Maryam Lemu – Shine Your Light Brightly – 1

			Billahi min ash shaytani r rajim Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi
wabarakatuhu. My name is Miriam lemo. And welcome to what I'm calling my lecture series. Now over
the years, I've been asked by so many to share videos of some of the lectures I've given.
Unfortunately, when I make inquiries I find out either the audio wasn't good or the lighting wasn't
good. So what I've decided to do is to rerecord some of the lectures I've given over the years and
share them with you, I hope it will be of benefit inshallah. Now, I'm extremely passionate about
anything to do with personal growth and development. I love to share tips also on marriage, and see
		

			what lessons one can learn that they can apply to make marriages work. So I give a lot of premarital
and marriage advice. Now I'm just a student and not a scholar. Each day I learn and grow and I try
to apply lessons from the Quran, and the Hadith to how I live my life. And that's what I share with
everybody. Now, welcome to the first of three episodes of what I'm calling, Shine your light
brightly. Now, Alhamdulillah, I've been so blessed over the years, I've been blessed to be
surrounded by great role models. Now in my father, I had a person who taught me about spirituality,
about good manners, respect, and how to be disciplined. In my mother, I saw somebody who's so
		

			tenacious, she taught me to be a fighter, to live in a world of possibilities. She also taught me
how to contribute and be useful. And my mom is extremely passionate about nature. And what she has
done is helped me try to appreciate the wonders in Alaska creations, all around me. So everywhere I
go, I noticed nature and I notice the power of LS creation. I call her my ray of sunshine. In my
brother, I have someone who has taught me and inspired me to be actively curious to be hungry to
learn and grow. He taught me an acronym called the key to life ke y. k standing for keep evil,
educating why for yourself, so to constantly evolve, constantly grow, and be a lifelong learner. He
		

			also taught me the importance of forgiveness. And in as much as I'm so far from being there,
Alhamdulillah, he has been an inspiration. And I continue to try to be just like that. I've never
met a person who's a bigger promoter of peaceful coexistence. I also call him the man with the plan,
because anytime I'm stuck for ideas, I often go to him. So he's been a great role model for me in
that area. Now in my husband, the one I call my gift from Allah, He has given me the wings to fly, I
see that so often in my lectures, he's been my biggest cheerleader and the captain of my supporters
club, he's taught me to be courageous, he always says, Go for it, you have nothing to lose. And he's
		

			encouraged me to follow my heart and bring my dreams to life, I couldn't have wished for a greater
role model for our two sons Alhamdulillah. Now all these role models are so far, far from perfect,
but they all shine in some things. They all use their unique gifts and strengths that Allah has
given them. And they are making themselves useful. Now these people and so many more, that have
influenced me, inspired me and contributed to my intellectual growth, and my spiritual development
are no different from you and me. Now, we all have role models, we all have people that we look up
to and admire. And whether we like it or not, we are role models. People are looking up to us,
		

			whether we're ready or not people are copying us. Could it be our kids, our siblings, our neighbors,
could it be one of our colleagues, somebody is copying us, they may be copying the way we walk, our
manner of dressing, they may look at us and say I love the way you dress. And they start to emulate
us in that could be our manner of speaking the things we have accumulated our behavior good or bad.
Now what we are and how we behave is so much more than whatever it is that we may see. It's
happening now. Often, when we look at the youth, we call them leaders of tomorrow, they are leaders.
Now they are influencing each other far more than whatever it is we could do on them. The peer
		

			pressure is a force and that is also leadership. They are copying each other good or bad. Now people
are modeling us even though some shouldn't be role models, some shaytan is actually their role
model. But we all have people that we are admiring because they are significant and they're making a
positive difference. Now how do we become like those that we admire true role models? Allah has
placed a huge responsibility on us to be role models. He says in Surah two and verse 165. For He it
is Who has made you vice Jarrett's for He it is Who has made us his halifa has his representatives
right here on Earth. Now how can we represent a little
		

			And not model exemplary behavior. It's just not possible. Now how fast it takes us to be true role
models and represent allies between us and him. But what is critical is that we have locked in on
our target. We are consciously and deliberately facing the right Qibla. Now that's what is
important. It is our only and true reason for existence, to worship Allah and to obey his
commandments. One of them is to represent him by being useful and being significant, and also to do
the right thing and prevent wrong wherever we see it. The Quran continues to remind us in verses
like surah, to answer where Allah says that man is in loss except those who have faith and do the
		

			right things, do righteous deeds except who have faith and do righteous deeds. Now in our
neighborhoods of professional fields, are you known to be the one who always does the right thing,
like the Prophet sallallahu Sallam? He was known as El amin, the trustworthy the honest one. Like so
many other examples of the Sahaba of the prophet like Omar he was known for justice, like Abu Bakar
for his generosity, Othman for being gentle, only for being wise, Ayesha for being knowledgeable and
tenacious she was a fighter, for on Selma for being strong willed for nusseibeh being brave. So what
are you known for? In your neighborhoods, in school in professional fields? What do people know you
		

			by? Are you known to be honest and trustworthy in character and incompetence? Do you have the
courage to speak up and prevent wrong whenever you see it? Are your qualifications even genuine? Are
they yours? Did you get into your position based on your competence? Not based on who you know?
		

			Are you working hard? Wherever it is you are with integrity? Are you trustworthy? Are you holding
yourself and others accountable for the expectations, the promises and their responsibilities that
they are meant to fulfill and yours.
		

			And it's not good enough to be good alone. There are some people who do the right thing always who
behave well. And they say I'm a good person. However, if there is wrong going on around you, and you
do nothing about it. I'm so sorry. That's not good enough. Our values are not complete, until we
walk the talk. And we insist that others conform to true values that we behave right. We do the
right things ourselves, but we insist that others do the right thing as well. Now, I shared the
allow and has said that the Prophet sallallahu wasallam said that if you do not enjoin right and
forbid wrong, you will pray to Allah and he will not answer you, your prayers will not be answered.
		

			And you will be visited by calamities, and they will not be lifted from you. Now, Omar said and I
love this. call yourself to account before Allah calls you to account. Check yourself, do the
inventory that you had been asked to see. Are you the right person? Are you a good person? Are you
doing the right thing always. Now parts of the virtues of Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam and many
other prophets that have lived and gone like Jesus, Moses and so on, is that they left behind
spiritual legacies, not buildings, not wealth, but morals and virtues to inspire human beings and
upgrade the quality of their humanity.
		

			And that is why we are having this discussion. That is why we are talking about how we become like
them, role models that others will emulate. Now, Allah has equipped us with all the tools we need to
live our best life and be the most useful. Yes, Allah has given us the gifts. Yet some people look
around and compare themselves to others, they feel others have an advantage, either because they
come from a certain family or a certain region, or that the person has a better education than them.
And often we end up becoming professional excuse geologists, we make excuses for what we cannot do
and what we cannot be by comparing ourselves to others. Yet Allah has given us the gifts, often we
		

			end up saying that it's somebody else's responsibility, or I can't do it because this person has
what it takes. Now, whose permission Are you waiting to do and become what Allah has destined you to
be? Now there's so much wrong in society today. Why? Because of so many bystanders, people that
simply watch us wrong goes on around them. And they simply do nothing about it. Sometimes they even
join in on it, or they admire from a distance they see people doing right and they say well done, or
this brother, this sisters doing so well. And they miss out on an opportunity to gain reward. Now we
don't need money to make ourselves or be useful and significant in as much as money is useful. And
		

			of course it can make a big difference. However, there are so many people that have gone down in
history that have been useful, and they didn't have money. I love this hadith where the Prophet
sallallahu Sallam said that when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah for Allah loves
the
		

			who put their trust in Him? When you have taken a decision, when you've decided to do and be, then
put your trust in Allah and inshallah He will make it easy for you he will provide for you from
sources you never expected. Now during the next episode inshallah, we'll be looking at our roles and
how we see ourselves. Some of us may need to recharge our batteries and some may need to replace
some of our batteries because we are not shining as brightly as we should. I pray that some of you
have enjoyed what I've shared with you so far, and I pray to be useful to you and if you did enjoy
it, please pass it on Assalamualaikum and see you next time.