Habits & Addictions #02 Triggers

Every habit follows a loop or a cycle. A cue, that's a trigger that reminds you of that particular habit, a routine that's the action itself, and a reward a pleasure or a benefit as a result of performing that particular action. And this is true whether the habit is good or bad doesn't matter. It follows the same exact cycle. Now how can we use that cycle in our favor? How can you use that cycle to benefit us as believers? This is the topic of today's episode in sha Allah of habits and addiction, but before we dig deeper, allow me to get a sip of my own addiction in

some coffee I drink now you judge me later in sha Allah.

As Salam aleikum, wa rahmatullah wa barakato. My dear spected Brothers and Sisters in Islam, have you ever entered the bathroom and without even thinking, you took your toothbrush, toothpaste and you start brushing your teeth, as a habit that you have been doing day in and day out for the rest of your life, that cue is actually being in the bathroom, that's the trigger. Immediately you remember the activity and that's brushing your teeth and the freshness of you know, the mental whatever flavor or smell or odor that you you you get that's the reward the benefit that you get as a result of brushing your teeth. Similarly, every Muslim every believer, for example, as an example,

we talked last episode, Salah, the advance should be your trigger.

That once you see on your smartphone, phones, they are called smart for a reason because they can remind you, you know, to pray, hey, Salah, so leave out the match. Now leave out the TV series. Now, because the TV series is designed

psychologically it is designed to hook you up on something that is not beneficial. And that's why episode one, episode two episode 100 and you're stuck in front of your TV for hours and then you hear Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar.

And again, Allah Allahu Akbar, long who Akbar Allah is calling you it's Salah time. You said Inshallah, maybe later I'll pray later, but the TV series is very, you know, intense is very excited, is about to marry Khadija. So you know it's a big deal that have a lot of hotels. May Allah Subhana Allah protect us all the and then or the alarm or the reminders should be a trigger for us to move and go and perform our wuhou and once we say a Salam aleikum, wa Rahmatullah As Salam aleikum, wa Rahmatullah and we set a stop for Allah three times and we get into you know, those of car and do you start feeling comfortable. That's why the Prophet sallallahu Sallam would look at

Billa Lipner Abbas or the hola Anwar more than them, the man who is to call for the prayers and he will tell him what

behind Billa

make our hearts comforted or Bilal by calling out then because that's the trigger. That's the trigger that will move us all and we will stand together, shoulder to shoulder, feet, foot to foot so that we can pray together. And after that, Allahu Akbar, very, very comfortable feeling. That's the reward. And this is how we should actually design our lives. I work with people who are addicted to many, many behaviors and so on. And I always tell them, like put a prayer mat in your bedroom instead of your laptop and phones and, and the like. So as soon as you see the prayer, like what would you remember? Will you remember YouTube videos? Will you remember Tik Tok and Instagram and

whatnot? You remember worshipping Allah subhanaw taala even without praying, that fold alone can trigger you to remember Allah and not to do anything that is haram or unacceptable. May Allah subhanaw taala grant us the right understanding. Allah says in the Quran Wallace in in Santa Fe hosts Allah is sweating by time

and he's saying that indeed all of us men in a state of loss by default we are all doomed because none of us is perfect enough to

attain this level of salvation to attain that janitor for dose none of us deserve it. We will only entertain as the Prophet Muhammad salah, Salah mentioned by His mercy. That's why we beg for his mercy. And then we even told the process and even your Rasul Allah He said, even I had a mother in law Allahu Grumeti until Allah showers me with his mercy. This is the only way that we will grant us genital for those.

So, Allah subhanaw taala is reminding us in sort of loss in in Santa Fe course we are all in that state of loss in ladina. Amen. Except those who are fake wa AMILO Solly had and continuously engage themselves in righteous activities. Look, my brothers and sisters in Islam. I'm not sure if you know what about my background, I was a musician.

I used to wake up during Maghrib time, that was my morning, I used to sleep around Federal time before the event, or right after the event. I used to hide behind a big trash bin next door home back in Egypt, because there was an imam lives with us in the house. And I knew that if he saw me coming at that time, he will pull me to the masjid you slide. I used to bury myself in the bed. And that cycle took took a toll on me for many, many years growing up as a young man, And subhanAllah that same person is now sitting here recording something about the importance of introducing good habits in your life so we can change and that's the good thing. And this is what I wanted to

inshallah Tada introduce you. There is a man by the name of James clear, who wrote a beautiful book called atomic habits. Yes, he's a non Muslim. Yes, it's a similar book and so on. But actually it's very relevant to Muslims and we will pick and choose few tips today in sha Allah Allah to help you build or break bad habits if you know you have some number one in sha Allah Tala. He said cut out as many triggers as possible that lead you usually to that bad habit. So for example, if the trigger if your trigger is by sitting on a couch is to watch TV endlessly, I have a friend of mine who told me I just finished today the episode number 114 Have some kind of TV series on some kind of a channel.

You know, back in the days we have two channels in Egypt channel number one

and the second channel, you guessed it.

Channel Number two, it was as boring as this. Today, endless channels right. So if your trigger is the remote control next to that to the counter every time you sit on a couch you remember remote controls here, open a TV forget about everything else, then put it in a cupboard away from the living room. Make it difficult, make that bad habit difficult to reach. If your problem is snacking, don't buy snacks, buy fruits, replace them with something better. If your problem is the mobile phone next to your bed all all the time every morning the first thing we touch we will wake up from our sleep is our mobile phone replace it with the Quran, a physical copy Subhanallah them so this

number one, number two, join forces with others people likewise who are struggling with some bad habits, you know, not being able to wake up for failure and so on and join forces together to do that which is pleasing to Allah subhanaw taala the prophets allah sallallahu Sallam reminded us by saying a mark or Allah Dini holiday, or a Raju Allah Dini holiday, a person is in inclined to follow the religion, or the way of life of his friend fell young Dora huduma u haul it so let every one of you watch out who your friends are. Show me who your friends are. And I will tell you who exactly you are. Because sooner or later you will slip into the ways if they are righteous Alhamdulillah

That's why Allah subhanaw taala and sorrows will have told us that when you see those people who are righteous when you see them, don't even let your eyes stray away from them while Tara do I you know can have Allah Subhana Allah Allah says in the Quran was good enough Sekar and be patient around them. Sometimes they're boring.

Sometimes the chemistry doesn't work. It doesn't matter if these are the friends that are pulling me away from that which is haram, that which is wrong, stick with these people. That's what Allah subhanaw taala said. So number one, cut all the triggers that lead to bad habits by all means. Number two, stick with righteous companies. This is something very, very essential. And number three, don't ever fear reaching out experts. People have knowledge, people who can assist you if the habits are a bit intense, that your friends and other environments are not helping you to get rid off

Prophet SAW Selim one day there is a very popular narration where a man came to the Prophet SAW Salem and told him er Rasul Allah. Allow me to commit Zina. Look at the question. We are talking now about a man who is considered to be among the companions of the Prophet Muhammad wa salam, the best of all generations. This very man came to the process LM and told him rasool Allah, then leave Zina, allow me to commit them. The Prophet SAW Salem in that narration never even once said, Don't you know, It's haram, a stop for Allah, how dare you say this and ask me this question. No, he started asking the man the following questions. Would you like this to happen to your mother? He said, No.

How about your sister know stuff for a while about your daughter? What your answer and so on? Then the man said, no, no, no. Then the Prophet SAW Selim responded by saying that other people too, wouldn't like this don't happen to their mothers, to their daughters, to their sisters, and so on. And then the process ended something even extra, he placed his hand over the man's chest. And he said Ya Allah purify his chastity and fie his heart and protect his chastity. And this is what we need to understand that by going and reaching out to people, seeking your help out of your misery, doesn't mean that you're exposing your sins, my brothers and sisters in Islam, in fact, this action

by itself, is rewardable. By Allah span time, is rewarded by Allah subhanaw taala. Exposing sins means that you commit the sin and broadcast about it proudly. A last night I used to I did this and I did that. This is what what the Prophet SAW Selim meant in another narration, that we cannot commit a sin and go and broadcast about it. But if you're stuck with that cycle of bad habits, and you don't know what to do about it, the best remedy is to actually reach out some people. So don't ever fear reaching out. But be careful Don't, don't reach out your your friends on Facebook and tick tock and reach out those who are experts who can really assist you and help you. So I want you to do

something today before we leave in Charlotte before we close the episode. And that is, I want you to bring a blank sheet. And I want you to start writing down those habits that you are proud of the habits that you really been consistently performing, write them down, maybe use use a specific color, and then another, the other side of the same sheet, you start writing those habits that you know you need to break, and then a separate sheet for a simple strategy of what can you do to replace them? Those bad ones? And what can you do to quit them all together in sha Allah? And perhaps you can send your comments on this video wherever the comments are in the light Allah and I

will do my very best to engage with you in the law in offering some insights. May Allah protect us all, Armenia, blah blah means See you next episode in the lab where we will be discussing now something absolutely essential and that is behavioral addictions. See you next time. Salatu Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh