Yahya Ibrahim – Success on Campus

			Good evening where it is at the moment. This webinar covering Success on Campus shutdown. Without
further ado, I want to do specifically Ibrahim, who will take the session away.
		

			So Mr.
		

			Zack
		

			Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah sallAllahu
alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa seldom at the Sleeman Kathira Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik
ala Abdic awasu Likud Nabeel to me, while early he was Safi he was Salim, ala Malim Nam magia Hindi
Amina Quran and Avi him with a kidnapping who Manu Sina ala Felina the new winner were kept from
NASA Yeah, Tina what our Furner mal abroad. Rebecca volume and fusina were inlanta fildena author
Hamner, Lana Coonan nominal ha serene Subhanallah Becca Robbie laser DMARC foon was salam ala
mousseline when Hamdulillah he bed and whatever then we'll Hamdu lillahi rabbil aalameen Amin,
		

			always we begin with the praise of Allah we send our prayers and greetings and salutations upon our
W Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we testify with conviction and firmness that none is worthy
of worship, but Allah azza wa jal that I went to be a son Allahu alayhi wa sallam is worshiping
slave and final messenger. I continue to always remind myself in you have top of Lhasa, Jen, I pray
the loss of Hannah Montana inherits in you and I, I sent of love for him of fear of him and of hope
in His mercy Subhana Allah to Allah that leads us into happiness into our eternality and hereafter.
Allahumma I mean, it's a pleasure Alhamdulillah to receive the invitation of our dear brothers and
		

			sisters at the British Muslim Students Association that prayed the loss of Hannah and to Allah
always gathers our hearts in that which is good. And although that I come to you from my home here
live through the wonderful medium of mashallah zoom and, and restreaming and Facebook and all these
other wonderful things, that although we may be separate and only able to engage each other with
each other, virtually, I pray that Allah subhanaw taala gathers our heart opens them to each other,
that Allah subhanho wa Taala sends light into our homes into our communities, makes us of conduits
of good for the betterment of society, wherever we may be, that Allah subhana wa Taala assists us to
		

			that which is good in this dunya and that which is good for our outfit, and protects us from the
scenes that lead us into the punishment of hellfire. Allahumma I mean, the topic that was chosen for
me is about success, in particular Success on Campus, and of course, you know, a British Muslim
Student Association, one of the things that I think becomes really important, especially as exams
are waning people kind of getting ready for the holiday season and semester two, we're nearing the
end of our academic year here in Australia, where exams are nearly done at the universities,
probably the last exam was the, you know, this week, and you know, we have a little bit of a holiday
		

			until March inshallah. And in both cases, it becomes really important to kind of get ourselves
thinking about what is right, what is wrong, what is good, and where are our successes to be found.
And I wanted to separate really a very important issue. There's a difference between being
successful, and being happy. And sometimes we conflate the two, where we assume that success leads
to happiness or happiness must be intended with success. And of course, the reality of that from the
lifestyle of the prototypes LM from our dean, but also from that which we see in life in society is
not the case. There are many people who may be measurably metrically, successful metrically meaning,
		

			you know, what kind of grades do you get? How many hours? You know, what, what type of job do you
have? How substantial is your bank account? What's your net worth? What do you drive, you know, what
school do you go to? Those are all things that are kind of measurable in terms of token issues of
success, but those issues that relate to the metric scale of success, do not necessarily translate
to a metric measure of contentment, happiness, and overall well being. And sadly, you know, you
know, you have these recent kind of things in US media. There's a supermodel, she has Palestinian
ancestry, you know, mashallah, may Allah solidify her
		

			Islam, she's a person who is a celebrated fashion model and fashion icon million 40 plus million
followers on her social media streams, and she posts videos of herself in tears crying, saying there
isn't a night that she's gone to sleep, that she hasn't gone to sleep with tears and feelings of
sadness, depression,
		

			you know, losing self confidence and all this kind of thing. And subhanAllah when I saw that it was
such a pitiful state, it was such a saddening heartbreaking state, to see a human being who's so
celebrated, so outwardly successful. In measures of what some would consider beauty, some would
consider affluence some would consider celebrated status, some would consider an icon for the times.
But one who sees herself in such a pitiful state, and is unable to have a well earned restful sleep.
That is something that is actually quite striking, but it's quite normal. For those who meet with
people in such a capacity,
		

			contentment as the prophets I send them, you know, he says, It's so succinctly so beautifully elvina
enrichment,
		

			VENA neffs It is that which is within the soul. And I wanted to make that as a first disclaimer,
that, you know, if your ambition is success, that doesn't necessarily mean that you may have well
being you may be harmonious, you may be balanced, you may be enjoying the pursuit of that success.
And that becomes very problematic as there will be moments in your life where you don't actually
attain the target, you don't actually strike it in the middle, you don't actually gain the success
or the celebrated status that you want, or that what you had may slip away from you, and where do
you go from there, if you don't have that, which is internal. So step number one we're speaking
		

			about success on campus is to understand that success is a relative term. It's something that is
measurable. But it does not mean that quality of life is assured contentment of heart is assured or
restful sleep is assured. Number two, it's kind of also important to note that success, and self
improvement do not always happen together. And that's something you know, especially for students,
it's kind of important to value the the the journey that may lead to success may lead to success.
Having that growth mindset where, you know, the things that stumbled me along the way are also part
and process of the very nature of life, and to be able to celebrate our near successes, to celebrate
		

			our growth to celebrate the hurdles we overcame, even though the mountain itself was not ascended
and climbed. That becomes a very powerful
		

			ideal that we need to have as human beings. And as Muslims in particular. The third thing that I
wanted to, you know, kind of spend, I wanted to speak for about 2030 minutes, and if there are any
questions, we can kind of look through them and kind of absorb them and shut up a number three, it
becomes really important not to fixate on
		

			a planned success, and rather embrace the possibility of a success that wasn't planned for but that
was worked towards, although it was not in the master plan. And sadly, sometimes we get this really
tunnel vision, this is what I want to do. This is what I want to achieve. This is where I'm going to
go. And if I don't get there, I haven't attained the success that I believe I'm deserved. Or that is
the success that I define a success and Subhanallah success may be found in the most strange places,
the prophets I send them was successful on the day of Hood, even though the military aspect of the
the battle was not successful. There was so many successes that were gained. And Allah uses a very
		

			simple Maxim in the Quran a very simple principle US law for our us as human beings. What I said and
tecra who shaped waha you don't like them perhaps you may detest you may hate that something was to
occur something was not to be achieved something that was to be lost whatever it may be, you hate
that this would happen. Well hola heightened level, but that is what is best for you as a total
outcome as a total way of being.
		

			So don't fixate on a particular target that you miss the fact that there may be other bigger targets
behind it. And that's why Allah subhanaw taala kind of focuses our attention to gender to
Philadelphia, which is that narrow topic
		

			Get agenda. But if you don't get to the highest middle part of Genda, guess what you've still landed
in Jeanette. That's why, you know, you always want to aim high. That's a general rule in life.
		

			Number four, ending my introduction. And I want you to kind of deliberate over this, I want you to
kind of think about this and maybe revisit it in a day or two, and maybe look at examples in your
life that may be important for you to consider.
		

			I want you to keep this as a hallmark in life. The unending pursuit and desire for positivity
		

			is in fact, a negative aspect of your life. So if you have this unending desire to just have
positive experiences, to just have good outcomes, to just attain success, to just have positive
experiences, and fear, turn away, Look away, do everything you can, to not think about a negative
experience occurring or planning for a dark, a dark day, if you're hope, if your plan is only to
have positive experiences, that in itself leads you to a negative experience. Paradoxically, and as
juxtaposed to this, of course, the acceptance of negative experiences as being a reality of life of
your humanity is a positive experience. So if your mindset is able to understand that something
		

			negative happening, is in fact, a good thing, if I'm able to leverage it, learn from it, get through
it, be resilient thereafter, be an example for others of what not to do or not how to deal with this
situation. If there's something that can be galvanized from it, if the silver lining from the storm
cloud can be taken, then if I can see that there is positivity in that which was negative, and I can
anticipate that there will be moments of darkness, but the sun always shines eventually, even if
it's beyond the clouds, even if the Earth has not yet rotated there, and I stay in the darkness of
the night, eventually the sun will rise. So that you know point number four is a really important
		

			point for you and I we need to consider that an unending desire for just experiencing positive
experiences is itself a negative experience and will invite negative difficult experiences in our
life. And paradoxically, if we accept and are able to embrace that negative experiences are a part
of life, but they can be learned from and build resilience in us, then that is a positive
experience. And as you move forward in life, as you become a parent, you're going to shift your
attention from protecting your children from pain to teaching them how to deal with pain. So you
know, you remember when you were a little bit younger and you scraped your you know your arm. It
		

			wasn't I want to shelter my children from ever falling down from ever having a problem from it.
Well, look, you know, you can get through this, okay, this how you deal with it. That's how you get
it and get a bandage get you know, and manage the pain, manage the experience, all of that kind of
builds resilience. So let's kind of talk about the power of having focus. And focus is a very
important sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, and nothing that you ever seek to be
successful in attaining or to galvanizing or to ascending to, will ever be achieved unless you have
the target set out. First, you have a focused approach to it. And this was something that prophets
		

			lie Selim teaches us in the sooner, you know, why do you have that? Why do we have the concept of
Nia as being a shot of a bee as being a prerequisite before the prayer? Why is your prayer invalid
unworthy of reward is something that needs to be repeated if you begin it without intent. If you
just stood there, you're just you know, you're doing maybe yoga moves or something. It's not
actually Salah unless the NIA was there and therefore this hadith of the prophets I send them which
really is the first step of my discussion about success on campus is what are you there for in them
and Ahmed who didn't yet any action, any action, your studies, you're heading up to campus, your
		

			relationships, your friends, the job you're going to do or doing your, you know, your spouse, all
these kinds of things that you're going to have
		

			What's your intent and what's your Nia in nama amor lupini. Yet that actions
		

			are predicated built upon judged by,
		

			you know solidified with the intentions that preceded them before the action itself was begun. And
therefore you find this as not just a mantra that's spoken we believe for example that the NIA for
Salah is not something you say something that you do in your heart and everything that leads up to
it, the preparation to it. So putting on clothing for Salah, finding the direction of Dr. Bland,
making sure I'm in a clean place, making sure my body clothes are clean making I will do making sure
that I'm in a state of ritual purity, making the other than praying the sooner before making the
iqama standing with my heart ready to worship Allah, all of those things are a part of the NEA that
		

			when I raise my hands up, and I say Allahu Akbar and I enter formally into Sala, I've actually
entered it with my heart with my mindset with my body, then following suit, and that is a necessary
element of everything that you do in life. So the more focused you're Nia, I hate the word
intention, by the way, I like I rather use the word focus. So when you heard me say focus, you
didn't think of me? Yeah. But that's really what it is. Nia is that I'm focused, I'm focused on
about what I'm gonna do, what am I focusing on for my soul that that becomes the NIA, of the prayer.
So with success on campus, the first thought really, is the focus, the intent, the process, am I
		

			there to get an education, get a paper because I want to get it, you know that degree because that's
the job that I'm going to do for the rest. And that's it? Am I there because I want to meet you
know, mashallah I want to meet and develop a network of people who will sustain me and I can be a
part of their sustenance into the future, spiritually, economically, socially, psychologically, even
physically, and in sha Allah holy matrimony, right? Or is my intent, you know, to pursue higher
education, all the while I'm in an undergraduate place. So the more focused and more layered your
intent, the more layered your focus, the more likely you are to achieve levels, levels of success.
		

			Second, master the fundamentals, and of course, with success, you know, we want to master the things
that are fundamental to our very existence. And of course, they will be things that are spiritual,
things that are physical, and things that are intellectual, because those make up the, the, who you
and I are, as human beings, you and I are, body, mind and soul, we all three of us are what define
us as human beings when we are congregate together. And therefore, when you master the fundamentals
of each one of these, and you're able to understand which one needs to be fed, which one needs to be
healed, which one needs to be focused on in a particular moment in time, you become one who is prone
		

			to success, likely to succeed in whatever it is that you pursue. At the same time, if you are using
the wrong thing, for the wrong purpose. If you are treating a spiritual illness, with a physical
treatment, you are destined to fail. If you are treating a spiritual problem with a rational
		

			treatment, you're destined to fail, if your heart is sick, if it doesn't have the faithfulness that
will carry it through to making good judgment, and you tried just to end cold turkey, you know,
Subhan, Allah, sometimes people, they kind of get into an illegitimate relationship or relationship
that isn't sanctioned by God isn't pleasing to Allah subhana wa to add up, and a person says, Okay,
that's it, I'm just gonna, I'm not going to answer that I'm not going to mess I'm not going to meet
them. Now, of course, what happens is, of course for a day or two or a week or more than they
relapse. And the reason is you're treating something that is a spiritual problem with a physical
		

			treatment. So I'm just going to go cold Kurt, and that's what I'm going to do and that's it. And the
heart wasn't addressed, but the heart is inflamed and the heart is in pain and the heart has
feelings, and the desire that is within us, compels us to kind of go back and do and reignite what
we were trying to physically put out. So that
		

			is an important kind of context, understanding who we are knowing who we are knowing the depth of
		

			our humanity. And understanding that there are doctors for all three, there are physical therapists,
there are internalist. And there are doctors of the heart that Imams and the people of knowledge,
those who are practicing what they preach, those who are able to provide spiritual prescriptions for
treatments of an ill heart, all of that is something that becomes quite significant for all of us to
consider in our relationship with Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, and as human beings, and as moving
forward, seeking success in our attempt
		

			in our life on campus. A third is to learn from others mistakes and learn from our own past. And
subhanAllah. A lot of the reasons why we may be successful at school is because we felt this thing
of failure. And we didn't study for an exam. So it gets us to focus on the other exams that are
coming up. And sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom, to begin to rise up and climb up and find
ourselves. And it's not where you are now that really matters. It's where you end your journey, that
becomes really important. And that's a very much an Islamic concept for us that you know, there is
never completely a place where we've come to a plateau and say, That's it, I've arrived and I need
		

			no longer go further. In fact, the law tells us in the Quran, with hope, clearly the Minalima above
everyone who's been endowed with knowledge, there's one who's more knowledgeable, until you come to
a place where you cannot go beyond because there is the knowledge of Allah WHSC I could name it is
only the knowledge of God that is all encompassing. So learn from the mistakes of your parents,
learn from the mistakes of your friends, learn from you know what happened to that young lady who
was you know, chatting behind other people and texting and meeting up with this guy and how it
didn't end well and he's stronger a lot learn from that. Learn from your missteps. And the prophets
		

			I seldom would say I mean,
		

			a believer law you'll the whole minute Johari Murrah time is not stung, from the same lizards hold
twice, like if I sat here today. And I know that there's, you know, an ant mound under me. And as
I'm sitting ants begin to crawl and they begin to bite me, I'm not going to come back tomorrow, and
not be precautious and sit in the exact same place, knowing what happened yesterday, that would be a
sign of me being foolish, and a sign of me not understanding what it is that Allah entails and seeks
for us and wants for us in good. So understand that, understand that. Learning from others learning
from our parents learning from our parents, who maybe gave up on education too early, or who focused
		

			too much on education, or who entered the job,
		

			you know, force in a place that wasn't in their career, because they just needed to get something
and they had to put food on the table. And, you know, but I want to do different, right?
Relationships, learn from the mistakes of others.
		

			practice your Islam daily. And if there's anything that I could say to a Muslim student on campus,
is to be one who surrenders. who submits to Allah, who practices Islam. Each and every one of us
there's something that we can improve in. So kind of find that one thing that you need to do better
in and submit to a LUN say, this is where I'm going to begin, this is where I'm going to do better.
This is where I'm going to try harder. This is where I'm going to make a greater effort, right? This
is where I'm going to start improving. Also, each and every one of us has something that we need to
leave, leave off, I leave off, not just something I'm going to add into my life, but something I
		

			need to take away. And and that, you know, becomes something to really kind of deliberate over, that
we practice Islam, because we become acquainted with it, which requires that I step forward and seek
to learn more and seek to study more about faith and to practice it more and just to be better in
the practice of Islam. And the peak of that practice when the prophets I seldom is asked, Are you
will Mr. Lee, how are you? What are the best deeds that a person can perform? He says I send them
all so Allah to Allah waqia that a person fulfills their prayer in the prescribed time. So become
more consistent, more deliberate, more focus more intentional. In your regimented five daily
		

			prayers. Begin with
		

			Shouldn't have before you do your prayer, try to catch it with other people in Jamaica, even if it's
just another, you know, friend on campus, try to walk across campus to the musalla, to the prayer
room, so that you are there and you meet somebody else. And just being able to say Salaam and making
sure that that space is utilized fully by Muslims because, you know, University's audit is this
space really used and useful. And to show that maybe we need more space. So all of these are things
that are extra Ni is extra ways of bringing ourselves and connecting ourselves more to our faith, be
one who practices it.
		

			Well, you know, daily, there's a daily reading you have from the Quran, a daily new Hadith that you
read, a daily wizard of fkr, of making your vicar to Allah reflecting on what it is that you're
saying a daily reconnection with other brethren, other sisters, you know, building Brotherhood as a
daily, weekly charitable endeavor. And if it's not something that you can do financially, then do it
with your studies, maybe be generous enough to tutor somebody, you know, you're in your third year
tutor somebody in their first in a discipline that you are confident in that, you know, you excel
in, all of those are things that become really, really important success on campus. Don't let other
		

			people hinder you. And, you know, anytime you see that, there's a friend who holds you back. Well,
now, you know, they're not actually a friend. They're an acquaintance. They're raga, they're another
student, they're somebody you know, but that word friend at times is so mis represented, so misused,
that it's lost. Its true, genuine meaning friends are those who are like Allah described in the
Quran as hab, you know, the Sahaba of the prophets, I send them,
		

			those who are willing to carry you forward, even if they're behind those who are willing you to push
up, even if they can't attain that higher level with you, there are those who will pull you up to
bring you up to their level, even though you wouldn't get there if they hadn't helped you. They are
those who are selfless and and lacking in,
		

			you know,
		

			their own focus on their own, rather, they focus on you as being a part of them. And that inspires
you to focus back on them. But when you see that there are those who are friends, quote, unquote,
who are toxic, who are demeaning, who are leaving you behind who are not there for you who are not
giving as much as they're taking from you who are not emotionally present for you. All of those are
things that you need to kind of make calculations for and kind of need to think about. Don't let
other people get in your way. And, you know, whoever you know is in your way you either push
through, crawl under, jump over, go around, just you know, there, you cannot allow other people to
		

			have that prominence in place that is only reserved to those who are most loyal to you. Another step
at Success on Campus is to know how to respond to failure. And you know, subhanAllah responding to
failure is in fact, the recipe for success, building resilience, getting up moving forward. It's not
how many times you fell down, it's how quickly you were able to get up and dust yourself off and
move back into the right direction. You know, resilience is a really powerful thing. And being able
to respond to failure
		

			is a great noble suna of the prophets. I send them the prophets I send them was bloodied on the day
of thought if he was, you know, encircled on the day of a hood, but in each and every moment, the
prophets I send them rose and became stronger, became more elec, you know, elegant in his tradition
in his practice undeterred in his worship of Allah subhana wa Tada. Finally, I'm just going to leave
you with two more thoughts. Fear is a really powerful thing. There are certain things you know,
there's five things that psychologists kind of tell us we fear, we fear extinction, that we're going
to die, we feel fear mutilation, that some injuries gonna happen to us. We feel separation from
		

			other people, other peers, we feel
		

			the death of our ego, you know, to be shamed in front of others humiliated in front of their, you
know, these kind of things that we fear. But fear is an illusion. And fear is meant to be combated.
It's meant to be something that we push through, move forward through, get ourselves through so that
we can come out on the other side
		

			having conquered that fear because it moves us forward and that's why Allah so much so often in the
Quran. He would say yeah Musa Lata have full knowledge. The half that don't both of you Musa and
huddling. Don't be scared. Allah says describe that would, I would just a few Nipsey. Akiva
		

			moves at the same words, Ibrahim, Palomar IDM letto su la him, l Josephine FC Fe was fear terrified
on the inside. But all of it, Allah says latter half. Don't be fearful. Don't be scared, don't make
decisions out of that emotional state, make Denita decisions and act on something bigger than just
what's in your mind. And there's a difference between fear and danger. Danger is real right crossing
the road without looking as dangerous. But never crossing a road because you're scared cars are
there is a fear that you can overcome. Right? Fear is meant to be combated and, and, and rolled back
repealed from your life, with trust in Allah and a determined effort to make that change. Finally,
		

			you cannot ever do it on your own, you will always need people in your life to rely on even
Mohammed. So I tell them, the best of humanity, the one who is conversant with God, the one who
receives the final messenger, the one who Gibreel is his assistant, the one who's driving is always
entered had been given the blessing of companions, those who are willing to sacrifice for him
sacrifice for his message that he has been given by Allah, there are those who needed to travel with
him in his era, and be in the cave with him sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So, you are not meant to be
autonomous and meant to be on your own. You are not meant to be unilateral, you are meant to be part
		

			of a greater whole. The prophets I seldom said that it is an the the sheep alkazi That moves away
from the flock. That big is the one that's picked off by the the Wolf gets the sheep that strays
from the flock. So whenever you separate from the Jamara, when you separate from your Muslim Student
Association, when you are not associating with those who are going to do more are going to their
prayers when you're not associating with those who are planning the next aid function and the next
MSA function. When you are straying away from them, you become embraced by those who are at times
wolves in sheep's clothing, who are they're seeking to lure you away from a righteous path that you
		

			should be upon and calling others to. Lastly, my three most important rules, right three most
important rules to live by younger old male man or woman married or not first rule do what's right,
because it's right not because there's others there to congratulate you or support you or remind you
what's right is right and it doesn't need anybody to tell you that that's right. Number two,
abstain, be distant move away turn away from that which is wrong, because it's wrong. Because inside
you, you know that's wrong. And don't do it because you're fearful of other people. Gonna you know,
make note of you doing haram or they're gonna tell on you or it'll be scandalous. If it's wrong,
		

			it's wrong. And that's enough. Allah uses two words in the Quran. Amaura will narrow for now here
anil munkar. Usually it's badly translated as enjoying the good forbidding the evil. It's not good
and evil, those are wrong translations. Not all of it comes from Earth from what is recognized. So
we enjoy what is known what is celebrated what all human beat what is universal. Truth is universal.
Prayer is universal. Charitable ness is universal speaking the truth is universal. Being honest,
being giving, being loving, being respectful, being modest, all of that is a universal, really,
except it's not off. You're off. It's something you see it you say you recognize it. It's
		

			recognizable. Moncada means something that is rejected something that is turned away from something
that is condemned bubble, that people say hey, why are you doing that? And it that's called monka.
So understand that right and wrong, are things you know and halal, or haram obeying. The Prophet
says Halal is known Haram is known. Between them are smaller amounts of things that require
explanation and thought and roadmap to refer us to, but in general, do what's right because it's
right stay away from what's wrong because it's wrong. And the third and final
		

			message is do good unto others either
		

			If you don't expect it returned from them. Always be one who is a giver who is Haleem, who is a
generous benefactor who is patient and loving and merciful, even to those who are agitated and
unmerciful in their return to us, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all success in all of our
ventures grant you success in your time on campus for this academic year and in the years to come.
May Allah allow those who are studying as international students who return to their homelands and
their families with happiness and success, and that they are proud of their achievements having kept
their Islam intact and their knowledge of use for their generations to come. And Allah subhana wa
		

			into Allah, heal our hearts help us against ourselves and against the SRI THON and assist us from
all
		

			old matter of seeing Allahumma I mean, gonna hand it over to our hosts in sha Allah, perhaps there's
some questions that can be shared, and we'll deal with them for the next five minutes before I let
you go Subhanak Allah Mohammed Nick shadow Illa Illa Allah and as Africa Tulelake was salam aleikum
wa rahmatullah he