Help us fund 10 new episodes for $12.5K for public release on YouTube, this Ramadan 1448H insha'Allah!

💬 "I used to watch these as a kid."

That's the comment we see most under our old Productive Muslim cartoons. Here are a few more, word for word:

• "I USED TO LOVE WATCHING THESE WHEN I WAS A KID."
• "I really wish you guys would make more of these animations."
• "I want this animation back… please?"
• "This is still helpful today, 2025, 15 years later, JazakumAllah khair."
• "Seriously, this is the most single important cartoon I have ever watched."
• "I'm not a Muslim but the red guy in these videos is funny the way he acts."

The children who watched these cartoons in 2010–2012 are now in their twenties and thirties. Many of them are parents. And they're asking us, in the comments, to bring the series back so they can show it to their own kids.

So, insha'Allah, we're bringing them back. And we'd love you to be part of it.

🎬 How it started

In 2009, in the early days of ProductiveMuslim.com, I teamed up with a talented animator to make a series of 45-second cartoons, each with one simple message: pray Fajr on time, don’t turn Ramadan into an eating contest, budget your money. We had no idea these little cartoons would go viral and be watched over 6 million times.

Then life happened. I got busy writing books, the blog grew into a training company focused on professionals and teams, and in 2016 the animations stopped. Honestly, it just didn’t make business sense for us to keep producing them.

But every Ramadan, people still find these videos, and the message we see most often underneath them is some version of: “I grew up watching these. When are you making more?” I wanted to. But I couldn’t commit to the cost.

Earlier this year, an animation studio reached out and offered to produce a brand-new series. I hesitated again because of the cost. But the two directors behind the studio insisted. They told us they had grown up watching Abu Productive and Abu Unproductive, and they wanted to bring them back as much as we did, and offered to support us through this campaign.

SubhanAllah, the kids who watched these cartoons are now old enough to make them!

So we thought: there are so many of you who grew up with these cartoons. Why not ask you to help us bring them back for the next generation?

✅ Why the original animations worked 

Here’s one of the originals. Short, funny, and one habit, nothing more:

• Short. Most episodes were under 60 seconds. Perfect for today's Shorts and Reels, and for a child's attention span.
• One specific message per episode: Each episode focused on one specific habit, or message, e.g. Pray on time.
• Funny. The contrast between Abu Productive vs. Abu Unproductive made kids and adults laugh, and the lessons stick.
• Shareable. They are easily shareable on social media, and can be shown in classrooms and weekend schools.

Across the 25 original episodes still online: 6.65 million views, an average of 266,000 views per episode, with zero paid promotion.

🎨 Meet the studio: Mirkat

Mirkat is an animation studio founded by a husband-and-wife team of Turkish animation directors with over 13 years in the industry. Their own animated films have won awards and recognition at international film festivals, and they produce campaign films for trusted Muslim brands, foundations and institutions.

Both of them grew up watching the Productive Muslim series. They didn't come to us as a vendor pitching a project. They came as two people who want to see the cartoons they loved come back, and they've committed their creativity, experience and expertise to making that happen.

🎭 Familiar characters. The same warmth. New stories.

Abu Productive and Abu Unproductive are back, with the same humor and the same one-habit-at-a-time lessons. What changes is the craft:

• A richer world. The original flat 2D style gains real depth while keeping its hand-drawn feel: painterly brush textures, perspective, atmospheric lighting and detailed environments.

• More expressive characters. Smoother movement and livelier body language, so every joke lands harder.

• Cinematic storytelling. Varied camera angles and cinematic editing to carry both the humor and the heart.

The goal isn't to change what made the old animations special. It's to keep that spirit and bring it to life with a new level of quality.

🎯 What your gift makes possible

1. Milestone 1 · $12,500:  Bring back 10 new episodes, free on YouTube forever.
2. Milestone 2 · $25,000:  Help us develop a full season. At least 30 episodes, some to be released in Ramadan, and some after.
3. Milestone 3 · $50,000 · Launch ProductiveMuslimKids.com. We’ll bring on a children’s learning specialist to create teaching materials and build a platform to teach our concepts to kids.

💰 Where the money goes

We want to be completely transparent. Mirkat's quote is:

1. 10 episodes: €10,000 (about $11,700)
2. 20 episodes: €16,000 (about $18,700)
3. 30 episodes: €21,000 (about $24,600)

Milestones 1 and 2 cover the episodes, plus card processing fees and the cost of delivering your rewards. Everything raised above $25,000, up to $50,000, goes into Milestone 3: the learning specialist and building ProductiveMuslimKids.com.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Will the new episodes be free?
Yes. Every episode will be free to watch on YouTube, forever.

Is my gift zakat-eligible or tax-deductible?
No. This campaign is run by The Productive Muslim Company (Leading Productive Lives LLC), which is not a registered charity. Gifts are not zakat-eligible and not tax-deductible.

Who is making the new episodes?
Mirkat, an award-winning animation studio led by two directors who grew up watching the original series. Mohammed and the Productive Muslim team write and review every episode, so the lessons stay true to the original.

Will Abu Productive and Abu Unproductive be back?
Yes, insha'Allah. The new series is built around the characters you remember.

When will the episodes come out?
Production starts as soon as the campaign closes. We'll share storyboards and behind-the-scenes updates with supporters along the way, and our aim is to have the first Ramadan episodes ready for Ramadan 1448H (early 2027), insha'Allah.

🌙 A reward that doesn't stop

Every one of the original episodes is still teaching someone, every single day, 15 years later. A one-minute cartoon that helps one child fall in love with Salah is a reward that doesn't stop.

Fund an episode. Let's make the cartoons our kids will remember.

Sincerely,

Mohammed Faris
Founder, The Productive Muslim Company