Wael Ibrahim – Roaming Ramadan 2024 #29 From DUCK-Dunya to DUCK-Wah – Kuala Lumpur
AI: Summary ©
A professional Muslim man is trying to sell items online and is trying to sell Islam-related items. The guest is interested in learning about Islam and bringing people to events. They discuss their journey to become a better woman and emphasize the importance of finding their own values. The speaker emphasizes the need for people to consider their deials when evaluating finances and mentions success in Islam and organizing events. They also encourage listeners to pray for their sister's success.
AI: Summary ©
My brothers, my sisters in Islam will come
back to another episode
of Roaming Ramadan
lessons on the road.
Today I have a very dear guest. I
will introduce her in a while. I actually
wanted to introduce her
from her
blurb of her book titled The First
Decade,
and the reason why I wanna read it
to you because this is how I got
to know her after act actually meeting her
in person. So when I met sister
Vivi Yousof in person,
she didn't tell me about anything,
that I'm gonna read for you now. So
for example, she said she started to blog
on the Internet, and then she borrowed
16,000
US dollars.
And then now according to her, she said
she had built a multimillion
dollar
fashion company.
Everybody say, Masha Allah Tabarakal.
Please. Please. I'm sorry. Now the reason why
I'm reading this to you, a part of
what's written at the back of her book,
is that when I met her in person,
she told me that she went to the
UK.
She did some studies, some work, and then
she started something online. And then she said,
and the business was well, Lenny. We did
well.
That's all what she said. Yeah. And
when I read this and I saw that,
mashaAllah,
you established to you an empire of a
brand that is very well known, not just
in Malaysia, but in also surrounding neighboring countries.
What came to mind the word humility and
humbleness.
Why you didn't introduce me to yourself
as the one and only
duck?
The duck. The duck. Please duck. He keeps
calling us. Who build this, multimillion
dollar company.
Why you did not emphasize that when you
met me to invite me for an event
here in Malaysia?
There was not enough time. That's okay. So
so if you had the time, you would
have bragged on everything.
I I don't know. I felt so,
I I don't know. No one's ever asked
me that, but I just wanted to
to to talk to you about the community
more than me and my brand or me
as a business person.
Because when I met you, it was more
on the
personal
spiritual growth that I think,
I I'm on, and I want to invite
my community and my followers along. So I
didn't want it to be about the brand
or about business.
And and this is what astonished me most
because most people who come to talk to
speakers, they have a name card business. Oh,
a whole paragraph about themselves. They they introduced
us because they wanted to know who they
are so that we can be, wow.
I wanna be with this guy. You see?
So, that was the first thing that caught
my attention
and actually made me feel comfortable coming back,
working with you, Alhamdulillah. We had a blast.
It's amazing.
A weekend full of,
inspiration, Quran,
night prayer,
tahajjud,
and so many, so many other activities and
workshops
that, alhamdulillah, we, we, we've been reading the
feedback that were sent by the participants on
our pages and,
I'm I'm sad it ended. Like, I need
it to be longer. Absolutely. I need you
to stay here to all the way till
Eid. Now here are the here here's one
of the question that the reason why I
got you on camera for my program. Okay.
You are into business Yes.
Selling
hijabs Yes. Scarves and bags and stuff like
that. Clothes. Yeah. Why did you invite a
person like myself
to teach Islam to your community?
And this is your first event ever of
that type, like, you know, Islamic event.
Yeah. So all this while, you know, of
course, being a fashion brand, we have to
do the fashion stuff, like,
the the previews,
the fashion shows, and all. But
I've always thought, you know, I have been
blessed with having followers and a big community
online. And
is that all I wanna do for them?
Like, sell them things, you know.
Beyond that, I feel like I have a
bigger
purpose or maybe almost giving me, like, a
this this whole reach and testing me. Like,
what are you gonna do? You know, are
you just gonna
see dollar signs and and just sell them
things? But to me, I thought
it would be so nice to
to give them back something as well. So
I'm on my own, you know, journey of
wanting to be a better Muslim, a better
person,
and
I've started to learn a lot of things,
and I've been going to Islamic talks. And
I just
thought every time I go, I feel like
it's changing my life.
And I feel more fulfilled. I feel more
calm. I feel happier.
And
it's just that you're earning or wanting to
learn. And then when you wanna learn, why
not bring everyone with you as well? So,
I I met you when you were giving
a talk and I just loved the way
you deliver.
You have an amazing gift,
and you're funny. I always say that he's
very funny actually. Unbelievable.
So and and for for people like me,
if you go really hard on the rules
and all, like, I may turn away or
I'm like, it may feel intimidated. Let let
me let me interrupt you here. Okay. Of
course, we we we
every speaker, every scholar, every chair, everyone has
his own style of addressing Yeah. These topics.
I I can't imagine myself
going
full force and hard on people.
But and and the reason is that I
believe
if I don't use my own personality in
delivering anything, it will not reach the hearts
of the people. So that's who I am
actually off camera, and you probably have observed
that.
The jokes that I I I throw at
the people and You also do that. I'm
the same with the camera. At home, I
everywhere I go, that's me, and I don't
wanna change it. Yeah. But that's, of course,
we don't belittle of other Moshay who are
a little bit tough. So we need that.
Some people, they don't actually wake up from
the sleep
unless the some of the masha'ed go hard
on them. Some people be like that approach
which resonates with you. So everyone has his
own way, masha'Allah. But the question remaining,
Why now? Because many people think that when
we look at you, Mashallah, we observe sister
Vivi when we go down the market, people
recognize her, Mashallah.
They ask her to, you know, come with
the for photos and stuff like that. So
despite your popularity
and the fame and the wealth, alhamdulillah, that
you have established,
you're still feeling
that there's something missing.
What is that thing?
I don't know. I think I think it's
that
I I don't know. I can't explain it
to words, but it's just the feeling of
it'll never be enough, you know, if it's
just about business, you know, whether whether you're
making 1,000,000 or 10,000,000, it's never enough. You're
always like, okay. I need to make more
more more. There's just never that satisfaction.
But, and also
never having peace of mind. I don't know
if there are entrepreneurs watching, but if you
have a business,
you can't sleep at night because you're you're
drinking. I never sleep at night.
Because you're doing the hot jewelry massage. That's
what I meant.
No. But you you just you're constantly worrying.
You're worrying for your staff. You're worrying for
their families. You're worrying for whether I can
pay salary. You're worrying whether you have, you
know, you can meet your sales target. You're
always worrying. So
I I went through that,
especially during the pandemic, and I felt like
this cannot be what life is all about
all the time, you know.
And then I started
I I went through something online, and then,
I started
picking up the Quran, and I read Surah
by Surah, but this time, I read the
meaning. So here in Malaysia, we always, get
forced by our parents when we're young to
go for,
religious classes like Quran classes, but just to
read read and cut off read and cut
off. Right? But we never fully understand the
meaning.
And so now as an adult, I'm like,
okay. I need to learn each Surah and
know what what am I reading, actually.
So I went through it Surah by Surah,
and I took notes.
And that was, like, the best Ramadan I've
ever had because I went through something
quite,
like being online, being on social media, I'll
get attacked all the time. And I went
through the biggest attack at that time.
And no one can help me.
No one could say anything that could make
me feel better,
when I'm being slandered and all that. So
I went to the Quran.
Somehow, I my heart opened.
Just pick this up and see what where
it goes. Right? And and and I did,
and
I was at my happiest. And and I
I don't know how or why it's magical.
So, you see, you see, sometimes,
you know, I went through similar experience when
I was coming from the music industry, searching
for the truth, and then finding Islam, and
then prostrating, and then my wife seeing me,
and then she becoming a Muslim from Catholicism.
And the the happiness that we achieved through
Islam overweight any other fame, any other money
that we made in our life. So is
this where you are at that stage? Like,
transitioning from
the worldly,
you know Yeah. And and I I mean,
I I I have opened up to you
that sometimes it gets confusing because if it's,
you know, about Islam, then I'm like, you
know, my business as well. So how do
you juggle both in this dunya,
while also thinking about the hereat, you know.
So I I think that is where I'm
at and and I Can I answer you
now in front of the people? Yes. Okay.
So there is no balance between Duniya
and Ahab. There should no there should be
no balance
between this dunya with all its
wealth, money, fame. You cannot balance this dunya,
business, income and so on with Jannah al
Firdaus, with the Jannah which the prophet said
in it there is no there's there's that
which no eyes have ever seen, no ears
have ever heard, and never cross human imagination.
How could you compare that to the dunya?
Yeah. Yeah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, this
day I have perfected your religion for you,
completed my favor upon you, and chosen Islam
to be your religion.
How could a such a perfect
way of life
Allah had given us, that's Islam, be compared
to the worldly matters? So,
if you give your deen,
it's, you you know, the first priority in
your existence Yeah. Everything else will fall into
the right place smoothly without you even worrying
about it. Because what you worry we were
talking about stress in business and all that.
What you worry about already Allah promised to
guarantee you.
So Allah in the Quran,
in heaven
your provision is kept with me and whatever
I promised you to provide. So that's his
job, that's Allah's job, but you're stressing about
what Allah told you already, it's kept with
me. Right. You see? But what he inquired
from us is to worship him Yes. As
number one priority. After that, anything is secondary.
Business, making money. I was,
almost in tears when I saw your brand
in next to other They took him to
the store. Yeah. Yes. Because you see, we
we sometimes act hypocritically. I'm not saying that
we are hypocrites.
I'm saying we are sometimes
acting hypocritically in the sense that we see
those foreign brands and we go crazy. But
when we see such a successful
brand made by Muslims for the Muslims, yes,
it's expensive like other brands that you run
after and buy and you know, you and
even buy it's fake from China sometimes and
you brag about it. Here is a sister
who established a brand that is very very
successful,
elegant, Masha'Allah Subaraka'Allah. And sometimes people still send
you those hateful messages and whatnot.
What for? We should support every Muslim business
man and woman, so long as they are
living according to that,
Islamic way of life, earning from halal means
what do you say? Oh, I need to
digest that. That that was beautiful.
I I I needed to hear it myself,
you know, and I think it will benefit
a lot of people as well. Sometimes we
forget that because we're chasing the dunya so
much. I need to hit my target or
I need to, you know, double my growth
or whatever.
That that becomes the entire thing you think
about. And that's why
I felt every time I pray,
I feel at peace. And that's why I
I I find myself going
wanting to do more of that because I
love that feeling.
It's almost as if God's like enveloping me
in this hug. Like, I you're you're okay.
You're gonna be okay, you know, and and
So long as you please him Yes. You
would be okay? Yes. Getting getting better, you
know, looser clothes.
Gonna say She learned a lot that,
and I I I would like to, Yani,
ask all the brothers and sisters watching us
to pray for sister. It's not easy. It's
never easy to make a shift from where
she is to something completely different. I was
praising her team because
they never they were never trained to organize
an Islamic event. Yeah. And she gave them
only 1 month to organize. The event was
sold within 1 week, I believe.
And then, all the brothers and sisters involved
in organizing, putting things together, they were very
keen, very dedicated, very professional,
always cheerful. And Alhamdulillah,
to me, it was one of my favorite
events ever. Thank you.
For being on the show, and I hope
and I pray that next time, inshallah, we'll
see some on your lines.
Okay. Okay. That's it. Okay. Fine. Then I
hope that you get So less of those
ripped jeans? No more? No. No. No. I'll
do that. Just closer and closer and closer
to what pleases Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Go
and read the story of sister Vivi. Her
book is available, the 1st decade. May Allah
bless
you.