Sarah Sultan – Coronavirus, Spirituality, Anxiety, Practicality

Alright, so I want to come up with a lot here but I've had so everyone have an estimate, are you gonna shake hands and smell him or hate him? Did he know probably I mean, what are we wanting now I don't want to mean what to ask you about two months opinion a lot more slowly. So then we got to kind of anti Costa Rica Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, why only he also can be here or send them to Siemens cathedra I want to welcome you all on behalf of the FDN Institute, to this special webinar, I want to welcome our guests and our fellows actually sister Saad and sister Nigel as well and thank them for taking the time out to do this. And may Allah subhanaw taala make it easy for

everyone that last panel to allow everyone to come out of this stronger with more reward with more perspective with more gratitude with more closeness to Allah subhanaw taala closeness to their families, greater appreciation of their health and their blessings and so much more in sha Allah Tiana in this in this in this very unique time. And I think inshallah Tada I probably have the least beneficial things to say, out of out of the three of us on this on this webinar. So I'll start with just two things in Shaolin. They're actually Dr. Requests, our brothers and sisters in Christchurch, New Zealand

Subhanallah special special people who have suffered tremendously under you know, the circumstances, not just that of last year, but also this year. And, you know, tomorrow and of course, New Zealand's far ahead of us, those of us that are in the United States marks the one year anniversary of that terrible terrorist attack. May Allah subhanaw taala have mercy on the planet on those that have passed except in a Shahadat LS, Panasonic comfort their families, and allow them to find peace and joy in this world and tranquility in this world and then ultimately be joined with their, with their families with their loved ones, in the same ranking station in the hereafter alone. I mean, so

please keep them in your jobs at this time. Subhan. Allah was supposed to be in New Zealand this weekend. And so it's been on my mind, and I just got the message from the families that they actually cancelled all the programs in Christchurch. So you can imagine, even as one year passes, they're not able to gather in the message, they're not able to come together and comfort one another with what will surely be a grueling day for them. So that's one thing with perspective, when we're talking about thinking of those who have suffered far more than we have, please specifically remember them because I think that coverage will be lost with everything else going on right now.

Secondly, I posted something about chef so headline here, a man of great public, great virtue, who's done a lot for the community. And his family has also been through a lot.

shiksa hailed as a teacher, the Boston Islamic Seminary in Boston has done a lot for the local community over there, and is well known to students with knowledge and scholars and people that are acquainted with the tradition. And he suffered a stroke last month I posted about that, and his elderly mother passed away on July 8, yesterday and his father is also elderly and not doing well right now and check Sohail is recovering, and of course, his siblings are going through a very rough time as well. So please keep them in your chat as well in Charlottetown, and then finally, everybody else that that will not get Facebook Mentions or, or make any type of headlines, but that are going

to be made even more vulnerable through this, the families of those that will pass away. And in the headlines, it will just be an uptick in the number of casualties in that particular country. But to them, it would have been a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a sister, a son, a daughter. So please keep keep all of those people in your Jonathan Sharma. And may Allah subhanaw taala activate us, not just protect us from this, but may allow us parents to activate us to be of use to people in a way that's beneficial.

We should not just be seeking to protect ourselves, we should not just be seeking to make it through this ourselves. We should be seeking to be as beneficial to everyone around us as possible through these times whether that's in the capacity of offering spiritual guidance, emotional support, food and drink and supplies and groceries, volunteering in our communities. I really do hope isn't it ironic that Allah uses each and every single one of us in a way that's beneficial. So please keep that in mind when we're talking about shifting the mindset and the perspective that the goal is to be not just protect

but to be connected to Allah and to be useful to the people, and in the process of that be even more connected to a loss of habitat. So I want to address this from a different perspective than I did in the hope. But yes, I keep saying Ultima, because it seemed like it wasn't really a hotspot. But I want to address this from a different way, which is I want to specifically talk about the role of drought here, the role of supplication, because I know that Sr, sauna and SR Najwa be the nighttime so we'll get into some of the more practical tips and Sharla with this, but when it comes to your app, one of the things that we find from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa Salam is that there are

stabilizes, there actually stabilizes your core. And that's why if you think about the most frequent draft of the Prophet SAW Allah when he was young Kalibo Kulu said that colombiana Dena co Turner of hearts, make my heart firm on your religion. The idea is that everything around you and of course, that has a very specific context, which is that a person remains firm on guidance, and does not go astray. But the heart turns so frequently. But you know, if you connect that to the larger picture, everything around us panela is in constant motion. The world around us is in constant motion. And just like an earthquake, you know, we get so used to the earth being stable that if the earth shakes

from under us, we'll call an insanity Malahat. And a human being says, What's wrong with it? There's an expectation that this was supposed to be stable. This was not supposed to be moving, right? I because I've never encountered the earth shaking from beneath me. So a person would naturally say, Marla, what's happening here? Why is the earth shaking? Why is this house not providing me the protection that was supposed to provide me? Why is my health giving in? Why why is why are things closing down? Right? We took so many things not just for granted, you know, in the capacity of appreciating our blessings, but we also depended on things and consider them to be stable when they

weren't really stable at all. And that's actually the point is that everything around us is in constant motion. Our our circumstances are always vulnerable. We are always vulnerable. Even if we do everything to solidify at the at the at the physical level. We're always vulnerable to something and do apt has a stabilizing effect. Yeah, Mercado Libre Colusa bits can be analytic, alternative hearts, make my heart firm on your path that allows us to be connected to ALLAH SubhanA, which Allah who is unaffected by any circumstances do allows us to long for the inevitable, to long for that reward with Allah subhanho to Allah, as everything around us is always going to change. We don't

know what's going to happen to us tomorrow. But we do know that at some point, we're going to meet Allah subhanaw taala. And to be connected to that inevitable reality, and to not just have more perspective on what is stable and what is not, but to actually actively seek to stabilize yourself. And the only one who cannot be moved or changed by anything else, is a means of actually making yourself more firm. Right? So if you think about the demands of the profit slice on the applications of the profit slice, and then there's a category of neurons that have a lot to do with setbacks, which is firmness is the karma, right? It's the karma is to is to remain is to remain binded on the

path. You know, this this idea of resisting the change of circumstances and keeping our hearts firm. There are also the drafters of the prophets lie Selim and you know, a lot of people are going to be looking for which do do I make for this circumstance, right? You're gonna find you're asked about health, their eyes about anxiety, you're asked about how to deal with stress. But remember that every dollar that you make every moment of is to fight every moment of seeking forgiveness from Allah, every moment of connecting to your Creator, is a means of bringing about goodness in your life and as a means of warding off harm. Right? So it's not just the dryness is not just the

supplications that are specific right so last time I mentioned two reasons for example, that prevent that prevent that that that prevent punishment and hardship coming upon people which is the prophets why Selim being amongst them, welcome your stuff you don't or that they're in a state of seeking forgiveness from Allah subhanaw taala. And that's why when we look at the supplication of Yunus it is Sunnah of the Prophet Jonah, peace be upon him. Eunice it is Salam when he asked Allah to protect him or he asked Allah to change his circumstances, as he was and I know we, you know, we're going to use the word quarantines in every single way right but isolated in the belly of that will. As I'm

loving Masood, though the alarm goes off illustrating in just such a powerful way in the darkness of the belly of that whale and the darkness of the bottom of the ocean.

In the darkness of the night, I mean completely away from everyone and he calls out to Allah subhana wa Tada La ilaha illa Anta Subhana kidney Quinton la Lanta Subhana kidney continue to learn how to get in the continent. There is no god but you how perfect Are you? I was from the wrongdoers there is no god but you how perfect Are you? I was from the wrongdoers. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned that there is no deer out there most hardship like that do not there's nothing in that dua that actually says Oh ALLAH remove hardship from but it's the it is is the connection to Allah subhana wa Tada. It is the acknowledgement of Allah's greatness and glory. It is the

acknowledgement of our own shortcomings, and everything that's embedded within those inherently that allows for these things to actually word off harm from us.

And so think about the euro as a whole the entirety of drought, think about you know, if you've been lacks, and obviously if I've been, if we've been lacks, right with our capital Subak we'll miss out which are the daily remembrances in the morning and an evening the supplications that we're supposed to be saying throughout the day, our wizard which is our daily regimen of seeking forgiveness of this default test to be which is saying Subhan Allah declaring Allah's glory or praise and hamdulillah or to be it aren't saying Allahu Akbar, let holo and upwards love Allah right, these are which means that there is no power or might accept of that which is with Allah. So these daily

remembrances, if we've been lacks with them, this is a time for us to actually regain them in a very, very, you know, in a very regular way, right, and to find deeper meaning in them and all of those prayers, all of those supplications all of those Africa, all of those remembrances are a means by which we stabilize our core. And we connect ourselves to the one who is unmoved and unchanged by everything that happens around us. And we long for that which is promised for us, which is the reward of agenda. There is no disease and agenda. There is no earthquake in Jannah nothing happens in paradise, where our blessings can be taken away from us once we get there. We are there in the

nighttime so we longed for that which Allah has promised us. And in doing so, with Allahu Taala we find some sort of peace and tranquility in the midst of our own making drop out who will Riba the supplication is worship, so let's increase in that inshallah Tada. And then the last thing I'll say, Inshallah, then I'll hand it over.

This idea of good deeds, warding off harm, good deeds warding off harm. This is embedded in many a Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. Prophets like Selim said that nothing Ward's words off or changes a person's lifespan, like sadaqa, like charity. And remember, charity is not just restricted to the financial, really deeply think, with your community in the next few weeks, how you can be a positive force of good with everything and everyone around you think about those elderly, that cannot fulfill their basic needs right now. Think about those people that, you know, were already vulnerable that have just been made so much more vulnerable, activate yourself towards that, and you

do not see the forces of Allah subhanaw taala and warding off foreign from you may be very, very clear. It could be that something harmful was destined for you, but because of some good that you do, Allah subhanaw taala changes your decree, right, because the prophets sighs I mentioned that good deeds can change the decree. So you're not going to get a message that by the way, you were supposed to have this happen to you tomorrow, but because you went out and you did something good, or because you offered some sort of benefit, or because you connected to Allah in this way, it got warded off, you're never going to know that because that's not that's not accessible knowledge to

you. Right? That's Allah subhanaw. Taala has knowledge that's a loss of time as divine decree. It's not something that we can access. But we can be assured by the principle, right, that doing good is a means of warding off harm, doing good for ourselves in the forms of our personal about doing good for others around us, engaging in that community benefit and shallow trying to take care of those around us in these times. Those are means by which Allah Ward's off harm that otherwise would have been destined for us. So engage those regularly. Don't be reckless with them. Don't be like, well, in that case, you know, I'm not gonna forget about this whole social distancing thing right? Now

engage it with with caution, but with love and with care and Charlottetown as you go out there, and we do these things. So think with your local community. What can you do in sha Allah to Anna, to be a part of

to be a part of this? And the last thing

I would say is the, okay, see, this is a this is not my most half

because it's it's a lot more

it's a lot more used than probably my last parents I forgive us of how long the mishaps that were passed down from our parents, they always have beat up pages. And, and you know, the covers are used because of how often these mishaps were used and obviously, we use our phones now and things of that sort. But don't just don't just say, Okay, I'm gonna start reading Quran every day, actually give yourself a goal. Just like in Ramadan, you've got a you know, you've got your goal of how much water and you're going to read a day, think about how much gold and you're going to read every day from now set it and set a goal that's that's modest to start with and shot Matana whether it's five pages

or 10 pages, or whatever it may be. set that goal for yourself in sha Allah Tala and keep with it. And if you see yourself able to do commit to it over the next few days in sha Allah, then move it up a little bit. Okay, so set a goal five pages for example 10 pages, but make it a point to do so in sha Allah time, every day. And I promised myself I wasn't gonna say this corny joke but I will put an anti poor anti in yourself alright, so so you can you can

I don't know if someone else's use that but definitely use these moments and Charlotte's adda me I lost contact connect this through to the end and to him in these dates. I'm going to go ahead and pass it over to sister

I believe that sister Saddam's going next to her sister

I think okay, so I'm gonna go ahead and pass it over and show to sister network or sister sada whoever was a sister silent shell and then I'll

or whoever's next, I'm sorry, I lost the order. I can't see the chat because I kind of

just like lifted sheep on my it's, so I'm going to be next inshallah. My name is sada Sultan, I'm a fellow with the Pain Institute and licensed mental health counselor and professional counselor at home. dilla. So does that qualify it? I'm sure, Hamid for the the wonderful tips. There were a couple that really resonated with me, Mashallah. And so I wanted to delve into them even a little bit a little bit more. Inshallah. So one of them that really resonated was this idea of the reliance on a list of data that we already all do on a daily basis. Right, the idea of Allah's Pattana being the almighty being the creator, being the most powerful being our protector, right. And the idea

that he's the one who created the Coronavirus that we're all talking about and that everybody's really concerned about. But in that understanding, we also realize that he's more powerful, but then it and knowing that on a daily basis, we're already relying on Allah's past data every single day, every moment of the day, every breath that we take in, and we noticed that the air actually accesses our lungs every time our heartbeats, right. Any time we are doing anything in our daily lives, it is a reminder of the power of electronic data. And it's a reminder of our dependence and reliance on electronic data. So in knowing that our health is always in his hands, right. And knowing that on a

small level on a daily basis, when we might not always think about it. But in a time like this, when we're all worried about our health. It's a really intense reminder of that. And it reminds me of the area where Alice pantalla reminds us, he says, Who has fed them, saving them from hunger, and made them safe saving them from fear, right. And so even if we're feeling fearful at this point, it's a reminder that even in these difficult moments, and in the easy moments, unless PandaDoc is the one who's saving us from all of these hardships on a daily basis.

And the other thing that you Hamid had mentioned, which I thought was really that really resonated with me, was the idea that life is always in flux, right? That life is constantly changing, that there's a certain degree of uncertainty that our lives are filled with. But we tend to have this idea that our lives are very predictable, because in our experience, they have been right. On most days if you're like an average person, you're either waking up in, you know, eating breakfast and going to school or going to work, you know, driving the same route, seeing the same people and things like that you have a routine. And that gives us the idea and the misconception that life is

predictable. And when something like this happens where suddenly everything

is changing in just just a couple of weeks, right or even less, you know, when you go to the grocery store and all the racks are like cleaned out of fresh produce and meat when your kids school has been canceled, like my kids school has been canceled, and you're trying to navigate that, right? When you hear news reports that can be really scary. Suddenly, the immunity we thought we had to unpredictability. This is this is just like a huge reminder, like a huge dose of uncertainty. You know, in reality, I had heard a talk by Dr. Shefali, Sabari. She's a really well known psychologist. And one of the things she said was two days ago, we didn't know if we'd be alive right now. Right?

We didn't know we assumed, but we didn't know. And so we're always living with uncertainty, but we just tend to deny that uncertainty. So now we have this heavy dose of it. And so how do we use that dose of uncertainty for the purposes of growth?

One of the things that

measure one I often do, we're both therapists, right? So one of the things that we often do with our clients is that we try to teach them a skill called distress tolerance, right? Which is basically that whenever we're uncomfortable with something, we all have a human tendency to try and avoid that discomfort to push it away, to deny it to avoid it in whatever way we can. Right. And everything that's happening with the Coronavirus brings so much discomfort to the forefront for us. And one of the blessings that we have is that we have this huge, like surge of an opportunity to sit with discomfort, to learn how to deal with distress and to learn how to accept the reality of a situation

and what's outside of our control, while also focusing in on working on what is within our control. So it's a really powerful opportunity if we can view it in that way. And Sharla. I think one of the other powerful things that happens when something major occurs in our lives, whether it's something traumatic, or whether it's something like what's happening right now with everything happening with the Coronavirus, and our worries about it is that it really helps us to shift gears into focusing in on the big picture in our lives focusing in on what we truly believe to be important. The things that we suddenly realize that we're willing to forego for the sake of health and safety, those are

good things that are truly important to us. And so suddenly, we realize that a lot of the other things that we had been prioritizing, maybe they aren't as much of a priority as we once thought they were right and focusing in on that and using that and taking it into our daily lives once inshallah things get back to normal.

The other thing I wanted to mention also is that if you are feeling nervous, if you're feeling fearful, if you're feeling overwhelmed with everything that's that's going on, and if it's bringing up a lot of anxiety, then just realize that that is really normal for that to be happening. It's when when so much of our lives change very suddenly, it is very normal to have a level of anxiety. And so have a little bit of self compassion, where you're telling yourself like, of course, I'm feeling a little bit anxious who wouldn't feel a little bit anxious in a situation like this, right? It doesn't mean that you're not relying on a less past data, it just means that change is hard. And

that's a very normal thing.

And to kind of elaborate on that point, and why that might be happening for you and for a lot of us. And why that might look different in different people is the idea of like the fight flight or freeze mode that we tend to get into when we are in a difficult situation. So some anxiety is a very normal thing. And it can actually be a really big protective factor. Anxiety is an emotion that Allah's pandemic created within us. And so it exists for a reason. And one of the really amazing functions of it is that it can be very protected it, it's what gets us to look both ways before we cross the street. It's what gets us to not touch a hot stove. Right? It helps us to make smart decisions at

moments when we need to be cautious. What happens sometimes is that it kind of gets a little bit over activated. And the survival part of our brains get a little bit too energetic. And what happens in those moments is that the front parts of our brains which are responsible for healthy decision making good judgment calls, they don't function as strongly because they're certain we're kind of in survival mode. And so you know when we see people fighting over a roll of paper towels

in the grocery store, that's the survival part of their brain that's coming up rather than the, you know, rather than the healthy judgment, decision making part of their brain, their survival mode is in overdrive. And the reason why it gets into overdrive is because of the what ifs. You know, if we stop and think for a moment about whether our lives will be so different, if we, you know, have this one paper towel roll from the grocery store, or whether it wouldn't, then most of us would stop and make the decision that yeah, it's not going to impact my life tremendously, right? But it's the what ifs that keep our minds going toward anxiety. And the Prophet Muhammad SAW Selim, he told us he

encouraged us he said, that in situations, say, Allah did that, which he ordained to do. And your if opens the gate for shaitan, right. So if when we open the door for if that's how our anxiety are, like arises and it gets, it gets a little bit out of control, and then the decisions that we're making aren't ones that we'll look back on, in the best possible way. Right. So if we know this, then how do we try to get out of survival mode, and re invigorate that front part of our brains, that's going to help us make some better decisions. And so that we can try and deal with the situation and the anxiety that we're going through in a way that we can look back on with some

comfort and shot not. So SR Najwa is going to go into a lot of detail with regards to that. But I wanted to share a few, a couple of things that she'll then elaborate on with some really practical tips, and chulmleigh. But one of the main ways that we utilize in, in, in therapy, when somebody's really anxious, is a technique called grounding, right. And she had actually alluded to it when he was talking about that. And that being like this firm time to illustrate that, and like a grounding, technique and a lot of ways. So what grounding is, is that it is a technique that helps you to calm your body, right. And when you can calm your body, then it sends a signal to your brain that you are

safe. And it is okay to be calm and shut down that fight flight or freeze survival mode.

And when you use this, right, when you try and calm your body, then you're focusing in on the what is right, you're focusing in on the present moment, rather than on the what ifs that shaitan then uses to get us off track. And I often think about the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad Rasul. And when I think about grounding, where when he was in any type of difficult time, he used to turn to be led. And he used to say, these Aspinal to give the other and he would say Obi Wan, give us rest with it, right? Where he would know that Salah prayer could be that act of engaging in prayer could be a way of grounding himself and calming and connecting with Allah's past data in a really powerful way. And

the actual act of Salah because it uses our bodies, and we're using movement, and we're actually you know, when we're in St. Jude, we're touching the ground, right, literally grounding, that actually can be a really helpful way to calm ourselves and to calm our minds. Other ways could be to hug somebody that you really care about, and to really feel that hug for focusing in on one of your five senses, to really focus in on the present moment. And then also deep breathing, deep breathing is, is a very common one and very, very helpful.

So the other part of it too, when we're thinking about grounding and focusing in on the present moment is focusing in on the feeling of safety that you can experience right now, instead of going down the what ifs. Right, so asking yourself, Am I okay, right now? Do I have enough right now? Do I have enough food? Do I have enough? Toilet paper? Right? Like everybody's so worried about? Do I have enough of that right now? And for for addressing the majority of us, even though I know that there are a lot of people who actually can't answer yes to that, right. But in the majority of who we're talking to right now, the answer would typically be Yes, right.

Now, just because everybody else is reacting in fear, it doesn't mean that we have to react in fear and it can actually feel very empowering to shift your focus. So instead of just, you know, feeling that fear and going with it, instead allowing yourself to feel that fear, but still move forward. Right? Do something consciously make a decision, and a choice that goes against your fear

just right, not in a reckless way. But doing something movement oriented or action oriented can be really powerful and healing. So enjoying a walk in nature, journaling, verbalizing the things that you're worried about, because a lot of times the thoughts that we have going in our mind can be a lot scarier if they stay up there, rather than if we say them out loud. They lose a lot of their power when you say them out loud.

So I want to end with a couple of points about how we can shift our mindset as we are going through all of this. And a lot of this is really applicable in any hardship that we go through. You know, everything that's happened with the Coronavirus is a test from Alaska data in the same way that we experienced so many other tests right? And remembering the reward associated with tests were the problem homicides and M says that there's no fatigue nor disease, more sorrow or sadness nor hurt more distressed that befalls almost then even if it were the pricky receives from a thorn, but that Allah's Patek XPS takes away some of his sins for that, right. So everything that we're going

through with the with this, you know, with a quarantine, with things being canceled, with the disappointment, the disappointment we might be facing about some things being canceled. All of that is an explanation of our sins, right? The other thing is strength, right? That Allah subhanaw taala gives us capabilities that we need in order to get through difficulties, right? Human beings are incredibly adaptable. And it's one of the one of the mercies that Allah Subhana Allah has given us. So when we, when we're in difficult situations, the qualities that come up in difficulties are things to be treasured, right? Because if we hadn't experienced this difficulty, we may never have

known that we had these qualities to begin with. So things like flexibility, right, being able to be flexible in the time in a time of a lot of change. That's a huge skill, that if we can hold it now and treasure it now, we can use it later. Right. The other way is to view this as I know, it sounds a little bit corny as I say it, but to view this as an opportunity, that there are certain things, you know, like for me, for example, my my kids are off from school for two weeks. Right? So a question that I asked myself was, you know, what are things that I can do? Because they're offered two weeks that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to have the opportunity to do, right. So spending

time with family trying out new recipes with your kids, things like that, which you Hamid was mentioning, but the Quran, like imagine how amazing it would be if this test of that we're going through with the Coronavirus was a way to start a routine of reading daily Quran that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to implement because our lives would have just gone on as normal, right? So it could be a really powerful opportunity.

Gratitude searching for, you know, training our brains to search for the things that we have, rather than the things that we lack. If we can do it now, then it's going to be a lot easier to do once insha Allah things get back to normal. And one thing also, I think it's really important to just pay attention to the privileges that we have, right? Where that also says LM told us to look at those below you and not look at those above you because it's the best way to not belittle the favours of Allah's paradata. Right. So there is a lot that we might be going through right now, a lot of us, but knowing that a lot of us are a lot more privileged than other people. But there's some kids

whose schools are closed who rely on their schools for one hot meal a day, who now no longer have that, right for people who might be let off of work for a couple of weeks, because their employer can't pay them. Because nobody's frequenting their restaurant, for example.

For some of the elderly, who their only social interaction, where they may have been so lonely, and their only social interaction now has been canceled, and they have nobody to interact with. Right. So everything that we're dealing right now with right now is a reminder that other people are struggling with even more.

And to build on that point, as my as my final couple of points, is the idea that

we are in a time where it could be really easy to focus on ourselves and to be consumed with worries about ourselves. But it can be a lot more powerful to alleviate a lot of our anxiety if instead we exercise empathy, right? So when you go to the grocery store, and you see that there's only one roll of paper towels left, leave it there for the next person, they might need it more. Right. And it's it really brought to mind a ad of LS pathauto when he talks about the day of Joe

Schmitt, and how nobody's going to care about anybody else. And they're going to be running away from one another not caring, where he says that every man on that day will have enough to make him careless of others, right? It's not that day yet, right. And if we were in a position where we can still care about one another, and that's a way that we can really take a great deal from this, and alleviate a lot of our anxiety and accept the reality of the situation, right, the situation is our reality, it's not going to change, but we can choose how we're going to interpret the situation and channel our energy in a positive direction, rather than fighting against the inevitable at this

point. So Uh hum de la, I'm just at my prayer for listening, and I'm going to pass it off to sister Najwa and Shama.

said, why they can work with longer. And so my name is Michel Aoun. And I'm a psychotherapist in private practice in Maryland, and I'm also a fellow at the Institute. So she has acamol, Claire sorrow, and she Harmar for really talking about some foundational parts of dealing with Coronavirus from both a spiritual and a psychological perspective.

Or there were some points that I had mentioned, that I wanted to discuss a little further because they are just so important.

And, you know, as therapists, a lot of therapists are getting this question of how do I get rid of my anxiety? And I think this is an important question to look at, because there are different components to why I feel like there's misunderstandings incorporated into this question. The first in that, what I was talking about is that anxiety is a normal part of being human. The physiological response that we have, when there is stress in our environment, Allah created that for a reason we are adrenaline goes up. And so certain bodily functions may decrease so we can concentrate on that stressor in our environment. And this helps motivate motivate us, it helps us not be complacent, and

it helps us take action. So this idea that we can be completely free of stress and anxiety is not really grounded in reality. And then the second part of that anxiety is a normal part of the human

process, right? Nobody comes into like nobody leaves without having encountered some kind of stress or anxiety. And sometimes we forget, and that we create these perfect environments for ourselves, our homes, or you know, and we try with our family, with the ultimately we are here to worship Allah and this is not a vacation this is where is the life filled with trials and tribulations. And then when we go back that anxiety and stress is an inherent part of life, then we also look at that question from a different way. So one,

we are, you know, it designed to respond to stress in a certain way, that's part of our physiological makeup, but to also that we should expect some level of distress and in our everyday lives, and sometimes it's going to be more than others. And so the issue doesn't really become well, how do I get rid of my anxiety? But kind of reframing that to how do I manage my stress and my anxiety in healthy ways? Because stress isn't inherently bad. It's just what immobilizes us when it prevents us from taking action when it makes us feel so bad that we can't get anything done. And so,

part of our webinar, we had, you know, some objective objectives were to how do we cope practically, with with this Coronavirus from a psychological perspective, as well as a spiritual perspective, and I feel like you can't have one without the other mindset is important. But then also

taking the action to execute some of those things that we really need to do in terms of taking care of ourselves. So for example, so you do have the mindset, you have the knowledge, and the right spiritual perspective on things. When you're not doing what you need to do to take care of yourself, that's a problem. And then if you heavily rely on pop psychology at all those articles that completely ignore the spiritual part, and then just talk about, well, take a hot bath, eat a snack, those are all good things, those are all coping skills, but without the spiritual perspective, then, then then it's lacking. So it's really important that when we are looking at how do we manage our

stress and our anxiety, that we're looking at the mindset, but then also the concrete and practical things that we need to do day to day.

And another point that both Shivkumar and sorrow brought up is the importance of the reminder that we really aren't in control of our lives and the current

virus is such a good reminder of that, that ultimately Allah has control, we don't know how this is going to play out. We don't know when this is going to end or what it's going to be like. And so it's really important that we turn to Allah and connect with him and know that we are in the best of hands. And, you know, some people can look at that and feel some anxiety. But then I think we can also look and say, it's, there's a certain amount of relief from knowing that I don't have control and Allah is in control.

Now, that being said, although Allah is in control, I think sometimes we lose sight of the things that we need to do day to day, that we are in control that Allah gave us certain thoughts and skills and abilities, that certain things that we do need to control in our day to day lives to stay healthy.

And so incorporating that, that Allah is in control, but then also we have responsibilities of control of our lives, essentially, is that you cannot control what happens to you. But you can certainly control how you respond to what happens to so you cannot control with you're gonna get sick or a loved one can get sick. But you can respond. Okay, well, how am I going to cope when this does when this happens? And so, what I wanted to talk about today is what are those things that we are in control of? And how can we use that for our well being and to decrease our stress? So the first thing that we are in control of is our thoughts.

So and whether or not people are aware of this, but we always have some kind of background noise in our minds. And so, you know, I know you experienced this too, is sometimes people come to our office, and they say, I have anxiety, and I have no reason. There's no reason why I feel anxious. I get panic attacks or I'm depressed. But there's no reason why. And to us therapist that kind of shows the disconnect between our emotions and the thoughts that are behind those emotions. And so while it's always important to connect those two, I think during times like this, it's very important for us to when we are anxious to look at why am I anxious to kind of sit with that and

say, Okay, I'm feeling a certain kind of way. Let me think about the thoughts that I'm having. So I can reflect and then change those unhealthy thoughts. Because most of the time, there are irrational or unhealthy thoughts that we're not even aware of that are in the background.

And where are these thoughts come from, they come from our upbringing, they can come from TV, we are sponges, we kind of absorb everything around us. Sometimes we don't even realize we are internalizing some of these things.

So I wanted to give you an example, you know, everybody's talking about toilet paper and paper towels. So I think the normal the the average person walks into a grocery store, and they see that most of the toilet paper is gone. And what's that feeling? Then you get that feeling? That's like most people, they get that feeling of panic? Did I miss out on something? Maybe everybody knows something that I don't, really something bad's gonna happen. So if you don't think about it, you're just gonna go and you're gonna take that last role, right? Or if you don't, you don't you're don't have the ability to get the rolls, you walk away thinking, feeling really anxious. But if you take a

moment to be like, What is my thought process behind this? And then you kind of think, Okay, well, if something catastrophic can happen, if I don't have to wear the paper, I mean, a few miles down is full of tissues, and full of you know, others. So when you start to look at your irrational thoughts, then you are able to change how you feel. And this sounds like a very stupid example. But I guarantee you this happened, probably every grocery store across the country, where people don't think about the thought process behind, they just go straight to the emotion. And so taking that time to reflect on your thoughts, so you can have more control of the feelings that you have is

really important. And if this is something that you struggle with, you can write it down, you can get a journal and say, Okay, why am I feeling anxious, and then start to look at the cognitions that you have behind that so you can change them and make them more healthy.

And going along with the whole control over your thoughts. We also have a big degree of how positive we choose to be

social scientists, they talk about happiness and where that comes around. And there's a lot, you know, different theories and different opinions. And some people say, you know, it's partly genetics, some people say, you know, it's your environment, but I think everybody agrees that they're that the average person that they have a big degree of have control over how happy they decide to be that regardless of your circumstances and your genetics and all that. I think across the board, researchers think that people have a choice at the end of the day on

How much you decide how positive you decide to be and how negative you decide to be. And so during these times, you can choose to focus on how people might be behaving irrationally or maybe silly. Or you can look at more positive things like how people are coming together and helping each other. So you will find whatever you're looking for. So if you're looking for the ugly, you will find that, if you're looking for the beautiful, you will find that as well.

And ultimately, whatever it is, that you're seeking will become a part of you. So it's very important that you know, you know that you have a choice in deciding whether or not you want to be positive or negative, but then also the profound effects that it has on your thought process.

And in terms of perspective, thinking good, you know about three things, thinking good about yourself, thinking good about your environment, and then thinking good about a lot. Because ultimately, this narrative shapes tell you will look back on the situation. And so if you have a victim narrative, or an angry narrative, that can really lead you down a dangerous path in terms of spiritual well being and psychological well being, versus something called the redemptive narrative where you try find the good in every situation.

And one of the things that Saunder brought up that was very important is gratefulness. When you practice gratefulness, this will help us look at the good in every situation. Because when you do look at the good, there's always more good than bad.

And whether you look at it from an aesthetic perspective, or just, you know, in the research,

practicing gratefulness, whether you identify things that you're grateful for every day, throughout the day, in the morning, in the evening, it has profound effects on well being. So gratefulness is a very important concept in Islam, but also just in mental health in general.

Another thing that we have control over is our goals. So with all this instability, you know, my kids are out from school too.

If there's going to be a change in routine people are teleworking, some people might be off from work. And so

in these situations, it's very easy to lose sight of our long term goals. Because this impact is a small snippet of time, and shall it's going to end whether it's two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, or whatnot. And so if you are someone who studies the Quran, it's important that that is something you continue to do. If you are doing some kind of program with your kids, that's important that you have something that you continue to do. If you're writing a book, or you're on some kind of exercise, sticking with your long term goals can be incredibly grounding. Instead of getting lost into let me stay, you know up to date with all the news or let me then you're just kind of,

you're just, it's like you're with ocean, you're just kind of subject to whatever comes your way, because you are not exercising that ability over your goals and over your day.

And that was the second thing that I want to talk about in terms of, you know, you're having control of your goals is having control over your day.

My concern with people staying home, although I see tremendous amount of benefit, is that just the way on the weekends, or when we go on vacation, people are going to start to go late, go to sleep late, wake up late, they're not going to be paying attention to structure and routine. And as human beings, these are things that we really need, we need structure, we need stability, especially if we have kids.

So being in control of your day, you know, and that's waking up on time, it's exercising, it's taking scheduled time to read, whether it's a Quran or some other intellectual thing that you're doing, it's going to bed at the same time, these are all things that we need to stay stable. But if we are starting to be more lacs with those things, I fear that

that can have you know, some some effect on our, our mental health. And then the last thing that we are in control of is the company that we keep. And you know, we don't have that much control over, you know, our families.

But, you know, I want us to pay attention to the virtual company that we keep how many of us you know, spend, you know, certain amount of time on WhatsApp or on Facebook or on Instagram, that is virtual company. If you spend three hours reading a certain publication that has a certain negative view, or you're part of a Facebook group that is very negative. Those people are in your company even though it's it's online. And so in order to keep a healthy mindset and making sure that you're moving people who who are negative or who are not helping

utilize your time in the best way, during this time that were a lot of us are, are off.

I also wanted to add that if you are someone who has depression or anxiety, this might be a little bit harder than the average person, right. So it is going to be a little more of an uphill battle. And but that's okay. I think understanding that acknowledging that is the first step. So I think for you, it's paramount, it's even, it's even more important to wake up on time, go to sleep on time, for example, if you are depressed, you can get yourself out of bed, it's even more important to try and do that.

Now, you know, some of us are going to be contained, we have to stay home. Sunlight is incredibly important. If you're depressed, maybe you can't go outside, but you can definitely open the window, keep the blinds open, if you are in a place where you can walk around, you know, there's a lot of research that talks about how good it is to be in nature, where you can walk around and not be in contact with people, then, you know, by all means, do that.

So and now with teletherapy, there are a lot of therapists who are able to give therapy online, so definitely utilize that. Don't think that this is a break that I have to stay home and,

and not do anything.

So you know, just to conclude, I think in terms of coping from psycho spiritual perspective, I think we really have to look at two things. It's, you know, our mindset, but then also the actions that we decide to take day to day and they're both very important.

And I think you know, the Muslim community, the OMA we are very good at listening to webinars and to, you know, taking classes, and we can be junkies in that way. But we don't always execute, right? We don't always end up practicing what we learn. So I really encourage after this webinar is over to do three things, one, kind of write down some things related to mindset that any one of us talked about three things that you really want to remember and take with you

during the next several weeks, to remind yourself of what of your long term goals. And if you don't have long term goals, you know, definitely consider doing that because that will not only help you grounding the situation, but as Muslims, we should have long term goals, or primary goals to worship a lot. Of course, we all have individual responsibilities that we need to take care of. However, that looks like for each of us. So write down some of your long term goals. And then And then three, write down some things that you want to do day to day.

And these are reminders sometimes it's just the intention that can make a tremendous impact and how we execute our day. So it could be you know, every night before I go to sleep, I'm going to make a list for the next day of what I need to get done. Or every day I'm going to read in an hour or Quran or you know, it can be whatever but just the intentionality and writing it down will make it you'll be much more likely to execute some of those goals inshallah.

Okay, and so now I'm going to take it and turn it back over to Chef Homer.

Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah cattle.

So Zachman la heyland. To all of you for

tuning in. And I want to chat, let's make a few things. And then we'll go to a few announcements. And we'll go ahead and go to that q&a in Charlottetown. So first and foremost, while you're looking for things to do I know that social network just said we're we're webinar junkies. We're going to be providing content and show as much as we can to sort of be in touch with with the community throughout this time. There's also a lot of great existing content. So if you haven't checked out and get in conversations and you're spending a lot of time with your family, just go to the front page, click conversations inshallah. And it'll provide some great material for you to discuss things

not necessarily related to the Coronavirus but in general to over content and a well structured way in the way that can inshallah keep your family engaged with something beneficial throughout this time. So again, you can go to our website, go to conversations, and do so inshallah Tada and you can continue to follow along. If you click on if you go to webinar and gotta get Pina institute.org and subscribe. We actually have an infographic coming out in Charlotte Tata shortly that actually summarizes the notes from this webinar. So that's very beneficial, something that's shareable, something that you can pass around, just has some great practical advice in there in sha Allah and

about how to proceed spiritually emotionally mentally, from here inshallah so again, subscribe webinar dot Europeans to that organ you know that way you can you can get it as soon as it comes out in sha Allah.

You know, I'm personally going to try to do as much as I can. So it was an honor to log on every day, whether it's a Facebook Live or an Instagram Live, whatever it may be, Inshallah, just to just to be in touch

I think it's important for us to keep on reminding each other just a short beneficial reminder here there, but as sister Nigel just mentioned, by all means stay practical in Charlottetown don't just listen, act upon it inshallah. And don't forget the dad joke that I made earlier. Put on time poor and teen. Yeah, quarantine yourself. And if anyone else preceded me and using that joke, please do identify yourself online. So I will happily cede the corniness over to you and give you credit and show

but hopefully the edit at least for all of us, which is to read as much as we can. Lastly, before I go to q&a, Inshallah, tomorrow there's going to be another webinar.

The celebrate mercy is putting together in sha Allah Tana. And you can find the information there, the link will also go ahead and send it to everyone. That's going to be tomorrow at 5pm Eastern sha Allah Imams at Dr. Ingrid Mattson, others in sha Allah Allah. So we're going to keep this going and JaJuan collaborate with other organizations as well, just to keep keep in touch with the community. So please do in sha Allah Tyla sign up for that. And we're going to have information I'm going to be posting this online today. As well as on that webinar. We'll talk a little bit more in depth about this.

As far as getting involved with the community just launched the campaign through launch good if you go to launch good.com/corona

you'll see a Muslims unite for Coronavirus relief. And so working together with with celebrate mercy Penny appeal, and others in sha Allah Tada. So we can actually get out there and actually help some of those that are going to fall into financial duress because of this, to help them get through this and shallots. So that's a very easy way for you to contribute and travel lunch good.com/grown. And we'll talk about it tomorrow. And, you know, just keep on following through and shall run we'll we'll we'll stay together as we can as much as we can as a community in Charlottetown. Online during these times. So I'll go to the questions. Now. A few of these are very basic questions there.

They're 50 questions or they're spiritual questions. The first one is very general. My question is that I feel distant from Islam. After I started my teaching in Italy. I'm trying hard to go back but all the time I faced something which destabilizes the level of my faith. I did a series of feudal bonds ago called The faith revival.

I don't know if someone can post the link. I can't see anything except for the questions right now. But the faith revival was a series that actually goes through how to keep your faith consistent. So I didn't want to let that since it was the first question that came in, but that question can go on answered. So the quick answer is that all of us have things that deeply destabilize our faith. Part of our faith is the fight to constantly retain it, that's part of the action of faith is that we always have to be on guard with our iman and to protect inshallah Tada. So please do go together, go to that link, inshallah faith revival, how can we come together to help our communities through this

difficulty when we are advised to be isolated from everyone?

I would say, you know, I'm not I'm not going to speak about this from, from an expert perspective in terms of social distancing, and things of that sort. But I think that following best practices from other organizations that are going out there, they're doing volunteering and things of that sort, getting involved with those services as much as you can, while practicing as much responsibility as we can show up. And, you know, there's some great organizations that are out there, I mentioned Penny appeals, comic relief, it currently, you know, here in Dallas models, if I didn't mention your organization, please don't get upset. Find which organizations are doing national organizations are

doing great things locally, and also connect with your local organizations, you know, or your messages or whatever it may be inshallah to be productive. In that sense. Is there regarding good deeds wording, so I'll just answer this question, and I'll move on shallow regarding good deeds warding off harm. Isn't life supposed to be ups and downs, despite how much sadaqa and your app that we do? So this is an interesting question, and it's combined with another question, right? So what do you mean good deeds were to harm because isn't the point that we do good deeds anyway.

Good deeds can ward off harm, charity can extend your lifespan. However, the point is, is that we do good unconditionally for the sake of Allah subhana wa Tada. So sometimes, sometimes, Allah subhanho wa Taala will test the person in the midst of their doing good, and that will be a form of elevating their station. But we know now you tell me for long enough son in law was ALLAH does not burden a soul beyond its scope. So sometimes a hardship can be a blessing or it can be a test, sometimes a, you know, an aim of blessing or some ease. I'm sorry, I shouldn't call it an ease can be a blessing or a test as well. However, the default is that good.

yields good and bad yields bad, but we have limited dimensions. Okay, so anything that comes to us as a

results of are doing good is good. And anything that comes to us as a result of our doing that is bad. And there's a lot that's outside of our dimension outside of our understanding, however, do good unconditionally. But one of the rewards of doing good is that it Ward's off harm that you might not have ever known was headed your way in the first place. And so that's something to keep in mind. They're in Charlotte's islands, so not ask a question. And I'll just leave it to solder or Nedra, whoever, whichever, and thank you both for your wonderful presentations, by the way, just.

So I see two questions here, that both kind of go to the same thing, or that speak to the same thing, which is, I have a great deal of fear. How do I overcome or overpower the paralyzing, you know, sense of fear, right? I feel like I cannot move right now.

You know, and you spoke about practicality and tips and things of that sort. But you know, and another person says this virus has skyrocketed my anxiousness and I feel overwhelmed by all of this, I truly feel Allah is in control, but I just cannot help myself is Allah angry with me as if I don't put my trust in Him? So I'll let both of you choose whoever wants to volunteer and take that one on, go ahead. And

I'll go ahead and start inshallah.

So I think that these are both really, really good questions, and something that probably resonates with a lot of people who are listening and who are struggling with this.

I think in the same way, that, you know, this is the everything that's happening with this virus was bringing up anxiety levels, in the same way, that it that other things might bring up anxiety levels, right. And one of the thing that I think is the is one of the most powerful ways to combat that, there's an activity that I do with a lot of my clients in sessions, where it's, you, you basically try to actually bring up the anxiety levels instead of tampering them down. Because a lot of times what happens brain wise is when we avoid, when we try to push, when we have fear or anxiety, we try to push it away, it sends a signal to our mind that, hey, this is a really dangerous

situation, because you keep pushing it away. So that means that whenever it comes up, it's going to be a huge red flag. And I should avoid it at any cost, right. And so that actually serves to continue this cycle of anxiety. And, and a lot of anxiety disorders are maintained in this way. And so one of the really powerful ways to do the opposite is to purposefully not to an overwhelming extent, right, but to purposefully allow yourself to feel the anxiety and welcome it in. I know that sounds so strange, right? It sounds like the absolute opposite of everything that your brain would want you to do and seems like that as a human being, why would I want myself to feel more anxiety.

But what happens with anxiety is that it goes up to a certain point, if you imagine a graph, and then it can't stay that high, it just can't, and it starts to gradually go down. And once you experience that feeling of allowing the anxiety to heighten and then it naturally starting to dissipate on its own that discomfort dissipating on its own. It's not as scary anymore. And you can actually find this particular, this particular exercise that I'm talking about. It's on a website called NIC a BM i It's very long acronym. I can't remember what the name stands for. But they do excellent work. And I see a BM and it's called mindfulness for anxiety. And basically, it just

encourages you to you read through the script, and you sit through the anxiety you welcome it in. And then you try and bring it up again. And you welcome it in. And you're going to notice at some point that you can't bring it up anymore, that it's going to start to really dissipate. And that is a very empowering experience. So instead of trying to push the anxiety away, my suggestion is just to sit with it for a little bit, inshallah and I'll leave it to Nigel, if she has any other input about that

I don't have too much more to add. But you know, one of the one of my personal favorite thing to do is when I feel overwhelmed with anxiety, and what anxiety does, it makes you feel like you have to figure everything all out at once when you really don't. And so, one strategy that I really appreciate is just think when you feel completely paralyzed and immobilized. Just think about the just the next step, what is the next step that you need to do? And sometimes that just puts you on the right trajectory to be to getting the ball rolling. So the next step, I just have to get up and I have to pray to her. That's it.

Do it. Or I just have to, I didn't drink water all day. And I know that makes more interest, I'm just gonna go and get a drink of water. Once you drink your water be like, Okay, well,

I have to send out this email. So you just focus one step at a time, instead of this whole thing of really what what it is, is putting kind of like the cart before the horse. And of course, you're gonna feel stuck, there's nowhere else to go. So that's kind of my little hack for feeling overwhelmed.

So

there's an interesting question here.

It's not the first question, but I'm intrigued by it. And I think it's very beneficial. Because I don't know what this is. So do you recommend the acceptance commitment therapy, I feel like it's helping me a lot in Islam equals accepting a lot, a lot in public, I don't know what acceptance commitment theory therapy is. So

I'll assume that one of you can maybe shed some light on that.

There's so many theories in psychology, and that's one of them that I'm not as familiar with. So I don't think I could speak to that with knowledge.

So I'll I can talk a little bit about it, and shall and I can I get why this person has brought this up at this point, because it's really applicable to everything we're discussing. So Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, I guess, like the you would say the foundation of it, is how to accept the reality of the moment and just move forward with it rather than trying to change it. Right. And I think that that makes a lot of sense, right now. There's actually a concept, not really, I don't know if this is a part of acceptance and commitment, therapy, but there's a concept called radical acceptance, right, which is basically and I know, Sister Najwa, has actually written about this. So

she can probably talk even a little bit more about this, this topic, but like the idea of just you know, accepting that whatever it's, it's the exactly like what this person is saying in terms of accepting the decree of Allah's past data and knowing that whatever was meant for you was never going to miss you, and whatever missed you was never going to, was never going to hit you. Right. And, and then how to roll with the punches, basically. And it's a very, very powerful approach. And I think it's something that can yield a really strong sense of strength, empowerment and contentment, contentment being a huge, a huge benefit of it. So that's just a little so actually,

the acceptance and commitment therapy techniques, like if anybody wants to Google that, to help them cope through all the anxiety of the what's happening with the virus would be would probably offer a lot of a lot of really great techniques.

Okay, great. I'll take the next one.

Which is, you know, some people say the same the grass should protect you from the, from the virus. But if this was true, then surely the Sahaba and Palestine would have been protected from the illness that was spreading around. So I think this is a reference to the loss

plague.

Which which I actually talked about the first plague that was plague which hit the sahaba.

And so if you go to if you go to our website right now, you will actually find the reference to that.

I think it's important to clarify this from a from a crit perspective, from the perspective of Allah who are into walking on the job, but call upon Allah while you are confidence in the response. That means that you are confident that Allah subhanaw taala will answer and will do what is best with the response and then Allah is capable of doing all things. Meaning, it's not that you know, and I think there's, it's a subtlety, but it's an important one. When you call upon a loss of humans and you say, oh, Allah,

move this mountain in front of me. Okay.

And then you're like, I'm gonna test the loss of cannabis. I have the opinion, I have certainty in the draft, okay, that it's going to happen. The certainty even if I was to do something like that was that Allah subhanaw taala is capable, and Allah subhanaw taala does hear me and the last comments, I will do what's best and so my dua will not go to waste mice application will not go to waste. And so I'm not really a woman was that you know, something very powerful. He said, When I make do I don't concern myself with the job. I don't concern myself with the answer, because it was Tofik from Allah. It was a blessing from Allah subhanaw taala that he allowed me to make the drought

in the first place and Allah subhanaw taala would not have given me the tofi the ability to make the supplication if he didn't want to answer what something

And so I focused on the drought itself being able to make the drought and that in and of itself that supplication in and of itself is a sign that Allah wants to give me something in return for it. Because as Imam Naka Elohim Allah said meta, meta Allah Allah Asana can be Paula parliament who you read and you're clear, or something along those lines, I believe that's exact statement. But whenever a loss of hundreds and allows your tongue to move with supplication, know that it's because he wants to give you some. So the certainty that we have when we make these droughts when we do this remembrance is that a lot is certainly capable, and Allah is willing, but Allah will do what's best

in accordance with His infinite knowledge of things that are completely out of my grasp. And so I'm not worried about that part. I'm just worried about making threats and making the tough cop. And yes, Allah in His power could make it all stop right away.

And Allah subhanaw taala, in his great wisdom, will allow things to proceed as he best sees fit. And I don't know how exactly my dua is going to impact in all of these different ways. I just know that it will be responded to and will be impactful in a way that Allah sees festivals. And so that's how the Sahaba did not feel like betrayed, like we made them out and we still got hit by a plague. Instead, they focused on Well, if I still got hit with the plague, despite making that there, that means that Allah subhanaw taala has a lot of this as a sheriff is a llama for me of His mercy for me, because of the answer to this are the result of this shahada is martyrdom. If I'm patient with

it's an accepting of that decree of Allah subhanaw taala. And that's why you can see that their mindset was immediately able to shift in accordance with the, with the shifting circumstances, because they have the complete trust and certainty and Allah subhanaw taala. Throughout all of it's all on. I'll just do one more question. And there are a lot of questions, so please forgive us that we weren't able to get through them.

And this last question, I'd like both of you to speak to a little bit and kind of give your closing thoughts in Sharla. And for the benefit of the audience, Masha, Allah, Sister Saad, and sister natural just finished the trauma collection at Yaqeen. And this was a long, you know, this is a workout of about two years, and how did you not have the relationship between trauma and faith, it is highly beneficial, probably the most beneficial without any offense to all the other authors series that we have. There's a whole Association now I love proofs of profit. Don't be offended. It's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful series

of the relationship between faith and anxiety and trauma and how to and how to, you know, understand that relationship and then be proactive.

So this last question is, Can anxiety be good for religiosity? Is anxiety a good thing for my Deen? And if you could both kind of give your final thoughts on Sharla and then we'll go ahead and we'll wrap it up. And we'll continue to be in touch with the with all of you on Shabbat.

So as soon as What do you want me to get to start it? Okay. So

that's, I think that's such a powerful question. Like, just the fact that, you know, you who are experiencing anxiety could pose that question as to, could it be possible that this could be beneficial for me in my relationship with Allah's past data in any way?

I think that is, I think that's just a beautiful question to ask because you're viewing it already through the lens, mashallah of okay, I know, this is incredibly hard for me, I know that these feelings don't feel good. And there's a huge part of me that would rather get rid of it. But at the same time, if it's not hard, then it's a test from LS Pat data. So how can I view it in that way, to help me solidify my, my relationship with him? And to increase my level in his eyes? Right. So I think it's a very, very powerful question. Mashallah. And you're already there shifting your mindset? You know, I definitely hear that.

I think that one way to view this is that any tests that we go through the illustrations that are sent our way, the goal of it is to determine if we can get closer to him or further away from him, right? And so anything that pushes us to, to increase in whatever type of worship that we can, or whatever way we can connect with others path data is inherently good, even if it feels bad, right. And I think that that's a really powerful thought to keep in mind. Right? So it's, a lot of times when people are going through difficult times or experiencing struggles, that's when they turn to Allah and when things get easier, that's when it's so easy to forget. Right? We tend to forget our

reliance on all those parts that are dependent on him. But when we're really struggling is when we really remember

that, right? So anxiety can definitely be a means toward increasing our connection with illness path data. And one thing to just note about any feeling that we experience, there is an underlying reason for it and an underlying purpose, it's just a signal for us to pay attention, right. And when we pay attention to what is going on for us mentally, physically, emotionally, then we can kind of delve into what it's connected to, and then decide how we want to react and respond to it. So it's like the differentiation between guilt and shame. If we feel guilty, we strive to make a positive change, to fix whatever situation has led to those feelings, shame. Instead, we view it as there's something

inherently wrong with me, and I am beyond recompense, like I'm beyond being able to be fixed. And that will, will push us further away from us pack data. So the same thing can go for anxiety, it can be a means toward getting closer to all those times that if we, if we choose to view it in that way, which it sounds like you are with that question, Michelle, I'll pass it to Sister nashwan.

Yes, and I completely agree with with SATA in that, you know, we create in our lives, we tried to have so much control over

in terms of how we appear in terms of our family, in terms of our environment, we really seek stability, and we should seek stability, because upon a lot anxiety, stress and anxiety can be a gift. Because when we are satisfied, then there is no need for growth mode for most people, if you are satisfied, and everything is exactly the way it should be, the average person will just continue on with their day to day and

anxiety that disables you. I mean, we're not talking about that. But a mild amount of anxiety or distress, can give you the push to, you know, go back to your credit and reconnect with Allah, it can give you the push to I'm not satisfied with how my communities dealing with things. So let me go change it.

And I don't remember who said this, but they were saying that without without, in the absence of need, there is no growth. So we can look at anxiety and stress as an opportunity for us to look at what's around us, say hamdulillah and be thankful but also say okay, well, these are the things that I can continue to get better at. So when looked at in the right way, it can be you know, a blessing in that it can be a motivator and help push us to do good. When there's something that causes anxiety, we can sit with it. And that's a really, you know, negative feeling. And sometimes we should sit with it for a little bit. But it's that next action, right? If if you get some anxiety

about how are the elderly people in our community going to get food that's not bad. As long as you don't sit there for the rest of the day and not do anything about it right when you get mobilized. But if you get that same anxious thought and you're like how do I I'm nervous about these elderly people getting food. So I'm going to create a WhatsApp group and we're gonna get everybody together and we're going to take action. Now you have used your anxiety for to help address the need to help others and for the growth of yourself and the community.

All right, so does that come alongside and really appreciate both of you again, Sister samosas whomever you are for tuning in for everybody, or for contributing your thoughts and for everyone for being with us today.

We pray that Allah subhanaw taala forgive all of us for our shortcomings, purify us through all of these changing circumstances protect us protect our families, and allow us to grow closer to Him in these times and allow us to do things that are of benefit to the entirety to the entire community with an icon. We will be in touch as I said, please sign up at webinars at yuckiness do.org to get not just the notes but the infographic controller long infographic which will summarize what we talked about today in sha Allah, tune into the webinar tomorrow and shot let's add, celebrate mercy and many other esteemed speakers and Sharla and just keep following along and as I said we'll keep

on trying to put out content that is practical that's beneficial and keep your brothers and sisters as I mentioned particularly in Virginia go out and Charlotte Tada right now and of course those that are vulnerable populations all over the world about coffee cups of 100 100 cashew alone and stuff like that leeks and Armani come to life.