The Productive Muslim Podcast – Season 3 Ep 29

			You're listening to the productive Muslim podcast season three, Episode 29
		

			Welcome to productive Muslim podcast, season three. Assalamu Aleikum, I'm your host, Andy. And this
is the productive Muslim Ramadan hot detox challenge. So today could be the last day of Ramadan, but
we don't know for sure. And we've nearly come to the end of this detox challenge us have one more
podcast left, and then you have to never hear from me again. I'm joking, I'm sure you will love
these podcasts. Today, your article is actually very short. Your article is on racing towards good
deeds. And I want you guys to read this because there's a very key story here. And that there was a
man who wanted to go visit a friend who'd had a knee operation. And he kept putting it off, kept
		

			putting off, kept putting it off, until finally when he decided to do it, he went to the mesh to go
see his friend, he went to the masjid to pray, and then go see his friend, and he found his friend
already at the masjid, and had already healed and was feeling much better. And he kept telling
herself off, like, why did I put off this opportunity? bearing in mind visiting your second Muslim
brother, there's a huge reward for it, you know, caring for your neighbor. And in this article is a
headache. It's a headache, good to see where our last panel to Allah says, oh, son of Adam, I was
sick, and you did not visit me. And the person will say, Oh, my Lord, how can I visit you when you
		

			are the Lord of the worlds? And then allowed say, didn't you know that such and such seven of mine
was sick? But you did not visit him? And were you not aware that if you had visited him, you would
have found me by him?
		

			Thinking about that, how easy is it for us to put off good deeds? How easy is it for us to delay
doing something that will bring us closer to Allah Subhana Allah and divert our attention elsewhere?
You know, that is saying that I have that to this day, I still fully believe it. And it's that no
one is too busy. People just have different priorities. And the reason that I believe that is
because when you want to do something 100%, you will find the time to do it. You know, if you want
to sit down and binge watch a series of Netflix, you will find the time to be able to do it.
Regardless of how many tasks and duties you have to do the same way. We've reached a time in this
		

			day and age where I feel like when we make physical fantasy each other because we're so connected
through social media, just send a message. And that's it. When we do make plans to go meet each
other, we see so much effort, we're counting and transport time, we're counting getting there,
spending time and then going back. And we have this idea that you know, when someone cancels plans,
and you feel grateful, because you're like, Yes, I didn't want those plans in the first place of
hamdulillah. That sort of mentality is, is how we become in this day and age. And it's not something
that has been okay, in it, you know, spending time with our friends with our family when they're
		

			sick, or when they're in health, you know, having a gathering where we remember Allah subhanaw taala
it's something that we find this effort to do. So for example, I, I go to a biweekly Hannukah. And
it's once every two weeks, and even then sometimes it might get canceled, and you'll end up being
once a month. But even then, there are people within it, he'll be like, sorry, I can't make it, I
have something else to do. Or they'll say you're not I'm too tired or whatever. And, you know,
probably they do, some of them, they do have a genuine excuse. But also at the same time, it's
recognizing that, you know, if someone's invited you to like a party or something you would go,
		

			whereas when someone invites you to something that's close to the remembrance of Allah subhanaw
taala, it doesn't interest you as much and you're like, you know what, let me put it off. Netflix
requires a subscription of, I don't know, maybe 10 $12 a month, I'm not sure how much it is. And as
Muslims were willing to pay that, well, I know we're getting our money's worth. But when you're
asked to pay a subscription for a Muslim website to gain Islamic inspiration, we tend to be
apprehensive. This is a chance for us to get good deeds, you know, spending our money spending our
money like that is a form of a better you're spending it in order for you to get close to Allah
		

			subhanaw taala. But it's something we've become apprehensive about is it actually going to be worth
my money.
		

			You know, when the event goes off, and it's time to pray, you know, we've got three hours before the
next Salah comes in that's finished doing what we're doing First, let me make that phone call that I
need to do. Let me put this to cook, let me do the laundry. And then once I've done that, I will get
ready to pray. If it comes to God, and you know, let me leave my car and until right before I go to
sleep when I'm completely exhausted, completely tired. And then I'll tell myself actually, let me
put it off tomorrow. We need to have this mentality where we're racing towards things that bring us
close to Allah subhanaw taala and sometimes that can be quite difficult sometimes if it's not
		

			something you're used to. It feels a bit forced, like you're trying to force this love of Allah
Subhana Allah that's not as intense as you think it is. And it ends up being hardest do these acts
are very bad because they don't feel genuine. They feel like they're forced from you. But like this
heart detox has been about from the beginning of it. It's about taking your heart isn't a diet
you're taking out
		

			Things that are unhealthy for you. So you've cut out music, you've cut out TV series, you're cutting
out useless conversation with people. And every day you're reading, you're reading things that
benefit your soul, you're reading, and you're reading your article of the day, you're doing
different things that make you very conscious of the last parameter, Allah and that bring you a
reward. And it's in doing that when you see the blessing of it, when you see sort of the contentment
that it brings you. It then makes you realize that you want to race more towards Allah Subhana Allah
and this contentment is so important. Because when the dunya gets really, really hectic and really,
		

			really busy, is so easy to lose sight of what's important, because you spend most of your time
tired, you spend most of your time complaining, there's not enough hours in the day, I need to do
this, I need to do that. And worship of Allah a better takes a backseat, apart from your five daily
prayers like you do those, there's not much going on. But in handler, you've done the bare minimum
that you need to do. You know, I want you to think of think of somebody who's done a favor for you,
somebody who's done something really nice for you, and you feel like you owe them so then you go
above and beyond to thank them, you know, you might buy them flowers, you might send them a really
		

			long romantic text message. Oh, this was so amazing. This was so kind of you, whatever. If you were
to think about all of the things that Allah has done for you, okay? The fact that you're able to see
the fact that you're able to hear the fact that you are healthy, the fact that you have internet
access, even listened to this podcast in the first place, to start thinking about all of the amazing
things that last panel to Allah has given you that he hasn't given everybody else. Okay. And then
think about how much time you've given back to a lot of thank you for it.
		

			Apart from your five daily prayers, how much do we actually go above and beyond, to really have a
relationship with a lot of thank him, okay, thanking Allah doesn't mean in a sitting down, doing
family all night long, spending all day in prayer and spending all day fasting, not thanking Allah
is when you are going out there and you're doing good deeds, when you're helping other people, you
are being kind to other people, you are speaking a good word, you're using a miswak stick, and that
cancels a bad encounter something that you're doing to please Allah Subhana, Allah, Allah subhanaw
taala did not create us, except to worship Him. And through worshiping Him, we need to make sure
		

			that we are doing things that is that are pleasing to Him. And the best thing is, it's not hard to
please Him. Like, it's genuinely not difficult. You hold up an argument with your parents, because
you decide, you know what, for the sake of Allah, I don't want to get into an argument with my
parents, I'm going to swallow my pride, I'm going to apologize. Even if perhaps you're not in the
wrong, you're going to apologize. Because you want to say good word to them. And you know that a lot
of us treat your parents with their sin. That's a good deed that you have now raised towards, you
know, if somebody is sick, like the article that you read today, rather than just send them a
		

			WhatsApp message, you know, send them a message and saying, Hey, is it possible to come and visit
you, if you're not able to visit them, send them food, cook them something, send it over to them?
Now, there are so many things that we can do that when you evaluate it in the bigger picture, it
will take you what maybe half an hour, an hour of your time, that half an hour an hour of your time,
you might end up spending on social media instead in an unproductive way, you've now spent it in a
way that helps other people, and that gets you measured. So after reading this article, I really
want us to sit and evaluate about how we're going to be content through racing towards good deeds.
		

			You know, when you're a man is on a high and you feel like for example, when the air then comes in,
you want to go pray, you're like, yes, it's time to go pray. I love this moment when I pray, that
sort of feeling where things that please a lot of what appeals to you. And I remember I was
discussing it with a friend. And she said that when she gave up listening to music, for example, she
found that even things to do with that that once used to appeal to her. They had they lost their
appeal, they were no longer attractive. She's like, it's almost as if, you know, before Chopin used
to make all of these things that are a waste of time look attractive. And now, they're not
		

			attractive in the slightest for me. So after having listened to this long podcast, and read this
very short article, the next thing you want to do is you're going to write a letter and post it to a
friend or family member who's abroad. So you did this maybe two weeks ago, three weeks ago, where
you had to write a letter to a friend, the handwritten one, this time, you're gonna do it for
someone who is abroad. So it could be your family members, it can be your friend, you can talk to
them about how Ramadan has gone for you. But don't tell them that you're sending the letter, you
know, make it a surprise for them. Because in this day and age, it's receiving a letter that makes
		

			us so excited. Back in the 90s. It was when we received an email, we were like, yes, oh my god and
email. Now it's completely changed. When we receive an email. We don't want to read it. But when we
receive a handwritten letter, we're like, oh, my God, who's posting a letter to me. And then the
last thing that you're going to do is you're going to choose a language that you don't know. And
you're going to learn to say hi, how are you? And what is your name in that language? These are your
tasks for the day and inshallah I look forward to being with you tomorrow, for the last podcast of
this hot detox challenge.
		

			Salam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
		

			Hey everyone, this is Mira here now just before you hit the pause button I want to let you know
something. We are having a giveaway this Ramadan to win the productive Muslim audiobook along with a
free one year subscription to the productive Muslim Academy. So this is the same Academy that gives
you access to the Ramadan course and all other great courses to help you be super productive. Now
the exciting thing about this giveaway is that the more you share with your family and friends, the
more entries you have to win this prize pack. So check it out by hitting over to productive Muslim
podcast.com slash gift that is productive Muslim podcast.com slash gift. Thank you for listening and
		

			have a great day.