Waleed Basyouni – Vision To Victory
AI: Summary ©
The success of Islam is seen as a result of achieving goals and setting a clear framework for them. It is important for individuals to have a clear goal and a specific goal for a successful conference. The speakers stress the importance of being realistic, measured, and driven by one's values and goals to achieve success. It is important to stay positive and create a balance in one's approach to life, and individuals should be mindful of their emotions and not let their emotions interfere with their intelligence. The speakers also advise working outside of one's comfort zone and adjusting to new challenges to be a full person.AI: Transcript ©
First of all, it's it's it's a wonderful
thing to be back to Cowtown,
you know, Calgary,
and it's
it's always a beautiful
community,
that, you know,
these the communities that attract me to come
again and again and again, and and definitely
your community is one of the best community
ever,
visited.
Yeah. Give your sound your sound around the
house. Very good.
Nice.
So that's number 1 for me to visit.
Number 2, I haven't been to 1 Ummah
conference for a long time. And going back
to 10 years, you know, anniversary now,
it is something incredible.
That's,
an achievement. May Allah
bless the brothers and sisters who organized this
conference. May Allah make it years to come
of success and make the outcome of this
conference,
you know, a great outcome not only to
you as individuals and your family,
but also to the city and to the
beautiful,
country that you're living in. May Allah
bless you all.
Also I wanna say that this lecture, one
of the reason why I accept the invitation
to come to the conference, this particular topic.
You know, I'm always fascinated by
people who send me,
invitation. And when they send me invitation, they
ask me to talk about
smart topics,
challenge me, make me think that this this
conference intended to really make people grow, not
just one of these cliche,
you know,
titles, you know, vision to victory.
And I'm always been fascinated by people, community,
who are constantly
successful at what they are what they do,
especially
those who experience repeated success
in many areas of their lives throughout their
lifetime.
And I wanna
be very specific, and I share with you
a few points as the time permit me,
that I think are very practical on how
can we
have a vision that lead to victory, how
can we strengthen our structure? How can we
move the needle, you know, where we can
be successful collectively as a community
in our
internally inside the community
and also externally in as part of the
society.
First of all,
anytime we talk about the vision, we talk
about success, we talk about change, we're talking
about the structure
and taking
positive change in our life, we have to
remember that.
My success comes from Allah. We cannot take
this out of the equation.
You know, I have seen a lot of
people when I look, sometimes you you basically
be calculated it. It doesn't really you expect
the the greatest outcome. But also I turned
things around, and things became the best ever,
you know, and you ask yourself how this
happened?
How out of this, you know, mess all
these beautiful things happened? Sometimes Allah
has looked
His mercy, His kindness, His
you know, grant us way more than what
we deserve. And we grateful and thankful to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for that. Remember, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says, when you take one
step to me and you walk to me,
I will run towards you.
And that's in every aspects in life. So
anytime we plan, anytime we, you know, want
to make a real change, we want to
make success in our life, we have to
remember that that comes from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala first and foremost.
They say, alhamdulillah,
the one who guided us to this.
Otherwise, we will not be guided to this
wasn't for Allah
So many times, there's things Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala put it in our way. Allah open
our heart and mind, bring friends and allies
that we never expect
into our cause and into our way to
achieve the success that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
wants from us.
That's that's why it is so important that
always attribute success to Allah. Yes. There is
a lot of hardworking men and women in
this conference, and that's one of the element
of success. But also it's Allah
open the hearts and the minds of people.
There is people makes a lot of preparing
and preparations and marketing plan and and think
doesn't turn around the way they expect.
Allah
did not put barakah in that effort. Ibn
Tamir
once was talked about philosophers and how smart
they were. But yet they are atheist or
they don't believe in God or they deny
things which is very obvious
or they make no sense sometimes and and
things that's so simple.
And he said, Rahim Allah,
They might be smart but not pure hearted.
Some people are intelligence but their hearts not
pure, their soul is not pure, it's corrupt.
And that's why we as Muslim, we always
say, My strength comes from Allah.
My abilities comes from Allah.
You know?
And sometimes we forget about that. We all
focus on materialistic
things, and we forget about the one who
control the means.
And it's I remember when I used to
direct Texas style convention,
I would have maybe a 100 volunteers.
And I would say to them when we
gather before the conference, are you guys ready
ready? Then I asked the question, how many
of you been making dua that Allah gives
success to this conference? How many of you
making and
sujood and salah? Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to bring success to our effort.
And if I see the majority of people,
I know that this conference will be successful.
But sometimes we just focus on all our
marketing plan, our, you know, financial plans and
all these kind of things, building bridges, have
friends. But we forget to turn to Allah,
the one who controls the heart, who controls
the future,
who can change things by simply say, be
and it will be changed.
And that's an important reminder for all of
us.
Number 2,
creating and pursuing
smart goals.
As much as this might be sound so
familiar to so many of us, especially those
on the world in the business world, especially
those who are into, you know,
personal development and things of that nature, psychology,
We all talk about those smart goals, smart
goals, smart goals. But what is so interesting
that when it comes to our work as
a community,
our work as organizations,
Masjid,
you know,
we don't really follow this formula.
And smart goals,
as you maybe
know, all of you know, it stands this
each letter stands for something.
Smart goals, specific, measurable, attainable,
relevant, timely.
That's what smart goal stands for.
Successful people are objective.
They have realistic target in mind.
They know what they are looking for
and why they are fighting for it.
You know, I give you the strategic for
example. Some people call for
by cutting some product that it is made
in Israel for example. There's a big movement
about that. And what's interesting to me is
strategic goals. There's people put the I don't
know which list that you follow, how many
members of companies in that list, is it
a 200, is a 100, is a 60?
Is that really a realistic goal? That every
company you're gonna start by cutting and every
things you're gonna claim? And you don't have
versus being strategic. I want to target a
very specific goal for a very specific reason.
Even some people ask them, why are you
doing that?
Why are you doing this company in particular?
I don't know.
There is no any strategic planning or goal
to achieve, you know, a good outcome.
You know, for example, we want to protest.
And you know, what's the protest is for?
What's the goal that you want to achieve?
What is that, you know, is that a
very clear goal that I want to achieve?
And how long that will it take me?
Is it basic protesting about what exactly?
Is it protesting about a 2 state solutions
or it's about the genocide or about this
particular crisis in place?
You know. So a lot of people excited,
a lot of people which is something I
appreciate,
I'm very happy to see. But what I'm
not happy when it comes especially to the
leadership, that there is no strategic planning and
strategic goals are meant and put in place
in order for those masses who are you
are using or are you are basically moving
towards a goal that it is the outcome
is good for all.
So when you talk about successful or smart
goals, you talk about something specific.
You know,
a general goal are good, but they really
don't work. Oh, it's like you say, you
know what? I wanna be healthy.
Okay. What that means?
You know, I wanna be a community that
have an influence. I want, you know, a
better outcome for the Palestinians,
for example.
I want a better future for refugees.
That's very that's very big vague goal versus,
you know what? I'm going to work on
the refugees from Syria or the refugees who
are in our town in Calgary or I'm
gonna talk about the crisis at hand. I'll
be very specific in what I want to
achieve.
Specific,
you know, goals allowed us to work
and to measure our success.
Specific goals has a far greater chance of
being
accomplished because it has defined
primary
define a very
clear scope of work.
Majorable.
It is important not only to put a
goal but to major goal, major success.
And that's something very interesting about us,
on our
work, that we don't hold ourselves accountable. We
don't, you know, have a measurement way to
basically to see and to check our progress
when it comes to the goal that we
put for ourselves.
There must be logical system for majoring
the progress of a goal.
To determine if your goal is majorable, ask
yourself
how much time?
How many how many in total?
How will I know when the goal accomplished?
You know, when you major your progress, you
stay on track.
Reach your targets dates and basically
an experience,
the exploration of achievement that
support
your effort and to continue
in your path of success.
And and it's interesting how we put goal
that we cannot either check the progress of
it.
Also attainable, you have to be realistic in
your goals.
Simply, I I cannot put them simpler than
that.
You have these the goals has to be
realistic.
You can put in whatever dreams that you
have is gonna be a dream, but it's
not there there is a difference between your
dreams and your goals.
Attainable,
you know, it must be something that you
are capable of achieving.
Relevant,
something that also relevant to your community. If
your community completely unfamiliar with this territory,
your organization is completely unfamiliar with this area,
it might be not the smartest goal to
put.
Also timely and you must be you know
grounded within a time frame. Put for yourself
a time frame when I wanna achieve that.
For example,
I want,
you know, to have a good positive impact
in our community, in our society at large.
So you know what? In 1 year, I
would like for my masjid, for my community
to have for example
3 elected official.
I want 2 people to be in this
particular branch of government so they can represent
our voice, our community concern.
I want by that time to be in
the school board. I want that a minute,
you know. And I have a time and
a time frame that this is what I'm
working on.
You know, it is so important to have
these guidelines when we put our goals and
strategic thinking for our community.
We must be driven by our goals
and the dreams that from it we create
our goals.
Sadly,
many people don't have clarity on what they
want to achieve. And many messaged many organizations
I ask, what do you guys want really
to achieve?
What's the real goal of your life?
And if you cannot relate to this because
maybe you're not part of a community or
a part of Sorry for an organization.
You can apply this talk to your own
family, to your own life,
you know, and go farther out.
It is important to be driven by your
goals.
The truth is most of us
discover where we are headed
upon arrival,
which is so sad,
which is very sad.
You know, some of us
stopped dreaming.
And if you stop dreaming, you're not gonna
have clarity of goals and not even have
goals.
Sometimes at our life, we just went into
deep sleep.
You know, dead people do not dream.
Living one
do. When
and why we stopped having these dreams in
life? These goals that we are inspired by
in our life.
Your value is determined, but what by what
you are living for
not just by being alive.
Your value is not just being alive. It's
by what you're living for.
If you don't add anything to life, you're
just an addition.
You don't mean much.
You know? That is you in this life
where you
basically
in this life, your value determine by where
you stand and what you stand for.
You are not important because of how long
you live.
You are important because of how effective you
live,
what kind of change you do.
And our organization is not important because Jesus
exists, it's because what kind of impact that
they have in the society,
What kind of positive value
they add to Calgary as a city.
There is a big difference between those who
are driven by their dreams and goals and
those they are driven by their problems and
everyday problems.
Big difference between the 2.
Martin Luther King, when he gave that famous
speech and he said, I have
I have
a dream. Can you imagine Martin Luther King
that day said, I have a problem.
He he had problems,
but he was not driven by his problems.
He was driven by dreams and his entire
movement.
One of the greatest movement in modern in
modern history.
So that's important thing to keep in mind.
Our community and our organization cannot be driven
by the problems, by the attack from the
far light or far left.
Cannot be just, you know everyday and every
work we do is about how to respond
to Islamophobes
and what they accuse us with. Because you
know what that will make us? We'll make
always tell people what we are not. And
we will never have a time or chance
to tell people who we are, on what
we stand for, and what we have in
mind.
And a goal. What can what can what
what what can we add to this life?
This is one of our biggest
struggle,
you know, in my opinion as a community
and as adult, as family,
is to be driven by these dreams and
goals in life. I
I I live in Texas very similar to
your city,
you know, to state
or your preference.
You know, we had a big a guy
with a big farm.
And
in his farm, there was a crack.
His dog's fallen the crack. He thought the
dog's dead so the farmer decided we'll not
allow any any animal to go to harm,
you know, to form that crack and get
harmed again. So he brought, you know, load
of sand and he start took the shovel,
start filling up that crack.
But the dog was not dead.
Dog was just unconscious,
tired.
His voice was very weak,
but it's deep and dark.
But the dog realized that his honor bearing
him alive.
So every time,
basically the sand fall on the dog's back,
he will shake it off and jump on
the top of the sand. Every time, you
know, lot of sand comes, we shake it
off and jump on the top of the
sand.
The sand that intend to bury the dog
alive, risen the dog
and save the dog.
Life can throw a lot of things at
us. And it's up to us if we
have a goal to to be up on
the top,
like this dog's goal is to get out
of there.
You will use this in your advantage.
You will use this in your advantage.
Another point, and I I took too much
time on this because that's in my opinion
the most important thing, but it has to
do with the vision.
It has to be clear.
And the clear vision you have, the successful
you will be.
Take a decisive and immediate actions.
Sadly, very few people ever lived to become
the success story they dream about.
And there is one simple reason, they never
take action.
As simple as that. Look at the Quran.
Oh, the one who basically covering himself with
a blanket and putting so stand up and
deliver the
The jinn who listened to the verses in
the Quran, what they said? They heard the
Quran. They said that's the same revelation that
God have sent to Musa. Then what's next?
They rushed back to their people.
They took
basically
a decisive and immediate actions.
The acquisition of knowledge does not mean you
are growing.
Growing
happens when what you
know change
how you live your life.
So many people in live in a complete
days.
Days just, you know,
able to unable to focus. Actually, they don't
live. They simply get by because they never
take a necessary action to make things happen,
to seek their dreams.
Doesn't matter if you have
a genius IQ. You know, you have in
your board or in organization
and the board member, you know, PhD
whole
quantum physics hold, you know, members and the
smartest people on town.
You can't change anything or make any
sort of real world progress without taking actions.
There is a huge difference between knowing how
to do something
and actually doing it.
Knowledge
and intelligence
are both
useless
victory
and to have a concrete,
you know, and have a real success on
life, you have to take actions. In Islam,
we know it's called hypocrisy.
When you believe and you don't act, when
you claim something but you don't act upon
them.
You know, we know in in this in
our religion, you can claim that you love
Allah and his messenger, but Allah said, if
this true,
follow the Messenger, copy the messengers.
There is a difference between hamza and Abu
Talib. What's the difference between Hamza and Abu
Talib? Both the prophet's alaihis salam uncle uncles.
Both believing of the prophets.
Both don't know Muhammad sallallam is true messenger.
Both believe that Allah sent Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam. 1 in hellfire and 1 paradise.
What's the difference? Hamza, when he know that
this is truth, he said, I took action
said, Abu Talib never did never took that
action.
I'm tired really from visiting community
one after a time, and family, and talking
to brothers and sisters, and keep telling me,
inshallah, one day, one day, one day, one
day.
Last time I checked, at least in Texas,
we don't have one day, we have Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday.
I didn't know about you guys in Canada.
But one day, I never heard of that.
I know a specific day, you know.
Another point, number 4, focus on being productive,
not being busy. If you want to transfer
your vision to real victory,
don't just be busy, be productive.
You know, just look around you.
The busy outnumbered the productive people by wide
margin.
This is one of the most
prevalent modern days personal development cliche, being
busy, being productive, not
busy.
But like most cliches,
there are great deal of truth to it,
and few people
actually adhere to it.
Busy people are rushing all over the place,
running late half of the time.
Busy organizations,
busy masjid, busy, you know,
uh-uh community
are good, but not necessarily they are productive.
They don't make real change, real impact.
They are be basic all over the place.
Basic schedule
give us
sometimes a false sense of accomplishment,
but that's not true.
You know?
We became like the hamster
running on a wheel.
The solution slowed down.
Focus.
Look at your goals. Set your priority correct.
Do one thing at the time.
Make sure that this is your area.
You know, I can't be as a masjid
doing a civil work work and be a
social, you know,
organizations.
And I deal with refugees, and I deal
with politics, and I deal with policies, and
I deal with national security issues, and I
deal I can't do all this. I deal
with the religious education, with kids education.
You know what? Focus on 1 or 2
things. Bring people on board. Make sure that
you became a platform to attract people, experts
in in in different fields, and let them
work together.
Put the pieces together.
And that's where you transfer that vision to
victory, to true to true success.
Don't ever mix between effort and results. This
worldly life is based on efforts, not, you
know, based on results.
In Jannah and in the day of judgment,
it's based on efforts not results.
Allah out of his mercy judge us based
on what efforts not results. That's why and
a prophet come in the day of judgment
with a single follower or no followers. He's
successful.
Tell him, boss, how many sales you made
this month?
0. But I did a lot of work.
Yeah, your efforts is useless for him.
It's Allah only the one who basically
reward you for your
efforts.
Your efforts will be appreciated.
Also make logical and logical and informed decisions.
I know some of the example that I
might given or give might be sounds hard.
Because so many times we are just so
clouded by our emotions.
You know what? I'm 100%.
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I
I I I I understand
that we cannot
You know what? It's okay to follow your
heart but just don't forget to take your
brain with you.
You know, I'm telling you, sometimes we do
things that they are permanently foolish simply because
we are temporarily upset or excited.
Follow. You know, a moment of, you know,
an excitement
and, you know, you might get a trendy
in in in, in social media for a
couple of hours or or a day or
2. But in return,
you make a lot of you lose a
lot
as an individual or community. That's not a
smart thing to do.
Decision driven by heavy emotion
typically contain
minimal amounts of conscious thoughts
and are
primarily based in
in momentarily
feelings instead of
mindful awareness.
The best advice
here is simple. Don't let your emotions
trump your intelligence.
Another point that I think contribute to that,
work outside your comfort zone.
Our community need to learn how to get
out of our comfort zone. Our comfort zone
to work with each other, to preach to
the to the to the to the choir
or to the court.
But you know what? We need to go
walk out. I'm so proud of someone like
Sheikh Naved, that I have seen
work through the last decades or so. You
know, working outside the comfort zone of the
Muslim community.
Going to this meeting. I'm so proud of
I can give example. So proud of work
of brother Ibrahim Hendi.
You know who I met in in Toronto.
Working out of the comfort zone of the
community.
You know, reaching out as a preacher, reach
out to, you know, other religious leaders, civil
rights activists, people leadership in universities.
It's it's it's a it's a comfort zone
maybe to outside
screaming and shouting,
but it's not a comfort zone for you
to be sitting on the table negotiating.
It's a comfort zone to play politics, but
it's not a comfort zone to play to
to set policies that it will change people
for a long
term. You know,
nobody is ready for working out to the
comfort zone but it's important step to take.
Keep things simple. You want to transfer vision
to victory? Keep things simple. Don't complicate things.
Sometimes we
we love to complicate things.
You know, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
I think
deficiencies
Leonardo da Vinci said that if I'm not
mistaken.
Those who complicate things do not
work much. They don't make much progress.
Because I have to wrap it up.
Make sure
that you track your progress and I talked
about that before. Also make sure you stay
positive.
In order for you to be successful of
making transformation
and to build a strong foundations,
It has to be build on positive outlook
to the world. You know, we have way
always to look at the silver line. You
know why so many people
miss the silver line is what happening? Because
they always looking for the gold line.
Sometimes you need to learn how to just
to look to the silver line. White. I
have 1, I will transfer it to 2.
I have 5, I'll turn into 10.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam came to
a society filled with problems when he said
what? I came to complete the good manners
that you have.
Learn from your mistakes and that part of
it. Mistakes is nothing but an ability to
grow.
You know,
making mistake in my opinion,
making mistakes is better than fake imperfections.
Don't let the mistake stop from stand up
again and trying again.
Make sure that understand that the Quran filled
with the stories about people made the mistakes.
And who are those people? Sometimes prophets, messengers
or great men and women in history of
humanity.
Why? Why this was mentioned? To learn from
them.
Make sure as we go as as a
community to create a balance.
It's not good to focus on the outside
and forget the inside. It's not right to
basically to focus on the friends of the
community but we forget about family. It's not
right to focus on the Masjid but we
forget about the community. It's not good to
focus in the community and not to have
any interest in the society at large. It's
not right to focus on international issues and
we forgot about our national local issues. We
have to create a balance in our life,
in our approach.
We need to learn how to adjust.
Our ability to adjust with the new challenges,
with the change is it means
a long term surviving.
You know, those who don't adjust, don't know
how to change and adjust themselves
belong to Jurassic Park,
belong to museums.
They don't belong to the future.
And that's an important. And part of this
is just to think about how we need
to adjust. We have a whole entire young
generations came to our community now. They are
college graduate. We need to adjust to open
the door for them. Give them a chance.
Not necessarily to make every decision but to
be part of making the decision.
You know, let's there is a new challenges
facing our youngest, young people, and brother and
sister in community, and society at large.
Let's make sure to adjust ourselves
to now we talk and speak, and we
address issues that concern
the society at large, not the community only.
We'll end with this.
As we go
from vision to victory,
we have to take that road, to take
that journey with full confidence.
We need confidence in ourselves in order to
pursue our dreams.
Confidence comes from
Allah with me and he guide me.
Knowing that Allah is the one made me,
chose me.
Confidence in my look, in my abilities, in
my in who I am.
I was once with Imam Saraju Wa Hajj,
and all of a sudden he said,
look,
I love my skin color.
He's an African American preacher. I love my
skin colors.
Not because I'm black
and not because my skin color is black,
I love it because that's what Allah have
chosen for me.
Allah said is the one who choose who
you look like when you still in your
mother's womb.
I love it because that's a choice of
Allah for me.
You know that's a sense of confidence.
Man cannot be comfortable
without his own approval.
Confidence come not from always being right
but from not fearing to be wrong.
No one can make you feel inferior
without your consent
as an individual or as a community.
Remember people,
communities
will always see you and see your community
the way you see yourself.
Sometimes I tell my friends and my brothers,
maybe you need to fake it until you
make it.
Just give your sense sense of confidence.
Al Andalus,
there's a name, his name is Muhammad ibn
Abi Ammar.
He used to
work in a very low level kind of
job in Cordoba.
Ibn Kathir mentioned this in story.
So Muhammad ibn Abi
Amr,
he used to have a to clean donkeys
and to wash the donkeys in the barn.
One day, him and his 3 2 other
friends work in the same field.
He said,
Make a wish. What would you do if
you became the khalifa of Al Anbarus?
So one of them said, if I became
the khalilunas,
one of us became the khalif, I would
like to give me a 1,000 dinar
and a big ranch and this and that.
And the other one looked at him, said,
If you ever be the Khalifa and Dallas,
I want you to make sure
you lash me 100 times, put me backwards
in a donkey, and make me tour the
whole entire country and say, This is a
full man.
Are you making fun of him?
Guys, you can read the story. It's quite
long but this to make the story short.
Years goes by, this man sold his donkey,
enlisted in the police.
You know, force became the chief police.
The Khalifa died, and he choose the chief
police and his prime minister or his minister
to
basically be the guardian of his little son.
In no time, the minister died and the
chief police became in charge of this little
son. This little son died. He married
his mother and he became the khalifa.
And when he became the khalifa, he called
his two friends.
He gave the first one what he asked
for
and he brought the second man and he
did exactly what he asked him to do.
He put him in a in a donkey
and he
basically they start touring him and said, there's
a fool man, but he asked them to
say something else.
He said,
make sure
that also it will be called
that people should always realize,
Let the caller said, this is a fool
man and you all shall know that Allah
is capable of everything.
May Allah enable
us to be victorious in this life. Enable
us to do good, great service to people
around
us. To add more value to this beautiful
place that we're living in. And to be
a great asset for our community, for our
society. Thank you very much.
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