Mental Health Matters

We will do our woman now to become an MLA I'm Calvin lakeisha and FC Latisha What do I use my Robin Allah to superluminova is ready to now hublin me Let them cut off my inaccurate Intel hub ob Shotley Sadr us Li Emory watlow la plata melissani of ko Ali salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Zack Malachy for joining us, and before I start anything, please accept my apology for last week, unless pantalla has always reasons for things to happen and not to happen. So please accept our apology and handler bribe me today on last pantai they made it happen. And insha Allah, may Allah accept from all of us and from all of you hamdu Lillahi Rabbil aalameen

we are still this is the second year of the COVID of the COVID infection or the COVID pandemic where there is a lot of things in our life changed Subhan Allah and Allah spawn tada again in the hole, Hakeem will leave his own knowing he's all wise. He has a reason for what's going on around us. And unfortunately, and it's again for his wisdom and a hikma. It's had a lot of toll and impact and a lot of people, including Muslims, a lot of people went through a very difficult time lost loved one lost their job, they

Yanni experienced difficulties and stresses, and even some were even questioning the faith questioning that why is this happening? So it talking again, about mental illness, or mental health is something as Muslims all over the world, we really need to bring it back and talk about it. Number one, remove the stigma that's unfortunately still there. And number two, look at it from the Islamic point of view that it is there. And unless pantalla taught us about it, and also gave us what to do and how to handle it. And today I have like oh, Blimey, it gives me great pleasure to join to invite and join with me started dounia Sahib. She's joining us actually, I'm sorry, dounia

schreib. She's joining us from Dallas, Texas. I think we met about three or definitely before the pandemic I was giving. I remember I was giving a course. And I think you were there. Yeah. dounia. So some of you may know her very well, in case you don't know her dunia is actually her main focus, which really is something really nice these days to have his combination of both as we were talking before we start doing our alpha. But the focus on Islamic psychology, which is something is becoming a hamdu Lillahi Rabbil aalameen more and more available and people are talking about it. And it's Tomic psychology Meaning what? Islam so as Muslims, my akhira my religion and psychology, meaning

mental illness, she will probably cover so hamdulillahi Rabbil aalameen she's also student of knowledge, which really makes me so happy as you all have you know how passionate I am about woman learning, she finished the one year foundation Institute and now she is in their idemia program and blah blah blah me she was just telling me she came back from just recently from Turkey after she finished certification of a course in Islamic psychology and handed later brought me May Allah accept from her And may Allah subhanaw taala use her use me us us all to the way in every way that pleases Him. Dunya Sara Marie, welcome. Well, I like have a salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh that

an honor and a privilege to be in your presence does echo Hi, Ron, to you and Jen, the Institute for your gracious invitation. Truly, I'm so humbled to be sharing a platform with you. A few years ago we were the only like three women there it was you myself and Dr.

Jeff Jose No, we were the only few women sitting in the corner. At least, it can even affect the most important aspect of our life, which is our relationship with Allah subhanho wa Taala

how well we are psychologically helps determine how we handle everyday stress which is inevitable. A loss of hundreds Alan made it very very clear that this life is a big test and that he sapan hutan agenda feola will test us in different ways. Allah Subhana Allah says in Surah 10 Bukhara while in a blue one condition in middle hovi we'll do a one oxen rally well unfussy. What thermalright or bestiaries sabreen. We will surely there's no doubt about it, test each and every one of you with something of fear hope, which is an emotion and jus hunger. We're Noxon minute and while he will enforce he will summarize and a loss of life and wealth and fruits and give glad tidings to the

patient ones. So Allah subhana wa

Salah did say this world will have stressful things. So our mental health how well we are, psychologically helps determine how we handle this inevitable stress that we're going to face every day, how we problem solve, how we deal with the challenges that we will be facing, how we make decisions. And these decisions have a huge impact on our life and on our athletes. It also affects our ability to cope with the adversity that we face in life. Our mental health influences the way that we look at ourselves, the way that we look at Allah subhanho wa Taala, the way that we look at our lives and the world and other people. And just like our spiritual and physical health, our

mental health is important at every stage of our life. So now, what is mental health, you'll find many different definitions out there. The most common one that I've personally seen used is the World Health Organization's definition. But we won't be using that definition today. Because I believe that definition lacks to address the complexity of human beings and the human life experience, I feel the need to modify and expand it just a bit. And I'd like to share with you a more holistic and comprehensive definition. So mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral and emotional well being. And it's important to note that good mental health might have a slightly

different meaning to each of us, depending on the different factors such as which stage in life or act, or religion, what part of the world we believe we live in, and the culture that we live in, and so on, and so forth. And so panela, I saw some of the messages popping up of people saying salons from Malaysia, people saying salons from the UK. And so people saying salons from North America and South America. And so each and every one of us lives in a different culture in a different region. And so that will affect the definition that we have of mental wellness just a little bit. And so it's generally understood to mean being able to think feel and react in the ways that you need to

when you need to, and it's a state of well being in which one realizes his or hone own potential in all aspects. And for us as Muslims, including spiritually, and to be able to make choices that promote growth and well being. So what's good mental health? good mental health is characterized by a person's ability to fulfill a number of key functions and activities. And these include the ability to learn basic cognitive, cognitive, and social skills, the ability to recognize, express and regulate one's emotions, as well as empathize with others. Good mental health includes flexibility and the ability to cope with life's adversities and events. And to be able to manage

uncertainty and change that happens in life. It also means to successfully adapt to life circumstances. And that doesn't mean that you are always in the state of bliss and happiness. That's a misconception that if you're mentally healthy, you're constantly happy, you're constantly feeling this bliss. And that's not necessarily true. And it doesn't mean that you always every single time make the best choices, or that you never have any bad days or any bad moods, because we all experienced that. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that as we are created as human beings, the children of Adam, each and every one of us will make mistakes, we will make the best

choices. But what did the prophet SAW Selim say at the end, but the best of those who make mistakes are the ones who rectify them. The ones who realize okay, that wasn't the best choice, they turn to Allah subhanho wa Taala and repentance and they try to fix their weights. And so, being mentally healthy does not mean that we don't feel sadness or fear or grief or worry or experienced difficulties. It doesn't mean however, that we're able to cope or find ways to help ourselves cope or reach out for help when we can't ourselves and when we need that help. Right. And it's also includes the ability to form and maintain good relationships with others, to be able for the most

part two work productively and fruitfully meaning that a person's able to work towards accomplishing their goals and in our context as Muslims our wellness, our

Mental Health is related to the ability to actualize our primordial purpose. We were all created to tread a beautiful, meaningful life that's pleasing to our Creator, subhana wa Taala, and one that ultimately leads to our salvation, and eternal bliss, Jenna, which is our final abode. As believers, we understand the temporal nature of this life. And we also understand that we are working towards Jenna towards that eternal bliss, that happiness that we longed for. And so an important component of mental health includes a harmonious relationship between the soul, the heart, the body, and the mind. It's a dynamic state of equal internal equilibrium. And so each and every one of us young and

old, male and female, we all have mental health. And mental health is not only about mental illness or disorders, but that's a small part of a bigger picture. And like to think of mental health as something that's on a continuum, rather than thinking of it in black and white, that you either have it or you don't, we are all on the mental health continuum, moving up and down according to the different factors that come up in life. But it's up to us to take care of our mental health, and to try to get ourselves on that path to mental wellness. And so this notion of personal development and working on oneself, working on our mental health, our spiritual health, our physical health, from an

Islamic perspective is actually very important.

So the first thing we have to realize is that we You and I are so very valuable to Allah subhana wa Tada. And taking care of ourself is imperative. As our beloved Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he taught us that our self has a right upon us. In a very beautiful narration that Imam Bihari Rahim Allah collected in his PSA here,

it's a long narration, it's so beautiful. And it says that one day segmental faricy rhodiola and who he paid a visit to a builder that are the Allahu anhu and salminen fantasy and a builder that were paired by the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to be like brothers. And when a sentimental fantasy for the Allahu anhu he walked into the home he looked and he saw that it was that that I was dead that his wife about the elbow and her was dressed in worn out clothes, she didn't look so you know, happy and so sad man for the long run, who asked why are you in the state? And she said your brother Ivan that that is not interested in the luxuries of this world. And so when it was time to

eat, I was there that offered food to Sandman. rhodiola and home and cinnamon said Oh a builder that eat with me. But then about that, that said, No, no, you eat I'm fasting. man said I'm not going to eat unless you eat with me. And so I will tell you that broke is fast and he ate with Sandman. And then when the nightfall came after salata, Latisha a builder that got up to us. And so salmaan are the one who said to him, No, no go to sleep right now is the time for sleep. And so he slept and then again a little later I will did that got up again to pray and someone said do not sleep. And then when it was the last third of the night salamandra the law and who said to me We'll get to that

let's get up and pray together. And then salamander the law and who said something very important to avoid that that he said in the rugby gallica haka, while in FC gallica haka, Wali, le gallica haka Fatty, kalevi

sapan, Allah, your Lord has a right and a duty upon you. And yourself has a right and a duty upon you. And your family has a right and a duty upon you. So you should give the rights of each of those things that have a right upon you. And so later on we'll get to that saw the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and he said to the prophet SAW Selim, you know, this is what Solomon did to me. I was fasting He told me to break my fast and wanted to stand up and pray. He told me to sleep a little bit.

And then he told me these words and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he looked at Solomon rhodiola and he looked at a builder that rhodiola and who and he said sell man spoke the truth.

That

You have a right upon yourself, right? Allah subhanaw taala wants you to sleep, He created you to sleep, he put that in you as a need. He did not create us like angels, where we have no needs no need to eat and drink and sleep and rest. SubhanAllah so the question is, is my mental health important? And does Allah subhanaw taala care about my mental well being? Well, the answer might surprise you. But I'm going to assure you that cheriya all of Sharia is meant to benefit and protect you and I to benefit and protect humans, all aspects of our lives, our bodies, our minds, our souls, protect us and benefit us physically and emotionally. And so think about it. Allah subhanho wa Taala

prohibits, makes it head on to murder and steal, right? We all know that. But it's also and it's also prohibited to make fun of someone to backbite someone to hurt someone's feelings. You don't believe me? Go read Surah tanhaji rotz read the Tafseer of certain hijab read how Allah Subhana Allah says, and a group of people should not make fun of another group of people. And a person should not back by another person. And then Allah subhanaw taala creates this very, very disgusting negative association to backbiting. backbiting, not physically hurting somebody. But what does Allah say? Allah subhana wa says, Would you like to eat the dead carcass of your brother? And then Allah

answers and says, No, you would detest it, you would find it repulsive. And so chevier is here to to protect us physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Even the profits on the lining and sell them there's so many beautiful narrations we're taught to pay special attention to people's feelings. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam as he said, if you are three people, two of you shouldn't whisper and converse secretly and exclude the third person that's sitting there. Now you might be thinking, why? Why would the prophets Asan teach that? And then he answers it in the narration itself. He sallallahu Sallam says, and for that will hurt the feelings of the person who's being

excluded. Now could you remember a time in your life when you felt excluded, and the pain that you felt when two people were speaking and whispering perhaps in another language that you can't understand? And you're sitting there, and that feeling of rejection, that feeling like I'm not worthy enough to be a part of this group or this conversation? The prophet SAW, Selim is protecting us even from that. So Islam is a holistic religion, our soul, our body, our mind are all important and they require our attention and our care. So you might be thinking, but this my mental health really need me to set out time and work on it. Yes, it does. Spending time working on our mental

health consistently and periodically can drastically improve the quality of one's life. Everyone, younger, old, male or female can benefit from learning how to enhance and protect their mental health. nurturing their mental health can help us combat and even prevent mental health problems from occurring in the future.

But our mental health just like our physical health, and our spiritual health, requires consistent and continued care and attention, right? We pray five times a day, every day, we fast the month of Ramadan, every single year, right? We give our cats every year. This is a continuous thing. Our spiritual health we can't be spiritual help spiritually healthy, if we do something one time, and then don't do it again. And when our mother had a shadow, the law her and her who was the most beloved person to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam as Jada Silva, Allah.

What is the most beloved de to Allah? subhanaw taala. What was the prophets of Allah earliest Allen's answer, he said, the continuous consistent deeds, even if it might be small. And so our mental health needs for us to continually and consistently care and give it our attention. And so there are actually tangible steps that we can take to improve our mental health every single day.

Now one of the first things that we can do is recognize that our current state isn't permanent. And I think that that's really important. where you are in life right now, where you are in your health right now isn't permanent. In sha Allah, each and every one of us can work towards improving ourselves, even if it looks differently for each and every one of us, right, and understand that the foundations of good mental health, by working on your mental health will also help you be more spiritually connected. And it's rewardable. Right? If we make our intention, that I'm working on my mental health, so that I can be a better servant of Allah subhanaw taala. So that I can take care of

this beautiful Amanda, this beautiful gift, this beautiful trust that Allah subhanaw taala entrusted me with that in sha Allah, every moment you spend working on your mental health, every dollar you spend, investing in your mental health is a source of reward in sha Allah time. And so

I'm enjoying it so much, Daniel, something came in my mind, and I just don't want to lose it. In general, for all our audience, just like milaca Exactly. People are joining us from all over the world, just quickly. So many people says, you know, and as a physician, I see this in my office, oh, I'm fine. I have no problem.

And you probably and even me, it's not my specialty. But you can tell they're really not fine. Right? But their immediate response, oh, I'm fine. I can take care of it, especially woman.

So what do you tell this specially woman and everybody else is what do you look for? And that's when you need to start, you know, raising the flag and start taking care of it. Pay more attention? Yeah, that's a wonderful question, because I call him doctor. Hey, fellas. So, you know,

what's very interesting about that question is something that I've been pondering for a long time. Each and every one of us, everyone listening today, if you're able to log on, and open a phone or a tablet and log on and listen today, that means that you are old enough to know for example, the importance of brushing your teeth every day. And what would happen if you did not have you know that hygiene, that oral hygiene, you know, the importance that if you were in your kitchen today, chopping up some onions, and you cut yourself, you'd know number one, the importance of cleaning it, putting some neosporin on it, sticking a bandaid on it. And you would also know if it's too deep and

you need medical attention, right? Unfortunately, when we use that example on our mental health, many of us are most of us we're never taught mental health hygiene, things that we need to do every day to ensure that our mental health is taken care of. And many of us unfortunately don't know like what the cut example when is it a small cut a small emotional wound that I can just you know, sticks a new spawn in a bandaid on and shall it'll be better in a week. And when I need to, to, you know, go see a professional. So number one, I'd like to say that everyone, regardless of who you are, should be working on their mental health hygiene just like everyone regardless of who they are, who

have teeth need to brush their teeth, right.

And then when it gets to a point, there are red flags and signs. When you feel like you're unable to fulfill your purpose in life. You don't have the motivation, the ability, for example, to get out of bed in the morning to do basic things like he then drink to pray. You don't feel like you're able to cope with the feelings that you have inside. You have angry outbursts, right? Those are signs that hey, your body, your mind is telling you I need attention. I need help. And that's when it's important to recognize it. And I'm going to emphasize this so much to find a Muslim. A practicing Muslim will understand at least the for dine, at least the basics of the slab and who studied

psychology and mental health and go to them and ask them for help. Now why am I emphasizing to make sure that the person is number one most

And that they at least understand their full again, is because unfortunately, in the past few years, I know my shallow handle a lot of us including myself on a stage, which I wish I can go back in time and add this caveat of a Muslim mental health professional, have said, you know, if you're feeling overwhelmed if you're getting to a point where it's too much go see a mental health professional without adding the Muslim mental health professional. I've seen, actually the detrimental outcomes of that in our community, I've seen people have they gone to a non Muslim, and they have certain doubts and certain things that, you know, I'm not missing would understand. And so instead of

helping them with that they weren't able to, and like we set our mind, body and soul are connected. When our spiritual health is suffering, it also affects us emotionally, it affects our mental health, and that affects our physical health. It's all connected, right? And so when it gets to a point where you feel so overwhelmed, where weeks have gone by, and you just don't feel better, that's the sign. But what what I want to encourage everyone is let's be proactive, let's not wait until those things happen. Let's start from today this smilla make your intention I'm going to start prioritizing and working on my mental health. And so panela I have a program called journey 2021

it's an online program that's open to anyone from around the world in which I teach small skills I teach different elements of mental health, and I discussed them and give tools and techniques on how to apply them in one's life and we have a number of beautiful amazing speakers inshallah Dr. heifer will soon be one of them. And so yeah, find programs find books and resources. And so just going to back

I'm sorry to interrupt but I loved your the the parables the matter you gave where you said, you know, you brush your teeth, because you take care of your teeth, and you need to and we know when we don't what happens? So what is the toothbrush to take care of my mental health?

That's a wonderful question. So I'm fine. I'm not sick, I own I'm not stressed out, but I need to brush it, otherwise, it's gonna go bad. So what is these tools to share with our audience? Of course, that's an amazing question. I'm sure that was something that was on everyone's mind. So there are so many things that we can do to take care of our mental health, which are things that I discuss in my program journey 2021 but to briefly mention a few things like diet and exercise, eating a nutritious meal, nutritious and when I say nutritious, I mean nutritious. I mean things that are rainbow and colors, fruits and vegetables and, and you know protein, and our brain needs

nutrients. And when our brain isn't getting the nutrients it needs, it will come out and affect our mental health. I can give you just one example. One example. They've done multiple studies and they found out that women especially women, who have a deficiency in vitamin D, which is something we get from the sun, and it's also fortified in some foods like in milk and cereals.

Women who don't get enough vitamin D, it actually causes depression. And they found that just giving them vitamin D supplements and telling them to stand outside in the sun for 30 minutes a day. Their depression went away. And have you heard of what happens in the winter time. The exactly seasonal depression disorder where during the winter, people are more depressed because the days are shorter so they're not getting sun or like for example the people who live in like the the UK where they don't get sun and things like eating properly, which is something that Allah told us halaal for you eating properly another thing sleeping

you know unfortunately

And may Allah had to help us we have this disease of being a very obsessed with like social media, tik tok, YouTube videos, Netflix, Hulu, whatever else is out there. And so we spend our nights watching and not sleeping when Allah subhanaw taala says that he created the night for you to rest. And we know through studies write that we need sleep to function. Look at the example we talked about. I wonder that if there's anything in the world you should leave sleep for what should it be?

Follow through right? Not Netflix, not Hulu not Tick Tock. So last, but what is cinematic fantasy saints? No, no, no, no you need to sleep. We will wake up before budget and pray extra prayers. But right now this first part of the night a law made it for sleep and rest. So sleep and rest and the Prophet have earned that right? I'm going to put this on. Because I want you to comment in this, I definitely have a comment, but I want to hear yours first. So May Allah reward this force as well, the Sahaba does leave that much.

Okay, I can give you an example, though, that the Sahaba rhodiola, and whom slept and even the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam slept. And now I didn't say to sleep that much. And there's a lot of different factors, for example, the Sahaba, or the Allahu anhu, and the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wasallam, they did not have all of these toxins and all of this technology and all of this light pollution, like we have, we know through studies that because of light pollution and lights in our homes, and the the

the electromagnetic fields that are that come from electronics from the Wi Fi signals, the pollution from,

you know, planes, and cars and all of these things, it affects us and affects the quality of our sleep. But when they did sleep, they got quality sleep, why? Number one, it was completely dark. And now experts are saying that when we sleep, we should sleep in complete darkness, there should be no lights, right? When we sleep, what are the things that we do right before we sleep? We're looking at our cell phones. And if you notice all the newer cell phones, what are they doing, they're having this special feature where they're turning the lights blue, they're dimming the lights to or to to like the hues so that it's not so hard on our eyes, so that when we do go to sleep, we're able to

sleep better. But guess what we know through studies that if you're looking at screens a few hours before you go to sleep, is your brain really resting? Is your brain hitting that are em sleep asleep that we need? And so yes, they did not sleep a lot. But they did sleep, right? The prophet SAW, and he was having good sleep. So I will add one thing, which is the question when they were not sleeping, what were they doing?

They were making a vicar and praying. And by the way, we talked about the century 21 exam, they found that meditation in meditation, when when they studied the brains of meditators, they found that their brains do something that's very similar to what happens in the brain when we sleep. And that's when they're able to sleep less and not feel tired, and those parts of the brains are not getting damaged. Now. Exactly. If you meet people, and I have met those people, this is not the Sahaba before, where are we from them But currently, those people who sleeps four to five hours a day especially in in the summer, but they wake up, they don't sleep six seven because they wake up

at least an hour or two before fudger and they are in their nice cider tahajjud they are probably least tired and in the best mental health and they can't function extremely well. So it's not the hours itself is what are you doing when you are up? That's the most important thing. So you mentioned the norm these days, but I have seen people sleeps for hours. If four and a half and they're up without even an alarm. And then they go to work and they are on quantity you see the happiness and as we say the nor on their face. So the sleep what you are sharing with us here dunya is the quality of sleep and when you are not sleeping, why you are not sleeping, do you think you

are reading the words of Allah pantalla or remember him and then he will let you wake up in the morning and you are depressed hasha Subhana so take care of your again, diet, exercise, sun, sleep, what else you want to add the adonia Phantom I was actually just thinking of a narration that we learned in class recently about how when the gel comes and there's not going to be food and the profits on the lollipops and told the Sahaba there will be no there will be no food for the believers. Right? Yes.

They said the arcilla What are we going to do but we need food. We need it. He said what make a vicar of Allah Allah will nourish you through that Vicki Laura cover. So just to emphasize the point that you made. The reason I also did not specify an A time of sleep or an amount of sleep. I did not say how many hours

asleep. I just talked about the importance of sleep because getting good quality sleep is very important for a mental health and we do know that you know kind of torture tactics ways that you know certain horrible people torture people is through depriving them of sleep exam slow our brain needs it think about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, it was known that he he would sleep in the day and have a high Lula. He would you know, wake up very, very early standard tahajjud. And then he in the mid day when it was hot outside he would sleep for a bit and the Sahaba did to think about the very, very famous, famous incident when one of the Persian emperors I think he came to to

meet the owner of the halifa and he found him sleeping under a tree. panela was midday. And so the Sahaba or the Alo Jemaine they were humans, Allah subhanho wa Taala says that he sent the messengers as humans that eat food and that walk through the marketplaces. Why, so that we can't say we could never achieve that. Right? And so when Allah subhanaw taala says, look, God can Allah confy rasulillah he was sweating on has in the prophet SAW Sanam is the perfect role model example, right? He's a lovely seven he slept, he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he ate, he's a lowly hustler, he drank he sallallahu sallam, he, he got married, right? When those Sahaba are the law and home they came,

and they were speaking to our mother, or the law enhancing, you know, tell us about the worship of the Prophet Solomon and one said, you know, I'm going to stand up in prayer every night, I'm not going to sleep. I am going to fast everyday, I'm not going to eat, I am not going to get married. What did the prophet SAW said and say?

No, no, no, no, no. That's not how it works. I'm the example. And I sleep and I wake up, and I eat, and I fast and I get married. And so there are so many things that we can do Subhan Allah to take care of our mental health. So we talked a little bit about getting sun, ensuring that all of our vitamin levels are optimal. That's something that's very important. When I

used to work with community members, one of the first things I would tell them is to check their blood work to have their doctor check their blood work, and to make sure that all of their blood work is fine. We know that low vitamin B levels can also cause symptoms that are very similar to anxiety and depression, low vitamin D, the low omega is, and so you want to ensure that you are getting all of your vitamins.

Oh,

donate via your internet is chopping. Can you repeat the last sentence? Yeah, go ahead. I'm so sorry. So you want to ensure that you are checking your vitamin levels, you are eating healthy, nutritious meals, you're getting enough water, you're getting sunlight, you're going outside and doing some type of exercise, you're praying, your prayers, you know, our solar is so important, actually to our mental health, that I have a whole module in journey 2021 my program on the psychology of worship, and how non Muslims have done studies and found that there are a plethora of mental health benefits associated with our Salah, our advocate and reciting Quran. And so, I know

our time is going so fast. I just wanted to make a few more points that we all have mental health, and we all have a personal responsibility to learn how to improve and maintain our mental health. Like we said the NFC gallica hack your your self has a right upon you. and improving your mental health improves not only yourself, but improves everything around you. It improves your life. It improves your family life. It improves your relationship with Allah subhanaw taala and others. And you know, one of the greatest gifts that we can give ourselves is to work on our mental health and well being. You know, there's a beautiful narration where once the beloved uncle of the Prophet

sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, alag bass or the line home. He said, One day I went to Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam and I said, Yeah rasulillah teach me something that I should ask Allah for.

And he said ask Allah for afia for Allah few Exactly.

And then alabaster

The one who left and came back after a day and said, Yeah rasulillah teach me something that I may ask Allah for. And the Prophet sallallahu Sallam said, Oh I, Bess, oh uncle of the Messenger of Allah. ask Allah for I fear in this world and the hereafter. And in another narration, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was asked, What's the best diet? And he said Allah Halima said and said, asking Allah subhanaw taala for forgiveness and bathia in this world and the next.

And then he said, when you are given half year, in this world, and the next you have achieved success, so Allah from the in nearness, local alpha will FPF in dunya will add on me. And so the commentators of Hadeeth have said what is afia I fear is over all wellness, it includes good health, right, and we already talked about how health composes and is comprised of our mental health as well. And remember, our mental health is not set in stone. And it's not a result of one single decision. It's mostly a matter of incorporating good habits and removing bad habits. And remember, Allah subhana wa tada created us as incredibly resilient human beings, our brain adapts and changes

throughout our life, we're able to create new neural pathways, new ways, new habits, if we commit to practice, if we make new choices. And remember, a series of small choices with time become transformational. And I found that one of the best ways to help strengthen and cultivate mental health is to cultivate small healthy habits every single day. And every moment we have a choice, we can either live in the past, or we can look forward with new knowledge, new wisdom that we've gained. And we can envision a new life and work towards a future that's better. You know, so panela each and every one of us is empowered Allah subhanho wa Taala gave us the ability to choose, I

myself and you are able to choose how we will treat our bodies or minds or souls, how we will grow. Yes, there are things that are outside of our control. But Allah subhanho wa Taala does not ask us to try to change those things. Allah does not hold us accountable for things we can't control. What Allah holds us accountable for are the things that we are in our control, that we have the ability to control, and there's always opportunity to grow. And remember that you have a superpower you get to choose, and in Shall I pray that all of us choose better habits. I hope that each and every one of us starts today. And that we take positive steps right now to commit to turning the knowledge

that we learn today into a catalyst where we start learning more and more tips more and more ways to improve our mental health. And

dunya I just want to because unfortunately, less than 10 minutes left, I want to two things. Number one, as you set it to beautifully and this is actually everywhere these days is like you look at yourself, you're three you have your body, your mind and your soul. Part of the which you touched on it but I want to re emphasize and maybe a little bit expand the habits that you want to make. Yes, eat well. Absolutely sleep, good quality sleep. Absolutely. And exercise. But don't forget these not only solla your zeker you're remembering Allah pantalla make it that's why in Islamic terminology, we call it weird. What is weird. It's something you do, it's constantly that you are you did Allah

Khomeini slo Kala for Well, alfia it's actually one of the ones he taught us alayhi salatu salam to deal with in the morning and in the evening. Why? Why specifically this one and in its in, in morning and evening as called what Aloma if any of you with any law, my affinity, somebody along laughing if he was sorry, you're not giving me health in all my body, including my brain, and my mental illness, my mental health and my hearing and my sight, part of your mental wellness and I'm going to give you I'm sure there is studies about it, but I don't know I have not looked at it, but I can see it completely with full confidence. There is nothing more effective plus all what you

said. But don't forget one thing. ask Allah step four. ask Allah for forgiveness. It

Doesn't matter what you did or you did not it's just keep us whenever you feel down, whenever you feel overwhelmed which we all do, this is part of our life, a stuffy little law or even better one that was actually the known as our Swati salatu salam said that he got into subhanak in a controlled manner volume, make this part of your change diet, exercise vitamins sleepwell Salah on time for long your Salah Vicar remembering Allah is still far And last but not least, is words Quran she found only in us. Yeah, so caja como la la to Morocco, what she found only MFI. So dude, all people has been given to you admonition from your Lord and a cure. And Allah is referring to the Quran. So

all these I'm sure you include this in your program. I have no doubt about that. Am I right? Yeah, Jr. Sorry. But I wanted people to make sure because we are running out of time and there is a power law a lot of questions. So please forgive me for the interruption. Go ahead. No, no none at all. And so I just wanted to say it's panela I'm so grateful My heart is so filled with gratitude to everyone joining Mashallah, there's so many people joining and as a token of my appreciation for joining us this evening, I'd love to, I'd like to offer everyone who is tuning in today 50% off of the program journey 2021 which is a holistic program to help you cultivate mental wellness. The link for it is

in my Instagram page. I'll also share it on my Facebook page. And if you use the code Jenna at checkout in sha Allah, you'll get 50% off, I will also post it in my story. So it's very easy to just swipe up and inshallah I hope and I pray that insha Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala gives each and every one of us good mental health, good physical health, and most importantly of all, good spiritual health, that Allah subhanaw taala makes our connection to him unshakable that Allah subhanaw taala makes a man beautiful in our hearts. And that allows panatela helps us worship Him and remember him and be grateful to him. I asked Allah subhanaw taala to make each and every one of

us all the qualities and the characteristics that he loves and is pleased with. And I asked him subhanho wa Taala to remove from us, all of the qualities and the characteristics that are not pleasing to Him. And as Dr. Haifa said, I asked Allah subhanaw taala to forgive every single one of us all of our sins, the big ones and the small ones, the ones that we didn't knowingly and the ones that we did, unknowingly, I asked Allah subhana wa attallah to allow us to see the ease and all of our affairs. I asked Allah subhanho wa Taala that he subhanaw taala mix this path towards Jenna for us easy, makes worshiping Him easy and beloved to us and asked Allah some kind of a data that the

same way that he gathered us here in this beautiful online gathering, that he gathers us with Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in general, for those that know me.

There is a question I want you to look at it he does acula here, and this is very relevant is how cultures look at mental illness. And the reason I put it there because in here we are let me put it again, please forgive me, right? So in my country, people think that mental illness is caused by witchcraft. In other countries, they don't think even it exists. It's all in your brain. That's how they call it, they brush it completely. So I'm sure you see this, how do you

approach this? Or what what do you tell people who goes through this? And there's another question, I'll put it also on the screen once you address this, go ahead, the ardunio Alright, Bismillah. So when it comes to witchcraft and evil I in these things, I'm not an expert in it by no means. However, what I'd like to say is that

it can be a possibility, but from what I've studied, and I've learned from different teachers, usually that possibility is is small. It's like not it's not every single time, and one extreme breeds the other. And so as she had the nursery says, And so, one of the problems like this person said is that in some communities, they do not want to acknowledge that there is something called mental illness and that it is a thing. And so what do they do? They blame it. They escaped goaded on evil, I magic witchcraft, right. And so that is an issue. And that's why it's important to have conversations like these so that we can educate the oma so that we can educate that there are

different things and I can give you an example.

It's not a perfect example because it's not necessarily a mental illness. But there was a Sahabi or the ohana, who used to experience Sora, which is like an epilepsy. And so she would have these episodes and she would do things that she had no control over her body, and it would create a it would put her in a compromising position because her i would i would become exposed right now the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he didn't say, Oh, that's witchcraft. Let me recite you know some Khurana knew and blow on you, you know you have evil eye, let's No no. What did he say? He said that this is an illness. And he said to her if you'd like, I'll make dua and Allah will cure you

from this illness. It's an illness right? Or you can be patient and you get Jenna. And what did she say? She said, Jada sola, I want to be patient and they want Jenna, can you just make it so that I don't expose my IRA?

And so, we have to stop looking at things as black and white. There are so many different things right? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, when he was ill, what would he do?

He would get a doctor. You know, it's so interesting. Ivins obey Allah the law, and he would tell that Isha our mother or the law and her the wife of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, she would go, Oh, my dear aunt, you amaze me. I understand how you know, halal and haram and Quran and tafsir and had these right, you lived with the Prophet sauce and lamb, you're his wife. I understand how you know, poetry and you know, the, the science of lineage because your father's a bobeck. But what I don't understand is how do you know medicine?

And what did she say about the law? And how she said, Well, when the prophet SAW Salem would get sick, the different tribes would send their best doctors, and when the doctors would visit him, I would be watching and listening attentively and I would learn and so again, not everything is witchcraft, evil I.

But with saying that I think it's also important to acknowledge that that exists. And that Allah subhanho wa Taala, and His Prophet sauce and give us tools. What are our tools every morning and every evening writing reciting a little corsi and the Maha with that call, Wallah had called out the verbal Falak and call out the verbenas three times, reciting the doodads for protection every morning and every evening. also protecting soft by what, by not constantly sharing on the internet, pictures of every single thing we eat pictures of every single thing that's happening in our lives, right? Because evil AI is true, it's happening, it could happen. And we should take the we should be

precautious and take the means to protect ourselves. Now that doesn't mean that everything is due to evil AI or everything is due to witchcraft, no, but what we can control, what can we control, we don't have to share everything. And we can say our dogs and our scar. And when people say that all of these things are due to witchcraft and evil I we can educate them, right? They don't understand inshallah we can be the generation to help them understand and change that.

Absolutely. It's it's there is there is me a reason for everything. So when I get the flu, right, yeah, it's a virus, but I need to take care of the flu. So this is how you look at it. So it could be absolutely evil eye and witchcraft. This is part of what we believe in. But my my focus should be I need to treat that person first. These symptoms needs to be treated. And part of it is absolutely what dunia shared with us right? But also and this is actually another question I'm not finding it to a tee but I'll share it with you is what about medicine to take mental illness? I know you're not a physician, but the the idea of medication is the same idea of when I take when I make art when I

make stuff are they are means they are means you have to always remember one thing and I said this always to myself when I put when I have a headache and I put Tylenol or paracetamol as they say it in different parts of the world. This tablet is not curing me is Allah who's curing me. Allah is a Shafi so you take the means you go and take medications, not yourself. You go and see the professionals who will diagnose you and will give you but you have this year theme. A man or a woman that a lot pinata will never let you down. This is way Bismillah

Increasing your Hassan ad. It's an a way that maybe in short law getting you closer to Allah, and he brought you the treatment and you take it, look at it exactly like you have headache, you have diabetes, whatever.

illness, we have physical illness. That's why they call it mental illness is just like I say, My heart has a problem, or my head has problem, or my well being has a problem. This is very important for especially Muslims, because we still have the stigma. dounia I will leave we have two minutes left. I leave the last two minutes for you. What do you want to share with our audience? The last thing is because it's two minutes to eight, unfortunately.

Okay, so actually I want to share with you a beautiful story that is one that's very near and dear to my heart. One day, our beloved Prophet salallahu alaihe salam, and I want you to ensure Allah let your heart be filled with the love of Rasulullah Salallahu alaihe salam when you hear these beautiful narrations Okay, so one day our beloved Prophet sallallahu sallam, he walked into the mission, and he noticed that his companion looked like something was wrong. And so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam went up to him and said, Oh, mama, what's the matter? Why is it that I see you sitting in the masjid when it's not time for prayer?

And Abu Omar radi Allahu anhu. He responded he said hormone as an attorney, what do you anemia so Mama,

or messenger of Allah I am overwhelmed by anxieties and gents. And so the prophet SAW Allah Hi, my name is Salim didn't say,

oh, how could you say that? staford Allah, you're worried you're overwhelmed? No, no, my companions. They can't be like that. No, no, that's not our beloved prophet SAW Allah who has attended alameen who has a mercy to all of mankind. And that's not our beautiful Dean. How did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam respond? He responded with empathy and compassion. He said, some of the love of it was hidden. Shall I not teach you something? To which that if you say it,

Allah subhanaw taala will relieve your worries and will settle your debt.

And imagine whatever oh mama was thinking when the prophet SAW Allah Allah sent him saying that I'll teach you something that will help you. And so he said he also loved Please tell me and so the prophet SAW Selim said say in the morning and in the evening, a loved one that in the air will be coming and him me Will has become an ally dizzy well, because I was given in Germany when bahawa was becoming more limited, they knew.

All I seek refuge in You from worry and sadness, I seek refuge in You from incapacity and laziness, I seek refuge in You from cowardice and miserliness and they seek refuge in You from being overwhelmed by debt and the tyranny of men. And so our beloved Prophet sallallahu Sallam empowered a woman or the law on him, by giving him a tool to help him by telling him this is how you can change your situation. And guess what you matter to and your mental health matter too. And you can also learn tools and skills to empower yourself. Don't let shapen convince you that you're stuck, you're not stuck. You're not an engineer like us. I'd love to have you join me for journey 2021 and

inshallah we can work on our mental wellness together, does that come over here and once again, subhanak lahoma we have the shadow

stuff Luca does Akela hi Rania Dunia hamdu Lillahi Rabbil aalameen May Allah subhanho wa Taala Mashallah for all of you. We ask Allah for forgiveness and we ask Allah for health, mental and physical desire from Allahu Allah Subhana Allah Lama behind the shadow Alia stuff we look forward to Bulik sallallahu ala Sayidina Muhammad wa