Insufficient commercial work meant that he had to find a paid work. He was employed at the Directorate of General Municipalities in Baghdad, where he worked as an urban planner and architect. His wife worked as a secondary school teacher during these years.[17] By the 1960s, however, he began to receive important commissions and by the 1970s, his Bahrain office was thriving.[18] He continued to exhibit a preoccupation with regional architectural issues - local built environment, architectural heritage, folklore and local craftsmanship.[19] For this design focus, he was often known as "the Islamic architect."[20]