Muslima Success

-By Raghad Ebied What if we replaced hate with love? What if we remembered that everything is seen by God above? What if we replaced war with peace? What if all human suffering would simply cease? What if We cared for our neighbors like We should? What if We said showing empathy, kindness and compassion We could ? What if we forgave instead of resented ? What if we gave of what we love instead of with-held it? What if We could protect every child, every man and every woman from the cruelty of war? What if we searched deep inside our hearts for the core The core of humanity lest we forgot We’re all human beings no matter what So much suffering, pain and destruction How can I continue to hope for protection Protection of the values of human decency Protection of living life gracefully Protection of every human life From war, hunger and every other strife What if We lifted our hands to pray To a Lord Who Has been with us all along the way And witnessed a dawn of a new time Where deep...

– By Raghad Ebied When you first think of a ‘new place’ – you might think of moving to a new home, which involves packing, selling, maybe saying good bye, and then of course unpacking everything you spent months packing.  Essentially, it can entail building a new life. My family and I recently had the experience of not only moving to a new home, but moving overseas, across the world, to a new community where we did not know anyone.  Now, that is really a whole new place.  Moving with two young children to someplace new was naturally concerning for our family and friends. But as crazy as it seemed, this was what we wanted to try at this stage in our lives, and was ultimately what God had chosen for us now.  There were a number of reasons we decided to make the move and regardless of the reasons, there is so much that I have learned from the exercise of moving overseas and am still learning. The first of which is the process of letting go.   Moving internationally, and having limite...

I wanted to share a quote with you today from Omar ibn Abdil Aziz, considered to be the 5 th  righteous Caliph, who is reported to have said: “Indeed, I have an ambitious soul that craves the finer things.  Every time I reach a status in life, I ambitiously crave a status higher then that.  When I achieved the Caliph position, even though there is no position higher then that, my soul still craved a higher position. And so my soul now craves that which is higher … Jannah! “ How many of us have this kind of ambition to always achieve that which is greater for the sake of Allah, and ultimately, crave to enter a jannah that spans a heavens and the earth, that has that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has even contemplated? All of us were bestowed by Allah (SwT) with skills, talents, and passions to accomplish something great in sha Allah and it is ambition that can drive those God given gifts you have and really enable you by the grace of Allah ...

When I first thought about the question posed in a program I watched today about the most important characteristic of success – a lot of things came to mind – vision, passion, patience – but once the speaker explained that it is in fact adaptability, I understood its importance. The case made by the speaker for adaptability being the most important characteristic of success was that change is the only constant we have in life.  Nothing is guaranteed. We can plan, and execute, and persist; but ultimately, things may not happen the way we expected or wanted. Thus, the case for adaptability.  In order to be successful and overcome the odds, challenges, surprises that you encounter, adaptability can be the single most important characteristic of success. The speaker gave the example of Farouq Al-Baz – who believe it or not – was actually one of the  forerunners of helping man land on the moon.  He was an Egyptian Muslim who grew up in the country-side in Egypt and dreamed of being an amazi...

Courage to Change Not many of us crave change.  In fact, many of us will try to avoid it and some will even resist it.  This is given that subhana’Allah change is one of the only constants we have in life.  Change affects every aspect of our lives: our relationships, our roles and careers, our health, and our level of iman, amongst other aspects. We are born as tiny helpless infants and if Allah (SwT) wills, we grow into active children and youth, then ambitious adults, and finally we grow old and become frail and weak yet again. This is just one example of the constant state of change in our lives.  We change not only physically, but emotionally.  Allah (SwT) tells us in the Quran: “And that it is He who makes one laugh and weep” (Surat Al-Najm: 44).  One day we are happy, and the next may bring sadness, but then again, Allah (SwT) also tells us:  “With hardship there is ease” (Surah al-Sharh V. 5-6). If change is a constant in our life, then I wonder why we always try to avoid it and...

Have you decided where you want to be in the next 5 to 10 years of your life?   In his book, Awaken the Giant Within , Anthony Robbins makes such a simple, yet thoughtful statement.  He says “You see, ten years from now, you will surely arrive.  The question is: Where? Who will you have become? How will you live? What will you contribute? Now is the time to design the next ten years of your life – not once they’re over”.  Many times, we are in the “I wish I had done that” mode – we always seem to realize what we could have done a lot later than when we could have actually done it.  This statement also comes up several times in the Quran when people wished if they had believed or they wished if they had done good.   The reason for this is that we are not able to make firm decisions and commit to them.  Or we let the circumstances or the people around us make our decisions for us.   What does it take to make a decision? Making a decision takes an honest and courageous sta...

Transform your Trials into Triumphs   Do you find yourself constantly reacting to the circumstances around you? Are you caught in a never-ending blame game with the people around you?   If so, would you like to be proactive instead?  Being proactive involves more than taking initiative – it is to take responsibility to ensure that we are living our life the way we want.  Steven Covey presents an interesting angle on the word responsibility – if you break up the word, it’s “response-ability”.  So it is your ability to choose the way in which you respond. And that way should be based on a set of personal or religious values and conscious decision making as opposed to a reaction based on emotions.   When people react to the circumstances and people around them, anything and everything could affect their attitude and therefore their effectiveness.  If the weather is bad, this can affect them.  If someone does not treat them well or is having a bad day, this also affects them...

This is a Time Matrix taken from Stevey Covey’s material.  Guess which one is the ideal quadrant to be in? Quadrant #2 – we should spend the  majority of our time doing important, not urgent items because this means we are prioritizing our time and our schedules. Guess which quadrant will cause burnout? Yes, Quadrant 1 – although the items are important, the fact that they are urgent means that you are constantly under pressure which will eventually lead to burn out. And guess unfortunately where some will spend a majority of their time? In quadrants three and four. So feel free to print out the quadrant, post it where you can see it and do a quick count over one week (or even two or three days) of where you spend the majority of your time. All the best always,                                                                                                                                                                  Urgent                                            ...

You  might have heard that quote before – “if there’s a will, there’s a way”. Willpower, determination, motivation – they all indicate a great drive to achieve your goals and dreams. I watched an Islamic program yesterday on the topic and it mentioned two barriers and three steps to having a great level of motivation. The two barriers are: 1) Previous bad experiences that hold us back from achieving our goals.  These previous bad experiences can cause a fear of failure, fear of rejection, etc. 2) Negative societal pressure – the good old saying, well everyone else does this or everyone else doesn’t do this. And the three steps to achieving a high level of motivation are: 1) Rebel – against your bad habits including health habits like overeating, over-sleeping, laziness, and procrastination. 2) Be daring/take a risk – against your fears – step out of your comfort zone and reach out for your dreams – as long as they are within the boundaries of Islamic guidelines.  Anyone t...