The Ihsan Agile Facilitator (IAF)

Embedding Ethical Consciousness into Everyday Delivery

The Ihsan Agile Facilitator (IAF) is a companion-coach who embeds iḥsān (excellence with God-consciousness) into Agile practices, ensuring teams act with sincerity (ikhlāṣ), justice (ʿadl), and stewardship (amānah) in their daily work.

The IAF bridges the implementation gap, the disconnect between declaring "we build with Islamic values" and actually living those values when the sprint is behind schedule, stakeholders are pushing hard, and the team is debating whether to cut corners.

What is the Ihsan Agile Facilitator (IAF)?

1. Complementary, Not Replacement
The IAF doesn't replace existing Agile roles like Scrum Master or Product Owner. It overlays or complements these roles, adding an ethical dimension to ceremonies you already practice.

2. Lightweight & Practical
Ihsan Agile practices add 2-10 minutes to existing ceremonies—not hours. A Niyyah check-in takes 2-3 minutes. Muhāsabah (ethical reflection) adds 5-10 minutes to retrospectives. This prevents ethical debt without creating bureaucracy.

3. Values-Driven
The IAF helps teams operationalise the Three Pillars (Niyyah, Iḥsān, Maslahah) and Five Core Principles (Taqwā, Stewardship, Shūrā, Service & Justice, Tazkiyah) in daily workflows—not as aspirational statements, but as explicit practices.

4. Framework-Agnostic
Whether your team uses Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or Scrumban, the IAF role adapts to embed Islamic values into your existing ways of working.

Four Key Characteristics

The IAF helps teams embody three foundational dimensions of ethical, God-conscious work:

1. Niyyah (Intention)

Clarify the purpose and higher aim of every sprint, flow, or initiative.

Work begins with conscious intention directed towards Allah and service to His creation. As the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught: "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended." (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1)

In Practice: Every planning cycle begins with a Niyyah check-in: "Why are we building this? Who benefits? How does this serve a higher purpose?"

2. Ihsān (Excellence with God-consciousness)

Strive for beauty, quality, and meaningful impact—as though Allah sees every detail.

"To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you." (Sahih al-Bukhari 50)

In Practice: Definition of Done includes justice, transparency, and stewardship, not just functionality. Retrospectives examine ethical and spiritual growth, not just process improvements.

3. Maslasah (Public Good)

Orient all work towards genuine benefit—service that uplifts people and communities.

Maṣlaḥah is a core concept in Islamic legal theory (maqāṣid al-sharīʿah), the principle that actions should serve the welfare and benefit of people. In Ihsan Agile, maslahah becomes a qibla: does this work create genuine benefit?

In Practice: Backlog prioritisation considers genuine benefit, not just business value. Stakeholder Barakah Reviews assess: "Did this create uplift? Was it just? What harms need addressing?"

The Three Pillars of Ihsan Agile

The IAF has five core responsibilities that embed ethics into routine workflows:

1. Facilitate Niyyah (Intention) Check-ins

When: Beginning of planning cycles
Time: 2-3 minutes

The IAF guides a brief reflection: Not just "What are we building?" but "Why are we building this? Who benefits? Who might be harmed? How does this serve maslahah?"

Output: One line of intention captured alongside the Sprint Goal.

Example: "Building this accessibility feature to ensure blind users can access zakat calculation with dignity."

2. Transform Retrospectives into Muhāsabah Sessions

When: Sprint Retrospectives, periodic reviews
Time: Add 5-10 minutes of ethical reflection

The IAF anchors ethical self-reflection before discussing process improvements:

"Where did we act with ihsan? Where did we fall short?"
"Where did pressure cause us to compromise values?"
"What habit should we start or stop?"

This is not extra work. This IS the work—developing teams that can recognise and respond to ethical dimensions.

3. Ensure Definition of Done Includes Justice and Stewardship

When: Defined during team formation; reviewed in retrospectives; applied when marking work Done

The IAF helps teams expand quality criteria beyond functional correctness:

Sample Ethical Criteria:

Transparent and truthful to users/stakeholders
No foreseeable harm; mitigations documented
Stewardship respected (sustainable pace, waste reduced)
Privacy honoured; no unnecessary data collection
Accessible to users with disabilities
Shariah compliance reviewed (for financial products)
Impact on vulnerable groups assessed

4. Conduct Stakeholder Barakah Reviews

When: Sprint Review, after releases

The IAF facilitates assessment with stakeholders:

Did this create genuine benefit? For whom specifically?
Was this just and fair?
What unintended harms should we address?
What should we measure next to learn if we're serving maslahah?

5. Support Shūrā (Consultative Decision-Making)

When: Major decisions, Sprint Planning, Replenishment, Retrospectives

The IAF ensures decisions include affected voices:

Whose voices are missing?
Who will be affected but hasn't been consulted?
Create space for dissent and alternative perspectives

Core Responsibilities of the IAF

Target Audience

You should consider becoming an IAF if you are:

Scrum Masters, Product Owners, or Agile Coaches in Muslim-led organisations seeking to align delivery with Islamic values
Team members in Islamic fintech, halal tech, or Muslim software development teams
Leaders in Islamic charities, NGOs, or social ventures using Agile for campaigns or service delivery
Professionals in mission-driven Muslim enterprises who want daily work to reflect maqāṣid al-sharīʿah (higher objectives of Islamic law)

No prior Agile certification required — though familiarity with Agile practices (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) is beneficial.

You don't need to be a scholar. You need:

Grounding in Islamic ethics (the Five Principles)
Familiarity with Qur'anic values
Ability to ask good questions with humility
Respect from the team
Commitment to embedding values in daily work

Who Should Become an IAF

Six Core Competencies You'll Develop:

1. Facilitating Niyyah-Setting and Values-Based Planning
Learn to guide teams in clarifying higher purpose beyond deliverables—asking "Why?" and "Who benefits?" in ways that create genuine reflection without feeling forced.

2. Guiding Ethical Reflection (Muhāsabah)
Master the art of creating psychological safety for teams to examine where they embodied ihsan and where they fell short—without blame, focusing on habits and patterns.

3. Designing and Embedding Justice/Stewardship Checks
Develop Definition of Done criteria and board policies that make ethical considerations visible and actionable—preventing them from becoming mere aspirations.

4. Facilitating Shūrā and Stakeholder Engagement
Learn techniques for genuine consultation (not consensus or rubber-stamp approval)—ensuring affected voices are heard and creating space for dissent.

5. Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Product and Technical Decisions
Build capacity to recognise ethical dimensions in decisions that don't look like "Shariah decisions"—dark patterns, technical debt, accessibility, data privacy—and create space for teams to address them.

6. Coaching Sustainable Pace and Waste Reduction as Amānah
Help teams see WIP limits, sustainable pace, and waste reduction not just as efficiency practices but as acts of stewardship (amānah) before Allah.

Learning Path & Competencies

Training Approach

Our Training Combines

Qur'anic and Prophetic Foundations: Understanding the theological and ethical basis for each practice
Hands-On Facilitation Exercises: Practicing Niyyah check-ins, Muhāsabah sessions, Barakah Reviews
Real-World Application: Adapting practices to your specific Agile context (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, Scrumban)
Reflection-Based Learning: Your own journey of tazkiyah (continuous growth) as you help teams grow

Scenario 1: IAF in a Scrum Team (Islamic Fintech)

Context: Team building a Shariah-compliant micro-lending app. Shariah board has approved financial instruments. Team operating like any fintech startup: focused on speed-to-market, conversion metrics, user acquisition.

Without IAF, product decisions default to:

UI makes declining offers difficult (large "Accept", small "Decline")
Push notifications timed for financial stress
Generous affordability algorithm prioritising approval rates
No educational content

None of this violates Shariah narrowly. But does it embody ihsan? Serve maslahah? Is it just?

With IAF - Sprint Planning Niyyah Check-in:

"Who benefits? Who might be harmed? How do we know?"

Team realises: If these were our family members, would we want them using this as designed?

Team then:

Adds clearer explanations in plain language
Makes declining as easy as accepting
Builds genuine affordability checks that sometimes say "you should borrow less"
Redesigns notifications to inform, not manipulate
Adds educational content about financial planning

Result: Takes two extra sprints. Velocity drops temporarily. But the product actively expresses Islamic values—halal in spirit, not just letter. Team culture shifts—they start asking these questions themselves.

Scenario 2: IAF in a Kanban Team (Islamic Charity)

Context: Islamic charity running service delivery using Kanban. Team coordinating volunteer efforts to distribute food parcels and educational materials.

IAF Role focuses on areas like:

Board & Policies:

Co-designs a visible Purpose/Niyyah policy on the board: "Serving Allah by serving those in need with dignity and justice"
Adds ethical pull criteria: Before moving a card to "Done," check: "Does this preserve dignity? Have we consulted affected communities?"
Sets WIP limits that respect volunteer capacity (mīzān - balance)
Creates "Duty of Care" class of service for vulnerable populations

Replenishment Meeting:

Begins with brief Niyyah (2 minutes): "Why does this service matter to Allah and His creation?"
As team pulls work: "Does this serve genuine need? Do we have capacity to do this with Iḥsān?"

Operations Review:

Includes Stakeholder Barakah Review: Invites beneficiaries to share whether services created uplift
Team learns food parcels were appreciated but educational materials didn't match literacy levels
Policy updated: "Consult with educators and beneficiaries before creating educational content"

Result: Services become more responsive to genuine needs. Volunteers report greater sense of purpose. Beneficiaries feel heard and respected.

How the IAF Works in Practice

Ihsan Agile is a developing framework.

The Core Principles are grounded in the Qur'an and Sunnah. The practices are designed based on consultancy experience. But we have not yet piloted the IAF role comprehensively in live organisations.

This is where we need you.

This is an Invitation, Not a Transaction

We're seeking early adopter organisations willing to pilot the Ihsan Agile Facilitator role as partners in participatory development—helping us refine the framework through real-world practice.

Who We're Looking For

Ideal pilot organisations:

Islamic fintech startups building products for Muslim communities
Muslim software development teams within larger organisations
Islamic charities and NGOs using Agile for campaigns or service delivery
Muslim tech companies committed to values-based development
Community organisations managing projects with volunteer teams

What's Included in the Pilot

Training & Support: Guidance on implementing the IAF role, adapting practices to your context
Ihsan Agile Guide Access: Complete Version 1.0 Guide and all framework materials
Ongoing Consultation: Regular check-ins to support your journey and address challenges
Contribution to Practice: Your experience will help build the body of knowledge for Muslim tech and Islamic enterprise
Founding IAF Recognition: Pilot participants will be automatically recognised as founding Certified Ihsan Agile Facilitators (CIAF) when the formal certification launches
Community of Practice: Connection to other pilot organisations for shared learning

What We're Asking

2-3 sprint cycles minimum (typically 4-6 weeks) to give the approach a fair test
Openness to having conversations about values and ethics become explicit in your workflow
Feedback to help us refine the framework—both what works and what doesn't
Permission to document lessons learned (anonymised) to improve Ihsan Agile for the ummah

The Pilot Program: Join Us in Participatory Development

Express Interest in Piloting the IAF Role

If you're part of a Muslim-led organisation committed to embedding Islamic values into daily delivery, we'd love to hear from you.

Email us at: getinvolved@ihsanagile.org

Include:

Brief description of your organisation
What you build/deliver and for whom
Current team size and Agile method (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, etc.)
Why Ihsan Agile resonates with you
What you hope to gain from piloting

Ihsan Agile is currently in its pilot phase. The framework will eventually be transitioned to independent nonprofit stewardship to ensure it serves the ummah as a public good.

Professional certification programs for roles like the IAF (a Certified Ihsan Agile Facilitator) will be introduced in future to sustain ongoing development while keeping the core framework free and accessible.