OK, so a strange situation came up today and since I don't really know any Muslims in real life that I can take this question to, I hope you get a sense from you guys here what you think about it. And I'll try to keep the story short, but I thank you for reading the whole thing because there a few different important facts.So I was involved in an interview today. And the candidate is Muslim.
And since it's Ramadan of course, I asked the receptionist to remove all the drinks and candies and stuff from the conference room where we were meeting before he came in and I did not bring in my normal coffee or water that I usually carry around. But the other people did and they all of course offered Muhammed (the candidate) a drink or coffee and he politely declined and finally said to everyone that "We" were fasting because it is Ramadan. And by "we" of course he meant me as he pointed over to me. Which made me realize that he thinks I'm Muslim.Now he's an extremely bright person. And extremely enthusiastic. Great schools. Great experience. Just a great candidate for the job. Extremely polite, witty, and just a very, very nice person whom we all liked even on a personal level.And as far as I can tell he is a practicing Muslim. He wears a beard. He was fasting today. He took great care to not look at one of my team who is a woman. He was wearing a suit, but his pants were hemmed above the ankle. Just every indication that he is practicing.Now technically he would not be a direct report to me, but because he would be responsible for a very important part of our development, he would be interacting with me directly a lot.So every Muslim person I know in real life really hates me, including my own family.
So I'm a little nervous about this. Particularly because he asked about the ownership of the company and I can't help but wonder if maybe part of the reason he is so interested in this job is because he thinks he's working for a "Muslim owned" technology company. And he kept saying in the interview that this type of company was a dream for him and that after we come out of stealth mode that he thinks he has a lot of friends that would be so happy to work here. And he was extraordinarily polite and respectful to me and had a wonderful smile when we shook hands as I left. And when asked why he wanted to work here, his first response was the chance to work for me.
And then he said the rest of the team.So we're going to make an offer to him, because he's perfect for the job. But at some point he will find out I'm not Muslim. It's inevitable, even though we don't talk about religion in the office generally. And obviously I don't bring it up. But he's find out eventually. So I'm afraid he will feel betrayed. Or unhappy to be working for an "Apostate owned" company. Or upset that he took the job.
He's too nice a guy and way too experienced to be working in a job that he doesn't like.So what do you guys think? If this happened to you, if you were Muhammed, and you were working in a great technology startup and making good money and all of that. And working with really bright people. And the only problem was instead of working for a Muslim Founder/CTO, you were actually working for an formerly Muslim CTO. How upset would you be? Would you quit?Should I tell him before he takes the job? We will definitely offer the position, but I feel terrible that I'm doing him a disservice in a way. I'm curious what you guys think. And thank you.
samotalis
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