Quarantined – The Challenges and Opportunities of Isolation

So I go right into library cats everyone, are we less Narina Shakeology is not 100 denying Ramadan. I mean, what I'm wanting to hold on to me when I want people to limit SUPREME LAW study with Southern Nevada, can I be close to the camera from within sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he was like we are seven to seven cathedra. I want to welcome you all to our third for it's actually our fifth webinar. But we had a webinar two weeks ago from the law on European community talking about institution, and how community survives this time. And then we had a webinar last week where we talked about family. And this week, it's about you, it's about the individual in Charlottetown. And

obviously, you're only as good as a as a family person, as a community member as you are taking care of yourself as an individual. So it's extremely important to make sure that you're spiritually nourished that you are doing what you can show what's harder to cultivate the best of yourself in the 90 Tiana in, in this time that we have. And there are unique challenges and unique opportunities of this period. As we spoken about. We have a great panel tonight hamdulillah as we always do. And before I hand it off to them. I want to remind everyone that next Wednesday night in sha Allah Tala, which will be the last Wednesday before Ramadan, will have a Ramadan prep webinar at this time in

sha Allah Tada. So you don't want to miss out on that, as well. So I'm going to start off in sha Allah Tada, right away with our wonderful speakers. And I'm going to start off with was noted the knights who is a handler on top of being a fellow

European and someone who's studied traditionally, but at the same time has had an opportunity to, you know, to study at Columbia University with a focus on child and family. And, you know, 100 unbalances, a few of these disciplines.

I've always found the study at Notre Dame to be very

in tune with what people are thinking and very receptive to, to what she's hearing from people and listening to people and very much so about talking to people and hearing how they're feeling about a subject, how they're feeling about a situation, and then addressing it very thoughtfully. So looking at. She's the author of the book on the 40 Hadith of our mother, it showed the a lot of time, which is a collection of 40 Hadith narrated from ultimately in the long run, and of course, an author of one of the papers in our collection. So she's going to start us off in Sharla Tyler and the question for her is, why is this a great time to cultivate the inner self? And what are some insights that

she can offer to us to get us started tonight inshallah?

Does that go higher? Thank you, chef for that introduction, homina. And I'm really grateful to be here with you all.

You know, I'm then grateful to be here with your keen as well. So 100, I'm trying to also further my psychology studies now as well, independently. And one of the things I'm focusing on is positive psychology. And the founder Martin Seligman, one thing he spoke about that really struck me is that post traumatic stress disorder is just as common as post traumatic growth. So we have these moments where either it's personally stressful and traumatic, or something like a national crisis. And it's as much of an opportunity as it is a test. And so we do want to give our

prayers do out. For those who are dealing with difficulties in this time, it certainly isn't our intention to say that you must grow or you must be better in these difficult times, because sometimes the best you can do is hold on to the rope unless you're kinda dalla and continue to turn to him, but you may not be able to exert yourself much further because you're dealing with trauma. But we do want to also be able to look at the possibility of growing in these times.

And so, when I was at the beginning of studying Islam, then I used to go to a place called the Mecca Center and our teacher there in mamma, Mia and Muhammad. He would all

was supposed to correct our intentions. And they were worried that his own chef would say to him. And so intentions are a part of our inner state, right? It's something that's unseen by others, you can come to an Islamic lecture, every single week. And outwardly, you appear to be this pious student of knowledge. But your intentions are something that's inward inwardly, you can just be there to please your family or to be with friends or other external reasons. And so in this month of Ramadan, where it's going to be a little different, be very different than it usually is where Ramadan is often the time for gathering with one another, it's going to be a time that we have to

look a bit inward. And again, are your eyes with those, especially who have to be alone if you live by yourself, or if you're the only convert in your family. And that is going to be difficult to not have Muslims around. But I want to offer you the possibility that this is a time

that we can work on our intentions and our inner state. So when it comes to our worship as Muslims, that we know what the five acts of worship that we have to do, and of course beyond that, but those that are auditory upon us. So when it comes to hudge, when it comes to the cat, when it comes to praying, you know, all of these things, of course, we do it for a lesser Peninsula, but they're also outward acts, right. So you can feel really good about giving someone money, you can feel really good about going to hydrogen, you know, taking pictures where the Kaaba, you can feel really good about praying and people knowing you as a pious person, you know, especially in Jannah, where we're

encouraged to pray and Jamaat, but it can also have other things that come into it. And so what Allah subhanaw taala, he says, about fasting, this is a Hadith, every deed of a son of Adam is multiplied a single deed as 10 times the length of it up to seven 700. But then he says, except for fasting, as it is for me, and I will reward it, he leaves his desires and his food for my sake. So Ramadan is this time where we are focused on this sort on this type of worship. That is almost like a secret between us. And unless you're planning on to Allah, there is no show you can't show off that you're fasting, right.

And because of our circumstances, that idea of this secret of being just between us and Allah subhanaw taala, it increases, you know, there won't be any congregational prayer, there may will, there won't likely be a gathering of Iftar gathering of support and maybe not even a formal Eid prayer. But the opportunity lies in being able to correct our intention and refine ourselves, especially in this time, realistic hundreds, Allah has forced us we have to stay inside for our own safety for the safety of others. And so in my mind, Hey, Dad, he says in his book book of assistance, the section on the inner and outer self, he says, You must improve your virtuous inward

aspect until it is better than your virtuous outward appearance, for the former is for the gaze of the real and the latter is where the gaze of the envious creation is to be found. So that it can happen this this is human right? We're not bad people. For us, it's human, and we want to work on it, that it can happen. As we mentioned, all of these outward acts we can find a piece of, of a reward from other human beings. But this act of fasting it's only for unless you partner with Allah. But the reality is that all of these acts are only for less than $100. Right? And so when we when it's taken away, when you don't go to the masjid to pray, tada, we are we going to pray in our home?

Are we going to make those same efforts? So our intentions can get mixed up all the time? And in this time, we have the opportunity to ask, Was I really doing whatever you may have planned to do for Ramadan for Aleister Panola? Was it for sure, or was it something in between?

And it's important to remember that the point of this is to is not to exercise self blame, but to rectify and to refine, to constantly correct our intentions as my teacher used to say. So for instance, if you were that student of knowledge and going to the lectures every week, and now you can't Well, how can you still do that? Right? You can access courses online, YouTube videos, the research on your key and inshallah to Allah

and still have the ability to further your knowledge. And so we have to realize that when unless you commit to Allah, even when one path is cut off and another is open, there's always a way to unless you kind of want Allah. So beyond correcting our intentions, we also want to talk about refining. So as Muslims, we can sometimes become very preoccupied with the outward form, the hijab, the beard length, and even salon. But the inward form sometimes is lacking, sometimes it's neglected. So remember, her daddy also says in his book on the section on the inner and outer self, the one who exerts himself in the form of his outward aspect by caring about the way he dresses and appears,

speaks move sits and leaves the inward is full of excuse me and leaves the inward full of repellent attributes involved traits is one of the people of affectation and ostentation, who have turned away from their Lord. So while we're alone, forced to be alone by ourselves, not having to worry about our outward state in front of others, what is the state of our hearts with far more time on our hands?

Then there's no excuse to not fully explore this question in detail and step by step looking at specific characteristics that we can work on and improve. We should look at them in the same way that we wash and dry and iron our clothes, before wearing them and even look in the mirror for good measure, we should scan our interstate and begin to refine our inward self.

In that mile, Hey, Dad continues beware of doing in secret and that which is seen by people will make you ashamed and worried. Religiosity is not merely an outward contest, but an inward reality. In our head dad, he goes on to say the least that you can do is to make them equal the inner and the outer state, so that you behave equally well in private and in public, obeying God's injunctions, avoiding his prohibitions, respecting what he has made sacred and hastening to please Him. Lastly, I want to share the Hadith from our Prophet. So there was salam, where he says, Verily, Allah does not look at your parents or your wealth, but rather he looks at your heart and action. So inshallah to

Allah we can use this opportunity to focus on our inward self we have to stay inside, we cannot utilize the same means that we would

to to get close to listing on antologia Mata going to Juma Eid prayer, those are also means but we can't use those means that we're used to so can we find alternative ways? Can we focus more on ourself and our inward state and inshallah to Allah we can utilize this time of tragedy, this time of difficulty as an opportunity to do so which is a higher

product philosophy, something would have been really appreciated it last point, I bless you with all that is good. And I'm sure there will be several questions and Shaw Wattana for you,

inshallah. Tada. So, I would like to now turn it over to sister saddle Sultan, and sister Samsel. Don, of course, being a co author of the trauma series. We talked about this last week as well with Sister Najwa.

Definitely.

You know, I hate to say our most valuable series, but one of our most valuable series for sure at the FPN. And immediately as we started this, we recognize that this was not just going to be a spiritual crisis for people but obviously involve many elements of mental health and emotional health that aren't necessarily exclusive,

you know, to the spiritual. So hamdullah we put out the infographic we did the webinar then about how to cope. And I'd like to turn it over to her and Sharla Tada, so to see if she could give us some tips as well. From her perspective

because I can love Chiron and southern Nadine for your beautiful, beautiful reflections. I found myself just nodding, just throughout hearing everything that you were sharing was such beautiful tips Michelle millennials, pancetta reward you but someone else what else was said I'm on I'm so low on Eliyahu Manuela and my bad. So one of the issues that I think has been coming up a lot, especially when our focus today is with regards to the individual is

Loneliness, you know, loneliness being one of the most difficult side effects that comes with the pandemic that we're all dealing with. Especially, I think, you know, these tips that I want to share are geared in particular to our brothers and sisters who are living alone. Because, you know, I think that there's one of the things that's really important to differentiate is, there's a difference between being alone versus being lonely, right. And so you can be surrounded by people in a crowded room, you can be, you know, at a huge event, but feel very lonely. And you can be alone and feel at peace, right? So for my brothers and sisters who are living alone, right, how can this

time be of being alone,

be something beneficial, where we allow ourselves to experience it without struggling deeply with loneliness, so being alone without loneliness, right. And so I think one of the ways that as we're approaching the blessed month of Ramadan, one of the things that I think is really important to focus on with this, is to realize that this opportunity, this struggle, the struggle of being alone, the struggle of dealing with loneliness is in every single moment and every single hardship that comes with it, and opportunity to bank in on the Hessonite, that we're that we're all trying to gain as much of, you know, as we can, people who are struggling with living with family, you know, 24/7

and struggling in those dynamics have a very different way of banking and on hasnat, but living alone, and feeling that that sense of loneliness, every single moment of that is an opportunity to struggle toward gaining those good deeds, right. And then also realizing that the sacrifice of being alone in this time is a sacrifice for the greater good. Right? That that your endurance right now is for the sake of so many beyond yourself. To Pamela right, you're staying at home is something that insha Allah with the will of Allah subhanaw taala is a means of keeping you healthy, but also people around you healthy. And that sense of social responsibility is also a way of banking in on those who

Senate. And so you know, when we're talking about the concept of loneliness, and how to how to deal with it, I think there are two points, or two approaches that are helpful. One is through shifting our mindset surrounding it. And then the other one is through packed practical coping, right coping in practical ways using practical tools. So I wanted to start first with a little bit of mindset shifting. So number one is realizing that what we're dealing with right now is hard across the board, right. And so if you're feeling that struggle, if you're feeling loneliness, if you're feeling sadness, or anxiety that's coming with that, don't push away those difficult feelings, but

don't allow yourself to wallow in them either. Right? Allow that when that feeling arises, name it, you know, like, I'm feeling lonely, I'm feeling really sad that I can't be with people that I enjoy being with for if not right now. And things like that. So naming it, it's in psychologist called name it to tame it, right? Like as if feelings are like tigers, right? Where you're naming it to tame the feeling. And then after you've named it, then do something actively, that's going to make you feel better. Right?

One of the mindset shifts that I think is is important for all of us who are dealing with, with this pandemic, is to realize that this situation is a test in submission, right? That accepting our reality, accepting our circumstances is a test in submitting to Allah some hard data, that Islam the meaning of Islam means submission to A salaam, the one who's going to give us peace and safety, the one who's going to provide for us the one who is going to take us out of this right? That's what the meaning of Islam is, is submission, right? Where Allah subhanaw taala, he tells us in certain Bacara, that Oh, you who believe enter, hold wholeheartedly into submission. Right? That's, that's,

and that's what we're doing in every single moment here. And every single hardship that we face, we are constantly needing to accept things that we don't understand, except things that we can't change, right. And this is a really big opportunity to, to submit to Alaska data in every moment. The other mindset shift, I think, is helpful is the idea of making a choice.

I was talking to one of my clients in in, in a session that we had, and we were talking about the struggles that are coming up really naturally with living alone and and dealing with quarantine. And you know, I asked her, you know, how, how are you going to look back on this? You know, for years people are going to be talking about this

There's going to be a huge event that children and grandchildren and like neighborhood children are going to come and interview you for their class projects and things like that and say, you know, what were you doing during Coronavirus and during quarantine? And so I asked her, you know, what, how are you? How do you want to look back on this? And she really took a step back. And she, and she was like, You know what, I don't want to look back on this and say, I was miserable. And I cried all the time. Right, I want to look back on this and think that I gained something. And and I thought it was so powerful for her to, to think about that that way. And I think for all of us, too, is, you

know, what do you hope to gain when you look back on this? And then how can you work towards gaining those things? And then the other mindset shift is, I think one of the weird, the weird side effects. And I think, you know, also, the Notre Dame really touched on this, when she was, you know, talking about personal inner self reflection, one of the really strange side effects of, of being alone during Quarantine is you get to know who you are without the pressures of other people. Right? Like when we're in relationships with people, when we're constantly going to work when we're interacting with people, a lot of times we lose who we fully are, because we're surrounded by pressures of

everybody around us, right? And so thinking about what can you learn about yourself, through this time of solitude, without the pressures of people pushing you in one direction or another, I think it can be a very, you know, profound thing. I used to work at a residential treatment center for teens in crisis. And they would come in with really severe issues and really big struggles, and they would live there for 45 days. And so I was one of the therapists on staff there, and the transformations that they used to experience because they were outside of their typical environment, and they were in this, like therapeutic space, were really profound. And so something to think about

is, you know, how do you create this therapeutic space for yourself, you know, how, how, what was a part of your daily life in the past, you know, when you were interacting with people that wasn't healthy, and then what wasn't a part of your life that you would like to be included in your life now in your, for your personal development, right. So these are things to, to ask ourselves.

So that's the mindset shift side of things. And then when we're talking about other ways, like practical ways of coping with feelings of loneliness, you know, the, the reality is that it is really, really difficult to be alone during this time for such an extended period of time. Right. And then it's also especially difficult that such a wonderful month is coming where things are going to be really different. Right? So you know, when we talk about self care, you know, so it's a term that's really thrown around a lot. But it's not about like the, the idea of, you know, bubble baths, and chocolate and things like that, you know, for me, self care, I really define it as creating a

life that you don't feel the need to escape from. Right. And Quarantine is naturally going to feel like that life that you want to escape from, right? But the key is, well, how do I create a day to day schedule in life that I don't feel, you know, is choking me, right? That I don't feel the need to escape from all the time. So creating a schedule can really normalize things. But ways to do that, that I think are helpful are deciding on three small goals that you want to accomplish each day, goals that bring you some joy, right, but then also goals that make your day to day life more livable, right. So like, if you see a pile of laundry, really building in the corner of your room,

doing a lot of laundry to make your space more like breathable for you, right. But then also doing little things that bring you joy each day, and making sure that at least one of your goals is that, you know, so like, you know, deciding on a project you'd like to complete, you know,

my clients have come up with wonderful ideas. You know, one of them was going to be starting a video series like a vlog, but just for herself, she wasn't going to be publishing it, but she just wanted to do it. And then, you know, reflecting on certain spiritual concepts, and then another one was going to be working through a cookbook, you know, little bit by little bit, the recipes that were appealing. And other one was going to reread a book series that she loved, right? So there's there are a lot of little projects that we can engage in, that can be really helpful in creating that sense of normalcy.

also incorporating into those goals, something that brings you a sense of meaning or purpose, you know, especially with Ramadan coming around, you know, reminding ourselves that the purpose of our existence is to worship Allah s prime data as he told us, so incorporating something in there like a small habit that

You can incorporate to find that sense of meaning and purpose when you wake up each day. It could even be like online volunteering, you know, the United Nations, the UN offers that. Signing up for a free online course, as a noted Dean mentioned, um, she's studying positive psychology, they're free online courses about that as well.

You know, so things like that are really helpful. And then socially, I think this one is obviously the one when we're feeling lonely, this is the biggest struggle, right? So concrete things socially, that that are, that can be really helpful, you know, in this time, it's, we really do need to actively pursue social connection. But also what's weird about this time and very unique and, and kind of beautiful about it is that reaching out to people you haven't spoken to in years, isn't strange, you know, like this is if there's somebody you haven't spoken to, and so long, and it's been, and you kind of tell yourself, well, it's just been too long, I can't reach out now is the

perfect time because everybody's reaching out to everybody else, to see how everyone's doing to check in because everybody's experiencing this together. So reaching out to somebody each day.

Also, realizing that people often connect, and meet up on and, and, and hone in friendships when they're doing something other than just seeking that friendship. And so what I mean by that is, like, you know, you can play a multiplayer game online, or you can, I think one of the fun things that people that people do is, you know, having somebody that you're that you have on Zoom or FaceTime, and taking them with you throughout your day, like if you're doing your work, they're doing their work, right, and you don't have to talk it's just having that comforting presence of feeling like somebody's there in the room with you. And that person also experiences that comforting

presence. So I think that that's really helpful as well as hamdulillah and then just as a final note, some concrete tips about Ramadan

to avoid loneliness when it comes to special occasions one of the best things we can do is plan for it. So I think you know, something that can be helpful is creating a unique space of sanctuary in your home to prep for Ramadan you know, you decorated in a particular way whatever it is, like this is your space that is going to replace the message that you're missing it's not going to be the same and 100% None of this is going to feel exactly the same but it can be a little bit helpful you know, I think creating a creating a list of things that we miss you know that we anticipate that we're going to miss from Ramadan you know, I I've done this like with you know, with my kids, you know,

what are the things you're going to miss most about Ramadan and, and I've done it for myself, and then you list it out and you see well what what is feasible to still do to a certain extent and then also what are ways that I can replicate the feelings associated with this particular thing that I'm going to miss so you know, creating a virtual if thought you know, for for your friends or people that you care about listening to pass data, we live streams, I think could could feel good as well. Having a goal Ramadan goal buddy, so that you hold yourself to account you hold one another accountable, but communicate each day or having like a lecture, watch party, you know, with with a

friend or multiple friends, and then reflect on it together. So in doing these types of things, you're also creating the opportunity for other people to do them, which is way to get so many has an add in such tremendous reward from Alice pancetta as well. And so even though it's not going to be the same, we pray that inshallah there are hidden blessings that we're going to be able to discover throughout this month and that it's going to be a source of growth and tremendous reward for us in sha Allah just second left it

alone, thank you. Can you repeat that one line that you had about?

It's not self care is creating a life that you don't escape from? What did you say? Yeah, yeah. So. So yeah, exactly that that self care entails creating a life that you don't feel the need to run away from or escape from? Yeah, very powerful. All right.

That could be like a quote, you should should copyright that. I think I probably got it from an article once upon a time, so I don't know if I could copyright it but but I definitely think that it's it's a powerful way to live by it and have the last Yeah, just like left it alone. Thank you. So does that call affair so sister noted the night and sister Sado, really, I think gave us a lot to think about from a spiritual perspective from a mental health perspective, how we sort of

deal with being alone in this time in a way that's most beneficial. Our next speaker is Dr. Serrano merging and Doctor of non emergency he's been. So He's our director of Survey Research and Evaluation Hamdulillah. You know, when we say we studied doubt at your pain, you know, he studies a full time. So this is his domain have done, he's done a lot of research into how these feelings of uncertainty are playing out in our community right now, and then offered a lot of prescriptions. So we're really grateful to him for the papers that he's written the survey research he's conducted. And He holds a PhD in educational psychology from UC Irvine, also because of the man who stayed at

University for some time. So my question to Dr. If man, the entire COVID-19 situation is fluid and rapidly changing, considering the constant changes what content is available to provide answers to our questions and comfort to our hearts, hence your pain but anyway, go ahead. Dr.

Mala Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah while Allah He was asking me what up?

What up with illa biLlah Hola. Hola. Hola. Hola. Hola. Hola. Hola. Como que la la there is no power, there is no change in the condition there is no strength except with Allah subhanho data. So yes, this entire COVID-19 situation is can be considered a black swan event. And what I mean by that it's an event that's completely unpredictable. Nobody had really predicted the extent of what would happen, the consequences. And when such things like this occur, there's really it causes massive panic with some people, some worry with others, and questions pop into our minds constantly, on a weekly basis, new questions are popping into our mind. Maybe in the beginning, it was like, Well,

what does all this mean? Is it like a test from Allah? And then it was as it got more intense? Was this a punishment from Allah? Well, what is our religion say about it, the companions of the Prophet was also them ever speak about this? That it became personal man, my family, it's tough at home. What do I do to cope with my family and my kids? So there's so many questions that are out there, and hamdullah europeen, we've really tried to act, to quote you Shikamaru, you know, like first responders, this idea of providing a rapid spiritual response. And so while we typically are in the business of providing these, these deep research solutions that take often months to produce, we've

gone to this mode of trying to quickly get a pulse on what's happening within the hearts and the minds of people. And in order to do this, we've gone beyond using kind of the anecdotal ways that often we do like, hey, you know, my uncle asked this question, maybe that should be on the research agenda. And more, we said, let's quickly get a pulse rapidly on what's happening. So we bought a survey, humbler a month ago, literally, I think, a day after some states initiated their social isolation policies. And

I've never seen a survey get that much response usually have to pull teeth to get people to complete surveys. But within 24 hours, we had over 1000 people, and within a short period of time at about 2000 people who told us Muslims across the world, mainly the US, what they were thinking, what were they believing? What were they doing? How are they coping? So hamdullah we were able to use that data to really quickly answer all the things that were the most pertinent challenges people were facing, and so hamdulillah

by our by the blessing of Allah subhanho wa taala. With consultation and the expertise of religious scholars, of academics and professors, mental health experts and physicians, we've been able to address topics including theological questions, medical considerations, family and parenting concerns, positive psychology and mental health and coping. And so I wanted to highlight some of those things that people could utilize as their as the situation continues to evolve. So hamdullah, we have a task force that was focused on just providing specific research solutions. So we have academics who wrote research papers and short reflections. Now, I know everyone doesn't have the

time to read maybe 2030 page papers during this time, when people are working from home, they have their kids to juggle. So the papers are usually shorter, they're more digestible. There's a lot of short reflections that are just meant to be much more personal, and kind of speaking to the heart, rather than just the academic side of things. Hamdulillah we had a team of scholars giving beautiful daily reminders, again, relevant to the week that you know, that people are going through, you know, there was like the phase of hoarding, then there was a phase of you know, doing different everyone's, you know, the society was changing week to week. And so hamdullah we were blessed to

have the scholars provide us with these daily reminders, specifically how to process what was in the hearts of of the audience of the national community.

The third thing that's really, really powerful is that, of course, research takes time to read articles might be difficult, we have a lot of infographics, numerous animations that condense and simplify all this material that can quickly reach people's hearts. So even if you have just a few moments a day, you know, you can look at those, catch a few minute videos a 32nd animation, you know, an infographic

Some of the topics that I want to quickly cover that we have addressed. And again, all of these were the top things that the national community had requested. Things like how to get out of being pessimistic, how to be optimistic during these times, how to stay calm and kind of control your thoughts and to be mindful as a Muslim. How to Be patient during adversity, specific ways of practicing law school with Allah subhanaw taala. And then there was a more pragmatic side of things like I'm working at home, like what do I do with the kids all over the place? You know, it's just weird to sit in front of a computer for 10 hours a day. So we have articles on how to be productive,

and in and work from home in a way that's, that's adaptive for you. family dynamics, you know, dealing with the challenges of family being around opportunities that provides and then even like, big theological questions, like is the Coronavirus of punishment from Allah? Is it a mercy from Allah? Is it a test. So those are just some of the things that we have done. On the more practical side, we even have a beautiful booklet on specific Doha that one could recite daily for relief and for protection. So again, it's tough to for someone to open up like a big book of Hadith and find what what really hits my heart now. So just so you can find that resource. And the other thing that

we shifted our energy into, which I want to really highlight is a new product called the a peon classroom. And so you know, I have four of my own kids at home, and they're all doing their online classes. And it seems like I'm juggling zoom, like half the day. But what was missing from all of their online classes was their math, there were science, there was English, there was no Islamic studies for them. So alhamdulillah, you know, Euclid had produced a wonderful curriculum that had been available to teachers nationwide and all over the world, but it was just for the schools. And now we've actually taken that product and put it online. So for anybody who has high school students

in particular, we have a full program over the next few months. I think it starts tomorrow. So please register for that, you know, for children who are in high school, to supplement everything else they're doing. And I'll quickly conclude with a few ideas about just what came out of the data. I think people always wonder, well, what were Muslims thinking and couple things that came out, were really, really encouraging. I'd like to share with the audience and that, you know, we speak a lot about mental health, and we're often concerned and it's real, that people do have stress and anxiety. But another side that came out that I thought was beautiful, was that despite the

challenges that Muslims are facing, Muslims are incredibly optimistic, and reported their relationship with Allah subhanho wa taala, improving over the last month or since pretty much the Coronavirus began to spread. And I think that we should take comfort in knowing that our Dean gives us the principles that allow us when the going gets tough that we were able to respond in a prophetic fashion. The other thing that came out, that you mentioned was this idea of uncertainty and sorrow, you beautifully spoke about these things and control that one of the key things that really, we found to be adaptive to encourage everyone is try and practice becoming unconscious,

becoming comfortable with embracing uncertainty in your life. There's so many things that we can control. And there's so many things that are out of our control. And those who are able to relinquish that control to things out of their domain and put it in the hands of Allah subhana wa Tada. Those individuals find the most comfort in their daily lives, their most peace, they're more calm, they're less anxious, and they're also more optimistic. And so there's many things that you can do and we can all do, I think to improve in relinquishing control that we seek and embracing uncertainty.

One of the things that Allah says in the Quran that strikes me in verse Allah says, in the line the who are amo Sati, when he doesn't have a thought, ya know, method or ham or method enough, some mother, Texas, Nevada alternative, so be able to move in a lower limit hobby, that you know, when we think about the things that matter to us in life, like Allah gives us this verse. It's a man that says all the things that matter to you. They're uncertain to you. When this world is going to end, you don't know. When it's going to rain, you don't know you can have a probability. But you're not going to know how much money you're going to earn tomorrow, you're not going to know what is your

child's going to look like? What even gender is it going to be their personality? You don't know where are you going to die? None of this is in RL. And so Allah by His mercy has not tasked us with knowing these things. He's only tasked us with putting in our effort, like the Prophet Muhammad SAW Selim said when he advised the companions with the famous Hadith that if you had the true trust in Allah, you would have that you would be like the birds, the birds that go out in the morning, they're hungry, and they come back full. And what I find beautiful about this hadith is that we're in the same situation as the birds for once. Typically, we know my paycheck is coming at this time.

My kids are coming home at this time, my schedule, I got it down to a tee. The birds get up in the morning, they have no idea what time lunches, were lunches, what it's going to taste like. And this is what Allah wants us to taste in these moments. So embracing that is one of the most powerful things to really thriving during this time, to whatever extent that we can do and Allah knows our abilities. The other thing that we found that I think was really powerful

For those that people who turn to the Quran repeatedly, more so than the news, we're doing much better overall. And I know this is tough because we're all on social media and just whether we like it or not, we get news thrown in our face. But one of the practical suggestions might be is trying and limit your exposure to news during these times I say news anymore sensational stories. The news that is out there is not typically meant to comfort our souls. Whereas the verses of Allah subhanho wa taala, the religious content that is out there and the Sunnah of the Prophet Homosassa the purpose of that is to bring about Nina Sakina, security and serenity and tranquility to our soul. So

be mindful of your intake of news relative to your intake of religious sources and try to balance them out at the very minimum.

The last thing I'm gonna mention is, as we've done all this in light of the Coronavirus, you know, everything is fluid. So Ramadan is fast approaching. So you're keen wants to be responsive to the needs of everybody. And so we're we have a survey that's going to go out today to get a pulse on what has happened over the last month, and specifically our attitudes towards Ramadan, in order that we can be again those quick responders and quickly provide the type of guidance, answers, solutions and comfort that everyone is requesting. So I request that everyone filled out if you have a chance, my closing notes, goes back to this issue of Ambassador and worship, supine to lead no pain right so

beautifully about this. And my dad just said a keen, it was a chapter that really blew my mind when I read it as a student years ago, about what it means to worship Allah subhanho wa taala. And usually, when we think about worship, especially as Ramadan comes, we all have this laundry list of things like what Ramadan worship means, fasting, lots 20, rock cars, or eight rock cars have them of course, and and we have this laundry list of things. But one of the things that it will claim you mentioned in Potamia, that worship is not some specific

action that is done anything in one's life can be worshipped. As long as that is the act that Allah wants you to be doing at that moment in time. So what he means by that is everybody's a burden will look different. If you have children, you're about as different than if you don't have children, if you're married is different than if you're not married. If your whatever situation you're in, there's a specific a bad that a specific worship at you, or me should be doing. And so what Potamia mentioned beautifully says that, you know, worship is complete love and humble submission to the Beloved. And so what this means is that worship for the Muslim is that we don't choose the No, we

don't get to pick what worship looks like all the time. We it's what Allah wants us to do. So if my child is crying in Ramadan, and I want to read my Jusuf Quran, perhaps hopefully my child is a greater act of worship than closing the door and worship and worshiping Allah in solitude. Maybe instead of praying 20 records if that's not doable, because I have a lot of children or other responsibilities, are you praying less records with my children could be a better act of worship. So Allah knows our situation. So be compassionate with yourself. If you don't meet your standards of excellence, don't beat yourself up, you know, speak to yourself, like you would speak to your best

friend if they came to you for advice. I think we struggle with this typically, when one of our best friends comes to us, you know, we're going to be compassionate and say, you know, it's okay. And I have that love. But when we speak to ourselves are often very harsh, and say, you know, why? Why are you being so bad? And why are you so weak, so just have that compassion. And the last thing I want to mention is that Subhanallah that Ramadan is a month of Quran. One of the things that strikes me is that some of the best stuff I see that's ever been written in Islamic history was written when the scholars were in prison. They were not in the ideal circumstance. So of course, you know, we're

not in prison, but we are in social isolation at home, perhaps it is a chance to live in the shade of the Quran to to live you know, under that the guardians of the verses of Allah subhana wa Tada and let this Ramadan, maybe be that month where you rekindled a special relationship with the Quran that you may not have gotten, if it was a typical Ramadan, ask Allah subhanaw taala to allow us all to reach Ramadan, and to please a minute span that a little bit is that the phone was Salam o Allah Mursaleen.

Exactly my phone. Excellent, really appreciate that. Chefman very beneficial advice. And you mentioned this idea of, you know, I think the idea that Allah subhanaw taala sometimes gives us these opportunities and taking the opportunities that Allah gives you rather than the ones that you imagined that sometimes they're abandoned. And Hamdulillah we have a lot that we're trying to do it you have to aim to really be there for the community, and to to listen, we're not just putting out what we think is best for you. We're listening first and foremost to what you need, and trying to accommodate as much as we can. Using and hamdulillah the writing that we have. One of our

spectacular teams that again, is our engineering team. It is one of the larger teams that we have a team that are constantly developing our app technology coming up with new products and

The integrating all this concepts and in a way that you can benefit and if you did not see the ad for European Academy do check it out. And if you have not downloaded the app for European then first and foremost the tequila be mindful of your Lord. I don't want to say Fear your Lord right now for that but I hope you all inshallah Tada download the app and benefit from European Academy and I want to bring on our director of our engineering team brother Junaid Kapadia to talk a little bit about European Academy and some other ways that you can use what we have inshallah to keep yourself busy.

That's very unique and engaging beyond just the lectures and the other ways that we're trying to deliver our content to us. So Jeannette, go ahead

and share some NAPLAN Rahim, Salam Alikum.

Everyone watching, I hope and pray that you all are staying safe during these very trying times shift before I talk about European Academy, I guess I'll talk in general about the utilization of technology. And there's something that we probably need to accept here, which is that technology doesn't have to be as stigmatizing and negative as we sometimes make it out to be. At the same time. Given most of us are isolated for long periods of times in our homes, we may try to excessively find our escape in say our smartphones, tablets, laptops and similar devices. But when we begin to spend too much time binge watching something on Netflix, or simply scrolling through our social media

feeds, we're not eliminating our physical loneliness, and we definitely are not improving ourselves spiritually. So instead of just asking, how can we use technology to help us? Let's take it a step further and ask more specifically, how can we leverage technology so that it actually helps us say, reduce the loneliness that we find ourselves in today and improve our personal spirituality. And to keep it brief, Scheffer provide two tips to our viewers so they can focus on that they can focus on number one on reducing loneliness. It's actually a very simple one, leverage video conferencing apps, you know, we're all isolated in our homes, and we lack physical interaction with the rest of

the world, we're just so core to us as human beings. So instead of talking to friends and family over text messages, or even a phone call, talk to them over a video conference call, it's not going to replace the human interaction of speaking to someone in your living room at a mosque at the coffee shop. But it's going to be something that helps mitigate that loneliness. And honestly, you'd be surprised how much more fruitful those conversations will become simply because you can see the facial expressions of the person you're with number two, on technology and increasing our personal spirituality. There are plenty of productivity apps out there that help us do this in a digital

form. But my personal favorite, and you've already alluded to this, and obviously, this is a biased opinion, is European Academy. Chef, you know about your Korean Academy, but some of our viewers might not be aware of it. So what is your clean Academy? If you didn't Khadem II is basically taking our really, really, really long research papers at Yaqeen and breaking them down into a series of short two minute videos. So you can download the Clean app for iOS or Android open Academy, and watch the video that will then be followed up by a simple yes or no or true or false question. Now, each time you watch a video, and you answer that simple question, you're actually also earning

points. So the way it's designed, you can actually leverage Academy in a variety of ways depending on the type of person you are. If you're someone who's only seeking an answer to say, a faith question, or even someone who just wants to gain general knowledge, watch the two minute videos, answer the questions and be on your way. Meanwhile, if you're someone who is competitive, or you enjoy learning, with your friends or family, then you can actually challenge your friends and family to see who can earn the most points in Academy by watching those videos and answering those questions. And actually, since we're on the topic, I'm just gonna go off on a slight tangent here.

showhome right before this webinar, I was taking a look at the leaderboard on your feed Academy. And apparently, you're not even in the top 100. Now, I'm not trying to put you on the spot. And I obviously wouldn't outright challenge you with so many people watching. But Olivia's and you know who Olivia as is. And to our viewers, Ali fiaz is the director of partner development team. He thinks that he will earn more points in Academy than you will have by next Wednesday. So I'm not personally challenging you. But let's be clear, there is a challenge on the table.

With that being said, you know, taking this back to the academy and what makes the academy unique. The most unique aspect about Academy for me personally is the fact that it only requires two minutes of your time and at the end of the video. You've either dismantle the doubt though

Learn something new, and as a result, nurtured personal conviction. And if you take this to the larger scheme of things of utilizing technology, the key to using tech is being mindful of the amount of time we spend on our devices. Because if you overdo it, it's no longer beneficial. Well, if you're using the octane Academy, you're giving two minutes of your day. And you're and so therefore, you're not spending too much time on your device, and you're uplifting yourself spiritually. So bringing it full circle, how can we use technology to reduce loneliness and increase our personal spirituality? Number one, use video conferencing to speak to friends and family rather

than social media, text messages, or even that phone call because it helps reduce that physical and social distancing gap that we're all experiencing today. And when it comes to improving ourselves, and increasing our personal spirituality, use productivity apps that actually don't take up too much of your time, such as European Academy. Because even if you only spend two minutes of your day on European Academy, you will be improving your personal spirituality, even if it's one faith related video at a time. So those are the two tips I have in terms of technology. I hope these are very beneficial to our viewers, which is often locked in for tuning in and shuffle them back over to you.

Like my last night, and

I do not plan on being on the top 100 of European Academy, I will happily forfeit

that challenge, because we have like 100 webinars right now.

That we need to attend to. So that's my priority. That being said, all of our speakers that have been allowed, brought a, I think a great element to this.

You know, for us to really consider these different things, and what it is about this time that we should be thinking about I want to throw one question to the team. And remind everyone that's viewing that next week. Inshallah we'll have the Ramadan prep webinar at the same time in sha Allah, and will continue all of our all of our activities and our YouTube channels almost at 100,000 subscribers. So if you're not subscribed yet, please plus, press subscribe and show all time and make sure that you've downloaded the app, the Appian app checkout Academy on the Appian app, it's free hamdulillah everything we produce is free. And we ask a lot of contact to accept that. And

please do just follow all of our social media outlets and show us or wherever you are, except for tick tock, we're not on tick tock. But you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, insha, Allah Tirana and stay up to date, of course we have our website and our app as well.

A group a group question that I'm gonna throw up to the group in sha Allah

there are things in this Ramadan in particular, so there's the 50 element of total, right? How is how are we going to be prayed? And of course the answer to that very, you know, in a nutshell is you just pray at home in sha Allah to Allah by yourself or if you have family, your family with you

you know, not following advice but instead in sha Allah you know, reviving the spirit of that pm at home in sha Allah to Allah but how do we deal with the

elements of of of not feeling a sense of congregation and so on? Are we right so is there a way to make total we in particular feel more like Ramadan when we're praying at home right now so I don't know if someone wants to bring in the mental health aspects of that a spiritual aspects of that, like what how do we really make the most of our total we other than following your pain and our daily reminders and sell our nightly summary of the changes that we're going to be doing in Charlotte what are some ways to make the most of total weekend particularly?

Bismillah AR give it a shot.

So I think one of the things we might try to do is one of the beautiful parts about the Mizzou is that it's a separate space that we consider to be kind of sacred and we look forward to going there and in Ramadan it's often beautifully lit you know different cultural things people do they put lanterns but it has a specific flavor. So if possible and in within you know your your capacity to maybe dedicate a part of your house even if it's a small area that kind of is like your like messages for the month and you can put you know nice agenda on the ground. You can put some beautiful posters on the wall some lights faux nice, you know if you'd like those, like I lived in

Egypt for years, so that's just embedded in my mind now as a Ramadan specific these lanterns. But, and this way, at least you feel like okay, after we have a follow up, we're gonna go to our messages. Right? And then of course, what you can also do is like Janae Do you feel mentioned use technology wisely? After you do your salon with your family? Maybe do you feel because after we, you can of course log in to

Your favorite chef iOpener, listen to the FCN reminder that you're gonna get, do you still feel like you're getting all of that? So maybe that's just one suggestion that we can try to do.

Great. And Would anyone like to ask us for sada system or Dean?

I want it to Yeah, I think that suggestion is wonderful. Michelle Obama likes to create that own that, that space for it. I also think that creating like going into it with the intentionality that I'm not going to try to replicate what I'm missing. Exactly. But I'm going to try and gain something that I normally wouldn't have been able to gain when I go to the message or totowa. So it would be something like,

you know, you pray to dark eyes, you or you would recite in that prayer or before you recite the you know, that particular those particular as you're going to recite in those sort archives, read the translation before, right, which you can't do at the masjid because the Imam goes up right away. Right. But then it can make that those two because like the quality is going to be a lot more for you personally. So it's also thinking about things will one of us msgid? What are the you know, what are some of the struggles that I might face that I don't need to face at home? Right, and how to, and how to how to really embed that into into your, you know, your salah, in therapy at home, I

think could also be a way to shift that as well and shoma

FET? So system in order Dean, a question for you. And of course, it's open to the panel as well.

Families right now, in the sense that I know this is about European in you, but now there's a there's a question here.

Should I prioritize totally alone? Should I split it up with family? If I have family in the house? Should we pray some together some separate? How do I draw that line between what's what what's the best course of action for my spirituality?

Sorry, my apologies. So that's a good question. And I don't know if there's an absolute answer from a FICKY perspective.

But just in terms of spirituality, it is something that is essentially tailored to the individual right, some activities are going to bring us closer to Allah subhanaw taala. That's going to work for some people, or other people, if not some people even this is if we go to the psychology but if at the

introvert extrovert spectrum, right? Some people get their energy from being around people, some people get it more when they're by themselves. So I think it really is a matter of what do you feel is best. Now I do think that even if let's say someone does feel closer to Allah subhanaw taala when they worship alone, I think just for the sake of the family, especially in Ramadan, you should make an effort to make some of your prayers with your family. But if you feel more of that spirituality when you're alone, then Allah alone, but I would think that you would want to lean more towards that to be able to benefit the most.

Is that going along Hayden? Well, we're at the top of the hour and shot a lot while we're at the bottom of the hour going to the top of the next. I want to thank all of you for being a part of this and hamdulillah for your wonderful advice to the audience once again in Sharla Tara, please check out your pin classroom, check out the opinion conversations, check out our curriculum, and how to make the most of it. And of course, the opinion Academy and all of the resources that we have on the collection page, please make sure you hit subscribe on YouTube and shadow Lazzara and follow us on all of our social media outlets. And we will see you in Charlotte next week in Sharla for our final

webinar going into normal bond which will be our local bond prep webinar at the same time. So Mark Loafie, come to our esteemed panelists who joined us today. Well, I just come alongside us on how to do a lot of stuff we look at where to leave when you come into the market and got a customer.

This is where we stare until we're sure that it's no longer life.