don’t sell benefits.
Sell the identity transformation. Who do they become after buying?"

[Ibrahim Khan @Ibrahimifg]

There's one Arabic word that separates founders who build great companies from founders who build great companies AND keep their families intact. Most have never heard it.

The word is haq. It means a right that is owed.

Mohammed Faris (in the picture with me below from my recent trip to the US) is the one who introduced me to this framing, and it changed how I think about productivity completely.

Before his work, productivity to me meant getting more done. More tasks, more output, more hours. The usual founder nonsense.

His framing is different. It's not about output. It's about whether you're giving each part of your life what it's owed.

Your body has a haq over you.
Your wife has a haq over you.
Your kids have a haq over you.
Your Lord has a haq over you.
Your own soul has a haq over you.

Most founders are delivering on one of these and defaulting on the other four.

And the tricky part is, it doesn't feel like neglect. Revenue is growing. There's real traction. That is genuinely a good thing - but not in isolation.

It can't come at the expense of your children's tarbiyyah or the rights your spouse has over you. That kind of "productivity" is just being busy in one direction and neglectful in every other.

So here's the uncomfortable move: don't decide for yourself whether you're giving everyone their haq.

Go ask them.

And be ready for an honest answer.

[Chris Bakke @ChrisJBakke]

Running a company:

2020: can you survive a pandemic?

2021: still here? we’re going to give all of your competitors $100m series A rounds.

2022: wow, you made it? okay, all engineers cost $600,000/year now.

2023: nice job! okay, SVB failed and we’re going to take away your bank account.

2024: a survivor I see. but can you pivot from ai to crypto to defense tech back to ai-enabled defense tech in a 12 month period to stay relevant?

2025: unfortunately all of your competitors have raised $2b series B rounds. oh and only 500 engineers are relevant and they cost $100m/yr each.

2026: well, well, well. you’re still in business? let’s deploy the thunderclap of godlike LLMs from the heavens so all of your customers can rebuild your app in 2 hours. can you survive?

[Ismail Hagi-Aden @Hagi_Aden]

Couldn’t agree more

[Joe @joebradford]

"What a privilege to be challenged by a life you created on purpose." 👌🏼

[GREG ISENBERG @gregisenberg]

now that we all can build anything with ai

we're going to all have to figure out distribution

the wealthiest people will be marketers over the next 10 years

[Shahid Bolsen @ShahidkBolsen]

AI has made intelligence / knowledge a sucbscription service.
Think that through.
What is the underlying necessity of any market?
For food it is hunger
For medicine it is illness
For the defence industry it is war
So, for the intelligence business it is...

And they do not respond to existing market demand, they create market demand. Create hunger, create illness, create war, create...

[Amjad Masad @amasad]

We’ve raised $400M at a $9B valuation.

Investors include Georgian, G Squared, Prysm, 1789, YC, Coatue, a16z, Craft, and QIA, with strategic investments from Accenture, Databricks, Okta, and Tether. We’re also lucky to have incredible individuals backing us, including Shaq and Jared Leto.

This funding will help us scale our ambition and expand beyond coding into AI systems that center human creativity.

Replit is now used at 85% of the Fortune 500. We have an opportunity to help shape the future of work. One where AI abstracts away the boring parts and humans shine as creative directors.

We’re also investing more globally, particularly in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Innovation can come from anywhere in the world, and we want to help unlock it.

[Dr. Shadee Elmasry @DrShadeeElmasry]

Shaytan + nafs + boredom + loss of focus ...

All combine to transform every good deed into an indulgence or sin.

[Matt Shumer @mattshumer_]

https://t.co/ivXRKXJvQg

[Dr. Omar Suleiman @omarsuleiman]

You both can go to hell. And not “hell” in quotes. Like actual hell.

Sincerely,
A Palestinian

[Jay Kim @luckymong1]

Spurs are 3-0 vs Thunder this season. #wembanyama #ONEPIECE

[Dr. Omar Suleiman @omarsuleiman]

A communal wedding in Gaza. The superpower of the Palestinian people is their refusal to be wiped out. Their existence truly is resistance. Their resilience and refusal to despair isn’t delusion, it’s devotion.

[Safdar Alam @SafdarAlam]

Avoid Riba

This is the ONLY solution

See how long we last before we decide we can’t avoid it and MUST engage in Riba or a loan or credit.

That time is a DIRECT measure of our Taqwa.

Thats why the ONLY solution is to fear Allah swt more

And people HATE being told this

[NBACentral @TheDunkCentral]

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA TONIGHT:

40 POINTS
15 REBOUNDS
3 BLOCKS
77.4% TS%

THE LEAGUE IS REALLY IN TROUBLE