NEW SERIES: How to Be a Productive Muslim | #1 The Muslim’s Guide to Getting More Out of Life #AMAU

How can I be productive? There's an entire industry, a self-help industry where hundreds of thousands of people, thousands of books and videos and a huge number of courses and billions and billions of dollars. The shan wants you to be unproductive. If the shaitan can't tell you to do a sin and take you away from it, he can even say to you, do this good deed, but just not the important one. not the one that is really necessary for you. So you see someone busy with something that is not what they are supposed to be doing at that particular time from he mentions it in he said a person's time in reality is his very life and it passes like the passing of the clouds whatever of his time is for the sake of Allah and seeking the help of Allah that is his true life other than that it's not counted as part of his life even if he lived the way that the cattle lift. If he spends his time in heedlessness and distraction and false hopes, the best thing he can do in that situation is go to sleep. The death of such a person is better than his life. Alhamdulillah. I would like to begin first of all by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for once again gathering us together in this house from the houses of Allah subhanana wa ta'ala and it's really a very very great blessing that Allah subhana ta gathered us together and that Allah subhana wa ta'ala allowed us and permitted us to remember him in this beautiful masid together with my brothers and I ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala as he gathered us together here today that he gathers us together my dear brothers and sisters the topic that we have chosen to deal with and this topic inshallah is going to continue for a number of of weeks and months is a topic that there is a lot of speech about many thousands of books have been written. In fact, there is an entire multi-billion dollar industry that exists primarily to deal with this topic and that is the topic of productivity. How can I be productive? And of course for us we want to say how can I be a productive Muslim? There's an entire industry, a self-help industry where thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people, thousands of books and videos and huge a huge number of courses and billions [clears throat] and billions of dollars. And actually the one qualification the person needs is not actually to be productive. It's just to be able to convince you that you can be productive. And there are of course Muslims and non-Muslims who talk about this and this can benefit us in the and no doubt there is some amazing amazing content and that's because people crave the idea of being productive maybe more than they imagine anything else. Know some people imagine themselves being really really wealthy. They imagine themselves maybe being really famous. They imagine themselves being really gifted at something. But more than anything, we like to imagine that I can be productive. I can be one of those people who is quote unquote organized. I can be one of those people who don't forget things, who effortlessly just go through my work. Everything, all the deadlines are done on time. That dream, that tmeni to a certain extent, that imagination that you have is what drives so many people to read books and give their time and so much effort to understand or to try to achieve this goal of being productive, organized, etc. Personally, I think my interest in this began when a brother mentioned to me a book and this book was by a non-Muslim. I'm not going to mention the title of the book or the author because we're in a masjid and we're not going to any and we we're here to talk about the book of Allah and the sunnah of the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He he gifted me a book or he showed me the name of a book and he said, "I think you're going to benefit. This is about productivity, how to be productive, how to get more out of your time. I think you're going to benefit. Take it." And I read it and me personally, and I would advise all of you to to be like this if you can, whenever you read the works of the non-Muslims, you have to read it with a critical eye. You can't just accept, you can't just, you know, drink down what they tell you. This knowledge you're going to get is your religion. You can't just take what these people say and just automatically take it in. But what you can do is ask, okay, this is the principle of the book. Is this principle supported by Islam or not? Is there a better paradigm in Islam for this? or how does Islam, what do the texts of the Quran and the Sunnah and the statements of the early Muslims tell me about this? And that got me interested and I've done that for a few books now with au where we've gone over some of the famous productivity books of the non-Muslims and we've looked at them in the light of the Sharia. There are some things you cross out you say this is not true and there are some things that you say this is already supported by an ayah or a hadith. And there are other things that you say we don't really have a proof for or against. So we're just going to be neutral about it. It might benefit us, but we're not going to commit ourselves either way. Beyond that when I really wanted to deliver this topic and why I wanted to deliver this topic to you in the masjid for these number of weeks is actually what I saw when we started the with program which is uh it's a five-year program for people who want to study Islam in a very structured way online and we started it and we realized that these issues of productivity are actually causing huge problems for students of knowledge every single day. And this is where the topic for me it went from an interest something that I like to read about to something that I really started to take it very seriously when actually I looked and saw so many of our students dropping out struggling complaining having issues because of things related to time management productivity how to be organized and things like that and my own experience I think I can also say studying I think uh definitely itely the issue of procrastination you know saying that I'm going to do it tomorrow that was a big problem for me and I used to marvel at those people who would just you know we'd have like say 300 hadith to memorize in a term or something and there would just be one person who just you know does three hadith every day and I would marvel at that person wah like I'm looking at something that I can't understand but I'm so impressed with that this person is just you know three hadith every day and by the end they know all the hadith and they sit the exam and here's me like 3 days before the exam saying 300 hadith right I can do 100 a day right and so that it resonated with me when I saw and I we really looked at our students and how many people are struggling with this that this is something that we do need to cover and if it's such a problem Islam must have a solution or solutions to it because there is no problem that Muslims face day in day out except that this Sharia the book of Allah and the sunnah of the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam have the solution to those problems and so this is not about just being productive in your daily life it's not about just your work life this is really about being productive in your being productive in seeking knowledge, being productive in coming close to Allah subhana tala as for me I'm certainly not sitting here to claim to you that I am productive or organized this is a journey and inshallah we'll be on this journey together it's a journey that requires constant striving and constant reminders because the shan wants you to be unproductive in one way or another. Ideally, the shaitan would love for the person to leave Islam. If he doesn't leave Islam, he would love for him to fall into innovation and serious huge major sins that will distance him and perhaps even lead him out of Islam at one point in his life. And if not that, at least to become busy with sins as big as possible. And if not that, then the smaller sins. And if not that, to make you busy with the things that are permissible but not necessarily beneficial. Shayan even goes to that level where he will try to get you to do something which is halal permissible but it's not what you should be doing or it's not the best thing you could be doing more than that will shanan ever tell you to do a good deed yes of course mentions to the extent that the shan will tell you to do a good deed on the condition that it's taking you away from something better. So some there's some good deed which is really important. If the shaitan can't tell you to do a sin and take you away from it, he can even say to you do this good deed but just not the important one, not the one that is really necessary for you. So you see someone busy with something that is not what they are supposed to be doing at that particular time. And if this is the case, then this topic is going to be super important for all of us. >> Just 20 seconds until your video continues. That's enough time to ask yourself, are you investing in your growth? AMAU Academy gives you structured Islamic studies, Arabic, and self-development courses all at your own pace. Don't miss out. Begin your journey today at amauacademy.com. And in that sense, we're going to take it nice and slowly. We're going to look at different areas. We're going to go in a lot of detail. But today, I just want to introduce the topic. That's all. I just want to talk a little bit about the the topic, the importance, what it is, a little bit about some of the texts of Islam that we might want to look into. And then week by week, we take a specific topic and we look into it. We delve into it. Ultimately, we're going to start from the principle. Doesn't the one who created you know best? No doubt he does. And that's why whenever you're going to read what this person said and that person said, ultimately Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is your creator and he knows what is best for you and he knows what is optimum and what is the most productive and the most effective for you. All of that has been given to you. We just have to look for it and take it out and present it in a way that we can understand. And we have to remind ourselves I have good days and bad days. Some days I feel like the productivity is going the right way and some days I feel like it's not. And that is the norm of life. These days we alternate between the people and that's the nature of life, right? victory, defeat, success, failure. I thought we'd start with a bit of a and this is probably the only part that is not directly connected to Islam, but there's a reason for it. What is productivity? So if you look at the word productivity and this there's a benefit in this which is that often definitions depend on the subject that you're talking about. I give you an example. The word sunnah means a different thing in the general meaning of the language. In the science of in the science of hadith, in the science of in the science of the word sunnah might mean something different to all those different people. And so sometimes you find words that are very subject specific. So generally productivity originally maybe you can say in economics the ratio of output to input you don't have to write any of this down this is I'm going to come to the Islamic definition in a minute the ratio of output to input the efficiency with which resources are converted into goods and services okay so we're looking at output versus input I'm looking at generic here because I'm going to come to the Islamic definition so generically if I take a benefit from this I'm looking at output and input how much I put in how how much I get out and I'm looking at efficiency. Okay, in a business context, the effectiveness with which an organization converts labor, capital, materials, and energy into products and services of value. I like the word effectiveness. We're going to talk about is there a difference in effectiveness and efficiency. I like the idea of value and we want an output which is valuable to us. That's going to be important for us Islamically. We want an output that is valuable for us and we want to convert some raw resources that we've been given by Allah into a valuable output. So keep that in your mind. We're just going to go through a few cuz I'm trying to get to the point of an Islamic definition because I don't I don't we don't really have one. I'm going to suggest one to you. So we're looking at some limited resources we've been given by Allah and we're looking at producing valuable output. Okay. In systems design they say maximizing value and minimizing waste, delivering with the fewest unnecessary steps, delays and resources. Okay, I like maximizing value, minimizing waste as well. You can't maximize your output till you cut down some of the stuff that doesn't need to be there. In Islam, we call that zoot, right? That's a part of zoot. The idea of cutting out things that don't need to be there. For sure, the haram doesn't need to be there. And the doubtful matters don't need to be there, but also quite a lot of the halal and mubhat also don't need to be there. So, cutting things out, taking things away that you don't need. in knowledge work the capacity to produce high quality intellectual output ideas decisions and solutions not merely volume of activity. So it's not about the volume here like we say the famous statement it is quality not quantity here. So we're not looking at necessarily maximizing the number of rakarat we pray each day but we're looking at the optimum quality. Okay. In psychology, the sustained application of deep concentration on cognitively demanding tasks that produce valuable outcomes. What I like about the idea of that is is concentration. Like really being able to apply yourself to, for example, really being able to apply yourself to it and not just doing it in a robotic way individually. This is probably the most relevant to us from the definitions. the ability to consistently produce meaningful results by managing one's time and energy and directing attention towards high value activities. So, I like the word consistently here because that's what we're looking for, right? Consistency, not just one good day, but lots of good days. And we're looking at managing time and definitely we're looking to putting our energy and resources into what we consider to be high value. If we took all those definitions and just made them into one thing, it's not doing more. It's about doing what matters most with the least wasted effort. I don't put many quotes of the non-Muslims, but there's one I quite like. There's nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. I like that quote, even though I don't look a lot of their quotes I don't quote, but I like that one. There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently something that should never have been done in the first place. like you might be super efficient at it, like super good at it and just you're just doing it so fast and so well, but it's something that in the first place you shouldn't be doing or it's not the biggest priority. So really here, if we want to convert this into something Islamic, I think we're going to need two things. We're going to need to define an outcome or a goal. What is our goal? What is our outcome? because these guys talking about I want to produce products and services and goods and uh delivering value and intellectual output and all of that but Islamically what is our goal and the second thing is what resources do we have to produce it because we're not talking economics we're not talking about the GDP of a country and we're not talking about the concentration that a person has or we're not talking about a company taking raw products and producing something out of it. We're talking Islamically, what resources do we have and what output do we want? For me ultimately the statement of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala whoever is saved from the fire taken away from the fire and entered into Jenna that is the person who has succeeded. Don't say success is about your or about your education or about your salary. Success is that your face is turned away from the hellfire and you become from the people of Jenna. And the life of this world is nothing but a deceptive and temporary enjoyment. It's a but it is it's deceptive and it's temporary. So this world you can seem like I want to achieve this this and this and this and there's nothing wrong with achieving something good in this world if it helps you in the but ultimately what we really want in the end of it is we want Jenna and more specifically than that the hadith of the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam If you ask Allah for Jenna, ask him for we ask allahel for it is the best of Jenna and the highest of Jenna. The narrator said, "I believe," he said, "Above it is the throne of the most merciful and the rivers of paradise spring forth from it." That's that's what we want. Anything that is going to get you and me closer to that in the best way possible, that sounds like productivity to me. What about the resources? Really the resource that we fear wasting is the resource that can never ever come back to you. It can never be reused. It can never be recycled. It's never ever coming back. And that is time. When the time of a person comes or a people comes, they will not be able to delay it by even a small amount of time and they will not be able to bring it forward. You have a set amount of time. No doubt we can bring in there money and health and all of those other things that Allah has given you, your int intellect and so on. But in reality, those things can come and go. You can be poor one day and wealthy the next and poor the next and wealthy the next. You can be healthy and sick and healthy again. But one thing that is never coming back to you is the time. [clears throat] That hour that just went, that hour is never coming back. Whatever you pray and beg and ask and do, that hour will never ever come back to you. So really the ultimate resource is time. If we can use our time effectively along with the other blessings given by Allah subhana wa ta'ala and we can use that to effectively work for and strive for the causes of the causes. I don't say strive for it directly because we can't enter ourself into Jenna. Whatever actions you do, you can't put yourself into paradise how hard you work. But there are actions through which Allah subhana wa ta'ala bestows his mercy upon a person and through that mercy the person enters Jenna. So maybe we can say and this is just a initial idea. We could improve it as time goes on. But an initial idea that in Islam perhaps we can say productivity is the ability to effectively perform the actions that are the worldly causes of attaining paradise by using every blessing that Allah has entrusted you with time, health, energy and wealth in the most beneficial way. that is not uh set in stone. That's not an ayah. It's not a hadith. It's just an idea. Something like that. Effectively perform the actions that are the worldly causes of attaining paradise by using every blessing that Allah has entrusted you with, especially your time in the most beneficial way. And maybe we could add something in the fact that we could even say in perhaps instead of paradise, we could even say the best of both worlds. Perhaps we could say attaining the best of both worlds in the sense that it doesn't stop you actually from benefiting in your dunya. It doesn't stop you actually from doing well in your job or doing well in your education. So maybe we could say the causes of the best of attaining the best of both worlds. Listen to the statement of allahel in the advice of Just as a general thought, use what Allah has given you to seek the Allah has given you resources. In the story of Karun, it's money. But Allahh has given every one of you resources. It's given you life, a lifespan. has given you a certain amount of health, a certain amount of money, a certain amount of time, a certain amount of intellect, a certain amount of physical strength. Allah subhana t has given it to you. Now, what does Allah want you to do with that which he's given? use it to get the this is an ayah. When you read the of the ayah, you actually find sometimes it happens when you read the of an ayah, the surprises you and the reason it surprises you is often you presume something about the ayah which might be a view but it might not be the mainstream view of the ayah. Whenever you hear Doesn't your mind go towards don't forget you're allowed to have a part of the like we're not telling you to leave your right but that's not the main of the ayah it's what sometimes you just think it right where you hear the story like so get the and you know you're allowed to have something from the like many of them said means don't forget to worship Allah in the limited time you have in this duny and don't forget to do your of your of personal worship in other words spend your money but don't forget as well to make dua to cry before Allah subhana wa t'ala to do your salah to don't forget your personal worship in this world don't think that just pay you can pay your way to Jenna with just buying and giving charity. Use what Allah has given you and don't forget to do your personal worship in this world. And some of them said, "Don't forget your portion of what Allah made halal for you in the be good good to others as Allah has been good to you." And don't seek to cause corruption on the earth. Allah does not love the ones who make corruption on the earth. Our time in this world is so so limited. Listen to the statement of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. When Allah subhanana wa ta'ala asks the people the disbelievers for Allah subhana tala will ask them. Listen to what I even said. Ib he said about these ayat Allah subhah tells us about the people who wasted their life their little life in this dunya their short life in this dunya they wasted it they didn't obey Allah they didn't worship Allah alone if they could just have been patient the length of this short dunya they would have been successful like Allah Allah's beloved mut the people of tawa were successful. So then is it fair for us to say that those people didn't have enough time? No. As Allah subhana t said, did we not give you a life that was long enough for the one who wants to remember to remember? And did not a warner come to you? So taste the punishment because there is no helper for the oppressive people. Look at how they might answer that. Look at what they say to begin with. What do they say? Our Lord, take us out from the fire so we can do righteous deeds. What does Allah say? We didn't give you enough time. Let's have a little extension. We gave everyone of you enough time that you could have remembered and the warner came to you because if the warner didn't come to you, we will not punish a person till we send a messenger. The warner came and you had enough time to remember. So there is no excuse. The reality is that we deceive ourselves in regard to time. In the abd of Allaham said two blessings many people are deceived. They are losing out and they are being deceived regarding them. Health and free time. And a person believes they'll always be healthy, right? You never ever imagine the point will come like in your planning of your life, right? We will talk about this later inshallah in the future lessons. When you plan out your life and what you're going to do, you plan, I'm always going to be healthy and wealthy and plenty of time. You don't plan to die tomorrow. You don't plan to have no money. You don't plan to be so sick that you can't come to the masjid. So people are deceived by these blessings in thinking that there's no way they can ever lose them. And I love the statement of narrated it from him that he said, "Oh son of Adam, you are just a few days. You're just a few numbered days. You know, like they say in English, your days are numbered. You just have a few number of days. If one day goes, part of you goes with it. And my dear brothers and sisters, we know that all of us have jobs to do in this world. Didn't Allah subhana tala address the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam and say you have all Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam in the day a prolonged occupation with worldly duties and you have jobs to do things to do is part of your worldly life and we have to find a way to manage all of this effectively I'm going to conclude with a quote It's a bit of a long quote from he mentions it in he said for I shall be. He said, "A person's time in reality is his very life. It is the substance of his eternal life in everlasting bliss and the substance of his miserable existence in painful punishment." And it's either the reason he's going to be from the people of Jenna or the reason he's going to be from the people of the fire. And it passes like the passing of the clouds. Whatever of his time is for the sake of Allah and seeking the help of Allah, that is his true life. Other than that, it's not counted as part of his life, even if he lived the way that the cattle live. And he ate and he drank and he slept and he walked around. But we don't count that as part of his life. If he spends his time in heedlessness and distraction and false hopes, the best thing he can do in that situation is go to sleep. Sleeping and idleness. The death of such a person is better than his life. And a person who lives their life like that any death is better than life. But this just really it hammers home the importance of this life that Allah has given you and this time that Allah has given you and that you owe it to yourself that you try to maximize and take the most benefit from it possible. And if these lessons can help all of us, myself first of all and then you can get more out of this limited time that we have in this world and we can do more or we can be more effective in getting closer to Allah subhana tala and we even if we can get more productive in our to help us in the in the sense of if I can be a bit more productive in my I can give more time to my then that will have been time well spent and like I said I think that when we looked at the students and how much people are suffering in this and how many people struggle to learn and struggle to memorize and struggle to read the Quran and they struggle with so many things that they need to do and these struggles come back to time management and organization and things like that so we have to give this subject the best that we can inshallah that's what allahel made easy for me to mention and allah as our general's best.