Latest / After Maghrib 🌙 / The 3 Struggles EVERY Muslim Face (Ft. Sayed Zane Milani)
Transcript
- 0:00It's Millar Rahmad Rahim Salaam alaikum and welcome back to the
- 0:03aftermath of podcast where today's a new week.
- 0:05That means we're having a brand new conversation and I'm excited
- 0:08for today because it's one I think we can all relate to and
- 0:11resonate with. Inshallah and we are joined by a
- 0:13wonderful, amazing guest. And before I introduce him, as
- 0:18always, as I do every week, I'd like to introduce my Co host, my
- 0:22partner in crime. Yes, yes.
- 0:33Sounds like. We're married.
- 0:39No, no, no. Technically.
- 0:43We have. We have spouses who listen how
- 0:45are. You.
- 0:46I handled. I'm OK.
- 0:48I had AI had a late night last night.
- 0:51We had the late night buzz. The late night buzz, which means
- 0:54I got here late, which was I'm half asleep right now, say Ali,
- 0:57He messaged me, he says. Voila, please wake up.
- 1:00He messaged me on WhatsApp. You know, before we got here, I
- 1:03was speaking to Seid Mushtawa and I was like, look, if Ahmed
- 1:06doesn't wake up, he's not going to answer the telephone calls.
- 1:09He needs to send that. We need to place a delivery
- 1:11order and send it to his house. So Ali, the delivery man,
- 1:14presses the bell. He wake up?
- 1:16Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was feeling a bit, yeah.
- 1:19I like Sadiq. Ali Sannik What do I say to
- 1:22that? I like.
- 1:23I like satnik. Hoblik.
- 1:24Hoblik. OK.
- 1:25It was just and you you're learning the Arabic.
- 1:28Yeah, I'll show you. I'm getting that.
- 1:30Anyway, we have a special guest with us.
- 1:32One of the the most up and coming young stars of our
- 1:35community, Marshall Allah, fantastic speaker.
- 1:37He's been involved on in different projects without Hubet
- 1:41TV. We're excited to have him on.
- 1:43It feels like it's overdue as well.
- 1:44Say Zayn Milani Salam Alaikum bro.
- 1:46I want to thank you for this opportunity for having me on
- 1:49here and I'm looking forward to today's topic.
- 1:52And just speaking with you guys, I love the energy you guys have
- 1:55brought. I love this banter back and
- 1:56forth so. Have.
- 1:58A great discussion. How's things with you?
- 2:00How's life? So handle the way it is right
- 2:04now. We were briefly mentioning
- 2:08before the show how right now it is in Ramadan whilst we're
- 2:10recording and this I found this year much easier than last year.
- 2:14Handelillah due to the time going back and it's just been
- 2:17the weather's better and it's just more bearable.
- 2:20Yeah. However, I started thinking back
- 2:22to a couple of years ago when it was longer and yeah it was more
- 2:26difficult. However we felt the reward of
- 2:28it. It felt the yes, you know when
- 2:31you break the first struggle you felt the struggle and I was just
- 2:34thinking back to that whilst you guys were speaking and the
- 2:36Subhanallah. Those were amazing times but
- 2:38I'll handle, I'll handle that. I'm doing well.
- 2:39My family's doing well, just moving on with life.
- 2:42Does it get sometimes overwhelming to be the grandson
- 2:49of Ayatollah Saif Ali Milani? Does it feel like a lot of
- 2:52people are always talking to you about him?
- 2:54And how does it make you feel? I think I wouldn't say
- 2:59overwhelming, but I definitely feel like, OK, well, I'll speak
- 3:03about the benefits of it first. I definitely feel like it's a
- 3:07blessing. It's a blessing, 100% is a
- 3:09blessing. It's it's brought me many
- 3:12blessings that I can't even have done otherwise, you know, just
- 3:16having that, just him being my grandfather, you know, people
- 3:19want to know me, want to talk to me.
- 3:20It's a blessing of handle Allah. And I don't feel a sense of
- 3:24pressure. I don't feel like there's that
- 3:27pressure of, you know, if someone were to ask about my
- 3:29granddad, I'm happy to sit and discuss, you know, and talk
- 3:31about what he's like and the work that he's done and so on
- 3:33and so forth. However, I do feel like
- 3:36sometimes there is that little bit of a shadow in a sense just
- 3:40looking back at my father and his father, it's kind of the
- 3:43sense, you know, it's natural you anyone who has great parents
- 3:46and grandparents and so on, then actually going to feel that.
- 3:49And we all feel that at some point just looking up to our
- 3:51parents, we feel like how could we ever be like them, you know,
- 3:54so but there is that sense of, you know, a shadow of, you know,
- 3:58I'm not going to be able to reach the same levels that this
- 4:00person can reach. But it hasn't impacted me in a
- 4:03sense because I've sort of set out on my own route, and I've
- 4:06always wanted to just establish myself as myself and go from
- 4:10there. I mean, even when I was in the
- 4:13Shiite voice, I don't know if you saw that clip where Mullah
- 4:16Nazar was. Like, why didn't you put Sayeds
- 4:18in saying to Milani, he asked that you're the grandson of
- 4:22Ayatollah Father Milani. And my heart dropped.
- 4:24This is the one thing I didn't want it to come to.
- 4:26It's like I want to be on here for me, Not because of, not
- 4:29because of who my granddad is, But Handelah is a blessing,
- 4:32definitely. But it does have, of course, the
- 4:36natural pressures that come with being the grandson of someone
- 4:38like. That we Allah bless him and
- 4:40protect him and I think it's only fair we give your father a
- 4:42shout out the Jaffar Milani who I've shared great memories with
- 4:46And here as well at Ella Bay TV. We Allah bless him like father
- 4:49like son and Charlotte can continue in this path.
- 4:51But before we go into delving into the actual conversation, I
- 4:54have a final question on this topic.
- 4:56Do you feel like because you are in this family, handled a
- 4:59blessed family, that you have an extra sort of responsibility in
- 5:04the eyes of not just Allah but your community?
- 5:07100 percent, 100%. It's something that I've had to
- 5:10be aware of from a very, very young age and that the way that
- 5:13I conduct myself, it's not going to come across the same way that
- 5:17someone else might come across, you know, Because people don't
- 5:19know, for example, my friends outside the Magilis and whatnot.
- 5:24I remember when I'll be outside playing with my friends, you
- 5:26know my dad would take it very seriously and you get angry and
- 5:29tell me to go back inside and so on.
- 5:31I wouldn't get it. Why?
- 5:32Because my friends there, no ones going to really say
- 5:34anything. Yes.
- 5:35But if I'm sat there playing around, especially now at this
- 5:38age, if I'm not really stepping up, if I'm not doing anything to
- 5:41just sort of carry on and at least even in my mannerisms,
- 5:46portray and project my family the way that they have been, you
- 5:49know, it's going to bring about a negative image.
- 5:52And I don't want to. I don't want that for my family.
- 5:54No one would want that. So it's there is again, there is
- 5:57that sort of pressure in that, you know, there is a
- 5:59responsibility, definitely that you have to live up to an image.
- 6:03You have to sort of watch the way that you act many, many more
- 6:07times than the average person will have to.
- 6:09Even in Majalis, just when I'm standing next to my granddad.
- 6:12Yeah, just that in its own I need to watch a million times
- 6:16over what I'm saying. Sometimes I mess over my words.
- 6:18I'm like, you know, I don't want to be saying the wrong things
- 6:20and that kind of stuff, and you have to watch your actions very
- 6:24carefully. But I'm delighted it teaches you
- 6:26a lot on the other side. On the flip side of it, it gives
- 6:28you a lot of life experience. It gives you a sort of maturity
- 6:32from early on that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
- 6:35I love that word. Maturity.
- 6:36What I would what I would add is if with your permission is at
- 6:38least from observation of of friends I think say that I said
- 6:43Eileen and I will will know a lot of sons of scholars say to
- 6:47himself as a son of a scholar you yourself are son of a
- 6:49scholar Masha'allah and a lot of the time there are occasions
- 6:54where it might go to the flip side.
- 6:56So there are people. In fact last night Subhanallah
- 6:58was driving with some friends and this conversation came up.
- 7:02Why are people? Why are some of our youth one of
- 7:04the struggles youth are facing? Is is is leaving Islam or
- 7:08leaving Shiism. Not often, but we do see it, and
- 7:12in some cases you see even from the sons of scholars or from the
- 7:15sons of scholarly families in general.
- 7:19Now, obviously I don't think I can, I'm able to comment too
- 7:23much on it, but one would imagine it might be because of a
- 7:25pressure or a misunderstanding, or maybe maybe to some even like
- 7:33what's the word. I'm looking for?
- 7:35An expectation to practice. An expectation to uphold a
- 7:37certain standard. Islam being forced down the
- 7:40throat. You know for some, I don't know,
- 7:43but it's it's it's Masha, Allah to see you both to see you guys
- 7:46how, how you've turned out. It's an example.
- 7:49I think to us, the rest of the community we say wow, that these
- 7:53are they're carrying on the traditions of their fathers and
- 7:55their grandfathers. Masha, Allah.
- 7:57And you know it's it's a good example to a lot of youth
- 8:00because there are a lot of youth and I want to I want to ask you
- 8:03as well because there are a lot of us who are not sons of
- 8:07scholarly families. Let's even put it another way.
- 8:09There are people who may come from families which are not
- 8:11practicing don't pray. Maybe they're they they.
- 8:14I met a brother 2-3 days ago who who who joined Shiism actually
- 8:19at the an after market up event who joined the fold of of Shi
- 8:23Islam and might come from families which don't practice or
- 8:27encourage it. It's pressure.
- 8:30Is it perhaps to a degree for a young child or a young guy who's
- 8:34who's trying to learn? I don't know.
- 8:35I just want to understand what you think in terms of the
- 8:38societal pressure that's put on someone when they come from a
- 8:41family, which is or isn't religious.
- 8:43Do you know what I mean? I'm.
- 8:47Going to let you answer this, I think because you are younger
- 8:50than me, you are very, very younger than me, and I think my
- 8:52challenges are very different to how they are now.
- 8:55But I would say the fact that you mentioned, like even people
- 8:58struggle from a scholar family, that tells you that struggles
- 9:00are real. No one's unique to the, you
- 9:03know, the the challenges they face or to the Satanic battles
- 9:06they have with themselves. But I I think ultimately at the
- 9:09at the end of the day, I think the way how you nourish a
- 9:12family, how you raise them and the upbringing plays a very
- 9:15critical role. There are those who, as you
- 9:18said, you know, they force Islam down the throat or are those who
- 9:21know who make you embrace Islam, make you live Islam and actually
- 9:25understand what Islam is all about.
- 9:27And I think that's how we have less struggles.
- 9:30If we understand, for example, why Allah Subhanahu Ta'ala has
- 9:33made certain laws while Allah Subhanahu Ta'ala has, you know,
- 9:37made things in a specific way. Why does halad, Why does Haram?
- 9:39Why this is her right or his right or the child's right or
- 9:42the mother's right? It's because there is a balance,
- 9:45like everyone has her role. Everyone has certain
- 9:47responsibilities. The moment we understand the
- 9:49rights of the laws and the rights of everyone else around
- 9:52us, I think the struggles will be easy.
- 9:54I don't know. That's that's my struggles when
- 9:56I was younger. That's the way we face now.
- 9:58But I know times have changed. Technology has not exploded.
- 10:02The Internet has taken over everyone's home for on here from
- 10:05you. I definitely agree with you.
- 10:07I definitely agree that having a clear understanding of Islam and
- 10:12seeing people embody Islam, as opposed to shoving it down our
- 10:15throats is the best way forward. I think for me, having, you
- 10:18know, my granddad is a big inspiration for me, my grandad
- 10:21and my my dad, just seeing exactly just seeing them embody
- 10:25Islam, you know, just seeing them embody the characteristics
- 10:28of Islam, the virtues. I grew up initially saying that
- 10:33not sorry, initially not understanding where these
- 10:37actions were coming from, but then I started to understand the
- 10:39purpose behind them. I understand what positive
- 10:42attributes these have, so I started aspiring to be like it.
- 10:45I would say, OK, you know what? I want to even talk like my
- 10:49grandad. I want to walk like him.
- 10:50I want that, you know, because people.
- 10:52So you had the Role model. Exactly.
- 10:54And I think a lot of people, this could be the issue for a
- 10:57lot of people like you mentioned, brother, is that they
- 10:59don't have that role model. A lot of the youth, they don't
- 11:01have that role model. And especially when I talk with
- 11:03a lot of my friends, when they do have their Islamic role
- 11:06models, be it their fathers, their cousins, their parents,
- 11:08whatever it is, it's negatively portrayed for them.
- 11:12It's something completely different, right where it's
- 11:15completely restrictive. They're pinned down and they're
- 11:18held down and then they're, you know, unable to.
- 11:21They're they're having a reverse reaction where they're, you
- 11:25know, they want to flee from Islam.
- 11:27I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more.
- 11:28So youth, there are youth who are sometimes so raw and and
- 11:33have so much potential in their talent and you know, their their
- 11:36opportunity to to progress and develop.
- 11:38And as in someone who's older, you might be in your 20s,
- 11:42thirties, 40s, you might be a parent.
- 11:45It's very important to mentor them the right way.
- 11:47You know we met a young boy a few days ago who who we ran into
- 11:51the three of us with Mushallah. And we all agree that this guy
- 11:56Mushallah, this young brother has a lot of potential but he
- 11:59needs a good mentor. But there's a difference between
- 12:02mentoring someone and maybe, you know, forcing or enforcing Islam
- 12:07on them, you know, forcing them to come to manage this and force
- 12:09them to sit for an hour in order, an hour in Arabic or
- 12:12something like that. And then they're just baffled.
- 12:14They're they're maybe put off religion or whatever.
- 12:17It's I think mentoring is as much of A responsibility as it
- 12:20is on our parents as it is even to us who are not.
- 12:23Maybe just don't have teenage kids, you know, we might have
- 12:27younger kids, but you know, we need to look down on these
- 12:30brothers and maybe help out, look out for them in a mosque,
- 12:34help out where we can. Mentoring is a big part of our
- 12:36community, which I think we all benefit from, at least in our
- 12:40generation stage. We we had mentors in youth clubs
- 12:42and stuff like that, but there's also an onus on us to do the
- 12:46same, you know? What I mean one. 100%, I'm with
- 12:49you on that. I mean, I think that I was a big
- 12:51advocate for even just youth clubs in general.
- 12:54I was looking into so many ideas and just setting up, you know,
- 12:57youth events and whatnot because I was a big advocate for this.
- 13:00I definitely believe that another another factor that is
- 13:04leading so many people astray in my generation, just the youth in
- 13:07general, is this lack of mentorship from the previous
- 13:10generation, right? Where it kind of ties into that
- 13:13role model issue where I feel like from the complaints that I
- 13:16hear from a lot of people, they are pushed away by the previous
- 13:20generation and they don't take responsibility, especially their
- 13:23parents and so on and so forth. They don't understand that if
- 13:27their son is out, you know, clubbing and partying and so on,
- 13:31they have a degree of responsibility for that.
- 13:34It's not completely on their child.
- 13:36You know, they they have a degree of responsibility.
- 13:38Does does Sorry to interrupt you.
- 13:40Does it have a switch to the child fully?
- 13:42And at what point does it? Is it Bullock?
- 13:44Is it when they move out of the house and they want to get
- 13:46married? I think it's a that's a very
- 13:48difficult question to answer because I think that's very
- 13:50subjective. Circumstantial.
- 13:52It's very down to the person, so.
- 13:53There's no like so for you. There's no threshold where all
- 13:56children become solely responsible for their own
- 13:59actions. I do think eventually because
- 14:02this, this becomes a question of like human nature in general of,
- 14:05you know, is it nurture versus nature, like that kind of thing
- 14:08where you know someone who's 30 years old, are they still
- 14:12impacted by the way they were raised and so on.
- 14:14So you, you hear me. So it's that kind of question.
- 14:17I think definitely after Beluga, they're 100% responsible for
- 14:19their own action, right. However, the actions that they
- 14:22take is definitely influenced by the actions of their parents or
- 14:25their role models or whoever's in around them, right?
- 14:29And I feel like there's just like just this sort of lack of
- 14:34responsibility from the previous generation and they're quick to
- 14:37blame us, they're quick to point fingers, quick to.
- 14:40It's just a natural thing where I'm sure you experience it
- 14:43within your own generation where, you know, they're quick
- 14:46to call us lazy, quick to blame us for anything that we're doing
- 14:48wrong. You know, we just, we've lost
- 14:50interest and I don't see any kind of responsibility taken.
- 14:53So that's why I kind of really agree with that point of yours
- 14:56that we owe it to to the next generation to actually take
- 14:59responsibility, ensure that we are that responsibility.
- 15:03You're 18. You're saying you owe it to next
- 15:04Next generation For you is like in the in the diapers, right?
- 15:07Now I was waiting to say he's 18.
- 15:09You mentioned you. Know what we said before the
- 15:12Before we start the podcast when Yahoob ATV started saying you
- 15:15were held like 7, 1816 when the TV started.
- 15:18I was 1515, I was 13 or 12 and you were three.
- 15:24So it's like. Yeah.
- 15:26It's, yeah. But I definitely take up that
- 15:28responsibility because even when I look at my younger cousins,
- 15:31even if they're younger than me by like one or two years, you
- 15:33know, I definitely take that responsibility for them.
- 15:35If I see them, you know, going down a route that just because
- 15:39I've been in their position many times and there is, you know,
- 15:44just to touch back on that earlier question, I wasn't fully
- 15:46honest when he asked about being having that pressure of being
- 15:51the grandson of a scholar or from a scholarly family.
- 15:54There is there's sort of this taboo where you're unable to
- 15:56admit that okay, you know what? I'm still, I'm still part of the
- 16:00youth. Of course I'm gonna be taking
- 16:01part. There's there's so fallible.
- 16:03You're still growing. You know I've fell into the same
- 16:05issues that any other youth will fall into I respect.
- 16:08So it's it's very difficult to kind of openly say that.
- 16:10But yeah, feel. Like people expect you to be
- 16:13mushroom. There is.
- 16:14There is that sort of, yeah. Because now if I, if I go out,
- 16:17like I've never gone clubbing, but if I were to come out
- 16:19tomorrow and say that I was clubbing, they're gonna be like,
- 16:22you know, there's just gonna be a scandal.
- 16:23It's gonna be a scandal. It's not gonna be just.
- 16:26People knocking the door. Yeah, yeah, literally they're
- 16:28going to go to him. What's your grandson doing?
- 16:30And so it is that sort of you have to really watch what you're
- 16:34doing. But of course, we're still
- 16:36youth, we're still people. We're still, we're not, we're
- 16:39we're not fallibles. No, we are fallibles.
- 16:42We are fallibles. So of course we make mistakes.
- 16:45And I've been in those positions, I've been in those
- 16:47circumstances, people around me. So now when I recognise it in my
- 16:51younger cousins, just people around me, it doesn't
- 16:54necessarily even need to be my own cousins, just people around
- 16:56me, my age, my own friends. I'm definitely going to step up
- 16:59and I always do that. I step up and I take it upon
- 17:01myself to just guide them and give them whatever advice that I
- 17:04can. And I try to do it from my own
- 17:06point of view because I understand what it's like to be
- 17:09knaggered. I think that that was another
- 17:12point that kind of I've noticed with the youth is that when
- 17:17we're advised it's very annoying.
- 17:19It's really very annoying, especially when we're advised by
- 17:22our elders. It's done in a manner that's
- 17:25it's not relatable, it's not understandable, We don't get
- 17:27anything out of it and it just feels like we're being lectured.
- 17:30We're being told off. Exactly.
- 17:31So I feel like that's another Another issue is that we we're
- 17:35not advised in the correct way. It's not that we aren't looking
- 17:38for advice, it's just we're not advised.
- 17:40You know that's that's so true, Sayed.
- 17:41Because, you know, back in my days when I was younger and I,
- 17:44and I think I've mentioned this on a previous podcast as well,
- 17:46like if, let's say we did something wrong in our community
- 17:50or, you know, someone wasn't, you know, adhering to all the
- 17:52Islamic laws or the shuya, he's falling out of line.
- 17:56They didn't take him back into line.
- 17:58They were just telling him off, speaking about him publicly, you
- 18:01know, bringing it down his family.
- 18:03And then eventually he fell off that line completely.
- 18:05Of course not because he hated Islam or he hated, you know, the
- 18:10world of what's halal to him. He hated the people who
- 18:12represented Islam. And you know that saying where
- 18:15they say was it don't. If you're looking to, if you if
- 18:18you're trying to search about Islam, look into Islam and don't
- 18:21look at the Muslims. And I think that's very critical
- 18:23in this conversation. That hadith and minimumini which
- 18:25is so relevant, it's like mentioned a few days ago as well
- 18:28somewhere else. Look for the truth.
- 18:30Don't look for those who claim to have it.
- 18:32Yes, follow those with the truth.
- 18:34And it will lead you don't. Follow if because if we follow
- 18:36people, we follow those who adhere to you know or they say
- 18:39that they have we're going to be let down and an hour cave and
- 18:43you know somewhere we don't want to go basically so.
- 18:47So what do we do now? Let's let's say what youth was
- 18:50struggling. Charlotte was all, was all
- 18:52youth. And in gender we are youth, so
- 18:54we stay this way. And you are a young believer, So
- 18:56what are the struggles that people face now?
- 18:59OK. But you would say effects you
- 19:01could be Muslim? OK, this, I think this is the
- 19:05number one thing. Is Salah.
- 19:06Salah, the biggest thing I just, from what I've seen with myself,
- 19:10my family, my friends, just the number one thing, forget
- 19:15everything else. The number one thing that we're
- 19:17all complaining about is Salah. We all have this desire towards
- 19:21being, you know, as we say, like on our prayers, you know, we all
- 19:25have this desire to to pray every every day, five times.
- 19:27On my Dean. On my Dean.
- 19:28Exactly. We all.
- 19:30It's not something that we're against.
- 19:31I've never met any young Shiite brother or sister who's like,
- 19:34no, I I don't want to pray. No, they all want to, right?
- 19:37But we have this severe struggle.
- 19:39It's it's a battle, it's a genuine battle that I feel like
- 19:43maybe it's new to my generation. I don't know about your
- 19:45generation, but with my generation, it's a genuine,
- 19:47genuine struggle to pray one prayer.
- 19:50It's. Been struggle since the
- 19:51beginning of time, but The thing is, I feel like for us as
- 19:53millennials or whatever, like we're a social media generation,
- 19:57like for us it's it's like we want to be religious without
- 20:00committing to suffer. It's like, I enjoy what me hard.
- 20:03I enjoy Maja. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy
- 20:06the sound of Quran and I enjoy it and I enjoy like the
- 20:09congregational element of religion.
- 20:12But when it comes to the commitment, the five times a
- 20:14day, the waking up in the middle of the night to pray and
- 20:16splitting my prayers when I have to and stuff like that, it's a
- 20:19bit long. That's how people might feel.
- 20:21She's sort of. I feel like it's always been an
- 20:23issue and sometimes we're hypocrites because we enjoy the
- 20:27vibe or the the the feeling of Islam.
- 20:31Is it just me? No, no, I get you.
- 20:33I definitely get you. Like you would enjoy going to an
- 20:35astar. We're we're talking about astar
- 20:36because we're Ramadan and I'm craving shepherd's pie today.
- 20:38I don't know why the most random thing in the world and the
- 20:41Lucasade anyway, but like you, you enjoy the environment, you
- 20:46feel the spiritual spirituality. But then it's the commitment,
- 20:49the five time daily commitment, which which I think is people
- 20:51struggle with you. Know what I find interesting
- 20:53about this commitment or Salah, is that you can be so young and
- 20:57love Salah. You can be very young and you
- 21:01see young Mama praise Baba, praise hummu praise, had you
- 21:05praise everyone's praying, praying.
- 21:08And then you get to a stage, I think, let's say probably, I
- 21:12don't know, maybe 15, maybe even earlier now these days, but
- 21:14nowadays I think about 1516 was like a crooked critical age
- 21:18where you sort of not leave Salah but you don't take it as
- 21:21serious as you used to. And I think that's because of
- 21:24the distractions we have. Do.
- 21:26You agree? Yeah.
- 21:28Like our distractions back in the day was like, if a football
- 21:31was on TV or you know what? We're going to, I don't know, a
- 21:35a sleepover. No, it's time.
- 21:36Well, don't worry. We're going to friend sleepovers
- 21:38and things like this. So we didn't take Islam
- 21:40seriously. But now the the distraction is
- 21:42everywhere. Like I'd I'd rather scroll on
- 21:44TikTok than get up and pray Fajr.
- 21:47I'd rather you know, start stalking people on Instagram and
- 21:50seeing what what the people saying in the comment section
- 21:52and go and do Mudu and standing up for thought and awesome
- 21:54prayers. So I think there is that
- 21:56distraction where we don't take us a lot as serious as we used
- 22:00to used to. No, I definitely think that's a
- 22:03big side of it. I hadn't thought of that before.
- 22:05But you're right, it's a generational thing.
- 22:07And in my generation and yeah, I keep, I keep hating on this
- 22:10generation. But it's true.
- 22:11Yeah. And we have the shortest, what
- 22:15do you call it, attention span on earth.
- 22:17You know, it's like it's crazy. It's, you know, you get any one
- 22:20of them in a room and try hold the conversation for more than
- 22:23two minutes. It's like they're somewhere
- 22:25else, you know, thinking of Roblox.
- 22:27Yeah, it's something because. No, because it's just, it's an
- 22:30issue of social media. Like you said, it's it's so
- 22:33easily. We have such easy, instant
- 22:35gratification. Yeah.
- 22:36And you hope what it takes is open your phone.
- 22:38You go on Tiktok. You don't like the video.
- 22:40Scroll. You don't like scroll, scroll.
- 22:41Keep keep going, Keep going. It doesn't end.
- 22:43There's no time now. And it's just like it's been
- 22:48going like this for pretty much all our lives, Yeah.
- 22:50And from the moment we're born, we're pretty much born with
- 22:53these iPads and iPhones and whatnot, more or less.
- 22:57And so we're basically raised with it and it's how our brains
- 22:59have been programmed. So I definitely agree that there
- 23:02is that factor to. In terms of this Salah thing,
- 23:06when you say about generational, I want to add to that I agree
- 23:10that that your generation is has got the shortest attention span
- 23:13in the world. I don't even think we're that,
- 23:16although we we're we're between us, we have about 15 years
- 23:20difference between the three of us.
- 23:22But I still feel like there's a lot of similarities, I really
- 23:25do. What I will say as well is that
- 23:28every age group or every generation has its challenges.
- 23:31So if you're talking about that period between as we say the
- 23:34seven to 14 age where you're building up to Baluch for boys
- 23:37or for girls, you're becoming balir.
- 23:39Your challenge then is ritualising your Salah, you
- 23:42know, making it routine day-to-day.
- 23:44If you talk about the age group, slightly older, your your
- 23:48struggles are what it's it's not thinking about girls and music
- 23:52and messing around in school and all of that.
- 23:53It's like no focus on your prayers.
- 23:56You get a bit older when you're married, you've got kids, It's
- 23:59about finding time for Salah. You're working, you're busy at
- 24:02the office. Do I have time to get up and
- 24:03pray before I go to work or go to school?
- 24:05Do I have time? Not going to school, Drop the
- 24:06kids to school maybe? Do I have time to pray?
- 24:08Do you know what I mean? Making sure that you do
- 24:10everything in time with your day-to-day life, being a parent
- 24:13or whatever, and obviously in the elder age, your jihad, your
- 24:16struggle might be my bodily strength to get up five times a
- 24:21day and pray. You know they're doing World War
- 24:23and like mashallah, we look at our grandparents.
- 24:27My grandmother is isn't hardcore inspiration to me.
- 24:30She will never pray outside of that.
- 24:32What do you call it? Fazila.
- 24:34She'll never pray outside of that mashallah.
- 24:36And that to me is like, what am I doing?
- 24:38She's pushing 80 and I'm here pushing 30.
- 24:42I'm, I'm nowhere near that level.
- 24:44Do you know what I mean? So we've, I think there's a lot
- 24:45of of examples and lessons for us to learn across the board.
- 24:49But there is definitely a generation generational element
- 24:51to it for sure with solar. So what do we do when we
- 24:53struggle? Oh this is this is one thing I
- 24:55wanted to ask you guys because I have my own answer this on this
- 24:57but I want your your answers on this first.
- 24:59What's the What's been most helpful for you in maintaining
- 25:02your solars? Oh.
- 25:03What you've seen with your friends and your generation,
- 25:06What's been the most helpful that's such?
- 25:08A Maintain Salar. Oh, I've never really thought
- 25:11about this to be honest in depth.
- 25:16How many? You go first?
- 25:17I have like one or two answers in mind.
- 25:19One is after your after you go bathroom, do all the OK, so you
- 25:23stay in waddle. So then it's like you don't feel
- 25:26for me. The the the The thing is not
- 25:28praying, it's the waddle. It's like a ass long, especially
- 25:31when you're wearing a shirt and leather shoes you've got
- 25:33unlaced, that's all. You're in a public place, like I
- 25:36don't want to have to go and do so that's something that's in in
- 25:39my mind after you go to the bathroom, do waddle and then
- 25:42change and leave the house or whatever.
- 25:43So you're in the world. Another thing as well is just
- 25:45having a hush up in your prayer. Like being sincere in the way
- 25:48you approach solar. You're near before you start
- 25:51doing it so far before you begin.
- 25:54Clearing your thoughts before you begin makes it easier to
- 25:57pray. It makes it more enjoyable.
- 25:58It doesn't feel like you have to rush it, you know, I'm I I
- 26:01still, I think we all do. But I still struggle with my
- 26:03daily prayers. I still struggle in making them
- 26:08prayed on time, prayed with a good heart, prayed with proper
- 26:11Maharaj. Like all of these elements that
- 26:12we've got to try and adhere to, it's not easy, not easy, but I
- 26:15enjoy it. That World War One is very
- 26:17interesting because I I've actually heard that by many,
- 26:20many scholars and they always say, you know, if you're always
- 26:22in the state of World War, you don't have an excuse because all
- 26:25the time we're not bother to pray because.
- 26:26We have. To go to the sink and put the
- 26:29cold water and take off my and it's.
- 26:30Not just it's not just you're you're more likely to pray.
- 26:33It's you're less likely to sin. When you're on world law all the
- 26:36time, you know. You know you're in a state of
- 26:38bahara, like you don't know, or matahara as our friend said.
- 26:41What did he say? Matata, do you remember?
- 26:43I can't remember. Anyway, so but you're always in
- 26:45a state of the harder and you're able to you know, you're you're
- 26:48conscious, you're like you know about what you're saying, what
- 26:50you're doing subconsciously at least.
- 26:52So I I think it's a sick, sick advice.
- 26:55I think one that will work. I I think like my parents back
- 26:59in the day, if we wait to go out anywhere or go visit anyone or
- 27:04even take us out to the park or something, it was always around
- 27:08what time is Salat time, when can we leave and when do we have
- 27:11to come back to make sure we're praying Salat on time so that
- 27:14that that you know, that thought process of you surround your
- 27:18life around Salah rather than you know, you make you put Salah
- 27:23around your life. So I think if you put Salah as
- 27:25your main, you know, routine of the day, I don't want to call it
- 27:30routine, but because you're doing it five times a day, every
- 27:32day for the rest of your life, it's going to become routine.
- 27:35But you have to make sure that it is central to everything that
- 27:38you do. You're right.
- 27:39And I think that that's that's what.
- 27:40Makes it easy. What about you?
- 27:41Even bro, even when we should travel by planes and stuff,
- 27:44we'll make sure we know what what time we're taking out.
- 27:46Like that's how much it had a significant impact if you don't?
- 27:50Mind me asking, you've been by luck for what, Probably about
- 27:524-5 years? 4-5 years?
- 27:54How has it been for you or and especially that period, how was
- 27:57that for you? OK, so I'd say it's highs and
- 28:00lows, highs and lows as it is for anyone else.
- 28:03You know, it was a constant struggle from day one where it
- 28:05was like before below. I was on my Salas and it wasn't
- 28:10an issue for me. And I love the prayer and I love
- 28:12the Islam. I love the Dean below happened
- 28:15and I just started. Yeah.
- 28:17And they were falling off. I questioned everything.
- 28:19Don't want to be a part of anything, don't want to show up
- 28:22to me jealous, don't want to do anything.
- 28:23And even prayers. It's just completely, I was
- 28:25just, I don't want to be. And this is a part where I was
- 28:29going through a lot of family issues, going through a lot of
- 28:31just personal life issues. So there was a lot of confusion
- 28:34going on, falling into the wrong crowds, just doing the stupidest
- 28:37kind of stuff. And I I think I was very
- 28:40egotistical in nature. I was very arrogant.
- 28:43I kind of that was that was the kind of block for me where I
- 28:47couldn't re humble myself enough to be a devout Muslim, right?
- 28:53And then it was a constant battle back and forth where I
- 28:56just sort of slowly started working back into Islam.
- 29:01And then I had the new found interest which was just debates,
- 29:05right? And this was, again, this was
- 29:08out of arrogance. I'm not saying this as like a
- 29:11good thing that I look back upon, but this sort of did help
- 29:14me to just get my way back into Islam where I had a new found
- 29:18interest in debating people right?
- 29:19In searching for knowledge, right?
- 29:21That was a sort of because that was a personal interest of mines
- 29:24from birth. Was it polemics or?
- 29:26No, it was. No, it was like it was like
- 29:33hadiths and just discussing other other schools, other
- 29:37schools and just just that sort of thing.
- 29:39Like I. See, it has, it has its pros and
- 29:42cons, and yeah, I can see how it pulled you back in.
- 29:44So you know, yeah, obviously being a Shia, people questioned
- 29:47me always all the time. So that that was sort of like,
- 29:50you know, it was really satisfying to just shut them up
- 29:52and it was really, it was really enjoyable.
- 29:55For me think we all how do we back then like 1617?
- 29:58I would say, yeah 14150. Wow, so you were in the debate
- 30:01phase a lot earlier than I was. I think we all had that debate
- 30:04era. Yeah.
- 30:05Yeah, like at some point for me it was when I started uni or
- 30:07like back end of school, back end of year 1213, and then when
- 30:10I started uni. So probably the age you're at
- 30:12now is it my debate phase, but that it helps and it's like AI
- 30:17feel like it's a natural transition.
- 30:18Yeah, yeah, yeah. To go from being a youth who's
- 30:22been brought to the mosque, to a youth who's going to the mosque
- 30:25and trying to use the information to battle others.
- 30:28And then eventually it becomes someone who's, you know, you
- 30:30become engulfed by your love for the other debate.
- 30:32And then you're like, I want to give my life to them, but it's a
- 30:36transition. 100% no. It's definitely what I saw.
- 30:38So after that, I eventually reached a point where I was just
- 30:41like, you know what, I've had enough of the being.
- 30:43It's just I'm been doing this arrogance.
- 30:45I'm not really not gaining any more knowledge and just it's
- 30:50just it's just someone. It got to a point where someone
- 30:52has said to me you use your knowledge as a weapon and that
- 30:56that sort of made me well at first I didn't think much of it
- 30:58but I started reflecting on it in that well, yeah, in a sense I
- 31:01was just using my knowledge just to.
- 31:03It wasn't because I wanted to spread the Dean.
- 31:05I didn't want to to spread the message of the hell debate.
- 31:08It was just a personal thing. I just wanted.
- 31:10You wanted to be, right? Yeah, I just wanted to be right.
- 31:12It was just arrogant, arrogance, kind of thing.
- 31:14So I took a step back and I said, no, I'm done with the
- 31:16beating. And after that, I think that's
- 31:18when I really started to fall in love with the Dean.
- 31:20That's when I really started to fall in love.
- 31:21With the so you humbled yourself exactly and fell in love with.
- 31:24Allah, exactly that. I think that's that's exactly
- 31:26what it is. I started seeing the beauty in
- 31:28in Islam. I started seeing the beauty in
- 31:30Salah. So just to sort of give a quick
- 31:33answer, what has been most helpful for me in terms of just
- 31:36maintaining my Salah and being consistent with it is, first of
- 31:41all, I'm just seeing the beauty of it.
- 31:44You know, just like you were saying, just to have that
- 31:47clarity of mind that five times a day or three times a day where
- 31:51you know, we're just taking a break from what we're doing,
- 31:56clearing our mind, we're washing our self physically and also
- 31:59spiritually. And then where, you know, if
- 32:02you're doing it correctly, you're actually focused on the
- 32:04short, you're focused on the Salah itself, you're not.
- 32:08And this is another thing that people have is that when they
- 32:10pray, they see it as just an obligation trying to get over
- 32:12and done with. It doesn't mean anything to
- 32:14them, right? Not because they want gender.
- 32:16They don't want to go help. Exactly.
- 32:18Exactly. It's just it's like, OK, you
- 32:20know what, let me just let me just do this.
- 32:22Rather be safe than sorry. Allah's not angry with me and
- 32:25then you know and then I can ask what I want and.
- 32:28But no, I think I'm going to give another practical tip as
- 32:31well. Focusing that one thing that has
- 32:33really helped me enjoy and focus in the Salah is every, every
- 32:37moment in the Salah, you're saying something.
- 32:39You're either saying something or you're taking an action,
- 32:41right? Every word that you say and
- 32:43every action that you take in a Salah has a meaning when you're
- 32:46doing these actions, when you're reciting, think about the words
- 32:49and think about the actions that you're taking.
- 32:51Your mind doesn't have time to go to other things.
- 32:53Yes, you read the fact. That was one of your gold sales,
- 32:55wasn't it? Was it last year?
- 32:56We mentioned this on the, yeah. We mentioned this about
- 32:58learning, realising what we're saying.
- 33:01Yeah. It definitely helps your
- 33:02incentive to want to pray and increases your focus while
- 33:05you're praying instead of thinking about what the football
- 33:08score is, what's the weather, what Jackie shall I wear when I
- 33:09got, you know, like you're thinking about random stuff, but
- 33:12if you're thinking of Maliki O Medini, I cannot do, I cannot
- 33:15stay, and you're thinking in your head.
- 33:16What do these words mean? Is that you limit your your, the
- 33:19chances of you becoming distracted by something else as
- 33:21well. I think it's a wicked point,
- 33:22Yeah. Listen, we're going to wrap up
- 33:24in the next few minutes. Is there anything you wanted to
- 33:25add on to this before we. Because I've got I I still want
- 33:28to ask you a ranking question. I've got like a little game I
- 33:31want you to do. How we doing on time?
- 33:33Just don't. Worry, don't worry the time.
- 33:35Is OK. OK.
- 33:35OK. So I just wanted to say that in
- 33:40terms of just advice that I would give to the youth and give
- 33:42to myself and other people in terms of just being committed to
- 33:47the Dean. First of all start with the
- 33:48solar. I know, it's the probably one of
- 33:50the hardest things for us right now, right?
- 33:52But once you go on down that route, everything else becomes
- 33:55easy and then the Salah itself becomes easy.
- 33:58And Allah has made the Salah easy.
- 33:59He's made the slam very easy, as the way I see it is that he's
- 34:03made Salah very easy. If you really prioritize it, it
- 34:07becomes easy for you, right? The burden is taken off your
- 34:10chest. And once you do that, everything
- 34:12else becomes easy. You start to see Islam from a
- 34:14new light and you start to enjoy and love what you're doing as
- 34:17opposed to seeing it as a burden.
- 34:19But that's just sort of my final take and my final piece of
- 34:21advice I. Love that.
- 34:22I love. It Where do you see yourself?
- 34:24If you don't mind me saying, well, where do you want to take
- 34:26your life? You're at the prime age of of
- 34:2818, Marshall Law. This is the peak now of your
- 34:32you'll in Western times. You've begun your adulthood this
- 34:35year. Where do you see yourself?
- 34:36What legacy do you want to leave behind?
- 34:41I haven't really thought about this.
- 34:43Well, no, because I've thought about it from like a career
- 34:46point of view. Someone asked me what do you
- 34:47want to be in 5-10 years? I know what I'm going to say
- 34:49then. But in terms of legacy as who I
- 34:52am as a person, I really want to have an impact on people who OK,
- 35:00I need to rephrase. I feel like I have a duty to
- 35:03help people, especially people who are struggling, right?
- 35:07It doesn't have to be just struggling financially.
- 35:10People who are struggling with the Dean, struggling in life,
- 35:12just anyone who's struggling. The same way that I've struggled
- 35:15and I've seen so many of my friends struggle, I feel a sense
- 35:18of duty to help them and support them and as derive satisfaction
- 35:22and seeing them overcome their difficulties.
- 35:24So I'll say if I'm able to leave a legacy of, you know what,
- 35:28having inspired, having impacted the same way that I look back at
- 35:31my father and my grandfather, you know, the impact that
- 35:34they've had. If I'm able to continue that
- 35:36and, you know, really have a positive impact on people, turn
- 35:38people's lives around, I think that'll be the greatest thing
- 35:42that I could do with my life. It's.
- 35:43Amazing. Beautiful.
- 35:45You're going to go a long way, man.
- 35:46I'm here for it. We're going to be.
- 35:50Charlotte collectively, everyone listening and watching, we raise
- 35:53our hands and because we need, we need more, more money like.
- 35:56This more people with this way. Of thinking this mentality
- 35:59because that's the only way the youth will ever fall in love
- 36:02with the Slam one. Once again, Charlemagne, always,
- 36:04always. You'll have a pure NIA and and I
- 36:07like give you Spontana more strength to serve to guide other
- 36:10youth and to guide us as well because we love you for you as
- 36:13well, Charlotte. I know.
- 36:14What's been beautiful, by the way?
- 36:16We always get. By the way people always like
- 36:17Message the podcast like you guys.
- 36:19You. I never talk about a lie.
- 36:20Don't bar Salah bro. This whole episode.
- 36:25Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We went back.
- 36:28But I feel like we've been, we've been wanting to do it.
- 36:30Do you know what saying we've been speaking about like we
- 36:32wanted to do an episode Salah for a long time.
- 36:34Yeah, like how? Who do you ask?
- 36:37Like, it's a random, it's a random episode.
- 36:39Get everyone praise because like who do you ask?
- 36:41Is there a specialist or like what?
- 36:43So that's nice. Zane, can you check your
- 36:46WhatsApp, please? So Zane, for those who don't
- 36:49know, and I'm sure if you've you've, you've become as hungry
- 36:54as I have because we're fasting and everything.
- 36:56We've only got something that was left.
- 36:57Yeah, yeah. I'm going to challenge you a bit
- 36:58more. OK?
- 36:59We do this thing where we ask people to rank.
- 37:02It's called AM rankings, Okay. So what we'll do is we'll give
- 37:05you 5 options of a topic and you've got a rank them before
- 37:09you know what the next one is. For example, if I ask you to
- 37:11rank your favorite football clubs in the Europe, for
- 37:14example, you might start with I give you one, you rank it out of
- 37:17five and you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay.
- 37:19So said, I just got a good list for us.
- 37:21So I rank it out of five, yeah. No, you don't rank it out of
- 37:24five. You place it in a ranking Okay.
- 37:26So I might say to you your favorite, I don't know,
- 37:30starters. Yeah, you might.
- 37:32I might say samosas. You might say #3 okay.
- 37:35Your #3 is taken. Then you've got 124 and five
- 37:37left. Okay.
- 37:38So I mean I. See what you mean, okay?
- 37:41Okay. So here we go.
- 37:43Yeah, yeah. So this one's regarding food,
- 37:47Hamdullah. I know we're fasting, so
- 37:50Charlotte, our mouths don't start watering here, but the
- 37:53first one you need to rank is an Oreo milkshake.
- 37:56Oh my days. Beautiful.
- 37:59Love it. Yeah.
- 38:00See, I want to put it as #1, but I know what's going to come.
- 38:03I'm going to put it as #3. Number 30, OK.
- 38:06OK, just because I have a feeling what comes next will be
- 38:08better. Now the second one you need to
- 38:11rank is milk cake. I don't think I've ever tried
- 38:15that, you know, I don't think. I want you to imagine a
- 38:17pistachio milk cake. You're right, there's pistachio
- 38:21cakes, which are a bit squeezy. Oh.
- 38:23OK, OK, you know what I'm talking about.
- 38:25They're liquidy and. Oh, that's a milk cake.
- 38:27Yeah, I have had that then. That's nice.
- 38:31No, it's not. Not, not nothing. 4-5, no pair,
- 38:34five. It's not nothing that special.
- 38:36OK, am I doing the rest? All, yeah, yeah, go.
- 38:38OK, now this one is a doughnut. It's a Krispy Kreme, glazed.
- 38:42That's a four, man. I'm not not a big fan of
- 38:45doughnuts. OK, chocolate strawberry crepe.
- 38:48Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So 3 is taken.
- 38:51OK, 22. So now whatever's left has to be
- 38:54#1. And I think it's going to be 1.
- 38:57Before wait before he before he's before you say it.
- 39:01What would you put #1 if you had a choice of anything?
- 39:04Desserts. Desserts.
- 39:06Oh man. Churros are nice, man.
- 39:12Churros Churros. OK, this is.
- 39:14Not exactly. Churros.
- 39:15Let's see. Perhaps you'd agree with this,
- 39:18Kanava. I think my mind didn't go to
- 39:21Arab. I didn't go to Arab.
- 39:23I don't know why. I was just thinking I was the I
- 39:25I agree. I.
- 39:26Agree #1. I don't want it.
- 39:28You're happy with it. So that actually worked out for
- 39:32the. For the workout.
- 39:34You had that you had that that good near and before you
- 39:38started. Yeah.
- 39:39I'm going to be sincere in the way I rank.
- 39:41So it worked out. Paddella say thanks.
- 39:44So. Much thank you so much.
- 39:45Thank you for this opportunity. I mean, I learned so much
- 39:48likewise and it's like bringing me my youth.
- 39:51Thoughts I used to think about back in the day.
- 39:54We all have our own struggles. You have struggles, have
- 39:55struggles and our struggles. And if anyone out there is
- 39:58struggling, trust me, a lot is the answer.
- 40:01I don't think outside the box God has an answer for
- 40:04everything. It's not directly with Allah
- 40:07because you sort of lack a communication with him.
- 40:09You have a load that relationship and that bond with
- 40:12your creator. Speak to your local Maulana,
- 40:14speak to someone more learning than you and inshallah they can
- 40:17help you stay on the path that is hacked.
- 40:20And I do want to say one thing inshallah one day, since you
- 40:22focus here on Salah and you smoke about struggles of Salah.
- 40:25And inshallah people are encouraged to go on their prayer
- 40:28mats and adhere to the five days, five times a day.
- 40:31Salah and Charlotte. One day we see you leading Salah
- 40:33and the shrine of your mom, Ali Salaam.
- 40:38That's a proper, that's a proper the shrine.
- 40:46OK, cool. I'll take it.
- 40:48Shallah. Also Michael Medina, but the
- 40:50Shrine of. Wow.
- 40:52Wow. OK, Yeah.
- 40:54Thank you guys if you are. If you've enjoyed this episode,
- 40:58make sure we subscribe. As always, we are on on YouTube,
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- 41:36If we're talking about struggles of the youth, I think people
- 41:40know how we feel. But I feel one of the biggest
- 41:41answers to it is media, Muslim media, Muslim media, Muslim
- 41:44media. That's what we need, whether
- 41:45it's through social media, whether it's broadcast TV,
- 41:49whatever it might be podcasts. So we need ideas, we need
- 41:54financial support and we also need contributions through
- 41:56coming on and and joining us as well.
- 41:58So yeah, say anything to add on that or?
- 42:01You've said everything. Habibi.
- 42:03All right, guys, get in touch with us.
- 42:04Let us know what you think and we will see you next week.
- 42:08Take care.