Umm Jamaal ud-Din – 10 Steps to Empowering Ourselves as Muslim Women

Umm Jamaal ud-Din
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			In Al Hamdulillah Anna Maria who want us Dynamo wanna selfie Ramona to LA when solly one or Salim
ala nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi edgerunner in first of all my dear sisters as salaam one
a comb or Rahmatullah would I care to it's an absolute honor and pleasure to be here amongst you and
come to rely like I can't actually see anyone here but I know you're there on the radar and
		
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			Valerie would you for your very kind and generous introduction I asked a local toddler to you know
that whatever we say today you know will benefit someone he even though he Darla and and you know,
we're here to help each other and support each other inshallah as sisters in Islam across the world,
inshallah.
		
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			Um, so,
		
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			basically, the topic that I had in mind to talk to you about is 10 steps to empowering ourselves as,
as Muslim women. And now, I'm sure that many of you, you know, you've heard the talk about female
empowerment and you know, um, you know, talk about raising our standards as Muslim women, right. Um,
you know, of course, as believers, we should always be, you know, concerned about looking for ways
to you know, further strengthen ourselves and, and raise our Ll standards as Muslim women from you
know, as women from this oma right, um, but in saying that, it's also very important that we also
never lose sight of working within the bounds of the Sharia in order to do that, right. So we
		
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			wouldn't be balanced in our approach. So we need to realize that it's, it's never empowering, to
throw away your Islamic principles and compromise your estate values. Okay, so if that's what people
are calling to with their female female empowerment, that's something that we would be against,
okay, because obviously, whoever you know, compromises their values. In fact, what you've done,
you've handed over your power to someone else, right? So instead of being an OB to, to Allah,
instead of being you know, a servant to Allah as virgin, you've ended up basically serving you know,
serving the creation right?
		
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			So that's why I'm what I want to you know, share with you today are just 10 ways 10 simple ways
inshallah, that we can empower ourselves and these these 10 ways I'm going to share with you are
basically you know, these are all ways that we can draw like the teachings from Islam you know, what
it's about the problem we have often is we don't know how to draw upon Islamic teachings okay, but
what we have any slam is actually more than enough to empower ourselves as as women's power law. So
first of all,
		
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			starting off right, number one, what is the first you know, step towards empowering ourselves? First
of all, it's about changing our mindset. Right? We have to realize that ultimately, we are the ones
who are responsible to work on uplifting ourselves. Now altana makes that very key in the Quran he
says in Allah Allah you were you Matthew Omen had their you when you may be unfussy him, right, that
Allah tala does not change a people
		
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			until they change themselves, alright, so he shows us that, you know, that that works both ways. You
know, if we want to raise our level, if we want to move forward, as women, we need to realize that
that will not happen unless we work on changing ourselves first, okay.
		
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			And we all know that a lot of people like to fall into, you know, the arm, let's call it the victim
mentality, right? Where you'll often hear people wanting to blame others for why they're not getting
ahead, or what's holding them back. And, you know, sometimes you hear people say, you know, it's,
it's all the men's fault. This is why we know we're not getting ahead as women or something like
that, right? Look, I think, at the end of the day, whatever the situation is, we have to realize
that
		
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			once you fall into that victim mentality of why you're not getting anywhere, it's not going to help
you move forward. Okay, so, the number one thing we need to be focusing on is asking yourselves,
what can we personally do to help change our situation for the better, alright, it's always about
looking inward and trying to, you know, use your, your inner resources,
		
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			you know, to opening up, you know, ways to find Yanni, how can I say to you, to to, you know, to
find that way to move forward, okay, it's about and also of course, making do and asking a lot of
time to guide you to that as well, right? It's about that it's a number of things you do.
		
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			looking inward, first of all, to see what you can do to move forward, but then asking a lot of
talent to guide you to do that. And then of course, no doubt, seeking advice from others as well.
trustworthy people around you Cincy people as well can help you to work out what you need to do also
to move forward. Okay.
		
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			All right. The second thing, the second thing that I think it's really important is that we need to
reclaim the true narrative that Allahu taala has given us of what it means to be a Muslim woman or
Muslim woman right? Now one of the best ways to do that is to simply look at all the examples that
Allahu taala gave us of female role models, right? Look throughout history and think about all those
role models that Allah gave us. And you'll see that there's not one of them except they were like
pinnacles of strength, bravery and Amen.
		
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			All right. If you reflect upon the stories of the likes of you know, Hadid, Giovanni Allahu on her
or sumaiya or selama Aisha you know, will say they've been God right? So Panama just reflect on
their personalities. These are not weak women, sisters, these were the strongest of women, right?
You know, ask yourself who was the first woman who was the first person to accept the slam, right?
It was a woman who was the first martyr in Islam? It was a woman right? Who was who was the one who
was there for the profits that are low on your center and supported him in his time of greatest
vulnerability
		
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			who was the one who stood in the battlefield defending the Messenger of Allah when many of the you
know many of the ones who supposedly rejecting him had run away or the one who kills the Prophet
slots or Lotus and when when you know when like when men were reluctant to you know follow what he
was asking them you know, we see on Salah she was the one who stepped up right? So in all of these
situations, we see to panela it was actually women who stepped up for these different roles. And so
we need to realize that there's there's a reason why Allahu tada chose to give us strong and
powerful female role models right and because he wants us sisters to emulate their example you know
		
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			by adopting that same that same strength that they had that same level of demand that they had okay
this is what we should be focusing on and this is why it's very important that we familiarize
ourselves with their stories right we need to read the stories of the Sahaba yet read the stories of
you know the wives of the prophets that allowed us to them and then reflect about you know reflect
on the characteristics that they had you know, what was it that made them rich such high levels
		
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			you know that they became from the greatest role models about Alma alright when we when we you know,
ponder on that we this is what helps us to, to you know, any night there are examples inshallah
		
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			at the third point, towards inshallah empowering ourselves, we have to realize that seeking
knowledge is one of the greatest ways of empowering oneself You know, a lot Allah in the Quran he
tells us, will * yes, that will lead era Yala Muna one Levine Allah Allah moon in Amaya tada Al
Bab. So a lot Allah tells us in the Quran, say that, you know, say is the one who knows, like the
one who does not know, right? So a lot of shows us that you know that it's through knowledge, this
is what raises a person, okay, Ronnie, just what raises a person. And so what raises the standards
of the oma is when they when they raise their standards in knowledge. So therefore, if we want to,
		
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			you know, if we're really interested in empowering and raising the standards of the women of this
era, then realize it can only happen through prudent increasing in knowledge.
		
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			So if you want to be strong in your identity as a Muslim,
		
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			you know, if you want to feel confident, you know, in raising your voice against, you know, Lauren,
and an injustice, then you need to have strong knowledge. And, and in particular, the knowledge I'm
speaking about here is the knowledge of your dean. This is the most powerful knowledge on Earth,
right? The knowledge of one's Dean, if you look at Ayesha, what do you love her on her? You know,
what was it that gave her that leverage? To be able to have the confidence to speak up for the hug
you know, and not worry about what other people would think about her? It was her him right her
knowledge and so many times you'll see how are you share with your loved one Hmm, should even feel
		
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			Asli correct statements said by some of the heads of Sahaba You know, one time I shall read your
loved one here. For example,
		
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			She heard of the rise in armor. He was, you know, I'm saying that the women should undo their braids
or under the plats when they do listen, okay, and so so panela, she commented on she said, You know,
this is so strange that even Omar is saying such a thing, you know, he's telling women to undo their
braids. When they do listen, he ends the panel that she was saying, Why doesn't he tell them to
shave their heads because it's, you know, how difficult it is for men, every time they have to, you
know, take what sort of from Geneva that they have to undo their braids, it's going to be very
difficult for them, right? And then she says that, you know, the Messenger of Allah subtle law while
		
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			he was selling and myself used to do listen, using one vessel, and never did I
		
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			never did I pour more than, you know, three handfuls of water over my head, you know, three, three,
		
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			you know, pouring the water over the head three times. Right? And so what I'm showing you here is
that when you have that knowledge, because sometimes Unfortunately, when we don't have
		
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			knowledge of our Deen, this is unfortunately one of the ways that you can get taken advantage of
very often right, um, I'm saying this from the perspective of even coming from a revert background
like many times, the ones who get taken advantage of the most are the ones who lack the knowledge
because people can easily manipulate you into believing
		
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			you know, certain things and you can sometimes forego your rights even forego your Masonic rights,
or because you didn't have the knowledge, you know, and and then therefore, you find yourself in
what we can call a disempowering situation, right? Or because you lack that knowledge.
		
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			And so that the ones who get taken advantage of them have the most, the ones who get taken advantage
of the most are the ones who don't have the knowledge to be able to stand up for themselves. Right?
It's so easy to take advantage of someone, when they don't have knowledge. And, you know, as I said,
you can get pushed into accepting things that you shouldn't have to accept.
		
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			Since the panels are just realized that there's a vulnerability that comes when you don't have the
knowledge. But in saying it's true, it's not just, it's not just Islamic knowledge, like we should
select knowledge is not the only knife, but it is the most important knowledge, right. But besides
that, you should also try to, you know, strengthen yourself self with all types of knowledge, it's,
it's, of course, you know, it's beneficial to,
		
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			you know, seek knowledge in this dunya of, of beneficial things that, you know, that can lead to,
		
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			basically, helping you like, for example, unfortunately, we're living in a time where there's a lot
of a lot of marriage breakdown, right, um, there's a lot of unfortunate, you know, divorce that's
happening around the world, like, I mean, it doesn't matter what country you look at. And so
therefore, for women in particular, you know, it's very advisable for them to have something else on
the side, just in case, you know, situations change, you know, to seek some sort of education for
yourself is definitely something that, um, you know, it's like a backup for you, if things don't
work out, you know, what I mean? So, so I'm just saying to you that, you know, any type of
		
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			knowledge, but especially as an acknowledge, this is the way also for us to strengthen ourselves,
right.
		
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			And the fourth point
		
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			that I want to mention is knowing your own worth, okay, this is another thing that often weakens a
lot of women, right. And a lot of women don't know, their own wealth works, right, their self worth,
they lack self esteem. Often, they don't know their true, you know, they don't, they can't recognize
their true value, the true qualities, you know, the strength they have, and you know, when you don't
know your self worth, when you don't really, you know, value yourself for who you are. Then again,
you can often you know,
		
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			you may just accept people putting you down, for example, or, you know, demeaning you, okay? Because
you don't think you deserve better, right? So this is why you know, working on your self esteem, you
know, working on knowing your self worth, and be able to recognize your self worth, it's really
important to do that. Because it helps you also to place healthy boundaries for what you will accept
and want except for yourself. Okay, so this. So this is why what I normally advise is to,
		
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			is to like, you know, see yourself as like, like a project that you need to be continually working
on right all throughout life. realize there's always something else that you need to work out with
yourself, right, because we all have weaknesses. So it's really important for us to kind of pinpoint
what our weaknesses are and try to
		
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			work on those right now if we look at a hadith in which you know the Messenger of Allah subtle law
what he was sending he tells us that I'm moving away right the strong workmen hide one what I have
booty Allah He Mina Mina Boyce even though they both loves to Allah so that the the strong mean
		
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			is better and more love to Allah than the weak mean even though they both love to Allah both both
all believers I love to Allah right. But the strong one is on more loved to Allah hota Allah. And so
the what we take into this hadith is we want to try to make ourselves into that strong Walkman, this
should be our goal, right? Trying to make ourselves into a stronger movement in different ways. I'm
not in not just in your Eman. Yes, definitely strengthening your manly man is one of the ways to
make yourself into a strong woman. But besides that, as well, like working on your personal
weaknesses, you know, face your individual weakness, and then go and educate yourself and seek
		
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			support for others for how you can overcome those personal weaknesses right.
		
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			Like, get, let me give you some examples. Like a lot of women, this is a very common weakness that
many women have when they're young, especially, they can often be quite passive, you know, like,
they just give up their needs and ever, they never tell anybody, like, they'll just be silent,
they'll never,
		
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			you know, really communicate what is important for them, you know, but then what happens is, as
women get older, they kind of
		
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			like they kind of build up a ton of frustration, because they've always
		
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			neglected themselves, they've always allowed themselves just to be, you know, never really
communicated what they wanted, right. And then they get this kind of resentment that builds up
sometimes, right? And then they end up becoming a great aggressive and taking it out on everybody
around them. And then everyone's wondering what happened to her, you know, and so this is why
Actually, it's really important to, for example, work on how to be assertive, okay, this is
something that a lot of women have problem with, you know, not being aggressive, not being passive,
but finding that middle ground, and being able to, you know, communicate with manners, with respect,
		
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			you know, what your needs are, but not like covering up everything and just never saying to anyone,
you know, and denying yourself, like denying what you really want, okay, this is not a healthy way
to live your life. And so this is a that's just an example of how we can sometimes have, you know,
these weaknesses.
		
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			And, you know, and these are things we need to try to work on and bolster ourselves up and make
ourselves stronger, you know, with these different weaknesses.
		
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			Alright, so the next thing I wanted to mention was, it's really important that we also realize that
each of us has a unique role in the oma Alright, so,
		
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			you know, every believer is special to Allah. Okay, every believer is special to Allah azza wa jal.
And every one of us, you know, a little doll has given us something is given us certain talents,
he's given us certain skills, and he wants us to use those skills and talents that he's that he's
given you
		
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			to achieve your highest purpose in this dunya. Right. Now, if you go and study the lives of the
wives of the Prophet SAW law on his own, for example, you'll see how each of them had their own
unique personality.
		
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			And they had their own impact their own individual impact on the oma. Okay, each one's different.
Like, she's not like Khadija hood, he does not like on Salah ma for example, right? So each of and
similarly, each of us here has something unique to us, that Allah has given us. But what we need to
do our job is to try to find out what it is, you know, what is what are those talents? What are
those things we like to do?
		
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			That we can use? Right to leave our own personal legacy in this dunya? Right now, how do you do
that? How do you go about doing that? Well, first of all, have a look at what you love doing. Right?
What are the some of the things that you love to do? What are some things that you're good at?
Right? And then use those things, think about how you could use those skills, or those talents, you
know, to benefit others and to strive in the path of Allahu taala. Right, and to seek Jana to seek
Jana through those talents. So, an example here is like you know, don't just study your your degree
a uni to have a great career. You know, find a way to use your degree to serve the Islam. Right?
		
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			Don't just raise your child to be a doctor or an engineer.
		
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			Like a lot of people do raise your child to be a role model and a leader for this oma okay? The
problem is we often don't think high enough with you know with what we're doing
		
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			so you know, look at whatever blessings that Allah has given you look at whatever skills or talents
although I've given you and then use those you know for the sake of Allah to Allah for you know for
striving for Allah
		
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			yeah i mean i've myself known a lot of mothers for example who are mothers in particular like
someone who's a mother they're always they're always good at organizing okay all those years of
organizing a household and children they get a lot of skills through doing that right um, so then
you'll find a lot of those mothers become great at you know, getting involved in you know projects
or you know, fundraising or you know, volunteering in charity organizations stuff like that
		
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			or someone who's good with kids for example you know, go on to become a teacher or you know getting
involved in in
		
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			you know helping
		
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			with with
		
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			you know with teaching children for example right
		
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			Same thing with cooking like some sisters love cooking and you know, I've seen sisters like that go
on and you know cook for like they go on and cook for like systemic events. Or you know, I'm just
feeding Muslims in general right
		
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			Another thing is writing Mashallah some people very talented writing, I mean, those those people can
work on for example, writing, you know, writing
		
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			and for example, defending Islam, for example, or defending the Prophet so a lot of what he was
selling, so using your skills, sisters, whatever skills you have, use them using for Islam using for
the oma.
		
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			So this is why it's important, you know, also to keep on asking Allahu Allah to, to guide you,
towards finding your higher purpose in this world. And just realize that it's only when you begin to
live your life using what you've been given,
		
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			you know, using the talents you've been given, but a lot of for the sake of Allah, that that's when
you begin to taste, Halawa to Eman, that's when you begin to taste, you know, the sweetness that
Allah is going to put in your heart that comes through living your life for him. subhanho wa Taala.
		
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			Alright, the sixth point that I want to mention
		
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			is it's really important that we avoid blaming our circumstances for why we can't achieve our goals.
Right? So two main reasons that a lot of people stop moving forward in their lives, is because they
they blame their circumstances, for why they can't do what they want, or due to limiting beliefs
about themselves to they think that they won't be able to achieve right. Now, let me just give you
some examples.
		
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			If you think about our issue about your loved one, how, for example, right? I mean, suppiler, she
actually lived for 47 years as a widow.
		
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			And she had no children of her own. Right? Now, she could have easily lived her life feeling sorry
for herself. But instead we find that she dedicated her life and became the greatest female scholar
in the history of le slann.
		
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			Okay, another example is on selama radiallahu anha. You know, she was a mother who, you know, she
was very busy with her children. And you know, she didn't even six, she didn't start seeking
knowledge until she was in her 30s that she could have said, I'm too old, I'm too busy. But instead,
we find that she went on to become the greatest from the narrator's of Hadith from the women after
Aisha radiallahu on her, and she became one of the greatest floppy hats, you know, from the female
jurists in the halls Hall of Medina. Okay, so what I'm trying to say here is, it's not about your
limitations, right? Rather, it's about what you make out of your individual circumstances. Okay, we
		
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			have to stop blaming our environment, blaming what we don't have, and just work with what we do
have.
		
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			And you know, one of the empowering messages that Sam teaches us is to you know, take control of
your life and be proactive in changing your situation for the better.
		
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			Right, even if, even if that means just taking one step, you know, small steps towards that change.
If you look at one Hadith, in which, you know, I bowrider radi Allahu anhu. He tells us that the
professor Lorenson, he tells us that it is salana yen folk, to the Messenger of Allah tells us
		
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			focus on that which will benefit you or which bear
		
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			If it's your
		
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			Stein Billa and seek the help of Allah, while adages and do not, do not lose hope and do not feel
incapable, right? No matter whatever you're able to do, you just do it, you focus on what you can
do. You focus on what benefits you, you seek the help with Allah, Allah and you don't feel you don't
feel hopeless, right? And then he tells us what in a Saba cache on Salah to cool low low any file to
Cana Kava what kinda like if things don't work out the way you you're expecting? Then don't say if
only I did such and such it would have been such and such right? rather say I've done a lot who
wanna share a file say what Allah will to Allah destined happens and you know, what he wields is
		
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			what you know was the outcome, right? Because once you start saying, If only I did such and such, if
only it was like this such and such, that's what opens a door of shape on to you and it just causes
you to have, you know, anxiety, it causes you to feel depressed, and supine a lot of feeling
depressed and feeling, you know, regretting the past, you know, having anxiety or that it does not
help you to move forward.
		
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			Okay.
		
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			All right, we come to the seventh point that I want to mention. So the seven point for how we can
empower ourselves in sha Allah is avoiding CAPAC comparison. Okay? Because all comparison does is it
prevents you from moving forward in your own life and fulfilling your own potential. Now, at this
time, we're living in one of the hardest challenges that we are facing, especially as women is
there's so much pressure on us to somehow try to be the best in everything, you know, especially now
with, you know, social media. We're constantly comparing ourselves to what other women seem to be
doing, you know, it's like this woman, you know, she's got her business. This one has, you know,
		
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			she's written all these books. This one's a public figure. And so it's a power law, you just look at
what you're doing. And you might feel that what you're doing is just totally worthless, because what
what what am I doing in comparison to what all these, you know, amazing women are doing out there,
right? So, you know, we need to remember that ultimate success is success in our hero, right? And
so, when it comes to Allah azza wa jal.
		
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			It's not about how much you do. But what it's about, it's about how sincerely and perfectly you
strive to do it.
		
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			And, you know, so that's why, you know, you might be doing something which, you know, it might seem
far less than what's being done by someone else. But to a large region, it could be far greater and
so much heavier in his scale. Right. An example of this is you know, there was a lady who lived at
the time of the prophet SAW long while he was sent him who you know, is parallel, she didn't do any,
like anything outstanding in the way of, you know, prayers and fasting or anything like that. And
you know, nobody saw her as being someone who was very important, but yet we see how so panela she
became a woman of Jannah walking on the earth, just to just due to how sincere she was in remaining
		
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			patient with you know, with the sickness that Allahu taala had tested her with like a level tala
tested her with, with epilepsy, when she would have you know these feats
		
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			and support a law one time it happened. And you know, she asked the Messenger of Allah for lowness
and I'm, you know, to pray for me, you know, pray for me, you're a sole mother, this wouldn't happen
to me and he said, if you wish, I can pray for Allah to remove it. Or if you wish, you can remain
patient and you know, and I guarantee gender for you. And so she said, You're so law, you know, I
wish for Jana. But please just ask Allah to Allah that when I have those fits, that I don't become
uncovered, you know, she was so worried about her modesty and you know, and Subhan Allah later on,
you know, after the passing of the prophets Little Liars that I'm one time you know, even our best.
		
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			He said that up Bart who is from the tambourine, and even our best is from Sahaba like, you know,
and he said to him, shall I not show you a woman from Jana? And
		
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			and I said, Yes, you know, show me who That woman is. And he said, you see that simple woman over
there, you know, just a simple woman. He said, she is a woman, you know of Jana, you know, walking
on the face of this earth Subhanallah or because of her, or because just her deed of remaining
patient with you know, what a
		
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			Tyler had destined for her or written for her of that sickness, you know, and that she sought Jana,
she was, you know, seeking Jana through his sickness.
		
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			So what I'm trying to say is that, you know, it could be the care that you're giving, for your
special needs child, for example. Or it could be the care that you're giving your elderly parent. Or
it could be, you know, the sincere service you're providing to your family and children, that that's
the day that Allahu taala causes for you to enter into the highest levels of Jannah. So it's not
about being, you know, the most popular or the most recognized for what you do. Because you know, in
the end, the only thing that's going to truly matter when you leave this life are the deeds that you
did with it. Plus, you know, we've sincerity for the sake of Allah, Allah azza wa jal, right?
		
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			So that's why focusing on making your number one goal in this dunya to beat for Allah alone, right?
This is what frees you from the enslavement of, you know, comparing yourself to what others are
doing. And because that comparing yourself only holds you back from,
		
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			you know, from moving forward and achieving your goals. Okay, so this is what I'm saying to you
sisters, this is this is the seventh point that I want to mention about how it's really important
that we don't fall into comparing ourselves because it actually only holds you back.
		
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			Now, this next point, is, you know, is that, really, your whole focus, the greatest way to empower
yourself from the greatest ways to empower yourself is to make your whole life centered around
pleasing Allah alone, like that should be your number one focus in everything you do, right? And the
reason why this is one of the most empowering principles you could adopt, is because it frees you
from the feeling of always needing to please others, like what is one of the reasons why people a
lot of people are held back, because they're always worried about what people gonna think about
them. They just live their life always, you know, trying to basically being a people pleaser, you
		
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			know, and, and what we're seeing today, what we're seeing a lot of the time today is that a lot of
people even end up compromising their aesthetic values, and even practicing their Deen all because,
you know, it's all about, you know, gaining that popularity or something like that, right?
		
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			And getting ahead in dunya.
		
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			And, you know, so to penalize you, it might look to you, like they're getting ahead. But in reality,
once a person has, you know, basically sold themselves to pleasing other than a loss of pantalla
This is something that will ultimately weaken you and cause cause people,
		
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			you know, to lose respect for you ultimately, right? There's a hadith in a telemovie Aisha
radiallahu reports it she says that, the Prophet civilizer and he told us that many tennis, read the
law he be cephalopod Enos right, whoever seeks the, you know, to please Allah by displacing the
people, right? rhodiola who I'm who were added on nasaan and that Allah will be pleased with that
person. And he will cause the people do pleased. So in other words, there are some times Allah is
gonna test you in this dunya right? Sometimes Allah is going to test you to see who is you know, who
do you value the most? Is it Allah or is it the people? Okay? So what what what the Messenger of
		
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			Allah was telling us in this hadith is that whoever seeks to please Allah and, and by doing so it's
gonna cause people to become displeased with them. Then when if they go ahead and do that, then
Allah will be pleased with them, and ultimately, the people become pleased with him ultimately to
write when 19 tamasa read on NES the Soho Tila Sokoto, Sokoto, Allahu alayhi, wa Taala hiddenness.
Right. The opposite is also true. If someone seeks to, they see they seek that to please people
through the displeasure of Allah.
		
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			And Allah becomes displeased that person, and he also causes people to become displeased with them.
Now, the most important people that, you know, that we care about as believers are the believers,
you know what I mean? So, you know, we have to realize that when Allah loves a person,
		
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			we know that he calls to gibreel la slang and he announces did you realize the lamb that he loves
that person so therefore love him, right? And then you realize the lamb also announces that to all
		
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			And that occur until that person becomes loved by the believers on Earth. Okay, so so as a panelist
so so ultimately
		
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			you seeking the pleasure of Allah tala is what causes your respective honor to go up in this dunya
even if it doesn't happen straight away, but ultimately, your respective honor will be raised as
long as you are seeking the path of pleasing Allah, right. But if you choose the other path, where
you compromise your civic values, you know, you throw away your deen in order just to gain
popularity or whatever it is, then you'll find ultimately you will lose the respect ultimately,
right?
		
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			So what I'm trying to say is that when we learn to live our lives truly seeking you know, you know
the pleasure of Allah, Allah tala alone, this is the ultimate path to empowering yourself because,
you know, this is where Allah frees you from being worried about others. And so you get that
internal strength that others don't have. Right? Because you're connected to Allah, you don't care
about what people think so, you know, as long as I know, what I'm doing is pleasing Allah, then I
don't have to worry about the opinions of others. I'm not I'm not enslaved by that. Right, that
helps you rise above all that. Okay. All right. The ninth point
		
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			is surrounding yourself with strong You know, it's a strong support network. Basically people who
believe in you bright positive people who encourage you to strive for your best. Now there's a
reason why Eliza Joe told us to do things in JAMA. Look at all the things we're doing Jamal is
praying and Gemma going to Hajj and Gemma, right? I pray praying Juma? Right so there's a power we
get in judge Jamal
		
00:36:54 --> 00:37:43
			even in Lhasa was allowed Allah say this Narok and Rahim while I was in Nalin, Sinhala, the host by
time verily mankind is in Los Illa Latina and an huami no sorry hottie with a well so be healthy
water well, so be soft, right? except those who believe in do righteous deeds, and they cooperate
with each other in half, and they cooperate with each other in patience. Right? So we see that Allah
made it a Jamal, he made it not like something you're supposed to strive to do on your own, okay?
Like there's a spiritual energy you get through connecting with, you know, a strong network around
you. Alright, so that's why we shouldn't try to do things on our own right? And you know, even the
		
00:37:43 --> 00:38:10
			self help industry, they tell you that you are the average of the five people you spend the most
time with. Alright, so the people around you do affect you a lot you have to look for the right
company that really you know, brings you up and doesn't hold you back, you know, and I mean, even
online sisters like be conscious of who you're following online be conscious of who you are
basically associating with yourself online because all of that does have an effect on you. All
right.
		
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			Are we counting to the last point which is the 10th point and look it is really the most important
step towards empowering ourselves and that is, you know, if you want to be strong, if you really
want to be strong, then you have to maintain a strong connection with Allah azza wa jal Okay, this
is this is like number one and number 10 in itself, right? If you look at the examples of all of the
women of the past, right, all these women throughout history so make history there's one thing that
they all had and that was that strong connection to Allah at all We realize this right? So don't
expect my dear sisters to be strong. If you don't even pray your prayers on time, right? Don't
		
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			expect to be strong when you really recite the Quran and reflect upon it you know don't expect to be
strong when you're far away from the vicar of Allah and remembering Allah right. So we need to to
know with all certainty that let hola wala quwata illa Billah there is no strength and there is no
power except with Allah right? So all strength all goolwa is from Allah and it's with Allah is do
you found with Allah right? So none of us can be truly strong without seek seeking our strength from
Allah, Allah or we first and foremost
		
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			Okay, so if you're not doing that if you're not being consistent in your solo ads, you know in your
in your your recitation of the Quran and memorization of the Quran and being with the Quran, living
with the Quran right daily, and doing your core and being close to Allah, always trying to remember
Allah then
		
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			That means you're trying to rely upon yourself only.
		
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			Okay? So the reality is that you know In conclusion, right in reality, the reality is that the
Muslim woman who is connected to Allah is urgell She is the strongest woman on earth. Okay? But the
most important thing My dear sisters is to teach yourself how to be that pillar of strength number
one, and then to focus on adopting the characteristics of those believing women of strength who came
before us in sha Allah so ask a local thought that you know what I've mentioned tonight you know
it's helped someone out there but in the Lady Diana and I asked a little toddler you know to make us
you know, to strengthen us inshallah and you know, one of the daughters I particularly love to say
		
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			is yeah hey you're young or your bureau of medical history through asleep Nisha Nicola who wanted to
kill me ill enough see Thor for time right? calling upon Allah by his beautiful names and Hey, are
you right the EverLiving the all sustaining yeah hey you Yeah, are you bureau bureau magic asterisk.
By Your mercy, I seek your you know, I seek refuge in You right?
		
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			As literally shut Nicola who rectify all of my condition. While to kill me Elon FC thought of a tie
in and do not leave me to myself. Even for the blink of an eye like this is such a powerful tool.
And you know, when we resort to Allah to Allah, this is where all strength is to be found. Like I
was saying, so I'll leave it there My dear sisters, while all od hervor was still for a law will
leave Allah Khan was panicle la Houma be handig Mashhad well, La ilaha illa anastasiou Cup winner to
buoy like