The Productivity Shift Every Single Needs w/ Mohammed Faris

🚨 Heads up: If you only listen to one episode of this podcast, make it this one. We’re obsessed.

What if preparing for marriage wasn’t about ticking more boxes, but about aligning your effort with purpose, intention, and barakah? We sat down with Muhammed Faris, founder of Productive Muslim, and the conversation honestly blew us away. He unpacks what productivity actually means for single Muslims, and it’s not what you think.

We talk about shifting from hustle to heart. From scarcity to trust. From doing more to doing it better, with Allah in mind. Faris shares practical tools and deep mindset shifts that can completely change how you approach your search for a spouse. It’s grounding, insightful, and exactly what we needed to hear, and we have a feeling you might feel the same.

Follow The Productive Muslim on Instagram. 

Got a dilemma or story? The Single Muslim Hotline is here for you! We’ll play your anonymous messages in future episodes and offer real talk. Drop us a voice note 👇🏻
https://www.speakpipe.com/DiaryOfAMatchmaker

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
As-salamu alaykum everyone, welcome to another
episode of Diary of a Matchmaker.
Today, we're honored to haveour guest Muhammad Faris.
He is the founder of ProductiveMuslim, which is an online
training platform that fusespersonal development with
spirituality.
He's also the author of theBarakah Effect, which
encapsulates research, trainingand coaching on living a life of

(00:24):
barakah and offers readers arenewed perspective on how to
live more with less.
So thank you for coming on thepodcast.
Jazakallah khair, thank you forhaving me.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Bismillah, bismillah.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Okay, so before we dive in, why don't we just lay
the groundwork?
And if you could just explainto us what is the Productive
Muslim?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
what led you to start it and why productivity through
an islamic lens?
All right, why protect muslim?
So I think when I was atuniversity um, I was.
I felt busy.
I was doing my master's degree,I had two jobs, I was involved
with the ISOC in the UK, msa forthose in North America, and I

(01:12):
just felt busy and feltoverwhelmed.
I was thinking, man, here I ama rinky-dinky student,
struggling to keep up with mytime and and to do is and
imagine, tomorrow I'll be, I getmarried, I have kids and I work
.
Like how would I manage it all?
And that's when I kind ofstumbled on the science of
productivity.
I got fascinated with this ideaof there are things you can do

(01:35):
to how you organize yourself,your time, your energy, your
focus that will actually helpyou achieve more with less and
help you get things done.
So I was fascinated by thatscience and the initial spark
for Productive Muslim initialintention was for me to simply
share what I'm learning with theworld.
This is 2007.
This is where the bloggingworld was exploding.

(01:57):
Everyone wanted to have a blogor wanted to start a blog.
So I was fascinated by thatworld and, yeah, I wanted to
start my own blog and it wasNovember 2007 that this idea
popped in my head.
I just wanted to see theproductive Muslim members.
I posted it.
I had like two words popped inmy head.
I got so excited.
I went home and just started tobook the domain name and
started blogging, and then aftera couple of months I shut the

(02:20):
website down.
I was like this is not reallyfor me.
I was like this is not reallyfor me.
I was getting busy again.
It's not really worth it.
But after graduating and Igraduated smack in the financial
crisis 2008.
I was bored.
No real job lined up.
Subhanallah, a couple of thingshappened, but one of them was
that I came across this hadith,rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi

(02:42):
Wasallam, that says بُرِكَلِأُمَّةِ فِي بُكُورِيَةِ.
There's barakah for my ummah inthe early hours, and that's
when it kind of first hit me.
I was like wait a second.
Every productivity guru thatI'm reading says wake up early,
wake up early, wake up early.
So here we actually, prophetMuhammad Sallallahu Alaihi

(03:07):
Wasallam idea of barakah, andthat's when the kind of the this
, the, the message flippedwasn't about me just sharing
what I'm learning was well, whatdoes it mean to be productive
as a muslim?
How do we view productivity asislam.
Is it aligned the modern sortof hustle culture, model
productivity versus what I callthe barakah culture push
productivity?
I think that's what led to thisjourney of really exploring
productivity from a faith angleand from an Islamic worldview

(03:28):
perspective, and how it'sdifferent and it's more
encompassing than thetraditional science productivity
.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
Wow.
This hits home so bad becauseI've always personally struggled
with waking up early.
It's been like my lifelongpurpose to be able to wake up
early, so I'm really dying tolearn some tricks from you on
how to do that.
But I'm glad you mentionedhustle culture, because we read
about productivity everywhereBooks, instagram, productivity

(04:03):
hacks everywhere but how is itdifferent actually from hustle
culture?
Productivity hacks everywhere,but how is it different actually
from hustle culture?
Productivity from an Islamicland?

Speaker 2 (04:11):
So this is where it just took me a while to figure
this out.
Let me just make sure to turnoff the notifications.
This took me a while to figureit out because, again, the model
of productivity that we'retaught is where the worldview
that comes from.
Again, sometimes worldviewdictates how things get, but the
world is taught from is that ahuman being's value is your

(04:33):
economic value and therefore themore productive you are, the
more output you produce,especially in a in a capitalist
society, in economic society.
That's your human value andhence everything is pushed
towards that right Hustleculture.
That's the model of success.
There's no other model ofsuccess From an Islamic

(04:55):
worldview.
It actually says إِنَّكَرَمَكُمَا, إِنَّ اللَّهِ
أَتْقَاكُمْ, that is, the oneswho is honored among you is
honored as most God-conscious,and the idea that your role in
life is Ibadah and work is partof that right.
Work is one part, but it's notthe part.
So when you have a model whereit says work is essentially

(05:17):
religion, right, where ourpurpose of life is work, our
values are from work, ourmeaning and purpose, our
community, everything thatpeople used to get from religion
, now they get from work andthey've made that their main
identity, who they are versusaccepting the identity.
We are abd of Allah.
We are slaves of God.
We are owned by Allah, and Iuse the word slave very

(05:37):
purposefully here, not servant,not worshiper.
I use the word slave abdbecause I want us to feel that
we belong to him.
We literally belong to him, andfrom the moment we wake up to
the moment we sleep, thequestion is like what does our
master want from us?
And that's what it means weproduct in this.
My perspective, it's likeorganizing our day, organizing
our energy, organizing our focus, organizing our time across all

(06:01):
our roles to be the best abd ofallah's, to add.
And that just is a wholedifferent ballgame compared to
the very narrow viewpoint of getthings done, output over input,
and let's see you.
And there's work and there'slife.
Right Work, life balance.
There's work and there's life,as if life, the work, is not
part of life.

(06:21):
And it's just that in thatenvironment, the hustle culture
leads to the spiritual burnoutthat we're seeing.
People are disengaged.
A lot of people are reallyfeeling that they don't feel
that they belong.
They feel like something's offhere, and COVID is a great
example.
Most people realized hustleculture, how detrimental hustle
culture was, during COVID.

(06:41):
Unfortunately, now, post-covid,we're all going back to hustle
culture.
Was during COVID.
Unfortunately, now post-COVID,we're all going back to hustle
culture.
So I think Islam comes withthis holistic worldview that is
much more healthy, that itallows us to fulfill our health
across all our roles, the rightsacross our roles, and it's more
purposeful, meaningfulproductivity.
That's what we want to advocatefor sure.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, for sure, and so I just wanted to clarify that
.
Um, you know, you're obviouslynot saying that, for example,
whether it's finding a spouse,whether it's entrepreneurship,
there is hard work, there isdedication, there is discipline
involved.
Um, but that, at the same time,shouldn't um with hustle
culture that sometimes comes atthe expense of your slum.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Exactly so I don't think when I say Baraka culture,
hustle culture, hustle culture,it sounds like hustlers work
hard and Baraka's lazy.
And Baraka, it's okay, I'lltake care of things.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
I know, so I always use the example of the gardener.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Because a gardener, they plant the seeds, they work
hard, they sweat, they getoutside in the seeds, they work
hard, they sweat, they getoutside in the sun, they put
everything they can, day in, dayout, but they cannot guarantee
the fruits.
They cannot guarantee thefruits.
That's the Baraka cultureapproach.
We do our part, we do our bestand we have trust in Allah, of

(08:03):
course, of course.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
So for single Muslims , building a strong personal
foundation is often talked about, but a lot of people aren't
sure what that actually lookslike in real life.
So what are some simple threedaily habits you recommend a
single Muslim to start today toinvite Barakah into their life
before marriage.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
I think I'll start off again.
I'd like to start off byfoundational things, because
sometimes we try to add thewrong habits and the wrong
foundation doesn't sit well.
And the first foundationalthing and I think I really want
people to embody this to, to, to.
I know we we say we don't,sometimes we don't believe it
that we are slaves of god.
We are owned by Allah.

(08:45):
So really make that your coreidentity.
Your core identity is not yourwork.
Your core identity is not yourmarriage.
Your core identity is not sortof what culture.
Your core identity is I'm aservant of Allah, I belong to
Him.
Once you accept that identity,truly accept that identity, once
you accept that identity, trulyaccept that identity, the
second step is to reconfigureyour life around that identity.

(09:07):
So step one is to organize yourday around five daily prayers,
simple as that.
Like your day, literally.
So prayer is not something youkind of fit in with the rest of
your life.
You're literally organizingyour day around your meeting
with your master, your meetingwith your Lord.
And that's the first step.
That's the kind of how do Iorganize my day in entirety,

(09:30):
from the moment I sleep, themoment I wake up, how to
reconfigure my life around mysalah.
And then comes this idea of okay, well, what are the things I
need to focus on right?
What are the habits androutines, things I need to focus
on to improve myself, to be abetter abd of Allah, subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And that depends on the fieldyou're in, again, if you're
still studying, seekingbeneficial knowledge, if you're
not studying and you're working,then it's working.
If you have some service, workfor the community is being

(09:52):
involved, again in the serviceof others.
And when I say it again,sometimes we kind of hold notice
me how they hold their life,like I'm not going to be
productive until after I getmarried or I'm not going to do
this until I get a job.
Every single day is precious.
Every single day is acontribution towards your akhira
.
So make it count.
Make it count, organize yourday around salah time, be

(10:14):
intentional about what you, howyou can spend your day and just
be and figure out how, what arethe best ways I can serve all
those people.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, and naturally these things will definitely
carry over into your marriage,because it's not like you just
flip a switch and like all of asudden you're going to become
this productive version ofyourself post-marriage.
It starts now and then itcarries over, because then the
responsibility to build upabsolutely uh, you know, a lot
of times like what you're sayingis beautiful, mashallah.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
And a lot of times we hear a lot of like good advice
on podcasts, on interviews fromlike experts like yourself and
we like it, but then, after wehit pause, we stop the podcast
or the video.
We forget everything we heardLike it's beautiful, but how can

(11:04):
we actually implement it likepractical, actual steps we can
take with us after this,recording and implement them in
our daily lives?

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, I think again, I always start with intentions.
Barakah culture is a veryintentions-driven culture.
It's about the why.
Why are you doing some thingsright?
So I always tell people,instead of having a to-do list,
have an intentions list what'smy niyyah for today?
What's my niyyah for this week?
What would I focus on?
What's my niyyah, what's myneed, what's my intention?

(11:34):
And just asking that questionwhat's my need versus what's my
way to do already makes a switchin your mind that I am now
abdallah, I'm now, I'm here toserve all service creation.
So what's your?
So, at the start of the end ofeach week or each day, what's my
intentions?
All right, then look at, thenyou can check out, because also
your calendars, your intentionsmap, it shows to also what you

(11:55):
plan to do, what you intend todo when it comes to reality, no
different story.
But this is like.
This is what you, how you planyour day, how you intend to live
your day, how you intend tolive your week and just sit with
your calendar and say, well, ifI were to be as optimal, if I
were to live this day perfectlyor this week perfectly, what
would it look like?
When will I pray?
When will I eat, when will Iexercise, when will I meet my
friends, when will I study, whenwill I work, when I have those

(12:18):
appointments?
I just really draw a map andthat kind of gives you a visual
of what's coming and sometimes Ihave to make some tough choices
.
You know what?
I could sleep early and get upfor fudge, or I could watch
netflix.
I gotta decide.
Really, I need to see wherethis go.
So I have to really decidewhere this goes.
So I think just havingintentions map and building that
intent, the calendar for theweek, that is a practical way to

(12:39):
live this.
It's not a lived experience.
And third is that daily check-in.
Again, we have the five dailyprayers.
It's a great time.
I personally like to check inin the morning what's my
intention for today.
After the hour, how's my daygoing and what's my intention
for the rest of, and then in theevening, how did the day go?
That daily muraqabah, thatdaily sort of planning and
reviewing reflection, is verybecause that tells you okay,

(13:01):
today, alhamdulillah, this wentwell, this didn't go well and
this needs to be.
I need to improve on this area.
You know that conversationcould have been better.
You know what I could haveexercised today.
You know what?
Maybe I should have nappedtoday.
I was so tired, you know, todayI should have.
Maybe he's not had that friedchicken because I'm so now
lethargically in my day.
So you, just by observingyourself, reflecting, not just

(13:23):
spiritually, really physicallyand socially, that's when you
start making the small changes.
And also to be.
But don't make imagine yourselfas a software, right, and we
always tend to think of version10, right, let's imagine version
1.
You want to go to version 10,and no, it needs to think of
version 10, right, this might beversion one.
You might go to version 10.
And no, it needs to thinkwhat's my version 1.1?
What's the smallest change Ican make which can stick?

(13:45):
Maybe it's just you know what,I'm going to stop snapping at
people, I don't know.
Maybe it is I'm going to justcut out dessert after dinner.
Maybe what is smallest changethat you can commit to?
And that's your version 1.1,spiritual, physical or social.
And once you make thatcommitment, it becomes part of
your routine, by your habit.
What's the next version?

(14:06):
And you keep going until youget to that version 10.
That's how you, that's how thisbecomes a lived experience
versus theory yeah a lot of whatyou're sharing.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
It just reminds me how there's and I'm sure you've
heard of these experts there'sthe famous book Atomic Habits,
the Simon Sinek Start With why?
And it amazes me how much ofwhat they talk about was already
given to us 1400 years ago.
And if we just simply come backto our deen and just understand

(14:41):
this here and understand thedaily routines of the Prophet,
we'll find so much simplicity inour life and we don't have to
resort to these books or thesenon-Muslims to improve our lives
.
And it's just a very nice,refreshing reminder to hear you
say I think, it's about.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Again back to the world.
We all say there's no harmlearning and benefiting the
wisdom is a lost procterbeliever.
But sometimes we tend to takethese things wholesale.
Every author, every sort ofself-help guru comes with their
worldview and unfortunately,most of the self-help authors
out there, they come from aworldview that is secular, that

(15:24):
does not believe in Akhira.
That is sometimes not alignedright and maybe they get one of
the two things right, a fewthings right.
But sometimes you have toalmost read these books with
that faith-based critical lensLike wait, does this align with
my, for example, a lot of theself-help books are very
ego-centered.
You can do anything you want.
You are the destiny.
Set your own destiny right.
You know you can walk away fromany relationship, right?

(15:45):
Like it's so ego-centered.
And this idea of what does Allahwant from me?
The idea is what is right inIslam, this hak of others, this
hakuf, these rights andresponsibilities, the idea of
community, right?
I feel like sometimes we justwe've just so.
And the worst and the hardestpart of the worst part is when
we try to Islamicize this right,we try to add Islamic

(16:07):
terminology to this thing.
So they say, oh yeah, we'retrendy too.
Oh yeah, we knew this 14 yearsago.
I'm like wait, we have toreally rethink from the ground
up, and I think that's theprocess that.
Yes, it's hard, it's painful,yes, it takes time, but it's
really important for ourcommunity to do it if we want to
be aligned with the divineguidance we have.
We have the last divine messagefrom Allah.
I literally think about it.

(16:28):
Allah sent the Qur'an with thelast no more revelations, right?
So this is the last divinemessage to mankind.
We have that and it literallythat message about
self-improvement, that messageabout being better for ourselves
.
It has the guidance, butunfortunately, as muslims, we
fail.
We fail to to translate thatdivine guidance to our modern

(16:51):
lives, or you know, or we feelthat it's not good enough, right
?
So, like you said, we tend tolook well, what's out there,
let's just import and have thisinferiority complex.
We need to get over it toreally say no, we have something
very powerful to offer as well.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
I feel like we like to brag about our book, about
the sunnah to non-Muslims, butwhen it comes to it, we turn to
other resources.
Like you said, we don'timplement it in our daily life,
into other resources.
Like you said, like we don'timplement it.
But let's, let's take it backto single muslims now.
A lot of people have beentrying for a long time and they
get um, like emotions take atoll on them.

(17:28):
Trying and not finding someone,keep getting ghosted, keep
getting rejected, losing faithin the institution of marriage,
even some people.
So, from a productivitystandpoint, how can somebody
balance between trying theirbest and like tying their camel

(17:48):
and between not becomingobsessive and just burning?

Speaker 2 (17:52):
out.
So again, I shared the equationI shared earlier about the
garden of mindset, and it'sthree parts to the gardener
mindset.
There's first the free willright the free will, the
intention setting.
This is where the thinking, theintention, the planning, so
this way of saying what I shallintend to get married, I'm at
the niyyah for this, inshallahta'ala, so I can fulfill half my

(18:12):
deen, so I can start a family.
So you said all theseintentions, and the beautiful
thing we have in our deen isthat we get rewarded for our
intentions, despite the outcomes.
So let's say that's mahala,you've lived all your life and
did not get married.
Right, the fact you've set theniyyah.
You say, oh, I've made thatintention, I've made an
intention and I've made all mypossible sort of, and I've taken

(18:33):
the means and also startthinking what else, not only
inshallah, but what else do Ilike in my marriage?
Maybe, inshallah, when I getmarried, I want to raise
righteous children.
When I have children, inshallah, I'll reinvest in their
development and growth andbecome scholars of the ummah.
So you set multiple intentionsfor your marriage, because

(18:55):
that's the best thing.
You're going to have oneintention, multiple intentions
shall happen.
Step one set high himintentions or set intentions for
yourself.
The second thing is youmentioned is taking the means.
All right, taking the means,whatever that means possible,
asking people, going, meetingpeople, seeing, seeing the
possibilities.
You know, engage in the process.
You know, don't feel like, ohno, it's too much, too

(19:16):
complicated.
Sometimes I know there's a lotof cultural baggage, sometimes
it comes with this whole process.
But just engage, just show upright, just ask, do your part.
Don't, don't get too caught upwith the outcome and I miss the
process.
I'll follow the process.
The third, and mostly veryimportant, is I say seek allah's
permission.
Seek, let me ask allah, like,make that part of your daily dua

(19:39):
, make that part of yourtahajjud, make that part of your
prayers, make that part of youristighara prayer.
Of course, when you findsomebody and you're considering
them, so seek Allah's permission, so intention, you take action
and you seek Allah's permission.
That's your responsibility, gotto do.
The outcome is not up to you,the result is not up to you,
right, and I think sometimes weget so attached to the outcome,

(20:01):
so attached to results, soattached this image of of what
it should, things should beright.
Unfortunately, that image ismostly fed by hollywood and
bollywood and and all the sortsof romance novels are really
like.
It's this image of what shouldmarriage should be, this image
of how this process should go.
Is this image of what marriageshould be.
It's this image of how thisprocess should go.
It's this image of how thingsshould become that when things
don't go our way, we get upset,we get frustrated, we get

(20:25):
annoyed, we get anxious.
So I feel, if you focus onintentions, if you focus on the
process and you focus on Allah'spermission and detach and know
there's khair whatever is khair,allah will get you there when
it's khair for you.
Right Now, let's say you gothrough that process and a door
is shut or it's difficult, oryou want somebody and maybe your

(20:45):
parents don't want it, etcetera, et cetera.
It's like that's what we call.
This is where you use spiritualintelligence.
This way it's okay.
I'm facing difficulty situation.
Do I give up?
No, I keep trying again, I keeptrying again, I keep trying
again until a door is open.
This is also that is ismerciful.
He's just.
He knows best for you, he doesnot want harm for you and he'll
give you from where you don'texpect.

(21:06):
But have sincere intentions,work hard and ask him and detach
from his else inshallah,beautiful we have um a client,
semi-client, you could say.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
She's been trying for 20 years and she is still
trying with like beautifulenergy and she hasn't our
intention, but for some reasonwe don't actually think about it
in our pursuit for marriage.
So that's beautiful what yousaid Even just because you are

(21:46):
trying and you have the rightintention, you're getting
rewarded for it.
I think that could make a hugedifference for somebody who's
trying.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, definitely.
For somebody who's growing,yeah, sure, yeah, definitely.
To add to that, sometimes itfeels like if we're not seeing
the results and we don't seeprogress, we feel like we're
losing but that, that and so topiggyback off of that, or what
are some warning signs thatsomeone might be losing baraka
or productivity in theirmarriage journey, and can they

(22:18):
take some steps to realign that?
Great question.

Speaker 2 (22:20):
So first we need to understand what Baraka is right,
because sometimes that makes adifference.
So, say, baraka, is theattachment of divine goodness to
a thing right?
So that means, imagine Baraka.
Anything could be.
Your marriage search could beyour marriage itself could be
your home could be your timecould be your wealth could be
your time could be your wealth,could be your children could be
your smartphone could beanything.

(22:40):
When Allah attaches barakah toit, there is this benefit, there
is this khayr, there is thisgoodness that comes from it,
which makes you grateful.
Right Now, barakah can attachitself, even to difficult
situations.
How, sometimes we think barakahis only about, you know, getting
what we want.
Oh, mashallah, I got barakah, Igot married.

(23:02):
That's, of course, onemanifestation of barakah is also
how that facilitates marriagefor you.
But also, you know, havingstability and having inner peace
right, like trusting theprocess, that's barakah.
You know, because some peoplelike, if they just give up or
completely lose hope, likedespair, right, that's that's
the.
You feel something's missing.
But when you have hope, youhave a stability.
Yes, you might be disappointed,yes, you might hope for the
better, but having stability andinner peace, that's also

(23:24):
Barakah.
Being continuous, continuoustrying, not giving up.
That's also Barakah, becausecontinuity is also a form of
Barakah.
Sometimes you might startsomething and stop right, but
you start continuing onsomething.
The Arabs say barakah sama.
Barakah sama means the rain, isthe skies or the heavens
raining continuously.
So continuity, the fact thatyou're continuing this journey,
you haven't given up.

(23:44):
It takes 20 years, but you'restill continuing that's barakah.
So barakah is not just aboutgetting what you want right, and
you know that this blessing,when it comes to barakah,
there's a lot of khayr, there'sa lot of goodness.
Now, in general, what attractsbarakah is aligning what I call
our mindsets, how we think, ourvalues and our rituals and

(24:07):
behaviors to how Allah wants usto live.
That's what attracts barakah.
So how you approach the processright, how you do things the
right way, doing things thehalal way, all these things
brings barakah.
What detracts barakah or whatremoves barakah, is doing things
that are not Allah.
Allah wants us to live.
I think sometimes there's abeautiful hadith that says that
everyone will have their rizq,as if ajminu fil talab, seek

(24:32):
your rizq beautifully, seek yourrizq in a way that's beautiful,
the way that's.
It's going to come.
It's going to come right,because it's, all you know
written for you or not writtenfor you, but that is like it's.
It's it's seek your riskbeautifully, don't try to seek
your risk.
It's like someone like, let'ssay, he's about to earn money
Instead of earning for it, he.
So, I think, seeking your riskbeautifully, seeking the process
, those are things attractingbarakah and following the right

(25:02):
way of doing things.
Inshaallah, that's the mostbarakah, inshaallah.
Like I said, it's not about theresults, it's about you doing
the right and just having thatinner peace and ask Allah for
barakah in your time.
Ask Allah for barakah.
It's like oh, allah, as Allahfor barakah, use me for your
service.
Use me however you want.
I'm at your service.
Enable me to fulfill this.
Hafmah deen.

(25:22):
Just feel.
I think sometimes, again, whenyou attach yourself to the lord
of the worlds, it feels lessabout, you feel less insecure,
you feel less, you feelsomething is missing out.
You feel like alhamdulillah, ifI've got Allah, who else do I
want?
If I haven't got Allah, whoelse?

(25:42):
If I'm married, who else?
If I'm married, it won'tfulfill me.
I think just that is verypowerful.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
Yeah, barakah.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
No, I just love how you expanded upon the definition
of barakah, because when Ithink about barakah and this is
also part of Islam, where it'sthis idea of barakah is just
getting more with less.
But barakah is also much morethan that, and the hadith that
always comes to mind is theincident when the Prophet fed I
believe it was hundreds ofcompanions just from.

(26:14):
I believe it was a bowl of milk, and it just it wouldn't, it
wouldn't stop.
And so we we take from that andsometimes we just have this
narrow minded view of Barakahwhere I'm just getting so much
more, so much more from less.
But it's much more than thattoo, as you were just explaining
.
Sorry, hiba, you want to saysomething.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
I was just going to comment on what you said,
Brother Muhammad, about Barakahin time.
I feel we're all lacking thatthese days.
Like I feel like we are all onautopilot these days and we
don't remember what we didyesterday.
Like yesterday we were tryingto remember what we did the day
before, and why are we so tired?
And we couldn't even remember.
It took us a moment.

(26:56):
So do you see that happeningoften, or is it just, I don't
know?
Married people.

Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah, it's two ways of looking at it.
First, from a macro perspective.
I'll put it that way.
You know, there's this hadiththat we all need to be aware of
and, of course, it's part of thesign end of times, right, the
hour Prophet Muhammad SallallahuAlaihi Wasallam taught us.
The hour will not come until ayear feels like a month, a month
will feel like a week, a weekwill feel like a day and a day

(27:24):
will feel like an hour, and anhour will feel like a flick of a
flame, right, and I'm surewe've all kind of experienced
that.
And at the same time, we alsoknow the hadith says if the
final hour is approaching andyou have in your hand a sapling
or a small palm tree plantedright, so it's yes, we are

(27:44):
approaching, right, and ofcourse, we're not getting away
from day of qiyamah.
We're getting close.
Every day can close day ofqiyamah.
So, in general, that's what thefeeling we're feeling, and the
modernity and the way things aregoing, and everyone's
expressing that.
However, instead of looking atthe hadith and kind of feeling
despair, like oh my god, that'sit, the qiyamah is coming game
over guys, is actually we should, if anything, double down on

(28:05):
this idea of barakah and seekingbarakah in our day.
So I talk about you know, whenyou feel you in this tornado of
life these calls, meetings,messages, kids, and you're like
what happened, it's like whenyou feel in the middle of a
storm drop your anchors.
What are your anchors?
Salah is your anchor.
Make sure you have thatestablished, salah in your day.
Quran is your anchor.

(28:27):
Have that time for Quran.
Really, kind of, make that timefor Quran.
I know it's busy and you can'tmake that time for quran.
I know it's busy and you can'tmake that time for adhkar is
your anchor?
Make that time for dhikr.
Like these spiritual anchors,kind of like at least give you
the navigation where we are.
What happened yesterday atleast right, but if we just let
go of these anchors, we'll bethat tornado and we'll be spit
out at a weekend thinking whoa,where that we come from.

(28:48):
So us, as part of, as part ofthis engaging in this end of
time moment, in this moment,feel like there's the hours, the
time is slipping by droppingthe spiritual anchors will
actually add more Barakah, willactually experience Barakah.
Also, to notice the Barakah inyour life Sometimes we just
don't notice it.
In my workshops they put yourBarakah goggles on right, and

(29:11):
sometimes we just look aroundsee how much barakah if you have
stability in your day.
You have a normal day, noissues, you know normal,
alhamdulillah.
Let's say, husband, wife, no,no buchering today, like
everyone's happy, you're happy,the wife she's alhamdulillah,
that's barakah, right, no majorissues.
If you have, uh, kids are happy, kids are healthy, your mental
health, your physical health,alhamdulillah.
Stability, that's barakah.

(29:31):
If you're able to do good workevery day and show up for salah
and do your quran and do youradhkar and do good work and have
, that's barakah.
Just have this increase or somemassive thing sometimes, just
you know us fulfilling ourduties to being the best version
of ourselves every day, that'sbarakah itself.
So I hope that this kind ofhelps with the idea of like, how
, how do you find that time?

(29:51):
Drop your spiritual anchors andput your burqa goggles on
inshallah.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
Inshallah.
I personally I'm going to.
I'm already taking a lot withme from this interview.
I'm sure a lot of listeners areas well but yeah, anchoring
ourselves.
Another question, which isgrowth, self-growth.
A lot of people are trying todo self-growth, especially
singles.
They're using their single daysto grow, which is great, but

(30:21):
not every growth is productive.
I'm sure you know that.
What are some productivitymistakes you see, especially
amongst especially amongstsingle muslims?

Speaker 2 (30:33):
question.
I think it again comes downback to intentions.
What's the intention behindwhat you're doing, right?
Um, let's say, I'll decide torun a marathon, okay, I can
train, I can do ironmantriathlon.
Okay, good, I'm nothing wrongwith it.
You become stronger, becomefitter, that's great.
What's the nia right?

(30:54):
And I think sometimes we don'tthink about nia as much like,
well, yeah, nia is to becomestronger.
Okay, how can you make it aboutallah's hand?
How can you connect to it to atleast an angle?
I have this thing called thehierarchy of intentions.
Um, it's in my book aboutsometimes I do things purely for
financial world, the game,right.
So let's talk about self-growth.
So I might do self-growth, Ilearn new skills, I develop, you

(31:14):
know, uh, physical abilities.
Anything for pure financialworld gains, nothing wrong with
it, it's halal.
But could you upgrade yourintentions?
So, okay, well, maybe thefinancial world again is not the
main driver.
But I like to think thereputation thing oh, mashallah,
you know she's a triathlete.
Oh, mashallah, you know sheruns a business.
She's entrepreneur.
Mashallah, he's.
Um, he's, he's learned, learnedthis new, he got another degree

(31:37):
or something right.
Something kind of becomes aboutreputation and fame, right, and
again, nothing wrong with it.
The problem with that is that,though, if you're successful,
right, you feel some of theimposter syndrome, right,
because you feel well, maybe Idon't deserve it.
Feel well, maybe I don'tdeserve it.
And if you are successful, youfeel guilty and envy of others
who achieve the same success.
And same with financial worldagain.
If you achieve the financialworld again let's say you make
the million dollars or you runthe marathon there's a euphoria

(32:01):
you feel, and then a few dayslater it dissipates.
If you don't achieve, you feelfrustrated.
So it never lasts.
These intentions, lowintentions with the financial
world again, reputation.
Intentions with the financialworld again, reputation, fame.
It never lasts.
And then comes a third level.
It's a feel-good factor.
I do it because it just feelsgood.
Okay again, nothing wrong withit, alhamdulillah, it's good.
But again, if it's only feelgood in this dunya sense it's,

(32:23):
it's always temporary, it's itnever feel like it lasts.
What you want to do is upgradeintentions to connect to the
akhirah.
To connect to the Akhirah, toconnect to the everlasting, to
connect away to your real homewhere you're going back to.
So how can I make my goals, myself-growth, aligned with my
real end goal, which is myspirituality, to become a better
version of myself spiritually.

(32:44):
This does not mean only Ibadat,right.
This does not mean only, youknow, entering the seminary and
studying, becoming a scholar.
It means across all areas ofwhat are the talents Allah has
given me.
How can I cultivate that talentfor the service of others, for
the benefit of others?
How can I improve myselfspiritually?
How can I create a sadaqahjariyah?
How can I please Allah throughthis time that I have?

(33:05):
So I think, that sort of levelof thinking.
Maybe people think, oh, you'recomplicating it, I just want to
run a marathon, leave me alone.
I'm like I'll just run amarathon, no problem.
But really, if you want to makethe most of the self-growth
moment, of these moments, thehigher the intention, the higher
we call high him intention.
You know, oma needs high him.
High him is high aspiration.

(33:26):
I think, unfortunately,sometimes we become so
self-centered, so-centered, soabout me myself, and I even call
we call it self-growth right.
It's about me myself and I,versus thinking how can I be a
better app so I can serve othersand be better?
Others help the umma?
And I feel like we need toupgrade our intentions beyond
just our kind of like um, I hateto say this word.

(33:48):
It's called selfish reasons,right.
So me myself and I, so mymarriage, about my works, about
my family, versus what's ourrole in the bigger picture of
things.
I mean it's gonna.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
You think along those lines might sound like big talk
, but I feel like if just by you, my setting intentions can be
very powerful so I feel like alot of us honestly including me
we've settled for mediocrity,and, whether it's Ibadah-wise,
whether it's worldly-wise, we'vejust settled for mediocrity.

(34:20):
And yeah, at least I'm praying,at least I'm not drinking, when
we could be doing so much moreas a Ummah.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yes, I talk about three issues that really affect
us, ummah, in terms of reducingour Hechimah.
One is triviality.
Trivial things, right, tiktoks,scrolls, reels that keep us
addicted for hours.
So true, we follow trivialmatters, we feel what
celebrities are doing.
I hate to say this.
People might, might I might, becontroversial, you might lose
listeners, but if I say this,but sports sometimes right, it
becomes so.

(34:49):
Triviality unfortunatelybecomes our obsession, and this
becomes our again.
Nothing wrong, enjoying aperiod of game, fine, but it
becomes an obsession.
What a player is doing andwho's sold to who and like la
ilaha illallah, is that reallythe most important thing at this
point in time?
Triviality, second you mentioned, is mediocrity, right, doing
things mediocre, not being ihsan.
If you're going to say you'regoing to learn baking, make sure
you're going to learn how tomake a cup of chai.

(35:10):
Make the best cup of chai inthe world.
Really, have ihsan, bring ihsanin everything you do.
Mediocrity, and the third,which is most dangerous, is
comfort-seeking.
Muhammad used to say I don'tworry about you, about poverty,
but I fear for you, zarakha.
Ease the Sahaba are tested byhardship.
We're tested by ease.

(35:31):
The Sahaba are tested byhardship, we're tested by ease.
And I think this test is harderbecause it's so comfortable, so
easy and I've made difficultymake it very difficult.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
So what was it?

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Mediocrity, comfort and Triviality and comfort
seeking.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
Wow.
The way to overcome them isagain, taqwa right.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
So taqwa, you're God conscious.
The way to overcome them isagain taqwa.
So taqwa, you're God conscious.
If you just go on Facebook andsay I'm God conscious, it will
feel like a waste of time.
If I scroll YouTube, it'salmost like it's beneath you.
I'm a slave of God.
I'm meant for higher things,and mediocrity is about I need

(36:11):
to submit my work to Allah, notto myself, not to my boss.
I'm a slave to God.
I'm meant for higher things,and mediocrity is about I need
to submit my work to Allah SWT,not to myself, not to my boss,
not to my client, not to myfollowers.
It's to Allah SWT.
So will Allah accept this?
That takes you to a whole highlevel.
And then comfort seeking isyou're willing to go through
uncomfortable things for thesake of Allah SWT?

(36:31):
That's why Allah was trying totalk about in the quran that
fighting has been written foryou and he hated.
He knew that.
Of course, no one likes to goand fight and lose a limb and
get hurt and die and and painful, but he goes.
Perhaps you might hatesomething or dislike something.
It's good for you sometimes,even when it comes to comfort
seeking.
Being uncomfortable is good foryou.

(36:52):
And ask anyone who's in whogoes to the gym.
Right, it's uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
When you go running it's uncomfortable, but that
that being uncomfortable isactually good for your own
growth and development that's sotrue, I was just gonna say I
hear life, the people and otherright now have nailed all three
things I was avoiding to go onto that tangent because some of

(37:17):
what you're saying relates tothat genocide that's happening
right now.
Um, but yeah, it's just.
That's so true, and I've neverreally thought of comfort being
a test.
Also, because I run into caseswhere, especially guys like, I'm
good where I am right now, I'vegot my job, you know, I've got

(37:39):
my one bedroom apartment, Idon't need the additional stress
of marriage.
I'm good, you know my life iscomfortable right now.
But that is a test, right?
Just like you're saying, andpeople don't realize that and
that they just don't want tostep out of that comfort zone
because getting married isuncomfortable, getting married
is challenging.
You have to go through theuncomfortable things of meeting

(38:00):
in-laws and and figuring out,you know, your future and all of
those things.
So I love how you and it'swhere you grow.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
It's honestly where you grow because by going
through those tough decisions orgoing through that process,
honestly for a guy that's howyou become a man, right, and for
ladies you become a woman youactually grow as a person.
And oh, now I'm a family person, I'm a father, now I'm a
husband, I'm a wife.
Suddenly the role changes andyou see yourself grow.

(38:29):
You literally grow.
But it grows through thatprocess.
Yeah, it does let's.
You see yourself grow, but itgrows through that process.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
Yeah, let's talk finances now, you know,
financial stress is one of thethe biggest causes For failure
in marriage.
I would say, or tension inmarriage.
So, from a productivitystandpoint, what are some Habits
?
What financial habits should aMuslim Grow before getting
married?
So, from a productivitystandpoint, what are some habits
?
What financial habits should aMuslim grow before getting

(38:58):
married?

Speaker 2 (39:01):
So I'm not a financial expert, so I don't
want to claim to know much abouta financial expert, but what I
can share again is this idea ofthe mindset, the values and the
rituals.
Is this idea of the mindset,the values and the rituals right
?
One of the mindsets that helpswhen it comes to finances is
having this abundance mindsetthat you know there is enough.

(39:21):
Allah is generous and he willgive us from a way we don't
expect and from what we expect.
And there is barakah inmarriage and this is everyone
we've got.
I will tell you like I didn'tknow how we went.
We were, you know, especiallypeople like struggling students,
and they got married and,subhanallah, things opened up.
So there's definitely barakah.
And there's barakah in children, and I've heard this many times
from people learning about howmore children brings barakah as

(39:44):
well.
So there's scarcity mindset,again, different worldviews.
A lot of the modern economictheory is based that resources
are scarce and therefore youhave to make choices and
decisions based on that.
As a Muslim, we actually thinkresources are abundant from
Allah SWT.
That's why the Quran saysالشيطان يعيدكم الفقر, ويأمركم

(40:07):
الفحشاء.
والله يعيدكم مغفرة منه وفضله.
والله أسنع عليم Shay وَفَضْلَوَاللَّهُ وَاسْنَعْلِيمُ.
Shaytan promises you poverty,like he makes poverty, like all
sphere poverty, right and hecalls for transgression.
That's why people get into riba, that's why people get into
things that are not halal,because they think, well, that's
how the world works.
I got to align with that.
The second one is that Allahpromises you and father like the

(40:29):
bounty.
So we need to have theabundance mindset, approach your
marriage with abundance mindsetFrom a values perspective.
Right, knowing FMA marriages,someone reminded me of this
recently.
It was very powerful.
He said remember, the bestmoney you spend is the money you
spend on your family.
This is especially for the guys, right, the best sadaqah you do
, the best sadaqah you do, isthe sadaqah you spend on your

(40:52):
family.
So, already, this idea of beinggenerous.
Now, of course, yes, beingresponsible, yes, not being
spendthrift, yes, not overdoingit, but generosity, having this
abundant generosity and whenthings are tough, say, hey,
things have been tough right now, let's tighten up a little bit,
but, inshallah, we'll work itout.
So, generosity, let's, let'stighten up a little bit, but

(41:15):
let's, shall we work it out.
So, generosity, having thecommunication and then the
rituals, like even simple things.
Like you know, I use a.
I'm a big fan of the wine app.
App, right, you know you're inthe budgetscom.
It's a brilliant app.
You just literally every week Isit in, I plan, look at what
income comes in, I rearrange,okay, where will I spend money?
Well, not spend money, what'shappening?
How can I fix any deficit?
And it gives a very even.
It's great to spend with yourtime with your spouse, to share.

(41:36):
That again depends some.
That's where you need tounderstand your spouse better.
Some spouses don't want to knowthe financial situation for
them.
That gets too stressful, theycan't handle it.
Others, yeah, they would liketo know and like to be involved
and like, especially if theyalso earn, so income earning.
So having these conversationscan be very, very powerful as
well, like the roles,responsibilities, the, how it

(41:56):
approaches it.
And again, always think of theislamic worldview, right, the
islamic worldview upon is theman to spend on his family,
right that?
That?
That view is clear.
Fortunately, we can.
We put western values and thenwe try to slumicize them.
Then we end up having reallyhard issues.
No, taking as man, you'reresponsible financially.
If the woman she'sincome-earning, she wants to

(42:16):
spend, that's up to her, but youare responsible.
So, again, growth for themasculinity and health.
Masculinity comes in where you,as a man, need to be
responsible, you need to earn,you need to work, you need to
develop your skills and grow,and that comes with that process
.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
So sometimes marriage happens quickly and for a lot
of people it feels like a long,never ending wait.
So what are some productiveways a person can use their
waiting period if marriage isdelayed longer than they hoped?

Speaker 2 (42:51):
I mean again, this is what comes back.
I come back to the idea ofintentions what's your high
himma right?
So now, instead of wasting ourtime with triviality, mediocrity
, what's the high himma thingthat you can focus on?
What sort of service?
So there's two things.
There's two roles we have inlife.
We have the abd of Allah, weare the slave of Allah and and
we are Allah's Khalifa.
Allah is always like publicservant.
We're His public officer, whichmeans we're here to serve His

(43:13):
creation.
So there's a vertical line,there's a horizontal line.
So if you're only approvingeither both of these, as long as
I increase my spirituality,increase my development, I'm
getting Allah's Khalifa and I'mserving and I'm helping and I'm
volunteering and I'm being anactive member.
What you do want to do is letmarriage be the excuse for not

(43:36):
developing vertical orhorizontal.
This news comes from eitherbecause of resentment and it
happens Sometimes.
You doubt it comes in.
I made dua, I made dua,nothing's happening.
I start doubting Allah.
I start thinking maybe I'm nota good person, all this stuff.
What you want to do is fightthe whispers of Shaitan.
Get yourself busy withimproving spirituality and get

(43:58):
yourself busy in service ofcreation and inshaAllah Ta'ala
again.
If it's khair for you, if it'sgood for you, allah will provide
from what you don't expectinshaAllah.

Speaker 3 (44:08):
So sometimes marriage exposes a lot of bad habits we
didn't know we had.
I'm sure all married peoplefeel the same way.
Now what are some systems orroutines single Muslims can
establish to help them beforegetting married?

Speaker 2 (44:28):
To help them know those issues, or just be brave.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
To serve them in their marriage later, Like if
they have bad habits they're notaware of.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
I think I will say that honestly.
Sometimes you need that mirror,right, and marriage is that
mirror and sometimes without amirror, it's hard.
You can't tell, you won't know.
Oh, wow, I didn't know thisabout myself, right, I'll share,
I'll be honest.
My wife tells, like I'm not anemotionally person, I don't
share emotions.
Right, I'm very, you know, like, maybe as a man, I don't know I

(45:00):
just don't share emotions.
She's like a real like, yes,it's okay, it's like why, why
don't you share it?
I like I never knew that aboutmyself, it only when I got
married.
We're like, oh, wow, yeah, why,why, I struggle to, to share
emotion, I struggle with realemotional empathy, like, I
struggle with that.
So sometimes just seeing thathaving a mirror is what reflects
right now, what you need to beready for is being is how to

(45:24):
take that right, how to takethat feedback right, being okay
to being quote, unquote,criticized, right, right, not
taking it personally.
Another habit, again veryhealthy in marriage, is knowing
when to speak and when to keepsilent, right, that's a huge,
that's a skill.
Sometimes you don't want to addfuel to the fire.

(45:44):
You know sometimes being quiet,sometimes saying, and you know
having that disconnect time goout, go pray, go to, go to, and
then come back and then resolveany conflict, like having this
conflict resolution skills andput it that way, or just the
idea of I know when to sort of.
You know, sometimes our tonguesare so loose, we just had
fields of fire.
Maybe something could have beendealt with easily.

(46:05):
It became this huge thingbecause I didn't control my
tongue.
Another one is also tounderstand, kind of like again,
what, what are those things thatthat trigger you right, and why
they trigger you.
Maybe it's not actually yourspouse, maybe it's something
that you need to deal withyourself you haven't dealt with,
um, so that's where mentalhealth comes in, it's where
understanding yourself, who youare asking allah for help to

(46:29):
deal with something that youstruggle with.
So what is it about the?
Why am I struggling with thisissue and not not just always
blaming it on the other person?
So these are skills um, theseare called hard skills, soft
skills when I put it that reallyhelp you for during, after
marriage and it can make a makea difference, shall I tell you,
to the marriage I myself didn'tknow.

Speaker 3 (46:48):
Honestly, I was such a critical person before we got
married.
I always used to think that mymom is critical and why is she
criticizing dad so much?
Why did you bring this, whydidn't you bring that?
And once we got married, I'mlike oh my God, I take after her
so much, but that's possible.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
And you're able to reflect and say, oh wow, when
you detach yourself and seeingthat you're like, well, actually
I'm struggling with this, andthen sharing that, saying you
know what?
I know that this was a surprise.
I don't know why I'm strugglingwith this.
Why am I so harsh?
Why am I snappy today, Likejust even saying that in your
marriage, like people, oh okay.
So you Sometimes, even if yourpartner doesn't want to bring it

(47:30):
up because it doesn't make itworth it, just observing
yourself is actually verypowerful.
It's great because it showsthat you are also growing and
learning.
You're not perfect as well.

Speaker 3 (47:39):
Excellent, Quick some firework questions.
Yeah, do you have otherquestions you wanted to ask
before we go to that.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
No, I was going to go to the rapid fire questions.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
Okay, so time for Iskikara.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
Quick answer.
Quick answers what's oneunproductive thing you secretly
love doing?
Oh gosh.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
I caught him off guard.
Unproductive thing I secretlylove doing.
I secretly love doing, I guess,in my morning coffee.
I don't think it takes too long.
I take like a half an hour justmaking my coffee it's like you
know, with beans and getting allthe things right.
It's like we could have done alot in a half an hour.

(48:23):
Yeah, that's my guilty pleasurethere.

Speaker 3 (48:27):
Finally somebody understands.
Zaid always says you can haveyour coffee in the morning while
you do work.
I'm like no, this is like mytime it's my indulgence exactly
what's the weirdest productivityhack you've ever heard of?

Speaker 2 (48:46):
weirdest productivity hack I've ever heard of gosh.
I think I've come across all ofthem.
I'm turning blank.
I don't know why I'm goingblank.

Speaker 3 (48:58):
I'm really turning blank no problem, no problem
let's jump to the next one, oneIslamic historical figure you
think would have crushed it attime management say it again one
historical Islamic figure whoyou think would have crushed it
at time management?

Speaker 2 (49:16):
Imam Nowi.
He lived to the age of 40 andproduced volumes of books.
I wrote two books and I'm likeI'm done.
He wrote volumes of books andhe must have crushed it,
mashallah okay the last one sureum productivity sin

(49:36):
multitasking, procrastinating orover scheduling?

Speaker 1 (49:40):
which one are you most guilty of, multitasking?

Speaker 3 (49:47):
is that a good thing, by the way?
I know, because we always hearlike productive people multitask
, but then you're here at thesame time.
No, you should be focused onone thing and one thing it's,
it's again.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
It's interesting.
So it's the promise that youcan do more.
Right, but it's.
But actually you said, when youactually do one thing at a time
, the quality is way betterversus trying to multiple things
at a time.
So it's definitely quality.
The switching cost is higher,is lower, um, so one thing at a
time is definitely better.
But again, one of those thingsthat you, just you, just again,

(50:17):
your nefs wants it okay, beforewe let you go, this question is
really for me.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
I want to know how to wake up early.
I've tried every hack out thereand it doesn't work.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
All right, bismillah, let's do it.
So again back to the.
I'm going to get back tofoundations and build from there
.
So, number one orient yourselfas a abd of Allah or amma of
Allah, of course.
If a orient yourself as a abdof allah or amma of allah, of
course, my woman is amma ofallah.
Like I am a slave of god, I Ibelong to him, so I orient

(50:51):
myself towards that, okay.
Number two is, um, understandyour energy levels.
Understand sort of how yourenergy levels.
Are you a more morning person?
Night person is that?

Speaker 3 (50:56):
I mean, it's really the night person I'm a morning
person, but not too early of amorning person.
Like I don't know, 9 am morningperson okay, you're more of a
night person no, no that's fine,that's fine.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
I think I recently read that it's not about morning
people, there's not muchdifference in morning folks,
night folks.
It's actually a few hoursdifference, not a big difference
.
We all think it's a bigdifference and a lot to blame is
, uh, at home.
Try to dim the lights early,right?
So when you're home, so dim thelights.
So if you, if you're in thesummer, of course the days are
longer, but try as much time by,let's say, 6, 7 pm, three, four

(51:32):
hours for sleep.
You kind of black out the sun,you kind of dim, put some dim
light, not bright overheadlights, that helps to produce
melatonin so you can sleepearlier.
Number three is to sleepaccording to sleep cycles,
meaning recognize you have 90minutes, you go through
90-minute sleep cycles, so setyour alarm at the end of one of
your sleep cycles.
So let's say you sleep at 10 pmand let's say Frederick is at 4

(51:55):
am.
Okay, how many sleep cycles canI fit in between 10 am and 4 am
and go 10 to 11.30, 11.30 till 1, 1 till 2.30, and 2.30 till 4.
So it's four sleep cycles.
Great, Set your alarm at theend of the last one, so at 4
o'clock, Because what happens isthat when we set the end

(52:15):
according to sleep cycles, whenwe finish a sleep cycle before
we get a new one, we are nearconsciousness, which means it
will's much easier to wake up.
But if you wake up, you setyour alarm in the middle of a
sleep cycle.
It's like a laptop Wake up froma hard shutdown versus just the
sleep right, the quick open-up.

Speaker 3 (52:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
So that's another one that becomes sleep cycles Again
.
Focus on sleep hygiene, right?
So things like get somesunlight in the morning Again.
Gene, right.
So things like get somesunlight in the morning again.
That helps you set yourcircadian rhythm.
Ideally, watch the sunrise.
Uh, watch sun because sunset islate in summer is a bit weird
because of lateness, butdefinitely watch sunrise if
you're able to see with thenaked eye.
Just see you sunrise.

(52:54):
That helps reset yourbiological clock.
Grounding so barefoot on earthhelps you reset biological clock
, helps to sleep better at night.
A warm bath before bed helps aswell.
What else is there?
So, again, these are all hacksthat get you to the ultimate
level of again.
And you're doing this notbecause of biohacking.

(53:14):
You do this because yourintention is to wake up Fajr,
right, so you set yourintentions Again back to the
three-part equation.
You set your intentions right,back to the three-part equation.
You set your intentions RightAllah will make a fajr or
tahajjud or whatever you want tomake it for.
You take the means all thisbiohacking, sleep cycles, watch
the sunrise, grounding, warmbath, dim the lights.
You're taking all the means andyou seek Allah's permission,

(53:37):
right, allah, allow me.
Right, allah, allow me right,invite me, allow me to get up.
And this is where, when youwake up, it's not because of you
.
He literally allowed you to getup, he literally invited you.
So when you have that, you'relike oh, okay, wow.
And let's say you went throughall that and then you missed it.
Okay, remember that you've doneyour best.
You get rewarded for that.

(54:00):
Hear the story the Sahabathemselves and Rasul Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam came back from abattle and Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam told Bilal makesure you wake up for Fajr.
Now they just came back fromthe battle, they're tired.
So Bilal said I stood up and Iwas trying to make sure I see
the sunrise, I wake them up.
And I put my head on the swordbecause I fell down.
He slept and they all woke upafter sunrise.

(54:22):
So you just imagine Muhammadand his Sahaba missing Fajr,
like you're missing Fajr, likeyou're missing man.
Just shock and horror.
And Bilal said yeah, bilal,what happened?
He goes.
Ya Rasulullah, whateverhappened to me happened to you.
I mean, it's like we got thesame thing.
We got sleep.
So they said it's okay, get upand pray, let so being that,
you've done, you've doneeverything right, you've made

(54:43):
the intentions, you've taken themeans, ask allah and know this
was you, know it was not meant,and you try again, again, keep
trying again and inshallah makeit easy for you really finding a
big work with people.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
Where can people find you, where can they find your
book and how can they connectwith you?

Speaker 2 (55:05):
so of course, you can find us on ProductiveMuslimcom.
I send a newsletter twice aweek.
If you go toProductiveMuslimcom forward
slash newsletter, that's whereyou get the latest about what
we're doing.
And, of course, we're on socialmedia, although not very active
, to be honest, but we're onsocial media.
I'm more active on LinkedIn.
You can find me more onLinkedIn, inshaallah ta'ala.
And yeah, you can find my books.
Wherever you get your books.
There's Amazon, there's likebookstores, there's Audible,

(55:27):
there's Kindle You'll get it all.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
InshaAllah, inshaAllah.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
Alright, inshaAllah.

Speaker 3 (55:32):
Thank you so much for this beautiful interview,
Seriously a lot to think about,a lot to implement and a lot to
grow from.
May Allah accept it.

Speaker 1 (55:45):
And for those yes, and for those listening, you
know, inshallah.
We hope this benefited you andif there's a change that you're
going to make in your life,definitely put it in the comment
section.
We'd love to hear about it, andmay Allah put barakah in your
work and may he allow to impactmore people around the world
okay, beautiful listeners, seeyou next time.