February 18, 2024 • 46 mins
In this episode, Dean Mousad, founder and director of Invictus Solutions, Brothers in Need, and co-founder of Project Quran, shares his journey and insights on making a contribution in life. The conversation covers various topics, including the motivation behind Dean's projects, the importance of reflecting on life and death, the power of consultation (Shura), and utilizing personal resources and superpowers for making a difference.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:22 Dean's Journey of Starting a Non-Profit
04:07 The Impact of Death on Life Perspective
10:54 The Power of Asking and Seeking Advice
16:58 Identifying Your Superpowers and Resources
27:37 Managing Multiple Projects and The Importance of Self-Care
28:03 Understanding the Five Pillars of Health
30:06 The Power of Reflection and Self-Awareness
34:26 The Importance of Conscious Living
40:05 The Power of Gratitude and Forgiveness
Connect with Dean Mousad:
Resources Mentioned:
- With the Heart in Mind by Mikaeel Ahmed Smith
- When Hearing Becomes Listening by Mikaeel Ahmed Smith
- The Productive Muslim: Where faith meets productivity by Mohammed Faris
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Connect with Mifrah Mahroof:
🏖️ This episode is sponsored by Sisters Explore, a company I founded to offer guided small-group travel for Muslim women to connect, explore, and enjoy faith-centered journeys. Learn more at http://www.sisters-explore.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dean Mousad (00:00):
Look at the resources that Allah SWT has
given you and give back with theresources that you've been
given.
So what do I mean by that?
Sometimes we like to look atmaybe a billionaire or a
millionaire and how they wereable to fund a whole orphanage
or they were able to fund awhole project, a whole masjid, a
whole town, and I wish I coulddo that.
(00:22):
The person hasn't been giventhat wealth, but someone's been
given a lot of time or someone'sbeen given a ability to be able
to rally people up and advocatefor a particular cause.
So look at the resources thatyou've been given and use that
resource to allow you tocontribute the best way and the
most efficient way possible.
Mifrah (00:44):
As-salamu alaykum and welcome to the Muslim Life
Hackers podcast.
I'm your host me from Barris.
And this is the podcast where weget better every day.
Through conversations withexperts, leaders, and inspiring
individuals.
We're going to give youactionable insights to help you
win in this life and the next.
So if you're ready to level upin every area of your life and
(01:04):
you committed to living withexcellence for the sake of your
Lord.
You're in the right place.
Get ready for insights,inspiration, and a whole lot of
life hacks.
This is a Muslim Life Hackerspodcast.
Let's dive in.
Mifrah Mahroof (01:18):
As-salamu alaykum Dean, welcome to the
show.
Dean Mousad (01:20):
Wa ʿalaykumu s-salāmu wa-raḥmatu-llāhi
wa-barakātuh Mifrah, thank youvery much for inviting me.
Mifrah Mahroof (01:23):
So Dean, you do many things.
You are aware of many hats.
So, the first thing is thefounder and director of Invictus
Solutions.
So that's a community ledbusiness that provides
counseling and mentoringworkshops.
And in fact, speaking about inInvictus, I have the pens that
you gave the Invictus Pen I'musing, and also the Invictus
(01:45):
bookmark.
So.
Invictus Bookmark has a reallynice quote on it.
It says, strong people stand upfor themselves, but the
strongest people stand up forothers.
So I like that.
And so you have that, and Iguess a lot of people know you
through being the managingdirector of Brothers in Need.
So a local charity here inAustralia that provide support
to those in need, Includingdoing things like homeless runs,
(02:08):
soup kitchens and youth programsand more.
And along with that, I by sawthat you are also the co-founder
of Project Quran, which is anonprofit organization focused
on Dawah work.
And what I didn't know was that,project Quran was the one behind
giving the first ever EnglishQuran, that was gifted to Prince
William and New Zealand's formerPrime Minister Jacinda Aden.
(02:29):
I didn't know that actually.
Dean Mousad (02:30):
Yeah Alhamdulillah..
We wouldn't say we got lucky,
Mifrah Mahroof (02:37):
True
Dean Mousad (02:40):
honored.
Mifrah Mahroof (02:41):
That's really good.
So I mean like they're the threemain areas that I have here.
I know there must be more likeis there anything I missed out
on at this point?
Dean Mousad (02:50):
I think you sum it up well.
Mifrah Mahroof (02:52):
Actually I forgot to mention, you are also
a father and you serve as a rolemodel and leader in for the
youth in the community as well.
So that's also something to noteand something that we shouldn't
forget as well.
So, the first thing that Ireally think about when I see
someone with doing so manyprojects, there's always a story
behind it.
(03:12):
Like, things don't just comeovernight and you become the
director of all of these things.
I'll start off with a simplequestion before I get to the
hard questions actually, Dean.
So what motivated you to do allthis?
Dean Mousad (03:23):
So let's start off with the best of words.
So what started me, what made meget into this, I think from a
young age, I've always wanted tohelp people.
It's kind of something that'sbeen, embedded in me from a
young age, Alhamdulillah, Soit's always been in the back of
my mind, even though, growing upin my early teens, I got up to
(03:46):
some mischief, from my earlyteens to our early twenties, but
I guess when I had a near deathexperience at the age of 24, I
started to reflect on, my lifewhere I was at.
And the saying goes, if nothingchanges, nothing changes.
So I reflected on the last ageyears of my life and I thought,
forward, if I live the last ageand do nothing about it, I'm
(04:10):
probably gonna live the next agethe same way.
Mifrah Mahroof (04:12):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (04:13):
so that's where, at that point in time, I started
thinking, oh, what I've reallygotta start now putting some of
the things that I learned inchildhood, into action.
And that's kind of where the age24 I started to go through, I
guess, a bit more of a consciousthought process, after that near
death experience.
I went to umrah about threemonths after,
Mifrah Mahroof (04:34):
Hmm.
Dean Mousad (04:35):
so February 2014.
And then I think from there Istarted thinking, okay, you know
what?
This is now the path I want totake.
This is the path where I want toembark on a journey of doing as
many good deeds as I possiblycan.
Number one, to rectify the wrongthat I've done.
(04:55):
But number two, to pave I guessa good.
Foundation into the future tosecure me, I guess, a spot, in
Jannah, right?
then that got further certifiedin February, 2015 when my
grandma passed away a and Iactually buried my grandma,
myself.
So putting her in the grave, inthe white shroud, into the earth
(05:18):
and seeing her go in withnothing.
All of those kind of experiencesin the year and a bit before
kind of solidified themselveseven further in my mind.
And I thought that, okay, we'regoing inside the ground with
nothing here.
It's now or never.
And so immediately that's whenbrothers in need started in
2015, in February.
And, the boys that are sittingat the table with over dinner at
(05:41):
the time, we're all of this,we're all born here in
Australia, and
Mifrah Mahroof (05:45):
we're all kinda thingking about
Dean Mousad (05:46):
what can we do to kind of help us moving forward,
how can we change thestereotypes?
at the time, obviously you hadthe Lin Siege Cafe, you had the
whole, Ciesco that was happeningin the Middle East at the time,
in the years before 2015, inSyria.
and the Lavant.
and so for us, we kind ofthought, We need to do something
(06:08):
to kind of change the stereotypefor Muslims here, born in
Australia and that's where theorganization Brothers in need
came about, Alhamdulillah, eightand a half years on right in
December 2023 Alhamdulillah, theoperations spread out three
different states in Australiaand it's reached more or less
goes global through, you know, asome Podcast like this.
Mifrah Mahroof (06:29):
Masha Allah, it's really nice to hear about
that, how everything just startswith that conversation and that
intention.
Like, how can I make adifference?
And one thing I really take awayfrom your story here so far is
that how having theseexperiences with death actually
is what opened our eyes.
And it really reminds me of thatwhole concept of living with,
(06:50):
thinking about death constantlyis the best way to live because
that allows you to be reallyclear on how you want your life
to look like.
Dean Mousad (06:59):
You're definitely right about that.
And there's something propheticthere as well.
the prophet of Allah, SAW inMecca initially, the prophet
stopped the companions going tothe graveyards to visit the
graveyards because the Iman wasnew.
There was a lot of graveworshiping.
those years in Mecca was thereto help them build their iman,
(07:21):
tauhid, knowing Allah SWT, butthen in Madina, the prophet SAW
encourage the companions to goand visit the cemeteries, to
visit the graveyards because itis a destroyer of all pleasures
and it reminds us of thereality, and the reality, like
you said, is death, regardlessof what religion, nationality,
(07:42):
race, we all agree upon thatwe're all gonna die.
And so I think reflecting onthat.
Mifrah Mahroof (07:48):
I've seen in a lot of like personal development
kind of writings, even from anon-Muslim point of view, they
say death is the most liberatingthing because at that point, you
prioritize what's important toyou and you don't care what
other people think or whatsociety tells you to do.
And so it's just you and yourdifference and what you wanna
make out of this life.
And I think that it reallyforces you to get clear and get
(08:10):
clarity.
And that's what I hear from yourstory, how you mentioned about
you having India deathexperience and your grandmother
and having to bury her as well.
And that, you know, it's hard tocapture that in words, the
feelings that would evoke.
So I'm interested to know, Dean,actually, so you took me back to
the early days of Brother inneed where you and your friends
(08:32):
were all sitting around the cafethinking, what can we do?
Um, and so I wanted to know atthat point when you started
Brothers in Need and you startedgoing out there and helping the
community and the homeless andeveryone, did you ever envision
at a point how it would betoday?
Dean Mousad (08:50):
No chance in the world, right?
So for us it was just kind oflike a very premature idea.
We said, let's create a Facebookpage, show the people you know
what we're doing.
They're giving us money, they'regiving us donations, and let's
just, show that what we arereceiving, we're giving out back
to the community, to the mostneedy.
And from there, the videos gotshared, the comments are likes.
(09:11):
people wanted to give moremoney.
People wanted to support us inways that we couldn't imagine.
And so we thought, okay, holdup.
We probably should register this
Mifrah Mahroof (09:20):
And
Dean Mousad (09:21):
set up a non-for-Profit
Mifrah Mahroof (09:22):
official.
Dean Mousad (09:23):
and do something properly with it, right?
Make it official.
so we got connected up to a fewprofessionals.
We set up, everything by, June.
2015.
So three months in we set upeverything, got it set up as a
registered non-for-profit taxdeductible, set up everything.
And from there we just hit theground running.
And yeah, like you said, therewas no like strategic plan.
(09:46):
It, it's not
Mifrah Mahroof (09:47):
Yeah.
at that when you went andregistered your charity.
Did you have big plans then atthat stage that you're gonna be
three states and gonna extendyour impact?
Dean Mousad (10:00):
No, it literally like, we didn't get hired.
usually when you hire a directorfor a non-for-profit, you look
at their resume, you see, youknow what contributions they've
made on other boards, and youhire them based on that So we
had zero qualifications, we hada hundred percent zeal and
wanted to put in effort to getthings done, and that was pretty
much it.
Right?
And so, Alhamdulillah, I thinkover the years, putting
(10:22):
ourselves in differentorganizations where we can learn
from professionals that havedone great job, in the NFP
(not-for-profit) space.
we've sought mentors, we'vesought advice, we've sought
Surah, to learn from others.
And I think that's like, if wewere to talk about, for our
Muslim audience here that wantto look at, a hack, you know,
(10:43):
the first hack in this podcastcould be, let's go back to the
basic and let's go back toSurah.
So, Surah is consultation.
This is what the prophet ofAllah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa
sallam told us to do.
You know, every other person'sbusiness card has the word
consultant on it, right?
But consultants, through andthrough right, is actually
sitting down with like-mindedpeople, like-hearted individuals
(11:07):
bouncing off your ideas andgetting people to poke holes in
it, so, I don't claim I've gotthe best idea in the world, but
this is an idea.
This is what we'd like to do.
Poke holes in it.
And I think because we did thatearly on.
Mifrah Mahroof (11:19):
yeah.
Dean Mousad (11:20):
We put ourselves in different circles, different
pockets.
we had different, informaladvisory boards and Surah it
allowed us to, like the sayinggoes, two heads is better than
one and learn about what'sprobably the better way of going
about something without actuallyhaving to go through it yourself
(11:41):
and spend money and time andresources.
So that has been, I think one ofthe things that we've held dear,
to us and we've made sure thatat every point as best as we
can, we do Surah.
Mifrah Mahroof (11:56):
So did you
Dean Mousad (11:57):
people
Mifrah Mahroof (11:57):
to do Surah with it?
cause I know in this, societythat we live in, a lot of people
find themselves isolated andthey have this grandiose idea
and then they go tell theirfriends or something, and maybe
they're not into that kind ofstuff, and they're just kind of
all alone typing away.
So, how did you go about withthat?
Dean Mousad (12:15):
Like the saying goes, ask and you shall receive
and it sounds very simple You
Mifrah Mahroof (12:20):
keep asking around, right?
Dean Mousad (12:22):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
so initially I think it was likeMuslim made Australia sat down,
with the CEO at the time, Iwanna learn from you.
then a year after that.
I think it was NZF.
Same thing with the CEO there.
I wanna sit down, I wanna learnfrom you, and so on and so
forth.
Like I've put myself in thesecircles, if I couldn't get
through them directly, I'd ask,someone who may know them or
(12:43):
someone who volunteers withthem.
But I've always asked, and Ithink because I've been
comfortable when asking, Ehmmm..
you will receive, right.
You might make a few mistakesalong the way.
You might get a couple ofroadblocks along the way, very
normal.
Uh, but if you're consistent, inasking, I believe at some point,
Mifrah Mahroof (13:04):
Mm.
Things start to open up.
Dean Mousad (13:06):
Allah SWT will, yeah.
will line things up, for you.
So ask.
Mifrah Mahroof (13:11):
point that you make, about asking, because I
think we just have that fearabout being rejected when we
ask.
But like you said, there areroad roadblocks.
But the reality is many peopleare open to helping you and
actually giving that advice.
So one of the things that youdid mention though, was around
not having a grandiose plan.
And the reason I mentioned thisis because there is this whole
(13:33):
thing that some people feel thatwhen they start a project, they
need to have this grandioseplan.
They need to have it all kind ofvisioned and written.
And it comes to some people, Idon't deny that, but sometimes
It doesn't come to others, andit may be a blocker for them to
start something.
What are your thoughts on that?
Dean Mousad (13:53):
from my experience, I don't think you need a
grandiose plan.
I'm more of a foot soldier thanlike a strategic, mastermind, so
for me, I've got a couple peoplewho like, I'm as creative as a
doormat, right?
So for me, I'm not thatcreative.
I'm not gonna give you greatideas.
I'm the last person to be givinganyone great ideas, if you gimme
a great idea that's been thoughtout, through and through I will,
(14:16):
with the will of Allah SWT makesure that it's done.
So that's my superpower.
My superpower is getting thingsdone.
So I guess you need to look atyour superpower, and then work
with that.
If you are setting up your ownNFP(not-for-profit), There's
nothing wrong with, trying to,dot your eyes and cross your
T's.
There's nothing wrong withasking around how do you think I
should do things, but trying toachieve perfection before
(14:40):
implementation.
It's not realistic.
It's not gonna happen, Yeah,
Mifrah Mahroof (14:44):
That's big blocker a lot of times it's
like, I need to get all of thesethings set, and then you get so
paralyzed by that and then youdon't do anything.
Dean Mousad (14:53):
So I think, look, tie your camel.
So do your part dot your eyescross your T's and then rely on
Allah and go forward, That'strue We we don't control the
results, right?
The results are with Allah SWT.
So I've learned that the hardway along the way,'cause we
always try and make sure that,we present our best thing and
put it forward.
(15:14):
Although it's okay, like you'llmake a mistake along the way.
Your ideas will, probably have alot of holes in them, but humble
yourself to the process, and Ifeel that through that process
Alhamdulillah and through thewill of Allah SWT we've been
able to see those Projects goand I think once we learned from
one project, we took thoselearning.
(15:35):
It's gonna brought us to projecttwo project three and so on and
so forth
Mifrah Mahroof (15:39):
yeah.
That makes a lot of sense.
I guess what I notice is havingthat sincere intention and just
taking whatever action, youknow, at that stage with the
knowledge that you have at thatstage.
I would even say, like with theknowledge Allah SWT has given
you at that stage, and thenplacing your trust in him and
then seeking Al Shura, andthat's Some steps that you can
(16:01):
start taking to start working onthe area of contribution in your
life, actually.
So, one of the things though issome, a lot of us as practicing
Muslims, we have many areas inour life.
That we want to improve.
So even here in Muslim LifeHackers, we aim to help our
audience level up in theirhealth, wealth, work,
(16:24):
relationships, their religion,their contribution.
So when it comes to that area ofcontribution, what advice would
you give to listeners who wantto make a contribution in their
life?
Like how would they go aboutwith that?
'cause they're like, Hey, Iwanna give back.
I just, I don't know what to do.
Dean Mousad (16:38):
From experience.
Look at the resources that AllahSWT has given you and give back
with the life, give back withthe resources that you've been
given.
So what do I mean by that?
Sometimes we like to look at,maybe a billionaire or a
millionaire and how they wereable to fund, a whole orphanage
or they were able to fund awhole project, a whole Masjid,
(17:01):
the whole town, and I wish Icould do that, and you know, the
person hasn't been given thatwealth, but someone's been given
a lot of time or someone's beengiven a, ability to be able to
rally people up and advocate fora particular cause.
So look at the resources thatyou've been given and use that
resource to allow you tocontribute the best way and the
(17:25):
most efficient way possible.
'cause sometimes, once again,you look at the person next to
you, to your left, you look atthe person next to you, to your
right and you wanna do what theydo.
I wanna do what they do.
But that's not the resource thatAllah SWT gave you.
Right.
And you see that in thecompanions.
Some companions were great onthe battlefield, like Khalil bin
Walid some companions had money.
(17:46):
Like, you know, Abdurrahman ibnAuf ra, and like Abu Bakar
radhiyallahu anhu, Utsman binAffan, and different companions
have different skill, right.
Billal radhiyallahu anhu wasawesome at, you know, adhan, and
every single time he made adhan,guess what he'd get the rewards
for bringing the people in topray.
(18:07):
So everyone's got a differentway of, worshiping Allah,
getting closer to Allah,contributing to the original of
Allah.
So look at those resources thatyou've been given and use that
superpower.
Use that resource to contribute.
Mifrah Mahroof (18:21):
Would you say resources and superpowers are
the same?
Dean Mousad (18:24):
Yes, I would in this context.
I would say in this context,yes.
If Allah SWT has given you,intellect right then I would say
that this is a resource thatAllah SWT has given you.
It's something that has beengiven to you by the Almighty.
So use that to your advantage ifAllah SWT has given you another
(18:47):
resource.
Which is a beautiful voice, orit's wealth, or your time.
These are resources.
I'm not talking about it from atechnical standpoint, but for
the sake of our audience,through this podcast, I would
look at that resource, and ifthat's your superpower, then use
it to your advantage, I've beentold that I can gel well with
(19:08):
people of all ages.
That could be a superpower ofmine, So use that to contribute.
When you're sitting down withthe youth, have a conversation
on their level, and get themmaybe, you know, if they're
struggling with something toturn back to Allah.
If me gelling well with abusinessman, allows me to help
get money out of their pocket toput it towards a non-for-profit,
then do so and so on and soforth.
(19:30):
Right.
Mifrah Mahroof (19:30):
So like just mentioned right there that
somebody else told you that yougel well with people.
So also hearing what otherpeople have to say about you in
order for you to identify thesesuperpowers and resources that
you have in your life.
Dean Mousad (19:43):
Yeah, most definitely.
Look, sometimes we don't look inenough.
And so sometimes when you don'tlook in enough, you don't see
the resource that Allah SWT hasgiven you, the superpower that
you've been given.
So sometimes you know thatmentor, or someone around you,
might, pick a strength or pick,something that, You really
haven't thought.
Yeah, that's right.
That, yeah, you didn't reallythink it was anything.
(20:03):
You're like, oh, actually Icould actually use this for my
benefit and the benefit of thecommunity.
Right.
Mifrah Mahroof (20:10):
Yeah, of course.
That's a very good point.
So I guess if you were to sumthat up, it's really knowing
yourself and to know yourself.
You look inwards.
You also ask others what theynotice from you through mentors
or through your friends as well,and just the people around you.
It's like, what am I good at andwhat do you see in me?
What do you think I can do that,that comes easy to me.
(20:32):
That doesn't come easy toothers.
And that's a very good pointactually,'cause that gives you
the starting point on thenknowing what to do in wanting to
give back.
Dean Mousad (20:43):
That's correct.
Mifrah Mahroof (20:44):
we went through how you actually, started your
Charity Brothers in Need andthen thought process that went
through that.
So I wanna know now, so fastforward that you have brothers
in needs, you have multipleprojects, you also run your
business as well.
I actually had another questionabout brothers in need.
One thing that I do wonderthough, when it comes to your
(21:05):
early days in Bro Brothers inNeeds, or even the days after
you decided to register it as anonprofit and keep moving
forward, was there any pointwhere you just felt like, that's
it, I wanna give up and move onwith my life?
Dean Mousad (21:20):
Yeah, most definitely.
Probably the first time was afew years in.
And I spoke to one of my mentorsand I said, look man, I wanna
hang the gloves up, I'm done
Mifrah Mahroof (21:30):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (21:31):
And he was like, why are you done for, like, what
do you mean mate?
He, his early days and we had abit of a chat about, essentially
the, the reasons why and then hekind of told me, look, In order
you've embarked on this journeyright, journey of contribution,
the journey of trying to giveback to humanity, support others
(21:52):
and, benefit the scales on yourright hand side.
He said Shaytan is now on thisjourney and Shaytan is coming in
guns blazing.
He's coming in from the front.
He is coming to ambush you fromthe side, from the left, from
the right, from behind, fromevery single way shape of form,
trying to detour you and stopyou from achieving this noble
(22:17):
vision.
The vision of entering Jannah,the vision of serving Allah SWT,
and at the same time saving afew people if Allah wills along
the way.
And so when he kind of paintedthat image in my mind, I kind of
visualized it as he was talking,right?
I was actually like giving outsome thought, oh wow.
(22:38):
Like this is actually what'shappening, right?
Like it's no longer now Deantrying to secure his place in
Jannah, but now what the team'strying to build, they're trying
to build a vehicle to takepeople to Jannah too.
And so obviously Shaytan's like,Ooh, hold up mate.
I'll let you kind of slide, butnow that you're trying to bring
people with you, this isn't on.
Mifrah Mahroof (22:59):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (23:00):
And so I guess like.
Even since that conversation,there's been times where I've
thought about, like maybe Ishould take a step out.
Maybe I should get somebody elseto come in instead of myself.
Uh, I haven't thought about itsince then to close the whole
operation.
Um, but I guess part of mysuccession plan, what I would
like to do is, I'd like forbrothers and need to do is run
(23:23):
in my absence while I'm alive,although not in the
organization.
So usually what we tend to hopefor is when we pass away the
organization to still run as aSadaqah Jaariyah.
But why would I risk thathappening?
And there could be a chancewhere the organization doesn't
run, and then a lot of thatmight come to an end.
(23:44):
So the smarter thing to do wouldto try to build a structure, a
process, right, where it doesn'trevolve around me.
And start on that journey in mylifetime and hope that in my
lifetime I've got theopportunity to step out of it,
get the right people in it toallow it to run and grow.
and so that's kind of where, I'mat now and In shaa Allah, what
(24:07):
I'd like to see over the nextfew years is that coming into
fruition.
And then I can kind of add somevalue from afar, and that way
then at least.
I know to the best of myability, I've done my part.
I've tied my camel, I'll rely onAllah SWT, but I'm ever
conscious of my mentor's wordsat the time that now that you're
(24:28):
on this journey, Shaytan isplotting and planning and
Shaytan got time.
Shaytan's been around sincebefore Adam AS, and he's got
respite till the day ofjudgment.
So he is plotting and planning.
Even though you may not see him,he's gonna come and try and
blindside you.
So just be conscious of that.
(24:49):
And I feel like when thatbecomes front of mind for me,
and I remember the reality, itreminds me, Dean, you gotta now
step it up a notch.
You gotta now mate bring it intodown another gear and go harder
and obviously like without goingtoo much on attention, we know
the story of Imam Ahmed ibnHambal, right, hmm.
(25:12):
one of the four Imams, ImamAhmed, and you know when he's
going in and out ofconsciousness and he's saying,
no, not yet.
No, not yet.
So his sons asking him, what?
You don't want to die now?
He's like, no.
Shaytan came to me and he said,oh, Ahmed, you've slipped from
my fingers.
You've left and I haven't beenable to get you.
He's like, no, not yet.
No, not yet.
Till I die, then Alhamdulillah,I'll be safe.
(25:37):
And so Shaytan is conniving andShaytan is really working hard
to try and take us away from thecause, even right till those
last moments.
And so I just try and etch inthose amazing stories into my
mind to remind me of thereality, that we are in.
Mifrah Mahroof (25:54):
So it sounds like at that point when you
wanted to give up, you thoughtabout, the bigger picture and
how this is.
Because you are actuallystepping up in your life and the
Shaytan wants to come and stopyou from that.
But then also on the other hand,now that you've built it to what
it is, you are now thinkingabout how can I, build it in a
(26:18):
way that it continues as aSadaqah Jaariyah so that you can
be able to step away from it.
So it's like what it, what itsounds like is that complete the
whole cycle of it, complete thewhole cycle of that project.
So that even if you do move on,then it's not that you've quit
and it all just like fell apart.
It's more like you've left it ata good place so that you can be
(26:39):
able to move on to the nextthing that Allah SWT has in
store for you.
Dean Mousad (26:43):
Yeah, that's a plan, because I'm sure you've
been in the community for a longtime.
As we have Alhamdulillah we seea lot of great projects around
us, Unfortunately, sometimesthey don't have the succession
plan that they need.
Or maybe, some of the eldersthat have set it up,
unfortunately they've moved onin, you
Mifrah Mahroof (26:57):
on just one person.
Dean Mousad (26:58):
Yeah, that's right.
Mifrah Mahroof (27:00):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (27:00):
And so you really part of that Surah process, you
really wanna learn from otherpeople's mistakes.
Mifrah Mahroof (27:06):
Mm-Hmm
Dean Mousad (27:06):
Okay.
I need to make sure that I don'tdo the same thing that everyone
else is doing.
And so it goes back into point,learn from other people's
mistakes.
Do the consultation and Surah.
Mifrah Mahroof (27:18):
That's a really important one.
Okay.
So, but I wanna fast forward tohow things are now.
So you actually have brothers inneeds.
You have, the Quran project andalso you have your main business
Invictus Solutions.
So I wanna actually unlearn fromhow you actually manage
everything.
And I know one thing that I knowyou're a big fan of very well
(27:41):
thought of self-care plan Selfcare envolving.
Self-care.
And one of the things that Iknow that, one of the things
that I wanted to learn about youwas, you mentioned something
about Five Pillars health.
Five Pillars of health.
it wasn't something that youmentioned in the interview, but
just something that we spokeabout beforehand.
Dean Mousad (27:59):
So, um, this is like old school, they used to
teach this to us back in PDHP inhigh school, right?
the five dimensions health, Soyou've got your physical
dimension of health, you've gotyour emotional, your mental,
your social, and your spiritual.
So for us, our overall health,optimum health has to be based
off these five dimensions or onthese five dimensions, so you
(28:19):
might have,
Mifrah Mahroof (28:20):
what were their, again?
Emotional.
Dean Mousad (28:22):
so you got physical, emotional, mental,
social and spiritual.
Mifrah Mahroof (28:28):
Okay.
Yep.
Dean Mousad (28:29):
Sometimes people have great physical health,
right?
They go to the gym seven days aweek, they're pumping a, they're
pumping iron, they're lovinglife, but mentally they're not
doing the greatest, and thatimpacts their overall health.
Or spiritually, they might be 10out of 10, they might be doing
their five daily prayers andeverything else in between.
But socially, they're isolated.
They don't have a good socialnetwork, or they don't socially
(28:52):
engage with anyone.
And so that brings down alsotheir health.
And, so for us, what we try anddo is we try and get individuals
to look at those five dimensionsand see, where do you rank
today?
So you do a quick littleexercise on a scale of one to
10.
For each of those fivedimensions, where are you today?
Say you might be a seven on aphysical, you might be a three
(29:14):
on the emotional, you might be aeight on the mental, you might
be a three on the social and anine on the spiritual.
And then you say, okay, in sixmonths time, where would you
like to be on a scale of one to10?
Mifrah Mahroof (29:25):
Right.
Dean Mousad (29:26):
And then you do the same thing and then you, how do
I work towards it?
Okay, I'm doing great here.
What could I do better there?
And so for us to live a betterquality life, I believe that we
need to focus on those fivedimensions of health.
Mifrah Mahroof (29:40):
Hmm.
I see.
So how do you know when you'relow on a low on a pillar?
Like you have to have some sortof awareness, right?
Dean Mousad (29:47):
When you go through life, I think we don't do enough
of this, because of, I'mspeaking, in the context of the
Western Australia, you know, go,go, go, go, go.
Concrete jungles.
There's no time to rest andbreathe.
Mifrah Mahroof (29:58):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (29:59):
we don't have enough time for the concept of
Tafakkur, right?
Reflection, prophet of Allah,SAW he would, you know, leave,
he go to mount Hira, he sit downon a cave and he reflect, right,
for hours, for days upon time,and he'd really think, okay, you
know what?
He observe the surroundings.
(30:20):
He'd give some thought tohimself and then he'd go back
into society.
Right?
And so for us.
I think we need to go back tothe arc of reflection, working
inwards and upwards.
So we need to reflect onourselves internally, look at
ourselves, internally.
Where are our deficiencies?
Am I really living a purposefullife, what could I do better?
(30:44):
And then also my connection withAllah SWT.
And then once you've kind of gotthat awareness.
Then you are able to really, puta plan in place.
This is what I need do.
Uh, once again, having thatsupport of those mentors around
you, they'll also be able tohelp, pick out, okay, hey mate,
you know, you've fallen shorthere.
(31:05):
That's really what a mentorshould do and accountability
partner should do, someone partof your Surah should do.
They should because they loveyou for the sake of Allah, they
wanna see you succeed.
So you need to have a goodcircle, a good click around you
Mifrah Mahroof (31:18):
support networks
Dean Mousad (31:19):
So they'll be able to see things that you may not
be able to see,
Mifrah Mahroof (31:24):
That's true.
Dean Mousad (31:25):
and then you're able to work on, those
dimensions and other things inyour life.
Mifrah Mahroof (31:29):
Hmm.
So you mentioned here,emotional, physical, mental,
social, spiritual, physical,social and spiritual is
straightforward.
But what's the differenceemotional and mental?
Dean Mousad (31:40):
So look at your mental wellbeing, internally in
terms of your mind, and thenlook at your emotional
wellbeing, internally, as maybeyour heart, So you look at how
you, comprehend things on anemotional front your emotions,
how in tune you are with them.
When times of sadness, your sadhappiness, your happy, excited
(32:00):
anger, and so on and so forth.
And then look at your mind, themental state in terms of your
cognition and how your mindprocesses, information.
Mifrah Mahroof (32:11):
Hmm.
I see.
That makes a lot of sense.
So I'm curious to know though,how does your self-care routine
fit in with all of these fivepillars?
Dean Mousad (32:21):
You know how as Muslims, We make sure that Allah
revolves arounds our prayers
Mifrah Mahroof (32:28):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (32:29):
after after our prayers.
My life revolves,
Mifrah Mahroof (32:32):
my self care routines, right.
Okay.
Tell us more about that
Dean Mousad (32:37):
And it's ever evolving, as you grow, as you
know, life throws beautifulthings at you.
You learn to adapt.
You learn to chop and changethings.
Sometimes, your life might workin seasons.
So for me, I might get busyduring certain parts of the
year, and so there might beless, not no, but less
self-care.
While other seasons there mightbe a bit more opportunity for
(32:59):
more.
Mifrah Mahroof (33:00):
Right.
Dean Mousad (33:01):
So for me, I review and refind my calendar as often
as I can.
I use my calendar as a form ofkeeping myself, a very
regimented routine or as closeto as possible.
And, in there will be like myfloat therapy sessions.
So I jump in a pool, right, withabout 500 kilos of Epsom salts
(33:21):
and magnesium, then I just, sitback and I float.
Right?
And, uh, obviously the Epsomsalt in the magnesium being
absorbed into your skin, theeffects that has on the body is
phenomenal and great.
And I use that as an opportunityas well, because you're in a
room by yourself with a lightsoft.
I use that as an opportunity toreflect, am I doing enough?
(33:45):
Am I a good individual?
How could I do things, better?
And so.
Being alone in a room byyourself for an hour.
It isn't an easy
Mifrah Mahroof (33:56):
Yeah, not, with this tech technology age where
we just like grab oursmartphones any second and just
staying still.
I find it quite hard, just likestaying still.
I have to be reading, I have tobe listening to a podcast.
I have to be doing something.
Dean Mousad (34:09):
And sometimes we have to ask ourselves, why is
that the case?
Mifrah Mahroof (34:12):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (34:13):
Are we running away from something?
Are we trying to fit in?
you go to dinner with a group offriends, and try and not be on
your phone for an hour.
What you'll see happen is, somepeople will last for a bit, but
then as everyone's phone comesout, you made yourself a
conscious decision not to takeit out regardless if everyone
took out their phones andsomehow the phone ends up in
your hands right now.
(34:34):
Why have I taken out my phonefor?
Is it because I don't wanna sitin silence, right?
Is it because I'm gonna awkwardwhen everybody else is on their
phones, I'm not.
And so sometimes, we do thingsjust as on autopilot without
even being conscious.
There's a problem.
Mifrah Mahroof (34:48):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (34:49):
a problem with that
Mifrah Mahroof (34:50):
Because when you get away from being conscious,
then you're just living onautopilot, and then there's not
much that
Dean Mousad (34:56):
Yeah.
Mifrah Mahroof (34:56):
out of that.
All right.
Well, look, did, we're actuallynear the closing of our
interview, and I guess onequestion that I do want to, hear
from you is like, as a, well, alot of productivity fans are
very curious about this ingeneral, about how does your
routine look like?
So say your morning wake uproutine.
Dean Mousad (35:17):
yeah.
Well look, once again, our liferevolves around a lot of
reviewing and revining, And soit ever changes and ever
evolves.
So probably since our trip, inOctober or end of September, we
had our trip to Indonesia.
After that, I made sure thatokay, we wake up for fajar and
after fajar, I've been going tothe gym.
(35:37):
So..
Something recently that I'vebeen doing in
Mifrah Mahroof (35:39):
as a new habit Very nice
Dean Mousad (35:41):
I've added.
So once again, constantly reviewand refining how can,
Mifrah Mahroof (35:47):
to see where your life is at.
True.
Dean Mousad (35:49):
yep.
So, what my morning routinelooks now is.
On the spiritual front.
I'll wake up, I'll pray fajar,I'll go to the gym, I'll get my,
dose of physical activity in.
Obviously the effects that thathas on your mental health is
phenomenal and great, andthere's a lot of research to
show that.
So I get to work already byeight o'clock.
(36:11):
I've already worked on thespiritual, the mental, I go with
a couple of brothers, so, eventechnically my social wellbeing
is great.
You're having a goodconversation with, the brothers
that you go into the gym with.
then I'll have, like a, proteinshake, So it's more oats
protein, blueberries, peanutbutter, honey, right?
(36:35):
Um, it's very Shake and itreally keeps me going mostly,
most of the time till probablyabout Dhuhr time.
Mifrah Mahroof (36:43):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (36:43):
the meal itself is very heavy meal.
Uh, and then from once I'vestopped all of that, like, in
terms of the gym workout, uh,I've gone home, I've gotten
showered.
I've either taken my daughter topreschool, I'm doing some work
right from about 8, 8 30.
Mifrah Mahroof (36:58):
Yeah.
till probably, into Dhuhr timeYou might have a little break in
between or two, So you, youmight do a 90 minute block of
work, have a little breather,have a little breath, go for a
little walk, jump off yourchair, jump on for another 90
minutes.
and then once again, you do thata couple times.
he comes into Dhuhr time, butthen, a new hack that I've also
(37:20):
been cognizant of and I've triedto be mindful of and implemented
as much as daily as possible ismy Qailulah.
So my little siesta, my littlecat nap, right?
Uh, that really helps a lot.
The nap.
Yeah,
Dean Mousad (37:37):
I've found that, uh, a nice 20, 25 minute session
at most.
If I go longer than 25, if I hitthat 30 minute mark, I'm
finished.
Right?
Um, and so 25 minutes is reallythat sweet spot that I try and
hit, and it's literally like aquick cat nap, but that really
(37:59):
recharges my batteries,especially if I've been up, for
us now fajar is four o'clock.
If I've been up 4.30 or so.
Mifrah Mahroof (38:06):
And that
Dean Mousad (38:06):
You are, you know, 12 hours later.
you are really, you know, um,
Mifrah Mahroof (38:09):
these these days,
Dean Mousad (38:11):
So there are a of hacks.
Mifrah Mahroof (38:13):
uh, before, uh, how your day actually starts off
the night before.
Dean Mousad (38:19):
Yeah.
So when I read the book, theProductive Muslim by Muhammed
Fariz, he said, you know, in hisbook, waking Up Early Starts the
Night before.
So we always say, you know what?
We really wanna make sure thatwe wake up and we're gonna stay
up after fajar.
And we've also did a thousandwrong times and we've all gone
to sleep 1,002 times, right?
Um, but then I thought, Let'stry it out.
(38:39):
Let's try and try it out asconsistently as possible and
then let's, really look back andthink, okay, did it work, did it
not?
I'm not gonna know until I tryit.
Mifrah Mahroof (38:48):
Yeah, true.
Dean Mousad (38:49):
Um, and Alhamdulillah as best as I can
as well, since coming back frommy trip, I've tried to make sure
as best as possible that mostnights I'm in bed at 10 o'clock
and I'm sleep by 10.30.
Mifrah Mahroof (39:05):
yeah,
Dean Mousad (39:06):
Sometimes it deviates, but once again, takes.
Mifrah Mahroof (39:08):
of at least you have a target.
Dean Mousad (39:11):
That's right.
Yeah.
so I think 90% of the time,since coming back from our trip
in Indonesia, uh, I've had agood strike rate.
it could definitely be better,on the weekends, So sometimes
it's Saturday night, we treatourselves and we stay out a bit
later.
Mifrah Mahroof (39:26):
True.
Um, but Alhamdulillah, thismonth Monday to Friday, for the
most part Yeah.
They revolve around that, so Iguess it just shows more about
getting, um, consistency thebest you can.
'cause life is not perfect.
We're not gonna hit it everysingle day, and that's something
to keep in mind.
Okay, so we have, two morequestions before we wrap up,
(39:47):
today's interview.
So this is a question that weask all our guests, and the
first one is, what is one lifehack that has improved your
life?
Dean Mousad (39:57):
One life hack that has improved my life.
look, for me personally, itmight sound cliche, but as best
as I can, when I catch myselfdoing nothing, I rotate between
Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah,and so the virtues of saying
(40:17):
both of those, I feel like it'sinfused so much Barakah in my
life, that this is somethingthat when I wasn't saying it.
comped, So let's just say I'vebeen on the dean, right, quote
unquote, since 2013, November2013 to now, So it's about 10
years, right?
(40:38):
10 years in a month.
And I compare these last 10years to the 10 years before
where I probably wasn't aspracticing and I wasn't saying
Astagfirullah, Alhamdulillah,and looking at the benefits that
has brought me in my life in thelast 10 years, Alhamdulillah, by
repeating Astagfirullah andAlhamdulillah, I feel like the
(41:00):
blessings of Allah SWT,
Mifrah Mahroof (41:01):
It's
Dean Mousad (41:02):
Has been infused in my life.
And so when you bring me ontothis podcast and you ask me,
Dean, how do you have the timeto do X, Y, Z, it not because
I've got more hours than you.
Mifrah Mahroof (41:14):
Yeah.
True.
Dean Mousad (41:16):
'cause we've both got the same amount of hours in
our, in our time.
Right.
Um, but I,'cause I try andreflect a lot and then when I
start to research what benefitsare there in saying
Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah,you look into the Qur'an, and
the Qur'an tells us, Right.
Mifrah Mahroof (41:30):
Allah SWT says, lainsyakartum laazidannakum,
right, in the Qur'an, mm.
Dean Mousad (41:35):
And if you are thankful, if you are grateful,
I'll give you
Mifrah Mahroof (41:38):
increases.
Dean Mousad (41:38):
more.
More what?
Allah hasn't told us?
More time, more wealth, morehealth, more barrakah,
wallahualam, right.
And then when you makeAstagfirullah, when you say
istighfar, when you, when yousay Astagfirullah, Allah SWT
other than forgiving you yoursins and allowing you to raise
up in ranks, he increases you inin rizq, in wealth, in children,
(42:01):
in gardens, and the list goeson, Subhanallah.
So this has been something thatI've tried to share with as many
people as possible, alternatingon my lips between Astagfirullah
and Alhamdulillah.
Mifrah Mahroof (42:16):
if a like a block of free time comes, you
would just be like,Astagfirullah Astagfirullah or
are you saying AstagfirullahAlhamdulillah..
Dean Mousad (42:24):
So even if I'm driving.
Mifrah Mahroof (42:25):
that okay?
Dean Mousad (42:27):
Even when I'm driving And I'm not making any
phone calls, I'm not listeningto anything,
Mifrah Mahroof (42:32):
Hmm.
Dean Mousad (42:33):
I'll just drive and I'll say Astgafirullah
Mifrah Mahroof (42:34):
wal hamdulillah..
Astgafirullah walhamdulillah Ah,okay.
So you, yep.
Dean Mousad (42:40):
alternate between the
Mifrah Mahroof (42:41):
so alternate it within that sitting.
Right.
That makes sense.
Dean Mousad (42:45):
It could be anywhere.
Like even when I'm in the,flotation therapy.
Right,
Mifrah Mahroof (42:48):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (42:49):
My anchor is Astagfirullah, because trying to
sit in a room by yourself for anhour, your mind is racing.
Mifrah Mahroof (42:57):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (42:57):
And I'm like
Mifrah Mahroof (42:58):
I focus on myself, dude.
I, that, really reminded me oftime, when I did scuba diving
for the first time, I wasfrightened.
And calmed me down was
Dean Mousad (43:09):
yeah,
Mifrah Mahroof (43:09):
like 11 meters down in the Great Barrier Reef,
right?
So
Dean Mousad (43:13):
yeah.
Subhanallah, that's my life hackman.
Mifrah Mahroof (43:16):
Okay.
That is a very powerful one.
And I wanna start likeconsciously implementing that
because it's like you say, it'scliche, but we need to be
reminded of these things becauseit's like when we consciously be
like, Hey, I can do this and Ineed to remember to do this.
So Thank you for sharing that.
I want to start doing that in mylife.
'cause I am in need of a lot ofbarakkah as well.
Um, we all
Dean Mousad (43:36):
we all are.
Mifrah Mahroof (43:37):
Yeah.
And finally, what book would yousay has helped you level up in
your life?
Dean Mousad (43:42):
So I haven't read as many books this year.
I read a lot more last year.
if I reflect on one of the bookslast year I read it was, uh,
with The Heart in Mind by MikaelSmith.
Mifrah Mahroof (43:57):
Oh
Dean Mousad (43:57):
is a revert.
Yeah, you heard of it?
Mifrah Mahroof (44:01):
Yeah.
You were telling me about that.
Dean Mousad (44:03):
Yeah.
There you go.
So it must be good, right?
If I'm saying it again.
Mifrah Mahroof (44:08):
Yeah.
If you're
Dean Mousad (44:08):
So,
Mifrah Mahroof (44:09):
it
Dean Mousad (44:09):
um,
Mifrah Mahroof (44:09):
it
Dean Mousad (44:10):
yeah.
So with the heart in mind,
Mifrah Mahroof (44:12):
on my list.
Dean Mousad (44:14):
it's, um, by revert, by the name of Mikael
Smith.
He's currently released hissecond book, which I've bought
called, when Hearing BecomesListening.
So the
Mifrah Mahroof (44:23):
Oh, actually I you told about when hearing
behind listening, so, okay, sothis author Has written two
really good books.
Dean Mousad (44:30):
Yeah.
And so last year when I wasreading with the Heart and Mind,
he was talking about theimportance of emotional
intelligence.
So, the world has focused a loton iq, on academics, a lot on,
how much we can retain, how muchwe know.
Although only in recent times.
If we focus on or try to bringto life the emotional
(44:53):
intelligence, how to deal withdifferent people, right?
How deal with yourself, and soour master, the prophet of
Allah, SAW, he taught us in manydifferent interactions and
engagements, whether he was,dealing with Quraish at the time
or dealing with, his wives ordealing with the companions or,
(45:13):
on military expeditions, orbeing the head of state or,
having Surah with differentindividuals, he taught us how at
every point in time to beemotionally connected and
attentive, to the needs of thepeople in front of us, and to be
able to, I guess, achieve thebest result.
(45:34):
And so for us, and we're alwaystrying to achieve the best, with
our engagements and interactionswith people, you need to be
cognizant, of how to deal withpeople, and that requires, I
guess, an emotional, intelligentindividual, so, that's a good
book.
Mifrah Mahroof (45:48):
That's very true.
Well, thank you very much forsharing that, and thank you very
much, Dean, for coming on ourpodcast and In shaa Allah, hope
to speak to you again soon.
In
Dean Mousad (45:59):
shaa Allah I appreciate it.
Once again, we hope that there'sa benefit to it.
Anything that's good from thisis from Allah SWT and anything
bad is from myself and Shaytan.
Mifrah Mahroof - Podcast En (46:10):
Hey everyone, that wraps up another
episode of the Muslim LifeHackers podcast.
I really hope you enjoyed ourchat today and got some great
takeaways from it.
If you like what you heard anddon't want to miss out on our
next conversations, hit thatsubscribe button.
It really means a lot to us andhelps us grow the show.
And you know what?
If you're feeling extra generoustoday, drop us a review or a
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I'd love to hear your thoughts.
(46:31):
Thank you again for tuning inuntil next time, keep striving
and getting better every day.
Look at the resources that Allah SWT has
given you and give back with theresources that you've been
given.
So what do I mean by that?
Sometimes we like to look atmaybe a billionaire or a
millionaire and how they wereable to fund a whole orphanage
or they were able to fund awhole project, a whole masjid, a
whole town, and I wish I coulddo that.
(00:22):
The person hasn't been giventhat wealth, but someone's been
given a lot of time or someone'sbeen given a ability to be able
to rally people up and advocatefor a particular cause.
So look at the resources thatyou've been given and use that
resource to allow you tocontribute the best way and the
most efficient way possible.
Mifrah (00:44):
As-salamu alaykum and welcome to the Muslim Life
Hackers podcast.
I'm your host me from Barris.
And this is the podcast where weget better every day.
Through conversations withexperts, leaders, and inspiring
individuals.
We're going to give youactionable insights to help you
win in this life and the next.
So if you're ready to level upin every area of your life and
(01:04):
you committed to living withexcellence for the sake of your
Lord.
You're in the right place.
Get ready for insights,inspiration, and a whole lot of
life hacks.
This is a Muslim Life Hackerspodcast.
Let's dive in.
Mifrah Mahroof (01:18):
As-salamu alaykum Dean, welcome to the
show.
Dean Mousad (01:20):
Wa ʿalaykumu s-salāmu wa-raḥmatu-llāhi
wa-barakātuh Mifrah, thank youvery much for inviting me.
Mifrah Mahroof (01:23):
So Dean, you do many things.
You are aware of many hats.
So, the first thing is thefounder and director of Invictus
Solutions.
So that's a community ledbusiness that provides
counseling and mentoringworkshops.
And in fact, speaking about inInvictus, I have the pens that
you gave the Invictus Pen I'musing, and also the Invictus
(01:45):
bookmark.
So.
Invictus Bookmark has a reallynice quote on it.
It says, strong people stand upfor themselves, but the
strongest people stand up forothers.
So I like that.
And so you have that, and Iguess a lot of people know you
through being the managingdirector of Brothers in Need.
So a local charity here inAustralia that provide support
to those in need, Includingdoing things like homeless runs,
(02:08):
soup kitchens and youth programsand more.
And along with that, I by sawthat you are also the co-founder
of Project Quran, which is anonprofit organization focused
on Dawah work.
And what I didn't know was that,project Quran was the one behind
giving the first ever EnglishQuran, that was gifted to Prince
William and New Zealand's formerPrime Minister Jacinda Aden.
(02:29):
I didn't know that actually.
Dean Mousad (02:30):
Yeah Alhamdulillah..
We wouldn't say we got lucky,
Mifrah Mahroof (02:37):
True
Dean Mousad (02:40):
honored.
Mifrah Mahroof (02:41):
That's really good.
So I mean like they're the threemain areas that I have here.
I know there must be more likeis there anything I missed out
on at this point?
Dean Mousad (02:50):
I think you sum it up well.
Mifrah Mahroof (02:52):
Actually I forgot to mention, you are also
a father and you serve as a rolemodel and leader in for the
youth in the community as well.
So that's also something to noteand something that we shouldn't
forget as well.
So, the first thing that Ireally think about when I see
someone with doing so manyprojects, there's always a story
behind it.
(03:12):
Like, things don't just comeovernight and you become the
director of all of these things.
I'll start off with a simplequestion before I get to the
hard questions actually, Dean.
So what motivated you to do allthis?
Dean Mousad (03:23):
So let's start off with the best of words.
So what started me, what made meget into this, I think from a
young age, I've always wanted tohelp people.
It's kind of something that'sbeen, embedded in me from a
young age, Alhamdulillah, Soit's always been in the back of
my mind, even though, growing upin my early teens, I got up to
(03:46):
some mischief, from my earlyteens to our early twenties, but
I guess when I had a near deathexperience at the age of 24, I
started to reflect on, my lifewhere I was at.
And the saying goes, if nothingchanges, nothing changes.
So I reflected on the last ageyears of my life and I thought,
forward, if I live the last ageand do nothing about it, I'm
(04:10):
probably gonna live the next agethe same way.
Mifrah Mahroof (04:12):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (04:13):
so that's where, at that point in time, I started
thinking, oh, what I've reallygotta start now putting some of
the things that I learned inchildhood, into action.
And that's kind of where the age24 I started to go through, I
guess, a bit more of a consciousthought process, after that near
death experience.
I went to umrah about threemonths after,
Mifrah Mahroof (04:34):
Hmm.
Dean Mousad (04:35):
so February 2014.
And then I think from there Istarted thinking, okay, you know
what?
This is now the path I want totake.
This is the path where I want toembark on a journey of doing as
many good deeds as I possiblycan.
Number one, to rectify the wrongthat I've done.
(04:55):
But number two, to pave I guessa good.
Foundation into the future tosecure me, I guess, a spot, in
Jannah, right?
then that got further certifiedin February, 2015 when my
grandma passed away a and Iactually buried my grandma,
myself.
So putting her in the grave, inthe white shroud, into the earth
(05:18):
and seeing her go in withnothing.
All of those kind of experiencesin the year and a bit before
kind of solidified themselveseven further in my mind.
And I thought that, okay, we'regoing inside the ground with
nothing here.
It's now or never.
And so immediately that's whenbrothers in need started in
2015, in February.
And, the boys that are sittingat the table with over dinner at
(05:41):
the time, we're all of this,we're all born here in
Australia, and
Mifrah Mahroof (05:45):
we're all kinda thingking about
Dean Mousad (05:46):
what can we do to kind of help us moving forward,
how can we change thestereotypes?
at the time, obviously you hadthe Lin Siege Cafe, you had the
whole, Ciesco that was happeningin the Middle East at the time,
in the years before 2015, inSyria.
and the Lavant.
and so for us, we kind ofthought, We need to do something
(06:08):
to kind of change the stereotypefor Muslims here, born in
Australia and that's where theorganization Brothers in need
came about, Alhamdulillah, eightand a half years on right in
December 2023 Alhamdulillah, theoperations spread out three
different states in Australiaand it's reached more or less
goes global through, you know, asome Podcast like this.
Mifrah Mahroof (06:29):
Masha Allah, it's really nice to hear about
that, how everything just startswith that conversation and that
intention.
Like, how can I make adifference?
And one thing I really take awayfrom your story here so far is
that how having theseexperiences with death actually
is what opened our eyes.
And it really reminds me of thatwhole concept of living with,
(06:50):
thinking about death constantlyis the best way to live because
that allows you to be reallyclear on how you want your life
to look like.
Dean Mousad (06:59):
You're definitely right about that.
And there's something propheticthere as well.
the prophet of Allah, SAW inMecca initially, the prophet
stopped the companions going tothe graveyards to visit the
graveyards because the Iman wasnew.
There was a lot of graveworshiping.
those years in Mecca was thereto help them build their iman,
(07:21):
tauhid, knowing Allah SWT, butthen in Madina, the prophet SAW
encourage the companions to goand visit the cemeteries, to
visit the graveyards because itis a destroyer of all pleasures
and it reminds us of thereality, and the reality, like
you said, is death, regardlessof what religion, nationality,
(07:42):
race, we all agree upon thatwe're all gonna die.
And so I think reflecting onthat.
Mifrah Mahroof (07:48):
I've seen in a lot of like personal development
kind of writings, even from anon-Muslim point of view, they
say death is the most liberatingthing because at that point, you
prioritize what's important toyou and you don't care what
other people think or whatsociety tells you to do.
And so it's just you and yourdifference and what you wanna
make out of this life.
And I think that it reallyforces you to get clear and get
(08:10):
clarity.
And that's what I hear from yourstory, how you mentioned about
you having India deathexperience and your grandmother
and having to bury her as well.
And that, you know, it's hard tocapture that in words, the
feelings that would evoke.
So I'm interested to know, Dean,actually, so you took me back to
the early days of Brother inneed where you and your friends
(08:32):
were all sitting around the cafethinking, what can we do?
Um, and so I wanted to know atthat point when you started
Brothers in Need and you startedgoing out there and helping the
community and the homeless andeveryone, did you ever envision
at a point how it would betoday?
Dean Mousad (08:50):
No chance in the world, right?
So for us it was just kind oflike a very premature idea.
We said, let's create a Facebookpage, show the people you know
what we're doing.
They're giving us money, they'regiving us donations, and let's
just, show that what we arereceiving, we're giving out back
to the community, to the mostneedy.
And from there, the videos gotshared, the comments are likes.
(09:11):
people wanted to give moremoney.
People wanted to support us inways that we couldn't imagine.
And so we thought, okay, holdup.
We probably should register this
Mifrah Mahroof (09:20):
And
Dean Mousad (09:21):
set up a non-for-Profit
Mifrah Mahroof (09:22):
official.
Dean Mousad (09:23):
and do something properly with it, right?
Make it official.
so we got connected up to a fewprofessionals.
We set up, everything by, June.
2015.
So three months in we set upeverything, got it set up as a
registered non-for-profit taxdeductible, set up everything.
And from there we just hit theground running.
And yeah, like you said, therewas no like strategic plan.
(09:46):
It, it's not
Mifrah Mahroof (09:47):
Yeah.
at that when you went andregistered your charity.
Did you have big plans then atthat stage that you're gonna be
three states and gonna extendyour impact?
Dean Mousad (10:00):
No, it literally like, we didn't get hired.
usually when you hire a directorfor a non-for-profit, you look
at their resume, you see, youknow what contributions they've
made on other boards, and youhire them based on that So we
had zero qualifications, we hada hundred percent zeal and
wanted to put in effort to getthings done, and that was pretty
much it.
Right?
And so, Alhamdulillah, I thinkover the years, putting
(10:22):
ourselves in differentorganizations where we can learn
from professionals that havedone great job, in the NFP
(not-for-profit) space.
we've sought mentors, we'vesought advice, we've sought
Surah, to learn from others.
And I think that's like, if wewere to talk about, for our
Muslim audience here that wantto look at, a hack, you know,
(10:43):
the first hack in this podcastcould be, let's go back to the
basic and let's go back toSurah.
So, Surah is consultation.
This is what the prophet ofAllah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa
sallam told us to do.
You know, every other person'sbusiness card has the word
consultant on it, right?
But consultants, through andthrough right, is actually
sitting down with like-mindedpeople, like-hearted individuals
(11:07):
bouncing off your ideas andgetting people to poke holes in
it, so, I don't claim I've gotthe best idea in the world, but
this is an idea.
This is what we'd like to do.
Poke holes in it.
And I think because we did thatearly on.
Mifrah Mahroof (11:19):
yeah.
Dean Mousad (11:20):
We put ourselves in different circles, different
pockets.
we had different, informaladvisory boards and Surah it
allowed us to, like the sayinggoes, two heads is better than
one and learn about what'sprobably the better way of going
about something without actuallyhaving to go through it yourself
(11:41):
and spend money and time andresources.
So that has been, I think one ofthe things that we've held dear,
to us and we've made sure thatat every point as best as we
can, we do Surah.
Mifrah Mahroof (11:56):
So did you
Dean Mousad (11:57):
people
Mifrah Mahroof (11:57):
to do Surah with it?
cause I know in this, societythat we live in, a lot of people
find themselves isolated andthey have this grandiose idea
and then they go tell theirfriends or something, and maybe
they're not into that kind ofstuff, and they're just kind of
all alone typing away.
So, how did you go about withthat?
Dean Mousad (12:15):
Like the saying goes, ask and you shall receive
and it sounds very simple You
Mifrah Mahroof (12:20):
keep asking around, right?
Dean Mousad (12:22):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
so initially I think it was likeMuslim made Australia sat down,
with the CEO at the time, Iwanna learn from you.
then a year after that.
I think it was NZF.
Same thing with the CEO there.
I wanna sit down, I wanna learnfrom you, and so on and so
forth.
Like I've put myself in thesecircles, if I couldn't get
through them directly, I'd ask,someone who may know them or
(12:43):
someone who volunteers withthem.
But I've always asked, and Ithink because I've been
comfortable when asking, Ehmmm..
you will receive, right.
You might make a few mistakesalong the way.
You might get a couple ofroadblocks along the way, very
normal.
Uh, but if you're consistent, inasking, I believe at some point,
Mifrah Mahroof (13:04):
Mm.
Things start to open up.
Dean Mousad (13:06):
Allah SWT will, yeah.
will line things up, for you.
So ask.
Mifrah Mahroof (13:11):
point that you make, about asking, because I
think we just have that fearabout being rejected when we
ask.
But like you said, there areroad roadblocks.
But the reality is many peopleare open to helping you and
actually giving that advice.
So one of the things that youdid mention though, was around
not having a grandiose plan.
And the reason I mentioned thisis because there is this whole
(13:33):
thing that some people feel thatwhen they start a project, they
need to have this grandioseplan.
They need to have it all kind ofvisioned and written.
And it comes to some people, Idon't deny that, but sometimes
It doesn't come to others, andit may be a blocker for them to
start something.
What are your thoughts on that?
Dean Mousad (13:53):
from my experience, I don't think you need a
grandiose plan.
I'm more of a foot soldier thanlike a strategic, mastermind, so
for me, I've got a couple peoplewho like, I'm as creative as a
doormat, right?
So for me, I'm not thatcreative.
I'm not gonna give you greatideas.
I'm the last person to be givinganyone great ideas, if you gimme
a great idea that's been thoughtout, through and through I will,
(14:16):
with the will of Allah SWT makesure that it's done.
So that's my superpower.
My superpower is getting thingsdone.
So I guess you need to look atyour superpower, and then work
with that.
If you are setting up your ownNFP(not-for-profit), There's
nothing wrong with, trying to,dot your eyes and cross your
T's.
There's nothing wrong withasking around how do you think I
should do things, but trying toachieve perfection before
(14:40):
implementation.
It's not realistic.
It's not gonna happen, Yeah,
Mifrah Mahroof (14:44):
That's big blocker a lot of times it's
like, I need to get all of thesethings set, and then you get so
paralyzed by that and then youdon't do anything.
Dean Mousad (14:53):
So I think, look, tie your camel.
So do your part dot your eyescross your T's and then rely on
Allah and go forward, That'strue We we don't control the
results, right?
The results are with Allah SWT.
So I've learned that the hardway along the way,'cause we
always try and make sure that,we present our best thing and
put it forward.
(15:14):
Although it's okay, like you'llmake a mistake along the way.
Your ideas will, probably have alot of holes in them, but humble
yourself to the process, and Ifeel that through that process
Alhamdulillah and through thewill of Allah SWT we've been
able to see those Projects goand I think once we learned from
one project, we took thoselearning.
(15:35):
It's gonna brought us to projecttwo project three and so on and
so forth
Mifrah Mahroof (15:39):
yeah.
That makes a lot of sense.
I guess what I notice is havingthat sincere intention and just
taking whatever action, youknow, at that stage with the
knowledge that you have at thatstage.
I would even say, like with theknowledge Allah SWT has given
you at that stage, and thenplacing your trust in him and
then seeking Al Shura, andthat's Some steps that you can
(16:01):
start taking to start working onthe area of contribution in your
life, actually.
So, one of the things though issome, a lot of us as practicing
Muslims, we have many areas inour life.
That we want to improve.
So even here in Muslim LifeHackers, we aim to help our
audience level up in theirhealth, wealth, work,
(16:24):
relationships, their religion,their contribution.
So when it comes to that area ofcontribution, what advice would
you give to listeners who wantto make a contribution in their
life?
Like how would they go aboutwith that?
'cause they're like, Hey, Iwanna give back.
I just, I don't know what to do.
Dean Mousad (16:38):
From experience.
Look at the resources that AllahSWT has given you and give back
with the life, give back withthe resources that you've been
given.
So what do I mean by that?
Sometimes we like to look at,maybe a billionaire or a
millionaire and how they wereable to fund, a whole orphanage
or they were able to fund awhole project, a whole Masjid,
(17:01):
the whole town, and I wish Icould do that, and you know, the
person hasn't been given thatwealth, but someone's been given
a lot of time or someone's beengiven a, ability to be able to
rally people up and advocate fora particular cause.
So look at the resources thatyou've been given and use that
resource to allow you tocontribute the best way and the
(17:25):
most efficient way possible.
'cause sometimes, once again,you look at the person next to
you, to your left, you look atthe person next to you, to your
right and you wanna do what theydo.
I wanna do what they do.
But that's not the resource thatAllah SWT gave you.
Right.
And you see that in thecompanions.
Some companions were great onthe battlefield, like Khalil bin
Walid some companions had money.
(17:46):
Like, you know, Abdurrahman ibnAuf ra, and like Abu Bakar
radhiyallahu anhu, Utsman binAffan, and different companions
have different skill, right.
Billal radhiyallahu anhu wasawesome at, you know, adhan, and
every single time he made adhan,guess what he'd get the rewards
for bringing the people in topray.
(18:07):
So everyone's got a differentway of, worshiping Allah,
getting closer to Allah,contributing to the original of
Allah.
So look at those resources thatyou've been given and use that
superpower.
Use that resource to contribute.
Mifrah Mahroof (18:21):
Would you say resources and superpowers are
the same?
Dean Mousad (18:24):
Yes, I would in this context.
I would say in this context,yes.
If Allah SWT has given you,intellect right then I would say
that this is a resource thatAllah SWT has given you.
It's something that has beengiven to you by the Almighty.
So use that to your advantage ifAllah SWT has given you another
(18:47):
resource.
Which is a beautiful voice, orit's wealth, or your time.
These are resources.
I'm not talking about it from atechnical standpoint, but for
the sake of our audience,through this podcast, I would
look at that resource, and ifthat's your superpower, then use
it to your advantage, I've beentold that I can gel well with
(19:08):
people of all ages.
That could be a superpower ofmine, So use that to contribute.
When you're sitting down withthe youth, have a conversation
on their level, and get themmaybe, you know, if they're
struggling with something toturn back to Allah.
If me gelling well with abusinessman, allows me to help
get money out of their pocket toput it towards a non-for-profit,
then do so and so on and soforth.
(19:30):
Right.
Mifrah Mahroof (19:30):
So like just mentioned right there that
somebody else told you that yougel well with people.
So also hearing what otherpeople have to say about you in
order for you to identify thesesuperpowers and resources that
you have in your life.
Dean Mousad (19:43):
Yeah, most definitely.
Look, sometimes we don't look inenough.
And so sometimes when you don'tlook in enough, you don't see
the resource that Allah SWT hasgiven you, the superpower that
you've been given.
So sometimes you know thatmentor, or someone around you,
might, pick a strength or pick,something that, You really
haven't thought.
Yeah, that's right.
That, yeah, you didn't reallythink it was anything.
(20:03):
You're like, oh, actually Icould actually use this for my
benefit and the benefit of thecommunity.
Right.
Mifrah Mahroof (20:10):
Yeah, of course.
That's a very good point.
So I guess if you were to sumthat up, it's really knowing
yourself and to know yourself.
You look inwards.
You also ask others what theynotice from you through mentors
or through your friends as well,and just the people around you.
It's like, what am I good at andwhat do you see in me?
What do you think I can do that,that comes easy to me.
(20:32):
That doesn't come easy toothers.
And that's a very good pointactually,'cause that gives you
the starting point on thenknowing what to do in wanting to
give back.
Dean Mousad (20:43):
That's correct.
Mifrah Mahroof (20:44):
we went through how you actually, started your
Charity Brothers in Need andthen thought process that went
through that.
So I wanna know now, so fastforward that you have brothers
in needs, you have multipleprojects, you also run your
business as well.
I actually had another questionabout brothers in need.
One thing that I do wonderthough, when it comes to your
(21:05):
early days in Bro Brothers inNeeds, or even the days after
you decided to register it as anonprofit and keep moving
forward, was there any pointwhere you just felt like, that's
it, I wanna give up and move onwith my life?
Dean Mousad (21:20):
Yeah, most definitely.
Probably the first time was afew years in.
And I spoke to one of my mentorsand I said, look man, I wanna
hang the gloves up, I'm done
Mifrah Mahroof (21:30):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (21:31):
And he was like, why are you done for, like, what
do you mean mate?
He, his early days and we had abit of a chat about, essentially
the, the reasons why and then hekind of told me, look, In order
you've embarked on this journeyright, journey of contribution,
the journey of trying to giveback to humanity, support others
(21:52):
and, benefit the scales on yourright hand side.
He said Shaytan is now on thisjourney and Shaytan is coming in
guns blazing.
He's coming in from the front.
He is coming to ambush you fromthe side, from the left, from
the right, from behind, fromevery single way shape of form,
trying to detour you and stopyou from achieving this noble
(22:17):
vision.
The vision of entering Jannah,the vision of serving Allah SWT,
and at the same time saving afew people if Allah wills along
the way.
And so when he kind of paintedthat image in my mind, I kind of
visualized it as he was talking,right?
I was actually like giving outsome thought, oh wow.
(22:38):
Like this is actually what'shappening, right?
Like it's no longer now Deantrying to secure his place in
Jannah, but now what the team'strying to build, they're trying
to build a vehicle to takepeople to Jannah too.
And so obviously Shaytan's like,Ooh, hold up mate.
I'll let you kind of slide, butnow that you're trying to bring
people with you, this isn't on.
Mifrah Mahroof (22:59):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (23:00):
And so I guess like.
Even since that conversation,there's been times where I've
thought about, like maybe Ishould take a step out.
Maybe I should get somebody elseto come in instead of myself.
Uh, I haven't thought about itsince then to close the whole
operation.
Um, but I guess part of mysuccession plan, what I would
like to do is, I'd like forbrothers and need to do is run
(23:23):
in my absence while I'm alive,although not in the
organization.
So usually what we tend to hopefor is when we pass away the
organization to still run as aSadaqah Jaariyah.
But why would I risk thathappening?
And there could be a chancewhere the organization doesn't
run, and then a lot of thatmight come to an end.
(23:44):
So the smarter thing to do wouldto try to build a structure, a
process, right, where it doesn'trevolve around me.
And start on that journey in mylifetime and hope that in my
lifetime I've got theopportunity to step out of it,
get the right people in it toallow it to run and grow.
and so that's kind of where, I'mat now and In shaa Allah, what
(24:07):
I'd like to see over the nextfew years is that coming into
fruition.
And then I can kind of add somevalue from afar, and that way
then at least.
I know to the best of myability, I've done my part.
I've tied my camel, I'll rely onAllah SWT, but I'm ever
conscious of my mentor's wordsat the time that now that you're
(24:28):
on this journey, Shaytan isplotting and planning and
Shaytan got time.
Shaytan's been around sincebefore Adam AS, and he's got
respite till the day ofjudgment.
So he is plotting and planning.
Even though you may not see him,he's gonna come and try and
blindside you.
So just be conscious of that.
(24:49):
And I feel like when thatbecomes front of mind for me,
and I remember the reality, itreminds me, Dean, you gotta now
step it up a notch.
You gotta now mate bring it intodown another gear and go harder
and obviously like without goingtoo much on attention, we know
the story of Imam Ahmed ibnHambal, right, hmm.
(25:12):
one of the four Imams, ImamAhmed, and you know when he's
going in and out ofconsciousness and he's saying,
no, not yet.
No, not yet.
So his sons asking him, what?
You don't want to die now?
He's like, no.
Shaytan came to me and he said,oh, Ahmed, you've slipped from
my fingers.
You've left and I haven't beenable to get you.
He's like, no, not yet.
No, not yet.
Till I die, then Alhamdulillah,I'll be safe.
(25:37):
And so Shaytan is conniving andShaytan is really working hard
to try and take us away from thecause, even right till those
last moments.
And so I just try and etch inthose amazing stories into my
mind to remind me of thereality, that we are in.
Mifrah Mahroof (25:54):
So it sounds like at that point when you
wanted to give up, you thoughtabout, the bigger picture and
how this is.
Because you are actuallystepping up in your life and the
Shaytan wants to come and stopyou from that.
But then also on the other hand,now that you've built it to what
it is, you are now thinkingabout how can I, build it in a
(26:18):
way that it continues as aSadaqah Jaariyah so that you can
be able to step away from it.
So it's like what it, what itsounds like is that complete the
whole cycle of it, complete thewhole cycle of that project.
So that even if you do move on,then it's not that you've quit
and it all just like fell apart.
It's more like you've left it ata good place so that you can be
(26:39):
able to move on to the nextthing that Allah SWT has in
store for you.
Dean Mousad (26:43):
Yeah, that's a plan, because I'm sure you've
been in the community for a longtime.
As we have Alhamdulillah we seea lot of great projects around
us, Unfortunately, sometimesthey don't have the succession
plan that they need.
Or maybe, some of the eldersthat have set it up,
unfortunately they've moved onin, you
Mifrah Mahroof (26:57):
on just one person.
Dean Mousad (26:58):
Yeah, that's right.
Mifrah Mahroof (27:00):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (27:00):
And so you really part of that Surah process, you
really wanna learn from otherpeople's mistakes.
Mifrah Mahroof (27:06):
Mm-Hmm
Dean Mousad (27:06):
Okay.
I need to make sure that I don'tdo the same thing that everyone
else is doing.
And so it goes back into point,learn from other people's
mistakes.
Do the consultation and Surah.
Mifrah Mahroof (27:18):
That's a really important one.
Okay.
So, but I wanna fast forward tohow things are now.
So you actually have brothers inneeds.
You have, the Quran project andalso you have your main business
Invictus Solutions.
So I wanna actually unlearn fromhow you actually manage
everything.
And I know one thing that I knowyou're a big fan of very well
(27:41):
thought of self-care plan Selfcare envolving.
Self-care.
And one of the things that Iknow that, one of the things
that I wanted to learn about youwas, you mentioned something
about Five Pillars health.
Five Pillars of health.
it wasn't something that youmentioned in the interview, but
just something that we spokeabout beforehand.
Dean Mousad (27:59):
So, um, this is like old school, they used to
teach this to us back in PDHP inhigh school, right?
the five dimensions health, Soyou've got your physical
dimension of health, you've gotyour emotional, your mental,
your social, and your spiritual.
So for us, our overall health,optimum health has to be based
off these five dimensions or onthese five dimensions, so you
(28:19):
might have,
Mifrah Mahroof (28:20):
what were their, again?
Emotional.
Dean Mousad (28:22):
so you got physical, emotional, mental,
social and spiritual.
Mifrah Mahroof (28:28):
Okay.
Yep.
Dean Mousad (28:29):
Sometimes people have great physical health,
right?
They go to the gym seven days aweek, they're pumping a, they're
pumping iron, they're lovinglife, but mentally they're not
doing the greatest, and thatimpacts their overall health.
Or spiritually, they might be 10out of 10, they might be doing
their five daily prayers andeverything else in between.
But socially, they're isolated.
They don't have a good socialnetwork, or they don't socially
(28:52):
engage with anyone.
And so that brings down alsotheir health.
And, so for us, what we try anddo is we try and get individuals
to look at those five dimensionsand see, where do you rank
today?
So you do a quick littleexercise on a scale of one to
10.
For each of those fivedimensions, where are you today?
Say you might be a seven on aphysical, you might be a three
(29:14):
on the emotional, you might be aeight on the mental, you might
be a three on the social and anine on the spiritual.
And then you say, okay, in sixmonths time, where would you
like to be on a scale of one to10?
Mifrah Mahroof (29:25):
Right.
Dean Mousad (29:26):
And then you do the same thing and then you, how do
I work towards it?
Okay, I'm doing great here.
What could I do better there?
And so for us to live a betterquality life, I believe that we
need to focus on those fivedimensions of health.
Mifrah Mahroof (29:40):
Hmm.
I see.
So how do you know when you'relow on a low on a pillar?
Like you have to have some sortof awareness, right?
Dean Mousad (29:47):
When you go through life, I think we don't do enough
of this, because of, I'mspeaking, in the context of the
Western Australia, you know, go,go, go, go, go.
Concrete jungles.
There's no time to rest andbreathe.
Mifrah Mahroof (29:58):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (29:59):
we don't have enough time for the concept of
Tafakkur, right?
Reflection, prophet of Allah,SAW he would, you know, leave,
he go to mount Hira, he sit downon a cave and he reflect, right,
for hours, for days upon time,and he'd really think, okay, you
know what?
He observe the surroundings.
(30:20):
He'd give some thought tohimself and then he'd go back
into society.
Right?
And so for us.
I think we need to go back tothe arc of reflection, working
inwards and upwards.
So we need to reflect onourselves internally, look at
ourselves, internally.
Where are our deficiencies?
Am I really living a purposefullife, what could I do better?
(30:44):
And then also my connection withAllah SWT.
And then once you've kind of gotthat awareness.
Then you are able to really, puta plan in place.
This is what I need do.
Uh, once again, having thatsupport of those mentors around
you, they'll also be able tohelp, pick out, okay, hey mate,
you know, you've fallen shorthere.
(31:05):
That's really what a mentorshould do and accountability
partner should do, someone partof your Surah should do.
They should because they loveyou for the sake of Allah, they
wanna see you succeed.
So you need to have a goodcircle, a good click around you
Mifrah Mahroof (31:18):
support networks
Dean Mousad (31:19):
So they'll be able to see things that you may not
be able to see,
Mifrah Mahroof (31:24):
That's true.
Dean Mousad (31:25):
and then you're able to work on, those
dimensions and other things inyour life.
Mifrah Mahroof (31:29):
Hmm.
So you mentioned here,emotional, physical, mental,
social, spiritual, physical,social and spiritual is
straightforward.
But what's the differenceemotional and mental?
Dean Mousad (31:40):
So look at your mental wellbeing, internally in
terms of your mind, and thenlook at your emotional
wellbeing, internally, as maybeyour heart, So you look at how
you, comprehend things on anemotional front your emotions,
how in tune you are with them.
When times of sadness, your sadhappiness, your happy, excited
(32:00):
anger, and so on and so forth.
And then look at your mind, themental state in terms of your
cognition and how your mindprocesses, information.
Mifrah Mahroof (32:11):
Hmm.
I see.
That makes a lot of sense.
So I'm curious to know though,how does your self-care routine
fit in with all of these fivepillars?
Dean Mousad (32:21):
You know how as Muslims, We make sure that Allah
revolves arounds our prayers
Mifrah Mahroof (32:28):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (32:29):
after after our prayers.
My life revolves,
Mifrah Mahroof (32:32):
my self care routines, right.
Okay.
Tell us more about that
Dean Mousad (32:37):
And it's ever evolving, as you grow, as you
know, life throws beautifulthings at you.
You learn to adapt.
You learn to chop and changethings.
Sometimes, your life might workin seasons.
So for me, I might get busyduring certain parts of the
year, and so there might beless, not no, but less
self-care.
While other seasons there mightbe a bit more opportunity for
(32:59):
more.
Mifrah Mahroof (33:00):
Right.
Dean Mousad (33:01):
So for me, I review and refind my calendar as often
as I can.
I use my calendar as a form ofkeeping myself, a very
regimented routine or as closeto as possible.
And, in there will be like myfloat therapy sessions.
So I jump in a pool, right, withabout 500 kilos of Epsom salts
(33:21):
and magnesium, then I just, sitback and I float.
Right?
And, uh, obviously the Epsomsalt in the magnesium being
absorbed into your skin, theeffects that has on the body is
phenomenal and great.
And I use that as an opportunityas well, because you're in a
room by yourself with a lightsoft.
I use that as an opportunity toreflect, am I doing enough?
(33:45):
Am I a good individual?
How could I do things, better?
And so.
Being alone in a room byyourself for an hour.
It isn't an easy
Mifrah Mahroof (33:56):
Yeah, not, with this tech technology age where
we just like grab oursmartphones any second and just
staying still.
I find it quite hard, just likestaying still.
I have to be reading, I have tobe listening to a podcast.
I have to be doing something.
Dean Mousad (34:09):
And sometimes we have to ask ourselves, why is
that the case?
Mifrah Mahroof (34:12):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (34:13):
Are we running away from something?
Are we trying to fit in?
you go to dinner with a group offriends, and try and not be on
your phone for an hour.
What you'll see happen is, somepeople will last for a bit, but
then as everyone's phone comesout, you made yourself a
conscious decision not to takeit out regardless if everyone
took out their phones andsomehow the phone ends up in
your hands right now.
(34:34):
Why have I taken out my phonefor?
Is it because I don't wanna sitin silence, right?
Is it because I'm gonna awkwardwhen everybody else is on their
phones, I'm not.
And so sometimes, we do thingsjust as on autopilot without
even being conscious.
There's a problem.
Mifrah Mahroof (34:48):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (34:49):
a problem with that
Mifrah Mahroof (34:50):
Because when you get away from being conscious,
then you're just living onautopilot, and then there's not
much that
Dean Mousad (34:56):
Yeah.
Mifrah Mahroof (34:56):
out of that.
All right.
Well, look, did, we're actuallynear the closing of our
interview, and I guess onequestion that I do want to, hear
from you is like, as a, well, alot of productivity fans are
very curious about this ingeneral, about how does your
routine look like?
So say your morning wake uproutine.
Dean Mousad (35:17):
yeah.
Well look, once again, our liferevolves around a lot of
reviewing and revining, And soit ever changes and ever
evolves.
So probably since our trip, inOctober or end of September, we
had our trip to Indonesia.
After that, I made sure thatokay, we wake up for fajar and
after fajar, I've been going tothe gym.
(35:37):
So..
Something recently that I'vebeen doing in
Mifrah Mahroof (35:39):
as a new habit Very nice
Dean Mousad (35:41):
I've added.
So once again, constantly reviewand refining how can,
Mifrah Mahroof (35:47):
to see where your life is at.
True.
Dean Mousad (35:49):
yep.
So, what my morning routinelooks now is.
On the spiritual front.
I'll wake up, I'll pray fajar,I'll go to the gym, I'll get my,
dose of physical activity in.
Obviously the effects that thathas on your mental health is
phenomenal and great, andthere's a lot of research to
show that.
So I get to work already byeight o'clock.
(36:11):
I've already worked on thespiritual, the mental, I go with
a couple of brothers, so, eventechnically my social wellbeing
is great.
You're having a goodconversation with, the brothers
that you go into the gym with.
then I'll have, like a, proteinshake, So it's more oats
protein, blueberries, peanutbutter, honey, right?
(36:35):
Um, it's very Shake and itreally keeps me going mostly,
most of the time till probablyabout Dhuhr time.
Mifrah Mahroof (36:43):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (36:43):
the meal itself is very heavy meal.
Uh, and then from once I'vestopped all of that, like, in
terms of the gym workout, uh,I've gone home, I've gotten
showered.
I've either taken my daughter topreschool, I'm doing some work
right from about 8, 8 30.
Mifrah Mahroof (36:58):
Yeah.
till probably, into Dhuhr timeYou might have a little break in
between or two, So you, youmight do a 90 minute block of
work, have a little breather,have a little breath, go for a
little walk, jump off yourchair, jump on for another 90
minutes.
and then once again, you do thata couple times.
he comes into Dhuhr time, butthen, a new hack that I've also
(37:20):
been cognizant of and I've triedto be mindful of and implemented
as much as daily as possible ismy Qailulah.
So my little siesta, my littlecat nap, right?
Uh, that really helps a lot.
The nap.
Yeah,
Dean Mousad (37:37):
I've found that, uh, a nice 20, 25 minute session
at most.
If I go longer than 25, if I hitthat 30 minute mark, I'm
finished.
Right?
Um, and so 25 minutes is reallythat sweet spot that I try and
hit, and it's literally like aquick cat nap, but that really
(37:59):
recharges my batteries,especially if I've been up, for
us now fajar is four o'clock.
If I've been up 4.30 or so.
Mifrah Mahroof (38:06):
And that
Dean Mousad (38:06):
You are, you know, 12 hours later.
you are really, you know, um,
Mifrah Mahroof (38:09):
these these days,
Dean Mousad (38:11):
So there are a of hacks.
Mifrah Mahroof (38:13):
uh, before, uh, how your day actually starts off
the night before.
Dean Mousad (38:19):
Yeah.
So when I read the book, theProductive Muslim by Muhammed
Fariz, he said, you know, in hisbook, waking Up Early Starts the
Night before.
So we always say, you know what?
We really wanna make sure thatwe wake up and we're gonna stay
up after fajar.
And we've also did a thousandwrong times and we've all gone
to sleep 1,002 times, right?
Um, but then I thought, Let'stry it out.
(38:39):
Let's try and try it out asconsistently as possible and
then let's, really look back andthink, okay, did it work, did it
not?
I'm not gonna know until I tryit.
Mifrah Mahroof (38:48):
Yeah, true.
Dean Mousad (38:49):
Um, and Alhamdulillah as best as I can
as well, since coming back frommy trip, I've tried to make sure
as best as possible that mostnights I'm in bed at 10 o'clock
and I'm sleep by 10.30.
Mifrah Mahroof (39:05):
yeah,
Dean Mousad (39:06):
Sometimes it deviates, but once again, takes.
Mifrah Mahroof (39:08):
of at least you have a target.
Dean Mousad (39:11):
That's right.
Yeah.
so I think 90% of the time,since coming back from our trip
in Indonesia, uh, I've had agood strike rate.
it could definitely be better,on the weekends, So sometimes
it's Saturday night, we treatourselves and we stay out a bit
later.
Mifrah Mahroof (39:26):
True.
Um, but Alhamdulillah, thismonth Monday to Friday, for the
most part Yeah.
They revolve around that, so Iguess it just shows more about
getting, um, consistency thebest you can.
'cause life is not perfect.
We're not gonna hit it everysingle day, and that's something
to keep in mind.
Okay, so we have, two morequestions before we wrap up,
(39:47):
today's interview.
So this is a question that weask all our guests, and the
first one is, what is one lifehack that has improved your
life?
Dean Mousad (39:57):
One life hack that has improved my life.
look, for me personally, itmight sound cliche, but as best
as I can, when I catch myselfdoing nothing, I rotate between
Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah,and so the virtues of saying
(40:17):
both of those, I feel like it'sinfused so much Barakah in my
life, that this is somethingthat when I wasn't saying it.
comped, So let's just say I'vebeen on the dean, right, quote
unquote, since 2013, November2013 to now, So it's about 10
years, right?
(40:38):
10 years in a month.
And I compare these last 10years to the 10 years before
where I probably wasn't aspracticing and I wasn't saying
Astagfirullah, Alhamdulillah,and looking at the benefits that
has brought me in my life in thelast 10 years, Alhamdulillah, by
repeating Astagfirullah andAlhamdulillah, I feel like the
(41:00):
blessings of Allah SWT,
Mifrah Mahroof (41:01):
It's
Dean Mousad (41:02):
Has been infused in my life.
And so when you bring me ontothis podcast and you ask me,
Dean, how do you have the timeto do X, Y, Z, it not because
I've got more hours than you.
Mifrah Mahroof (41:14):
Yeah.
True.
Dean Mousad (41:16):
'cause we've both got the same amount of hours in
our, in our time.
Right.
Um, but I,'cause I try andreflect a lot and then when I
start to research what benefitsare there in saying
Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah,you look into the Qur'an, and
the Qur'an tells us, Right.
Mifrah Mahroof (41:30):
Allah SWT says, lainsyakartum laazidannakum,
right, in the Qur'an, mm.
Dean Mousad (41:35):
And if you are thankful, if you are grateful,
I'll give you
Mifrah Mahroof (41:38):
increases.
Dean Mousad (41:38):
more.
More what?
Allah hasn't told us?
More time, more wealth, morehealth, more barrakah,
wallahualam, right.
And then when you makeAstagfirullah, when you say
istighfar, when you, when yousay Astagfirullah, Allah SWT
other than forgiving you yoursins and allowing you to raise
up in ranks, he increases you inin rizq, in wealth, in children,
(42:01):
in gardens, and the list goeson, Subhanallah.
So this has been something thatI've tried to share with as many
people as possible, alternatingon my lips between Astagfirullah
and Alhamdulillah.
Mifrah Mahroof (42:16):
if a like a block of free time comes, you
would just be like,Astagfirullah Astagfirullah or
are you saying AstagfirullahAlhamdulillah..
Dean Mousad (42:24):
So even if I'm driving.
Mifrah Mahroof (42:25):
that okay?
Dean Mousad (42:27):
Even when I'm driving And I'm not making any
phone calls, I'm not listeningto anything,
Mifrah Mahroof (42:32):
Hmm.
Dean Mousad (42:33):
I'll just drive and I'll say Astgafirullah
Mifrah Mahroof (42:34):
wal hamdulillah..
Astgafirullah walhamdulillah Ah,okay.
So you, yep.
Dean Mousad (42:40):
alternate between the
Mifrah Mahroof (42:41):
so alternate it within that sitting.
Right.
That makes sense.
Dean Mousad (42:45):
It could be anywhere.
Like even when I'm in the,flotation therapy.
Right,
Mifrah Mahroof (42:48):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (42:49):
My anchor is Astagfirullah, because trying to
sit in a room by yourself for anhour, your mind is racing.
Mifrah Mahroof (42:57):
Yeah.
Dean Mousad (42:57):
And I'm like
Mifrah Mahroof (42:58):
I focus on myself, dude.
I, that, really reminded me oftime, when I did scuba diving
for the first time, I wasfrightened.
And calmed me down was
Dean Mousad (43:09):
yeah,
Mifrah Mahroof (43:09):
like 11 meters down in the Great Barrier Reef,
right?
So
Dean Mousad (43:13):
yeah.
Subhanallah, that's my life hackman.
Mifrah Mahroof (43:16):
Okay.
That is a very powerful one.
And I wanna start likeconsciously implementing that
because it's like you say, it'scliche, but we need to be
reminded of these things becauseit's like when we consciously be
like, Hey, I can do this and Ineed to remember to do this.
So Thank you for sharing that.
I want to start doing that in mylife.
'cause I am in need of a lot ofbarakkah as well.
Um, we all
Dean Mousad (43:36):
we all are.
Mifrah Mahroof (43:37):
Yeah.
And finally, what book would yousay has helped you level up in
your life?
Dean Mousad (43:42):
So I haven't read as many books this year.
I read a lot more last year.
if I reflect on one of the bookslast year I read it was, uh,
with The Heart in Mind by MikaelSmith.
Mifrah Mahroof (43:57):
Oh
Dean Mousad (43:57):
is a revert.
Yeah, you heard of it?
Mifrah Mahroof (44:01):
Yeah.
You were telling me about that.
Dean Mousad (44:03):
Yeah.
There you go.
So it must be good, right?
If I'm saying it again.
Mifrah Mahroof (44:08):
Yeah.
If you're
Dean Mousad (44:08):
So,
Mifrah Mahroof (44:09):
it
Dean Mousad (44:09):
um,
Mifrah Mahroof (44:09):
it
Dean Mousad (44:10):
yeah.
So with the heart in mind,
Mifrah Mahroof (44:12):
on my list.
Dean Mousad (44:14):
it's, um, by revert, by the name of Mikael
Smith.
He's currently released hissecond book, which I've bought
called, when Hearing BecomesListening.
So the
Mifrah Mahroof (44:23):
Oh, actually I you told about when hearing
behind listening, so, okay, sothis author Has written two
really good books.
Dean Mousad (44:30):
Yeah.
And so last year when I wasreading with the Heart and Mind,
he was talking about theimportance of emotional
intelligence.
So, the world has focused a loton iq, on academics, a lot on,
how much we can retain, how muchwe know.
Although only in recent times.
If we focus on or try to bringto life the emotional
(44:53):
intelligence, how to deal withdifferent people, right?
How deal with yourself, and soour master, the prophet of
Allah, SAW, he taught us in manydifferent interactions and
engagements, whether he was,dealing with Quraish at the time
or dealing with, his wives ordealing with the companions or,
(45:13):
on military expeditions, orbeing the head of state or,
having Surah with differentindividuals, he taught us how at
every point in time to beemotionally connected and
attentive, to the needs of thepeople in front of us, and to be
able to, I guess, achieve thebest result.
(45:34):
And so for us, and we're alwaystrying to achieve the best, with
our engagements and interactionswith people, you need to be
cognizant, of how to deal withpeople, and that requires, I
guess, an emotional, intelligentindividual, so, that's a good
book.
Mifrah Mahroof (45:48):
That's very true.
Well, thank you very much forsharing that, and thank you very
much, Dean, for coming on ourpodcast and In shaa Allah, hope
to speak to you again soon.
In
Dean Mousad (45:59):
shaa Allah I appreciate it.
Once again, we hope that there'sa benefit to it.
Anything that's good from thisis from Allah SWT and anything
bad is from myself and Shaytan.
Mifrah Mahroof - Podcast En (46:10):
Hey everyone, that wraps up another
episode of the Muslim LifeHackers podcast.
I really hope you enjoyed ourchat today and got some great
takeaways from it.
If you like what you heard anddon't want to miss out on our
next conversations, hit thatsubscribe button.
It really means a lot to us andhelps us grow the show.
And you know what?
If you're feeling extra generoustoday, drop us a review or a
rating.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
(46:31):
Thank you again for tuning inuntil next time, keep striving
and getting better every day.
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