Tuesday 20 June 2023 / 2 Dhuʻl-Hijjah 1444 AH

as Salaamu Alaykum

Welcome to the Optimized Muslim Newsletter on all things self-development from a Muslim's perspective.

Total read time: 3 minutes

What's happening at Optimized Muslim?

I'm looking to start interviewing guests again so please reply to this email with your suggestions of people who fit well with this community.

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Qur'an Ayah

يَوْمَ تَرْجُفُ ٱلرَّاجِفَةُ ٦

˹Consider˺ the Day ˹when˺ the quaking Blast will come to pass, Qur'an 79:6

Islamic Reminder 🕌

Salim Bin Abdullah once wrote to Umar Bin Abdul-Aziz, saying, "Know that Allah helps a servant according to their intention. So whoever's intention is sincere, Allah's help will fulfill his intention. And if his sincerity decreases, Allah's help will decrease accordingly."

Reading

Sinning but not seeing the consequences? Beware 😱

Among the infamies of the soul is a lack of reflection on what the individual sees of Allah granting him respite for his sins. This condition is treated by [having] perpetual fear. The individual should know that this respite is not from disregard, and that Allah Most High will interrogate him about this and will recompense him for it unless He grants him mercy. Reflection is for those who fear [Allah], because Allah Most High says, “In this there is a lesson for he who fears” (Q79:26).

al-Sulami, Abu Abd al-Rahman; Furber, Musa. Infamies of the Soul and Their Treatments .

Spend some time like an ascetic 🧔‍♂️

Here's an interesting quote that got me thinking:

"When you are young, spend at least 6 months to 1 year living as cheaply as you can owning as little as you possibly can eating beans and rice in a tiny room or tent. That way any time you have to risk something in the future, you won’t be afraid of the “worst-case” scenario."

This reminded of the Stoic Seneca's remarks:

"Here’s a lesson to test your mind’s mettle: take part of a week in which you have only the most meager and cheap food, dress scantly in shabby clothes, and ask yourself if this is really the worst that you feared?

It is when times are good that you should gird yourself for tougher times ahead, for when Fortune is kind, the soul can build defences against her ravages. So it is that soldiers practice manoeuvres in peacetime, erecting bunkers with no enemies in sight and exhausting themselves under no attack so that when it comes they won’t grow tired"

Living frugally and experiencing simplicity can help cultivate gratitude and detachment from material possessions. This practice allows individuals to recognize the true value of their blessings and reduces attachment to worldly possessions.

Trials and tribulations are a part of life, and believers should be prepared to face them with patience and steadfastness. 

Value "free" time 🕰️

1 hour is 4% of a day. However, as you know, once you account for sleep, eating, getting ready, work etc, you're left with maybe 2-3 hours of time that you have more autonomy over. So, if you think about it, spending 30 minutes browsing TikTok, is actually 20-30% of your free time. If that doesn't build some sense of urgency within you, please unsubscribe 😂

That Pesky neurochemical: Dopamine 🧠

"Don't be surprised if you feel a little bit or a lot low on days-weeks after a peak experience. Persist with normal daily life and continue to do things that promote good health, but don't go back and try and recreate the peak the same way. You'll (soon) be back up to baseline. Also, ANY big peak in dopamine *caused by something that doesn't require effort, is destructive. (Gluttony destroys)."

Andrew Huberman makes us aware here that peaks in dopamine are usually followed by troughs. That should be factored into how we view our mood and mental state. We shouldn't expect to be able to maintain the same level and therefore make the troughs worse by negative thinking.

Interesting links and recommended content🤔

• “Do You Support LGBT?” | Dr. Omar Suleiman | Ask Me Anything: Link

Long overdue but was happy to finally see this

• The Signs of the Last Day with Shaykh Asrar Rashid (53 min) BT podcast Link Shaykh Asrar with some fascinating points

• AI Trip Planner. link This seems good

Recommended product

HAKENO Pull Up Bar No Screw Installation Doorway Chin up Bar LINK

• These are surprisingly sturdy and easy to dismantle. I actually took one to Pakistan (you can imagine the reaction of family members 😂) and I was basically good to go with decent home workouts.

Questions to ask ourselves

Do I act like I know that my actions can lead me to Paradise or Hell?

Some quotes from my readings:

“Not knowing stuff is fine; the real problem is that we don’t know that we don’t know.

Ignorance plus ignorance about your ignorance is a recipe for overconfidence.” — Adam Mastroianni

"I block the easily outraged because they’re the foot-soldiers of the mob, who in the old days would’ve lynched people over neighbourhood rumours.

Those without self-control are soon controlled by others; they’re the useful idiots of ideologues, the tools of tyranny.” — Gurwinder Bhogal

We are living in a time in which the East can no longer remain passive in the face of the advancing West. A thousand forces - political, social and economic - are hammering at the doors of the Muslim world. Will this world succumb to the pressure of the Western twentieth century and in the process lose not only its own traditional forms but its spiritual roots as well?

The Road to Mecca - Muhammad Asad

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