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The only thing I remember being good at as a kid was Mathematics.

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Anything that involved a problem solving, analytical mind was within my field of strength.

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Physical activity, sport, or being socially skilled were weaknesses of mine.

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Like most people who follow the status quo, I studied in University for 3 years thinking (that was just the next thing to do after school)

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My field of study? Mathematics & Theoretical Physics of course…

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Not for some dream career, not for some vision I had in mind… but simply because I performed well in these topics, and I enjoyed them.

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In my second year my life took a pivot.

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I looked around me and all I saw were lifeless, soulless people talking about how they were looking for apprenticeships in finance, banking and other fields that for me were absolutely meaningless.

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I didn’t care about any of that. In fact, these people served as mirrors through-which I would reflect and become aware of what I really wanted for my future.

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What did I want if i didn’t want the money, the suit-and-tie desk job, the status, the car, the house…

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Land.

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Sheep.

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Nature.

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Fresh air.

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Raw Milk.

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Self-grown Veg.

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Clean, fresh water.

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Quiet…

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This was the point in my life where my priorities shifted.

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What I wanted most in life was to be happy.

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To live a simple life and not one centred in materialistic gain.

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I want you to understand how new this was for me.

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Before this realisation I was a typical gangster-rap-listening, girl-chasing guy.

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It was clear that all of those aspiring to such careers I have mentioned were never coming from their hearts.

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They just wanted to look or sound good to the other students.

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They wanted to appear as if they knew what they wanted.

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That they had their shi* together.

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But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

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These people were empty and I could see it in their eyes.

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Probably never having had touched their bare-feet upon the wet, mossy ground I so loved.

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Never feeling their toes hug the grass or having not climbed a tree ever in their lives or since their 

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younger years of innocence.

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Now knowing that happiness was my primary objective in life, I set out on a quest.

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Searching for books on the topic, I wished to find something written by The Dalai Lama

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“If somebody knows about happiness, it’s got to be this guy?” I thought… right?

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In Waterstones (a book shop where I live) I found a section of spiritual books with many written by him.

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“This one looks good” (clearly judging books by their covers), but it didn’t quite feel like the one.

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“What about this one?”… still no.

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“What about… no that’s not even worth looking at, it’s not by The Dalai Lama”

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“And what about this one?…” no again.

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In that moment, something strange happened.

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I became aware that the book that there was one book I had not given the slightest chance to. All because it wasn’t written by The Dalai Lama.

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I went back to that book and picked it up.

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“Buddhism Is Not What You Think,” the title read.

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I knew this was the one…

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For the simple yet strange reason being that I judged it by it’s cover and decided it wasn’t for me without even taking a second to look at it.

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As a Muslim we are warned about imitating the religions of others.

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However something deep within me knew in that moment my mind could not be trusted.

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I bought the book and it changed my life forever…

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Follow Your Curiosity

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Ever since I was a child I was curious about understanding how things worked.

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I would take apart my toys and attempt to put them back together over and over.

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On the rare occasion I would succeed.

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This interest translated to a skill and thirst for Mathematics.

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It then transformed into inner-engineering, becoming intensely curious about the workings of the mind.

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All leading to this point…

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Helping people change their lives for the better through long term behaviour change, breaking addictions, and learning to live with more peace of mind. 

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In Islam there is a term called “Sadaqah Jariyah” which means “ongoing charity”.

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Teaching is one of the best forms of sadaqah jariyah.

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Every life I positively impact will ripple out and positively effect other lives.

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If you followed your curiosities with conviction, who knows where it would lead you.

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Most likely on the path of discovering your gifts and sharing them with the world.

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Did Allah not intend for us to do this?

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Is it not a waste to ignore the gifts Allah has blessed us with?

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Take note that it will come with tests.

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Perhaps your curiosities invite a lot of judgements from people who refuse to think for themselves.

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For years I felt ashamed and afraid to meditate at home because my family would judge me.

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They thought I was worshipping other gods when in reality I was simply sitting in peace.

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Look out for people’s judgements and remember most of all that only Allah can judge you.

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Dare to follow your heart.

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Action Step: Write a list of all the things you’re most curious about

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If you’re struggling to find a sense of purpose in life, it will help to pursue them.

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The ones that are most likely to lead to your gifts are:

• Those you have had since early childhood
• Those that are bred from the need to solve burning problems

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Your purpose and service to humanity / the world will be birthed from the process of following your curiosities.

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The Art of Happiness

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During those years in University (when I felt like the black sheep) I was miserable.

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That misery gave birth to a curiosity for happiness which lead to the study of Buddhist principles.

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Acceptance: Do not resist the moment in any way. Accept all things, just the way they are. Resistance breeds suffering and most things in life you can not control.

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Non-Assumption: Thinking (especially about the future) leads to an incredible amount of suffering. Envisioning the worst case scenario, assuming we know how events will unfold, all based upon a small (yet believable) piece of evidence. 

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Avoid making assumptions.

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Non-Identification: You are not the mind but rather the witness of it. The mind (ego) is like a child you must parent through both hard and soft love. Do not mistake yourself for your thoughts. 

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The practice of meditation helps you to learn this on an experiential (not just an intellectual) level.

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All of the above brought me closer to Allah and are indeed shared principles within Islam.

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This was not the Islam I learned about as a child however… 

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Whatever your religion is, most of us were only taught about the surface level details.

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In-sha-Allah: In islam we say “in-sha-Allah” (if God wills it). This means, accept all things because Allah has decreed it to be this way and no other way.

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Allahu-Alim: “Allah knows” and we do not. The mind is not able to fathom God’s plan. It’s better not to assume and rather witness the unfolding of events instead.

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Jihad-Al-Nafs: “The spiritual war within”. Our egos are the greatest test given by Allah. A large part of our purpose is about mastering it and learning to lead it, not be lead by it. 

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Seeing this Buddhist principles (that improved my life so much) in Islam gave me so much more confidence in the religion I was raised in.

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“Wow… Islam isn’t just some robotic, empty religion…”

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Yes. It’s actually the deepest one I’ve found yet and I’m now proud to call myself Muslim.

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Why All Muslims Should Meditate

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After 10 years meditating I now understand…

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There is in fact no such thing as “meditation”.

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It’s the title that pushes so many muslims (and followers of other religions) away.

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Meditation means simply “to be”.

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Does that sound like some act of worship to you?

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Does “to be” mean to worship pagan gods?

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Absolutely not.

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What does it even mean to “worship”?

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It means to be obedient.

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When we are in a state of “being” the only one we are obedient to is Allah.

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In fact, the less time we spend “being” and the more time we spend thinking, feeling and doing, the more likely we are to transgress!

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Being is simple. 

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Being desires nothing.

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Being just is.

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If anything, meditation would be beneficial for the islamic community.

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How? 

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By bringing them out of their heads and into their hears.

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By giving them something more important to purse like connection to their soul, Allah, and to be as kind and loving as possible…

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As opposed to gaining the title of Doctor, driving expensive cars or keeping up appearances with people you hardly know or see.

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How To Meditate: The simplest way to learn meditation is to sit (or lay) for 5-10 minutes to begin with and repeatedly draw your attention to your bodily sensations.

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It would take too long to go in depth here. This will be enough to get your started.

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Try it and thank God when you feel the positive effects of relaxing your body and mind.

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Promotion: If you want to learn more about meditation check out my new program “Alpha-Mind”.

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I’ll teach you everything from basic to more advanced techniques.

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All without worshipping any false gods or transgressing the rulings of Islam.

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Click the link if you want to stop overthinking and learn how to shut your thinking down as and when you wish.

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Taking Ownership with Non-Duality

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“Why do bad things happen to good people?” - Most people

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It’s foolish to ask this question without also asking, what is a bad thing and what makes good people?

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This may seem trivial, but consider what I’m about to say.

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The darkest period of your life can teach you the most valuable lessons.

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The things you love the most could actually be causing you harm.

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Our minds are not reliable devices for determining what is good or bad.

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Inferior conduct leads to hardship.

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From hardship comes depth.

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And depth gives birth to superior conduct.

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When things don’t go they way we want them to, we have the habit of throwing a tantrum.

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Disappointments like this can sometimes stay with a person for their entire lives.

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The loss of a loved one.

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The failure of a marriage.

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The passing of an opportunity.

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Victim mentality is a slippery slope.

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The mind does not know what is best.

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There is a principle in Buddhism known as non-duality

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In short, everything in existence was created in pairs

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Good, bad, light, dark, high, low, in, out, hot, cold and so on.

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When you take a closer look however things begin to blur.

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Is there anything in this life that is 100% good?

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High for you is low for the eagles

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Cold for one might be warm for another

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These labels we assign to all of creation are subjective and therefore of mind.

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Spirituality is centred in Oneness.

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The objective of the ego is separation.

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Allah’s Oneness is pure unity.

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Therefore if you wish to grow closer to Allah (from my experience) you must learn to transcend dualistic thinking.

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Some religious followers do not seek to know and experience Allah.

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They are satisfied with knowledge on jurisprudence, rulings and scripture.

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As important as these may be, there is nothing more crucial than union with Allah (for me).

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To know my Lord, that is all I wish for.

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