Sajid Ahmed Umar – Exam Tips – Must listen before you attempt your exam

			Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim al hamdu Lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah. While early he was
so happy woman, Wyler radio brothers and sisters in Islam, especially those who are writing exams
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. Some of my students, obviously, in this exam period
or close to writing exams, and they asked for some advice and thus, I thought that I share a little
video with some advice pertaining to examinations and writing examinations, especially since I have
some panel that had to sit my fair share of exams and Alhamdulillah throughout that period of Allah
has blessed me to
		

			understand the few practices that definitely assist in reducing the stress of exams and assisting a
student in performing well insha Allah in these exams. So in terms of advice, my dear brothers and
sisters, brothers and sisters, firstly, we must understand that do is our best friend
		

			is our best friend. And I'm not only talking about Dr. during times of need, but throughout our
lives, we must ask Allah subhanho wa Taala and asked from Allah subhanho wa Taala because all
success begins with Allah subhanho wa Taala You know, a lot of the time we put our, you know, faith
in some kind of law that we've studied, well, we know our work well, and we become extra nervous, if
we feel that we haven't prepared well and we sometimes forget about Allah subhanho wa Taala and that
indeed, all success begins with Allah subhanho wa Taala. You know, I know many students who prepare
as well, but then they get into the exam and so kinda like it just doesn't work out for them, right?
		

			This can be many factors, but sometimes, you know, it's because we actually don't ask from Allah
subhanho wa Taala so there's that extreme, where we just rely on our own abilities that we forget
how La quwata illa Billah that all success you know, there's no power no mic except from Allah
subhanho wa Taala. And, you know, with regards to I've noticed another strange trend, and that is
whereby we ask everyone else to make do And for us, and we forget to make for ourselves, you know,
so everybody knows that we have exams, right? Because we asking everybody to to make do out for us,
we on Facebook, we asking them to make up for us, but we forget to make dua for ourselves. And I'm
		

			not saying that we shouldn't ask, you know, our parents and pious people to make draft for us. But
I'm saying never ever forget about yourself, ensure that you ask from Allah subhanho wa Taala first
and foremost because you are the most in need, and you are in the best position to ask Allah
subhanho wa Taala Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala says, I'm a huge boon for Elijah, right Allah
subhanho wa Taala says in his book, who is the one who answers the desperate one, the one in need,
the one who is in such a state, and you know, they are in such difficulty and they turn to Allah
subhanho wa Taala and they raise their hands and they asked from Allah, Allah satisfaction for Su
		

			and Allah says, And Allah subhanho wa Taala lifts the difficulty so remember to make dua during
times of ease, and during times of need, and also remember to make up for yourself so do i is your
best friend,
		

			the next best friend you have, especially during exams? Is this the heart and asking Allah subhanho
wa Taala for forgiveness, right, we must understand that it is our sins that really sort of halt the
potential that we have and really, you know, acts as a hindrance in terms of the success we can
achieve, it's our sins, right? So and our lack of ability with regards to our piety, so it's default
is our best friend Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to
forgive him sometimes 100 times in a gathering in another report 70 times in one sitting right. So
if you
		

			you know and you and me rather we we are not free from sin like Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi
wasallam right. So, if Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam did this What about yourself and myself
so ensure that you know throughout your study process you seek forgiveness from Allah, a stone for a
lot of stuff that a lot you repeat, you know, with concentration, this invocation asking Allah
subhanho wa Taala to forgive you and also repeated during the exam process. I cannot tell you you
know how many times I have you know, entered an examiner and I know that I've read something but so
Pamela is just not coming to me then. And I repeat is still harder to Pamela loss of * of where
		

			to enter opens a door and and obviously, this is not for me.
		

			Right, I've actually learned this from the pious predecessors, that that walked the earth before as
those giants that you and I are trying to balance you know, on their shoulders, this is what they
used to say that they would seek forgiveness from Allah and Allah would open the door and in fact
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said this that is defined as the means of an opening during
all our difficulties. So, during your study process, you know, seek still foreign Allah will allow
the knowledge to settle in your hearts and during you know, the exam process as well seek as default
and during, you know, the marking process as well. Seek is the heart because indeed it is Allah who
		

			controls the hearts and you know, as students, we all know those doors, if we are making dua, we ask
Allah subhanho wa Taala to, you know, block the teacher's heart from from those mistakes that we
have in the exam to to soften the teacher's heart so that they give us more marks rather than, you
know, take away marks I'm sure our students are smiling because it just happens right? We end up
making this type of design Yes, ask Allah subhana wa Taala to assist you, and ask Allah Subhana
Allah to assist you via his default.
		

			Another important element to remember especially during the exam period, is that the head dude is
your best friend, that Jude is your best friend. You know, Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah commanded
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam towards the Hajj and told him that you know why, because we
are going to reveal you know, upon you a weighty word, right away t word is going to reach you. And
this data is heavy as well propagating Islam is heavy as well. So you need to train yourself to
manage this difficulty. And the best way to do so is to observe the tahajjud prayer. So, observe
that the hatchard prayer, you know, wake up a few minutes before selecting fetcher and ask from
		

			Allah subhanho wa Taala worship him with however many units of prayer is easy for you and asked from
Allah. And indeed Allah subhanho wa Taala Anna at that time, you know descends to the first Heaven,
right? And Allah subhanho wa Taala is calling out to us, help me into a benefit to barley help me
Mr. Allah, help me in such an environment to Allah is saying, you know, is there anyone who's
seeking repentance that I may accept it? Is there anyone who is seeking forgiveness that I may
forgive them? Is there anyone who is in need, that I may, you know, give them what they are in need
of. So Pamela, so you know, if your exams mattered to you that much, then you need to be waking up
		

			for the hedges. So I'll come to the last three best friends to add is still far and select a
tahajjud. Also, my dear brothers, you know, once making, one of the things that can help you during
this exam process, as well, is to make time for your fellow Muslim brothers and sisters that are
writing exams as well. ask Allah to make it easy for you, and ask Allah to make it easy for them.
Why? Because then Allah will pay some angel who will make the same do you make for them for you,
right? So a pure being will make a draft for you. And this is a mercy from Allah subhanho wa Taala.
So don't be selfish, in your door, be selfless in your door, these are some of the things that can
		

			assist us in terms of the study process, then, you know, don't let your study you know become a last
minute affair. You know, in time management, they call this a Q one activity where you've made
something important urgent, like studying the night of the exam, you can revise the night of the
exam, but you don't want to be studying the night of the exam or leaving things to last minute why
am I do brothers and sisters is because you know, when you do something in stress mode, then the
output is weak, right, because naturally, your body's not functioning as it should. So you know,
have a good time in which you can revise in a stressless way, which allows you to better absorb the
		

			information and also better apply yourself in the exam. And even in the exam, the exam can be
stressful, some for some people, and people have different personalities. The exam period itself can
be stressful, you need to calm down, you need to ask from Allah subhanho wa Taala Take a few deep
breaths, you know, and and space yourself out in the exam so that you're not stressing when
answering questions, right? Because if you stress when you answer questions, then it affects the
output. So try and pace yourself, space yourself, even in the exam, so that you know because writing
the exam is an art as well, right? It's like a, you know, for those who watch football, it's a
		

			football match. It's about execution, right? Or any other sport. So so this is about execution now
and you want to be processed, you want to be calm, you want to be collected during your execution,
Melba subhanho wa Taala make all our exams easy. I mean, another thing brothers and sisters is
		

			as a strategy in the exam, you want to try and go through the exam paper as soon as you get it. Or
if you if you feel it's better for you to go you know, just do one question then then read that
question. And and, you know, work out the strategy and how you're going to answer that question in
light of the the overall time of the exam because obviously each question, you know, I like to read
all the questions Why? Because
		

			I, I then have an understanding of, you know, which question needs what and how much time I have for
each and then I can space out things accordingly. And, and it helps the execution process better.
That's my, you know, preference with the exams. But some people like to read one question at a time,
because they say if they, if they have a question that they work with, and it affects their
concentration, with the questions that they struggle with, in any case, whatever you do, before you
answer the question, what you should do is sort of write out a plan of the most important pieces of
information, you definitely want to get into this question in the timeframe. Right, so then what
		

			happens is you able to, you know, if you're running short of time, or you know, sometimes, you know,
exams, the times don't really fit the questions, although the examiner say they do, but from the
student perspective, we feel it doesn't. In that particular case, at least you can place the most
important pieces of information in your answer sheet and move on, right? Because you know, no
examiner is asking you to place everything, but they want to test your understanding and your
ability. So you want to strategize and make sure that you put some notes in it's like you're writing
a thesis, you have a plan. So you want to have an exam answer plan that for this question. I'm going
		

			to say this first, the second, this third, and this fourth, and make sure that these few things are
the most important things that are definitely required to ensure that some diligence has been given
to this question. Another thing you want to do, my dear brothers and sisters is take with you some
healthy sugars, like nuts, like dates, because obviously, in the exam, you are using your prefrontal
cortex, right, which is, which is the front part of the brain, because that's where
		

			real time thinking happens. And it's a volatile place in the brain. And it uses a lot of calories,
it uses a lot of energies. And in an exam, if your exam is two hours long, or three hours long, or
four hours long, you know, you are constantly working in your prefrontal cortex mode. So what's
happening is by default, you're using up your sugars. And what happens is then you find towards the
end of the exam, you're too tired to think or too tired to continue or your thinking process becomes
slower. So what you want to do is, you know, after every 20 minutes or so, take a healthy sugar, you
know, maybe it's dark chocolate, maybe it's a date, maybe it's some nuts, you know, don't eat a lot,
		

			but it's some just to replenish yourself so that that way, you are able to manage yourself
effectively throughout the exam. These are just some pieces of advice that I would like to share
with you. Obviously, it's not absolute, there are other pieces of advice, but inshallah this will
definitely help your process. ask Allah subhana wa Taala to bless you all to bless these words to
bless your exams. And brothers and sisters before I leave, just never ever forget that our whole
life is an exam, right? We have a test in the grave, which is another exam and the marking of our
life exam is in front of Allah subhanho wa Taala on the day of Ghana, so whenever she upon, tries to
		

			make you sad and stressed Always remember that there's a bigger exam to come just remember that
there's a bigger exam to come and always ask yourself how good a Muslim I am. You know, don't let
the exam period make you lose Allah. You know and and, and and make every opportunity in your life
be a period where you get closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah so Allah subhanho wa Taala protect
you all and ease your affairs and ease our affairs. And if Allah subhanho wa Taala permits, I will
see you in another video inshallah I love you all for the sake of Allah assalamu aleikum wa
rahmatullah wa barakato.
		

			Brothers and sisters, one of the things that I forgot to mention,
		

			in terms of exam tips was the situation of a student after he or she has a bad examiner, it can
happen that sometimes, you know, you just go into the exam and it doesn't work out, you know, you
just misread the question, or you just weren't feeling well, time ran out, you know, time gets, the
better of you, these things can happen. Right.
		

			And, you know, in this kind of circumstances, we must hold ourselves together and keep ourselves
together. The worst thing you can do after a bad exam is allow it to spoil the other exams that come
after. Like, you don't want to have this domino effect that you had a bad exam. And now, you end up
just even losing hope. And you end up not being interested and you lose that motivation.
		

			You know, and then you start thinking, the worst of everything. And every situation, you know, what
happens when you start, you know, behaving like this and feeding like this and thinking like this,
you actually open the door to SharePoint. What happens is then SharePoint starts making you doubt
the good that you did in the exam. And, you know, it happens, right? You might have answered two
good questions, three good questions. And you have one question that just didn't go well. Now.
cheban makes you doubt the rest and makes your situation become even more overwhelming. Right, what
should you do in the circumstance? You know, one of the best ways to worship Allah which we you
		

			know, sometimes
		

			Forget to do is by having good hope in Allah. And in this circumstance This is where yes I'm not
saying you should, you know not take yourself to account we all want to be excellent. We take
ourselves to account, we understand where we went wrong, but then we engage Allah subhanho wa Taala
worshipping Allah subhanho wa Taala through this concept of personal one, having good hope in Allah
knowing that you know what, whatever Allah subhanho wa Taala does Allah subhanho wa Taala does good
right? Whatever Allah does, he does good right? And yes, I mean the situation a difficult situation
but even though there's
		

			even though I can't see the goodness right now there's definite goodness in it and what I will never
do in this circumstance is lose Allah subhanho wa Taala never ever lose Allah subhanho wa Taala you
know, what happens is people come out of the exam and now they excessively crying, they're
excessively upset and they start telling everybody they see about it and you know, making everybody
else feel sorry for them. You don't want to be doing this. You know, turn to Allah complain to
Allah, ask Allah for forgiveness, understand where you went wrong and ask a lot to protect you from
it happening again and have good hope in Allah that Allah whatever you do you do good online I put
		

			my trust in you and I tried my best and yeah, Allah, you control the hearts of everybody and these
examiners are people y'all love Please some leniency in the hearts and, and you know,
		

			Grant me that which is good for me. And, you know, understand my dear brothers and sisters that as
long as you get close to Allah subhanho wa Taala irrespective of event in your life, you have one,
you have one, let's see a case comes Where? Yes, okay, the exam didn't go well and the results are
not so good. But you know what you keeping your trust in Allah throughout that process, in my book
you've won, right? In my book, you have won, whoever doesn't lose, Allah has not lost everything.
And whoever has Allah has everything, right? So take account of yourself, make sure you don't repeat
the mistakes, but be a person who turns to Allah subhanho wa Taala always only complains to Allah,
		

			not the people when the people come to you. And the people you know, say How was the exemption?
hamdulillah? Allah, Allah, whatever Allah does, he does good. ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to make
the results good. And to make things easy for me. That's enough. That's enough. And you know, I know
sometimes, you know, we probably saying it's easy to speak this, but we had the bad exam and we
feeling the toughness of it and the toughness of the or the after effects of the earthquake of that
poor exam and so on and so forth. And yes, it's I agree with you, I agree with you. You know, I've
had many exams in my life. And yes, sometimes you do get that feeling that it's easy for the person
		

			advising, you know, nobody's feeling what we're feeling. But let me tell you something, my dear
brothers and sisters, Maria, Molly has Salah when she became pregnant, she actually wished that she
passed away before becoming pregnant. Right? But you know what, my dear brothers and sisters, she
didn't know at that time that she was carrying a profit. Think about that. My dear brothers and
sisters, think about that, you know, Allah will never place a burden on you that you cannot manage
everything that you are doing right now Allah has placed it in your path because you can do it. You
have to believe in Allah and believe that you can do it because Allah told you he will never ask
		

			from you that what you can do. So stand up, take a deep breath and stand tall and take on the
challenge for the sake of Allah seeking Allah subhanho wa Taala assistance and do not feel that you
cannot do do not feel that you are unable. And you know what, on lighter note, perhaps take a page
out of the book of Bob the Builder, because whenever he's asked, can we fix it? He says, Yes, we
can. I love you all for the sake of Allah. May Allah bless your exams and grant you the best
results. And may Allah grant you a pass on the DFP ama in front of him. We all know grant us all a
pass on the dfcm in front of him. I mean, Europa alameen salaam alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh