as Salaamu Alaykum all,

An Idea I was thinking about this week

This notion of being "authentic" that is seemingly adored by the "wishy-washy" generation as I like to call us. But surely we know and don't really like our "authentic self". We strive to better ourselves through struggle and seeking the help of Allah SWT. We hope that we can be more of our "considered" selves, right? Our character is the sum total of our interactions. Unless we're angelic, shouldn't most of these be from our "considered" selves?

Reminder that affected me this week

"Hikam 5  . Your striving for what has already been guaranteed t you and your negligence of what is demanded of you are signs of the loss of your insight

 اجتهادك فيما ضمن لك، وتقصيرك فيما طلب مِنك؛ دليل على انطماس البصيرة منك

"You should know that the world is guaranteed for you (i.e. your share is guaranteed for you by which your existence is upheld). [In contrast], the hereafter is demanded of you"

Hadith

 "The example of a bad companion is like the example of smoke bellows. If it doesn't burn you with its sparks, its foul smell will be attached to you."

A quote to think about

"The paradox of reading: The books you read will profoundly change you even though you’ll forget the vast majority of what you read" David Perell (I think)

Book recommendation

The Algebra of Happiness - Scott Galloway 7/10

The author has no particular neuroscience or psychology-related qualifications and usually writes on marketing and economics but I found this book quite insightful and amusing.

Content I found beneficial this week:

Hamza Tzortzis has moved on from IERA and has a new platform called Sapience Institute. His content has evolved (pun intended) over the years and is now much more "academic". In any case, I was reflecting on the "Free Speech" issue and watched his discussion with Dr Stephen Law which gave me a framework on how to deal with this issue. It is important for us to learn how to intellectually defend our tradition.

A product to consider

I bought a "Renpho Smart Scale" from Amazon. It's relatively cheap but you might still wonder why it is better than a normal weighing scale. For me, it comes down to designing my environment in a way which is more conducive to achieving my goals. So now, I step on the scale and it automatically syncs my weight and other measurements with the accompanying app, Fitbit and MyFitnessPal. It makes the whole thing easier and I get a bigger dopamine hit from seeing the results 😂

One question to ask ourselves

Death is around the corner and you're worrying about what exactly?

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