Hosai Mojaddidi – PreRamadan New Muslim Gathering
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AI: Transcript ©
All right, Tom did a lesson I want to call him everybody just wanted
to kind of address the topic for today. And I, you know, I thought
about, like, there's so many things, we could talk about it
right a little bit, just to get ready for them a lot. And I think
you're gonna hear if you're in this community or any community,
you'll hear from this point forward, maybe Clif Bars and talks
and stuff online, a lot of people are gearing up, right, because the
month is right around the corner. So there's a lot of great advice
already that's going to be given to you in sha Allah, and
hopefully, that will help you. But I kind of was thinking, what's a
way that we can, you know, kind of keep things in perspective, not
just for a normal Dawn, but also just starting out? Right? It's
premium above and beyond. So what are some advices are some things
that we can discuss. So I came up with sort of
an acronym, which I'll share with you. But before I jump in, how
many people know the word LM? What does the word LM mean? In Arabic?
I
know what
I am is knowledge, right? And Allah, would you mind? I'm so
sorry. While I read? Could you please help me on the board? Okay,
if you can write because the acronym I want to kind of just
write it for you so that we can refer to it? So.
Right, perfect. So if we can do I, and then maybe l underneath that?
Yes. So we're gonna use LM because I want it to stick right, get that
sticky factor, so you just remember it. So I feel like you
know, let's break this word down. Obviously, we know knowledge,
right. And that's all of us, whether we're new Muslims, or
people born into the space, this is part of our journey that we're
constantly striving to learn. And that we're in the pursuit of
knowledge, right. That's what we, we should strive for every day,
wherever we are in our journey. So that's why I thought this was an
appropriate and it's quick, right? So it's, it's something hopefully
we can, we can remember. So the first point I wanted to talk about
was the eye. And so the word that I used for I was intention,
intention. Every day, it's so critical that all of us and this
is part of the path, again, no matter where you are new or been
on for a while, that you start your day with Neil with intention,
and that you really think about that. And that can happen. If
you're lying in bed, you know, before your foot, your alarm goes
off, or after it goes up, and you're waiting for 10, you know,
the snooze, to come back. And you're just thinking, but to
really have that moment of reflection, where you think about
what you want from your day, right? What what is the day ahead
of you going to look like because this is for all of us. It's a
journey that we're on. But every day, we have to take it day by
day, right? For some of us, as we said, martial law, that demand
fluctuates, right? Some of us, we're gonna wake up, and we're
going to have those days where we're going to just we feel so
much just, you know, inspiration to do things, you know, or there
might be something to look forward to maybe there's an event like
right now that we're all looking forward to no more time. So
naturally, those feelings are good there. And you know, we want to
learn, we want to get our stuff straight, right. So that's kind
of, you know, part of the process, that you're going to have days
like that, where you wake up with that kind of, you know, strong
resolve. And then there's other days where yes, you're going to
struggle, and to remember that that this is perfectly normal. And
I remember when I was studying, you know, our teacher, he used the
analogy of a staircase, you know, that steps, you're gonna have
moments where you rise and the moments where you kind of just
plateau, moments where you rise moments where you plateau. And as
long as you're in this upward sort of moment, or movement, don't push
yourself like, and I think it's very natural, even myself, you
know, I shared with you that I wear hijab after two weeks. And I
realized after I did it, and because I'm so stubborn, I never
want people to go see we told you so you weren't, you know, you're
gonna take it off. I for that reason I kept it on, but I
struggled with it for a while because I realized it was way too
fast. You know, so if anybody in the room, you know, has been
through that, where people are pressuring you to do things at a
pace where you're not ready, you have to pace yourself because the
intention matters more than the outward, right? We can all put on
the costume, right of being super Muslim, we can all look the part
we can walk into the masjid and you know, look like we've been
here all day. But if in the heart, there's, you know, a disconnect,
and we're not feeling it, then that doesn't none of this is gonna
matter. So the most important thing and that's why you know it
no matter how mad have been the anti this was one of the most
widespread and well known Hadith. It's one of the first hadith of
Imam and they're always a collection and you know, there's
different kinds of collections of Hadith. But the movie is a very
popular text that many people study, but it's one of the first
things even little children, they teach the importance of intention.
So for us to really think about that, so I really recommend it.
Does anybody know what a word is? The word would it? I'm sorry,
would you write this down? So a word is the Arabic word for a
litany. And so those of you from the Catholic tradition or from
Christian traditions, litanies, you know, are formulaic prayers.
And so, you know, you might have a rosary that you certain sort of
formula prayers that you do, right, or that you knew as a
child. So they teach this, you know, in Sunday school, or you
know, in church, they also teach it and synagogues and mosques, but
this idea that you should have something that you commit to as a,
as a as a prayer that you do every day. So it's not there. Are these
available to you? And they're a lot of our scholars recommend us
doing them every single day. What these litanies do is, they help
you with the intention, because all of the things that you want
from your day are covered? They're all from the Sunnah. So all of the
prayers and the Lebanese are actual doors that the prophets
have always taught us. But what the scholars throughout history
did, and you'll have different scholars throughout history have
their own litanies, right. So what they did is they looked at the
different doors, whether it's when you wake up, you know, when you go
to the bathroom, when you put on your clothes, when you look at
yourself in the mirror, when you dress, because my show, like
pretty much every part of our day, there's a dog for it, right. And
so, what they did is say, well, let's, you know, create these,
this formula where it's just, you know, concise, it's something
easily easy, you know, to, to memorize, and then they, you know,
put it in the text and Hamdulillah we have access to that. So there
are live knees that you can do that take about 10 to 15 minutes a
day, and our scholars recommend that you start your day with them.
So after you've prayed or fajr prayer, sitting on the prayer mat,
or just, you know, like for me, in my household, we actually play
there's an audio version of it. So I'll just play it when I'm making
breakfast, my eggs, scrambled eggs, you know, coffee, but the
whole house is, you know, we have if you have the you know, Alexa or
any of those speaker systems in your house that kind of can hum
and it's nice, everybody's listened to at the same time, one
of the doors cover they cover your day. So there's doors for
protection from everything from stress, anxiety, from any type of
danger. From, you know, things that we don't really think about
that we should debt, right is dead, not one of the biggest
stressors in our life. So imagine every single day, you start your
day by asking all about that to protect me from debt, it without
really thinking about it, right? Because it's something that you're
just doing, you're memorizing it, of course, you can read it in
English and get the meaning of it. But it's sort of like, I'm
checking it off my list of worries that I might, you know, think
about or might you know, later it might affect me in my life health,
asking you a lot to protect your health or to protect your
children, your family, your extended family, and then asking
him for the good of the day and protecting you from whatever evil
or dangers are out there. So all of these are covered in these
litanies, you get it done. 1015 minutes, boom, you go to work, you
go to school, you go to take care of your mom, you go shopping, you
leave your home, but what have you just done, you've created like, I
kind of like to imagine things. So I kind of imagine like, there's
this forcefield this air, you know, bubble that I've just sort
of protected myself with, you know, spiritual bubble that when I
walked out the door, I now feel better. I feel just I have solace.
And my kids, no one did either six and nine, but they you know, they
understand this is the part of our routine. So if we and it's
happened before where I'm rushing out, I forget that we didn't do
the you know, the you know, the Lindy, so I'll go well, 100 lads
on YouTube, play it in the car. So there we go on our drive, wherever
we're going. But what I love about it again, is it what really
centers you to your intention. I'm starting my day, knowing my
purpose knowing that Allah has given me life, you know, and
that's why the first draw that you make when you open your eyes is
what gratitude that you lived through the night, right? Because
it's like, wow, you know, there's a Hadith of the Prophet. So I sort
of said that sleep is the little brother of death, right? Every
night when we sleep. It's like, it's there is a you know, it's
almost like we're visiting in a way death because there's this
period of time where we're doing nothing, right. We're completely,
you know, incapacitated in a way. But then Allah revives us, He
gives our soul life again. So we wake up, boom, here's another
opportunity to worship him another opportunity to serve him another
opportunity to spread light. So being so grateful for that, but
then at the same time, you know, making sure that you're protected.
So that's why you know, the intention is so important. Anybody
have any questions about that? Or? And we can I can give you the
actual sources on YouTube, how to find these prayers. There's PDF
files where you can print it was very easily accessible. I mean,
there's books you can buy, but if you want it, everything's 100
Right now available online, free, boom, print, and then the YouTube
videos. Yes.
Okay.
Oh, thank you. So I heard that there's a with a prayer and
nighttime. Yes. So is that that's a different Yeah. Which is also
it's as a special prayer that you do at night. But this is the
weird, weird, it is just the Arabic word for litany. So that's
completely different. But and this is, you'll see it whenever I wish
I had brought my other bag, but I actually have it, it's just, it's
like a list of different laws that you say. And then there's, like
you say, like, different amounts of some of them, you say three
times, four times, seven times, but you just keep repeating it.
And then you're done in about 1015 minutes. But the meanings are all
there. And it's really actually,
it actually, maybe after the event, I can pull it up for you
just for you to visualize it and see it. And you'll see the
meanings and how they just make their so those for protection. So
it's like, wow, I wouldn't even think of praying this for myself.
And you know, and have the lead. It's all there. And I have just
repeat it. And it's like, it makes it also easy. Instead of
struggling to think about, you know, all the things that could
happen to you and all the things that you're you know, the worries
and stresses of life. It's all done for you. You just repeat it
walk out, like I said, and you're you're clear. So yeah, I'll
provide more details in sha Allah. Okay, thank you. Is there a
specific one? Yes, yes, the one that we most of our scholars
recommend, which is easy, and it's easy to find, especially online,
it's called a good Abdullatif. And this is by Imam Al had dead. And
you can actually find it on YouTube, you can find it the the
PDF files, like I said, which are easy to print, I can send those as
well, the link for you guys. But again, this just makes it so easy
to,
to set yourself. And then also, as I said before, about intention,
when you really get this key concept down, you realize that the
outward isn't as important as the inward, right? The outward form is
not as important as the inward reality. Sometimes we can get
caught up with the outward form of things. And we forget for
ourselves or for other people, it just, and I know this from
experience with with working with, with, with conferences, that and
even myself honestly that it can get disheartening, because you
have a lot of high expectations, right? You think like, you know,
this faith is so beautiful, and I love it. I'm so in love with
everything, and it's so amazing. And then you see your muscles
behaving in a way where you're like, wow, like, how does that
make any sense, it can get disheartening. But when you
realize that you know, that don't, don't get caught up with the form,
don't get caught up with names don't get caught up with, Oh,
they've been muscle for so long, or they wear hijab, or they have a
beard down this? No, we're all struggling, every single one of us
and we certainly have varying degrees. So when you really
realize it, like I said, helps you so don't get caught up with this.
And work on it work on the inside, I'll just share a quick story just
to let you like kind of, you know, explain how this really came from
me. It kind of hit me this lesson. You know, I was practicing for a
while and I was all about form. I used to wear like, you know, I
swam at that time was was very much about how you looked? You
know, so not only did you have to work a job you have to wear
correctly, and then you had to wear you know, it was very, I
don't know, it's just a different message than about looking very
Muslim. So I used to walk around all black. Like I would wear you
know, that job and I would have no makeup on. And I was just like,
you know, like, nothing, no smile, no actually put intentionally I
would not smile. I'm not kidding. And I had friends who say why do
you walk around like this? Because I was on college campus. And I'm
just like, and I would say, you know, I don't want that far to
know. I'm not freedom.
That's how I used to walk around with that kind of energy. Can you
imagine how how honest, that really is when you start to
understand. But I just thought that was it was a very interesting
way of practicing back then. So I used to walk around like that. And
I used to judge people all the time for how they weren't dressed
the way that I thought that she does. And I'm someone you know,
again, I was I thought I was on the right path. And I thought this
is what Islam is. One day I was at Oakland airport. And I shared a
story just to show you again how this hit me. I was an Oakland
airport and I was waiting for a ride. This car pulls up and this
lady walks out she's like, you know typical white American woman
and she's wearing like a tank top and shorts like short shorts. And
of course one sitting there in my gear to the bed but I'm just like
I've got like daggers coming on my eyes towards this lady. You know,
I'm like looking at her like I was just dressed like what is this
ridiculous now I have all these terrible thoughts in my mind. And
I swear to this happens, she cuz she's she's in her you know, she's
has a trunk open and she's moving stuff in her car. This is where
all these thoughts are coming. She sees me and she like looks right
at me. And I was like, oh dang it.
I was, like, my thoughts out of my head, like, are they? You know,
she's hearing my thoughts. Like, it just felt very awkward to see
this woman that I'm thinking about all these terrible things looking
at me because there's so has, you know bustling airport, a lot of
people, you know a lot of traffic, but she looks right at me. And
then she closes her trunk, and she walks like directly towards me.
And I was like, Oh, my God, like, I my heartbeat was like, boom,
boom, boom, like, what is gonna happen now. And she was, this is
what comes out of her mouth.
And she's like, I know, I don't look like a Muslim. I'm actually
really embarrassed the way that I look right now. I converted to
Islam. It's just a tiny her story. And she's just like, so humble, so
timid, and just really feeling, you know, shy, but she's like, I
felt compelled to talk to you. Because, you know, I'm raising my,
my son, Muslim, and I don't have any information. And I saw you.
And I thought it was like a sign from God, that maybe I should come
talk to you and ask you for books, like references for books. And you
can imagine what's going on inside of me, right? So this is what I
call this, you know, life changing moments. Absolutely. Like, I felt
like I just got hit in the face. Because from the outward, just
looking at examining the two, you know, people would assume a lot of
things about me and assume a lot of things about her but the
realities are so far right. Here's, she's someone who's
seeking who's humble, who's coming with that soft, gentle heart. And
here I am, on my high horse thinking I was something you know,
so it really did wake me up. And that was a turning point for me to
realize, like all this years, like you've been worrying about this,
this, this. So that's why this intention matters so much, because
it's all for naught, you know, it's off means nothing if it's not
done with the right intention, so we have to remember that every
day, every single day. So we started with LM, the next one, L
and we're just doing an acronym to kind of again, help us you know,
takes you know how to take away from this session so that we can
apply it starting today and onward and shuttler and develop, the next
one stands for lead. Okay.
You know, in the, in Surah Baqarah, verse 30, Allah's
Pandavas a beautiful exchange that happens between a lot and the
angels when he decides to tell them that he's created, you know,
and I sent him and he says, Here What if part of a booklet melodica
to Indonesia, even for the Army Khalifa Paulo at the geography,
ham, and UFC, the free house, we could deny Our National Assembly.
So we humbly go in and put the Sulak father in the animal
manakala moon, and he says and mentioned Oh Muhammad, when your
Lord said to the angels, Indeed I will make upon the earth, a
successive authority. And they said, Well, you place upon at one
who causes corruption there in and sheds blood while we declare Your
praise and sanctify you a lesson indeed, I know that which you do
not know. I love this is because it is such a beautiful
confirmation of our potential, right? I was part of this
confirming for us that we have the capacity we have the capability to
surpass even the angels. Right? He's telling them because they're
like, We worship you, we do nothing wrong. And you're gonna
put this human that's going to do all of this and and claim him as
you know, your buy cigarettes or your you know, the success of
authority. Like it, he says, what I know that what you do not know.
So this should build our confidence that no matter how many
times you fall, it's okay. This is not about perfection. Okay, all
this probably doesn't expect perfection from any of us. He
expects us to strive and to keep returning. And that's why there's
so many beautiful headings that remind us that if Allah wanted to
make all of us perfect, he would, but he loves who will be more than
the perfect worshipper. He loves the returning sinner, the one who
acknowledges his or her shortcomings, but keeps coming
back keeps coming back. And so this is again, you know, this just
a beautiful way to look at yourself, and to remind yourself
that you were created with this intention to be something great
and to not let negative thoughts negative people ever break you
down, or comparisons. Comparisons is something across the board all
human beings have a problem with but I think even spiritually, it
can be a problem if you feel like I've been Muslim for this long and
I'm not where so and so is or I haven't made Hajj or I haven't I
don't wear hijab I don't do this and
If I'm not good enough, these are all West USA was supposed to our
whisperings from Shakedown and write negative ruminations. If you
ever have like thoughts that just keep coming and coming and they're
negative, and they're meant to break you down, be certain this is
from Shavon, especially for many of you who are alone on this
journey and who don't have that support system. Hopefully, that
problem will be resolved with groups like this Insha Allah,
that's our intention. But in the meantime, if you ever have that
thought, like, I'm not good enough, or I'm not doing enough,
and I'm a loser, and what's the purpose, and these are all from
Shay time, that's why you have to remember this. I remember the
purpose and the intention and the beautiful confidence that that Our
Lord has in who we are, right? And then you know, the promise will
realize that, and he also he says, you know, am I worth to my demon?
Indeed, I was sent as a teacher, and he's our example. Right? So
you mentioned if you type English, right, anything else type
anything, whether it was in church, Sunday school, Utah,
right? You type, isn't it? Isn't it amazing? I mean, I'm a teacher
by profession, too. But isn't it to me, I think the best way to
learn something is to teach it right? It will absolutely stick,
right. So we have to see ourselves as teachers too. So I love you
know, that you were saying, when you learn something, you teach it
to other people, this is reinforcing. It's so important not
to let your newness into the faith intimidate you from teaching and
from being an advocate of the faith. A lot of times new converts
feel like who am I, I don't know, Arabic. I don't know this, I don't
know that. And I have to deal with, I hear this a lot. Even with
people who are moving with them for a long time, there's this
notion that you can only teach something, if you have attained
this level of knowledge or scholarship. And that's not true.
You know, there's Hadith where you know, the process and so even if
you have no one, I You should teach it a small short verse. So
whatever, you know, teach it because it reinforces it for you.
So embodying this identity of Allah created me to be something
great. Allah created me to teach. This will also help all of us on
our journey, to reinforce everything that we learned and not
let again, those negative thoughts break us down and make us feel
inferior, or we're not capable. Okay? Any questions about this
point? So the L stands for lead Yes, to lead.
To be teaching to be leading by example, right. So you either
teach or you lead by example, whatever you learn, when you apply
it, you can, you know, teach it you that's people will learn from
you. It's not just about the outward even greeting people like
when you walk into a room, you know, and you greet people with
that beautiful smile, and you're warm, and you're welcoming. And
you offer people, this is all our faith, it's all putting our faith
into practice, it's all leading by example. These are small things,
right? That you can do. And then you know, other things. Of course,
if you learn knowledge, if you have any knowledge, use your
platform, social media, for example. You know, I seen, you
know, 100 people use it for different things, some people are
on there, yes, to learn to teach, some people are on there to share
with family and friends, to promote their businesses, whatever
it is, your intention matters. But I always feel like if you really
want to benefit from social media, learn, and then teach. So use your
platform to share beneficial things. And you know, I you know,
you see it all the time, taking a picture of, of your meal at a
restaurant is great.
If you want to, you know, share with people who look at the
delicious meal I had, but what if you were reading a book at that
restaurant, and you saw a quote, that was really powerful. And it's
like, ooh, so that people don't take a picture of the quote,
right. And so you kind of look at it, like, I only see Islam and
like as a as a medicine, right? That I am so fortunate. We're also
fortunate, they'll help us, you know, you've helped us find this
treasure trove of medicine that just heals, right? So for me, it's
like, I want to share because I feel like there's so many people
out there who are hurting, who are you know, they need it, they need
it. So any opportunity to give them medicine to get it doesn't
have to be with scripture. Right? I just want to
comment, because I think sometimes especially for us when we do
because we don't know I can't coach you anything.
Like I can't say Oh, this is this right here. So learning Yeah,
learning but I think for us, it could just be like at work, maybe
a co worker.
Why do you do this? How come you come here this way? Just put it
back to Allah. Why do that because in Islam, we are taught that so
they always know everything is connected. Now the batch that I do
it
Be like, no, that's me. This stuff that's from a love so then we
can't necessarily get them scriptures.
But our behavior specialists, because we didn't realize, Wow,
you just took this.
Like this. Maybe I need to take my show. Totally, you know exactly
what to do with our actions. Absolutely. That's what Prophet
Muhammad
did to like, he Yeah, yeah, the Scripture, obviously. But I think
his the way that he is like, it describes how he was how he
treated you were yet also a software people's hearts.
So we can do the same thing without knowing this is I shoulda
this. Exactly. Those are limiting thoughts. Right? Those are
limiting beliefs that I have to only teach if it's, I haven't
proved that I have everything memorized. I can say that in
Arabic. No, that's the *. And the thing is that a lot of
people think JSON only inspires to evil. That's not true. He will
thwart good. It with other things. So it's like, oh, you know, so. So
it's not necessarily he's only going to direct you to sin. He'll
just he could for you from good behavior by these limiting
thoughts. So that's why you have to be able to identify No, that's
a limiting thought, I'm not going to do that. Because like you said,
you know, I'm I'm now able to just, you know, share whatever I
can that's beneficial that I know, benefits me. And I don't need to
constantly, you know, confine myself to these strict rules. No,
be free teach, and you'll see the benefits of that inshallah. Yeah.
To that point, I think Ramadan also opens it up to other people.
Because, yeah, that's the best time because they asked you all
kinds of questions. So So for me, it's all my best moments have
been, when I have customer meetings, and we have lunch and
learns, and, you know, I'm not eating, they're like, Well, why,
after the meeting, we had like, another hour discussion, right?
Just kind of go back and forth. And they kind of tell them their
experience with with Islam, when they and I've had a lot of
customers that worked in Dubai, and a lot of those areas, so they
so they don't understand. So they understand that so. And, you know,
it's good to know that as long as it expands, all walks of life,
and, and everyone can relate to some at some point in time in
their life. That is such a good point. I'm so glad you brought
that up, because I'm realizing it's so true. How I will kind of
facilitate these discussions during the month. Right? And if
you do, too, I mean, even myself, I feel like we're so much more
proud. You know, I loud about our Islam and Ramadan, because it's
like, it's oh my god, you know, and, and people wise people are
usually shy, like, Oh, I gotta pray. I find a conference room. I
did this, but then it's like, well, it's in Milan. It's like,
Yeah, I can't fast. Sorry. And I can't eat that up if you want.
Like, they don't really think about it, right. And it's similar
to I guess, you know, how in the, you know, in Christian faith, you
also see an uptick from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and
people being very proud of their Christianity, right, even if
they're not going to church every day. But there's just something
about the season, that kind of gives people all those good feels,
and then they spread that out there. So that's a great
perspective, because it's a great opportunity to, again, work on
that sense of ownership, right and their identity, and establishing
yourself in your circles with your friends and co workers. But with
that sort of added boost, you know, the normal line naturally
kind of gives. So thank you, thank you for sharing those really good
reminder for all of us. Mashallah. So the last letter here stands for
mastery. Okay. And this is obviously the hardest part of the
journey because it's the continuous polishing, right of
what's in here of this heart that extends to the lens. And this is a
life long process every single one of us you know, our have to do
this no matter again, where we started. If we started five years
ago, three months ago, 1020 years ago, 40 years ago, it doesn't
matter. This part of the process never ends until we are in the
grave. It's an every day upward sometimes battle right? And it
takes persistence, it takes dedication.
And so if you think about it, it's the most important because it
proves our sincerity right how do you prove sincerity in anything?
You know in a relationship for example, if I'm in a relationship
with you and I tell you I love you and you mean everything to me? But
then I disappear
I don't you don't hear from me for months and weeks at a time. How is
my sincerity? You know, it's my sincerity proven to you or the
opposite right? So you know in anything even at work, you know,
if I if you
say to my employer, you can count on me.
But I'm calling in sick or I'm, you know, scrolling on my phone
when I'm supposed to be in a meeting.
All right, chances are I'm probably not gonna have my
picture. And I'm not gonna get a plaque at the end of the month if
I can get things, right. Because your sincerity is proven with
what? Deliberate constant continuous action. So that's what
we have to constantly remind ourselves that this is something
that you're not going to reach, like this peak and then be like,
ah, have arrived. Right? I'm finally like, all these other
people who I see are like what I think are super Muslim. No, no,
there's, you know, there's plenty, that's where there's plenty of
Hadith that show, you know, the downfall of people who are really
high because something went wrong. Maybe they, you know, got
spiritually a little too, you know, headed themselves. And they
thought, like, oh, I don't have to work on this. Nope, this is an
everyday process, this constant polishing, right? And so, you
know, the process is what I've said, and how do we do this? So
the practice of how do we, you know, get you know, improve or
work on this mastery is SN. Do we know this word is?
Excellence, very good.
You supposed to live? Are we like, a lot? Like we can see a lot? Yes,
we can't, but then we know he could see. Exactly. So from the
hadith of Gibreel lives, this is also from mmm, and now always
forgetting. There's a beautiful exchange that talks about Islam.
Amen. And accent, this is where we get this definition of Sn. Sn is
spiritual excellence, right? It's really putting in our best effort
in whatever we do. And so really understanding that if you want to
achieve mastery over anything, instead of trying to do it all,
focus on specific things, get mastery of it, then go to the next
right. So whatever that is, if right now you're in a place where
you're like my prayers, I'm not where I want to be. Maybe I'm not
praying on time, maybe I want to work on my Arabic or, you know,
just whatever, you know, I'm not doing all five, maybe I get really
tired at certain point where I'm missing one that continuously,
this is normal. All of us have been on this journey, every single
person here has been in this. But how do you focus on perfecting
your prayer, if you're also trying to do X, Y, Z or ABCD. And you're
you're trying to do too much so pacing yourself and not thinking
that it's like an all you can eat buffet, you have to hit every
single, you know, station, as long as beautiful, and there's a lot to
offer, but you don't have to hit every station, okay? Pace yourself
and just get really like, you know, focus on the main course,
right. And work on those things important. Of course, we know
prayers is the most straight important. So if that's something
that you're struggling with more comprehend, and if it's, you know,
something else, whether you want to learn to tweet, right, which is
the correct pronunciation of the climate, you want to start
learning how to read Arabic, this can be your next project, right.
But I think the pressure of trying to do too much can can can be very
overwhelming. And this is how again, chiffon can prevent us from
really advancing because like anything, you know, whether you're
dieting or trying to you know, create, you know, some new other
habits, whatever it is, if you overwhelm yourself, trying to do
too much, you're gonna stop, it's gonna, maybe after a week, you're
even I'm done, I can't do this anymore. Whereas if you say, you
know, what, I want to really understand this concept of accent
and really,
you know, just just, you know, be really good at something. So that
have that, like, you feel pride in that thing. And if it's one or two
things, if it's something meaningful to me, and Allah has
facilitated that for me, I want to get just really good at that and
inshallah be continuous and be, you know, just improve on that.
And it's one of the rules of thumb said, is that Allah will get the
mud so I've cliche that he,
he prescribed the accent and all things. So when I'm just talking
about worship, right? You should we should, as Muslims try to do
everything we can, with this concept of doing it excellently.
And there's another There's a principle for example, if you've
come into a space or if you use something that you leave it better
than how you found it. So I like to use the analogy of like a
public bathroom.
You walk into sometimes some of these bathrooms and you're like,
oh my god, right into the shower here, right? It's like the window
station is just like
soaking wet paper towels everywhere. The stalls are
disgusting. And you know, I'm sure we've all done it before. It's
like you walk into one stall, move on to that
restaurant, but if you get to that place where you're like, you know
what, who's gonna make the change?
Who's gonna
make the change, you know, maybe the person who cleans the
bathrooms is gone for the night. But maybe there's other human
beings that use the restroom, I can sit here and gripe and
complain, or I can be a game, you know, as a change maker and say,
I've walked into this I'm not happy with it's disgusting, it's
repulsive, so my mess already created. But if I want to lead by
example, I gotta make the change. So maybe take a few minutes to
clean up the paper towels what we had a driver sink a little bit,
you know, obviously, you don't need to go, you know, buy a toilet
plunger, go straight cleaning the toilets, but you know what I mean,
just whatever you can do in your capacity, if you're, you know,
whatever time you have, just to make an improvement, small
improvement. This is showing SN it's saying Allah I found
something unpleasant, unbecoming of, of, you know, Muslims and
Islam, and I want to change that. So these are little small things
that we can do, but that exhibit this beautiful concept in our
faith. Right.
Any questions?
It's, I think the timing is perfect, because we, unless you
have any questions, but I hope this was helpful to you this three
simple concepts, and really try to you know, apply them for all of
us. This is advice for all of us, in our every day, inshallah. And
then forward looking forward, also predominate on any, any questions
and come Yes, please. I mean, do you have any specific tips on how
we can apply this during Ramadan? Sure. I mean, for a prayer, of
course, is, I think the most important thing that we should be
all really striving for, because we have 30 days, and they say, you
know, habits are made in 40 days, right? So right now until one of
them you got 40 days. So we start right now, right, and you say I
want to really work on my prayer. So I'm gonna, you know, if I need
to, for example, wake up for Fudger and my alarm isn't working,
I need to change it to in my life, my other alarm writing to really
just sleep early, some of us are night owls, and we wonder what's
coming up for Fudger maybe because we're up too late browsing the
internet or watching Netflix or whatever we're doing, right? So we
need to think about how the life adjustments we can make so that
these excuses that you know, kind of get in the way of our you know,
attaining these these things that how we can prevent that from
happening. So, you know, just prayer I would say would probably
be the focus that I would say all of us can do because there's you
know access and inshallah Edlin will be you know, the pivot point
in person for this new group. So what we can do is maybe create I
don't know, a mail list or Whatsapp group, whatever you
advise, and if anybody here needs help with prayer, we can show them
maybe a range of buddy you know, someone to really help with you
with your prayer and maybe you know, just share resources with
you either unless ginger I'm sure has plenty of resources, but
again, we'll facilitate that but I would say
and then, you know, there's other things too bad habits vices, you
will know you should by this age at this point in our lives, we
don't know ourselves we know our bad habits and really try to
examine them from a critical point not from a point of negativity and
looking down at yourself. But again, uplifting yourself and
saying I have to be better and I want to be better and I can you
know Allah has made room for for for us to return and to you know,
to draw near him no matter where we are. So I'm not going to let
those negative thoughts get me down. I'm just going to do what I
need to do. So with a positive outlook
okay, there's food for all of you. So we'll just end it shallow with
a quick DoD
sabbatical or FOMO on the hamster crash.
Test of the KOA to buoy lake. So that was awesome in Santa Fe
hospital. It
was very happy with the rest of it happy with the vessel, the cellar.
All of this bless the circle bless every member here but the
organizers of this mission for creating the space for us
inshallah. And bless are gonna hold on bless our families and
children and guide them open their hearts Hala.