A sign of the sincere: Handling criticism like a champ

 Imam adh-Dhahab saidi: 

"The mark of a sincere person is that when they are criticized, they do not justify themselves but rather admit their faults and say, ‘May Allah have mercy on the one who gifts me my shortcomings.’"

[Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, 7/393]

Amazing profound advice. One of the signs of sincere people is that they have the maturity in character to accept constructive feedback and criticism like a champ. Through:

✅ Humility: instead of reacting defensively and justifying their behavior, sincere individuals recognize their imperfections, and because they prioritize self-improvement instead of defending their ego, that makes them open to constructive criticism. 

 

✅ Authenticity: because they demonstrate a genuine desire to learn and grow instead of presenting a facade of perfection, sincere individuals are able to reframe their perspective to see feedback as a gift - a mercy from Allah to send a messenger to help lift us up - instead of seeing it as an attack

✅ Wisdom: when a person keeps up this habit and grows, he is able to look back at the constructive criticisms he received in the past, have a greater appreciation of feedback as a gift, and therefore desires to also offer more "gifts" to others for the greater good. Compound awesomeness! 

May Allah make us among the people of sincerity! 

Thriving in Ramadan: Productivity Strategies for Young Professionals - @Subang Collective , Subang Jaya 15th February 2025

 

Last night was the first time the team at The Barakah Effect podcast (Faisal, Amir, Reeza) had an interactive live session organized and hosted by IamTheBeliever, and it was an excellent experience for us Masha Allah. 

Approaching the session, the key to make the conversation engaging was to touch base with the attendees: what are they struggling with in Ramadan, what are the challenges they face or they foresee they will go through, any goals or targets they have this year, and any success stories they've achieved in the past. 

Once we've touched base with them, we can employ a more mindful approach  selecting our content to be relatable to the listeners and provide more practical sharing for their context.

Here are some points I shared: 

✅ Keep your eyes on the prize - your ibadah in Ramadan are some of the greatest, GUARANTEED investments you'll ever make in your life

✅ Yes, the goal of Thriving in Ramadan while Balancing your job, family and other responsibilities does seem difficult, but remember: it is the nature of the extraordinary prize to require extraordinary effort. Give your best to Allah this one month!

✅ The Ihsan principle: don't worry so much about the quantity (number of pages, number of rakaat, etc). Instead, focus on the QUALITY and consistency of your deeds. The Ihsan factor can make a small deed have HUGE value in the sight of Allah: we are talking about a range between 10 to 700-fold. A 2-rakaat of quality prayer is way more meaningful than 20 rakaat of turbocharged tarawih, and a page of Qur'an recited well with good tajwid and reflection can be better than a mechanical recitation just to tick the box

✅ Taqwa: the objective of fasting is to build consciousness of Allah - in being more cautious of sins, and being more proactive in good deeds. So set early the long-term intention and make du'aa to a Allah that you want these righteous deeds to sustain after Ramadan is over. 

✅ Time-block your focus time for what matters: for tasks you set specific goals (e.g. Reciting Qur'an, reading a book, listening to lecture on tadabbur, night prayer), don't just do it "when you find time". MAKE TIME: schedule it, and guard it with your dear life! 

Alhamdulillah the session went very smoothly, with excellent crowd participation and vibes, but Masha Allah most importantly, I felt that the 3 of us has good chemistry to deliver the topic together. Well done, bros! Allahumma barik 

Many thanks Jazakumullahu khayr to IamTheBeliever for the honor of having us. It has always been our vision at The Barakah Effect to collaborate with other like-minded people and organizations, to complement the collective effort of da'wah, as an ummah. Here's looking fwd to future collaborations, insha Allah!

Emcee experience: PISC2025

 

Emcee experience: Perlis International Sunnah Convention PISC, 24-26 January 2025, Dewan Wawasan 2020, Kangar 

Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for the honor to be part of the MC lineup for Perlis International Sunnah Convention 2025, together with the Amin Idris , and with two additions to the lineup, Dr. Yusof Mohamad and Dr. Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin . 

With over 5000 attendees at a given time, and a huge total turnout of 7000+ from all over the world attending the event, this was the biggest event i’ve ever had the privilege to be Emceeing for. Masha Allah.. Congratulations to the organizers at MAIPS for an event we'll organized, allahumma barik. 

PISC is one of those rare opportunities that we have a partner/dual Emcee team up, which presented some interesting learning opportunities as a presenter. Always seeking to improve my craft, Here are some new things I learned in my MC-ing experience this year throughout these 3 days Convention:

1. Plan, but be flexible - In the past, I used to think that if you had a “partner emcee” you have to script out everything in detail, ensuring both of you know exactly what to say. But for this kind of day-long event with so many speakers and a packed schedule, we need to approach it with more flexibility and be agile: what if the previous speaker exceeds their time, or speakers aren’t ready by their slots on time? So we came up with this sweet spot - have a rough structure and outline, a sequence of the broad points of what to say, synchronize them, give space to your partner, trust each other, and Bismillah. 

2. Collaborate, complement & cover for each other - Herein lies the real beauty of having a partner, especially when they are very professional. The key to making the team emcee setup work is to complement, not compete. In practice, I’ve found that one of the keys to a good collaborative co-emceeing is Humility: Let go of your ego. Don’t hog the limelight or make it about yourself. Instead, give opportunities for your co-Emcee to shine, complement the points where you can without stealing anyone’s thunder. Our job is to uplift the event, not ourselves. But the real beauty of a dual emcee is in covering for each other’s mistakes. The truth is, we made lots of mistakes on stage: but the trick is how we can patch it up, without looking like we messed up, and keep it flowing like a champ. When there’s an awkward silence, fill it up. When your partner forgets, make indirect comments to remind or trigger him. When someone makes a mistake, correct each other in positive gestures. Team work! 

3. Over-prepare, just don’t under-deliver - Here’s a little secret: things might “look” spontaneous, but they’re not. In fact, nothing is spontaneous (well, at least not for me). Everything I say has been pre-planned upfront. But not everything necessarily gets delivered: We may plan to say 20 things, but end up only saying 3. What matters is, we commit to delivering those 3 points in the best way possible. As for the remaining 17? That’s okay.  Learn to let go. As content creators, Amin and I, we understand the pain of seeing our well-prepared content get left behind in the cutting room floor 🤣 

4. Let the Humor flow (Respectfully) - something that surprised me this year was how relaxed Amin was in delivering jokes, including the formal closing with DYMM Raja Perlis himself, in between the formal proceedings.. Selambe je melawak, Abe kita ni 😂 . But Masha Allah, it definitely added an unexpected flavor to the event and left off a good impression to what most people expected to be ordinary and “boring”. Nice touch! 

One thing to note about humor though, keep them positive vibes: as a personal principle, I never mock or make fun of others, and try to avoid sarcasm for the sake of getting others to laugh. Those types of humor tend to be misunderstood, leave a bad taste in others, and might leave off a bad impression to the organizers. For me, one of the hidden ways to make the interaction and banter fun, is to always try to uplift the event by saying positive comments about others, especially your MC partner.

Awesome experience hope for more opportunities for collaboration in the future, insha Allah!

🗺️ Team Muawiyah: Exploring Perlis, 27-29 January 2025 🚗

Though this was my 3rd time in Perlis, this was the first time we drove here and really spent time exploring and sightseeing this beautiful state. Here are some highlights of our visit featured here: 

🌴 Tasik Melati - scenic lake with nice Chinese-style architecture walkways. Great for a run! 

🌄 Wang Kelian lookout point - the very definition of "chillout" place, situated at north tip near one of tjen Thailand borders, with breathtaking lookout point overlooking Bukit Chabang and Tasik Tasoh. Awesome chillout point, very windy with stalls (important: brewed coffee ☕). Can spend hours here! 

🛥️🚣 Tasik Tasoh - boat ride over the lake, where boats park overlooking Bukit Chabang in the background for a photo. Tasoh also has boating activities like kayaking and sail boats. 

🏃Denai Larian - Park across Perlis river, with a 3km Running track, rope bridge, a really nice playground with lots of bars. Excellent family workout place. 

🗻🗻 Bukit Chabang Mari country house - nice little hangout place with the family overlooking the twin mountains of Bukit Chabang, with a mini petting zoo and lots of little goats to play with, a huge open space, and a slippery climbing spot to challenge the little climbers. 

🏞️ Gua Kelam + Hujan-Hujan Campsite - one of the highlight tourist spots of Perlis, and definitely one of my favorites too. Beautiful landscape with cave formations, lush trees and river with lots of fun spots to take a dip. Everywhere you look lies a beautiful photo! Perlis is full of healing spots, but Hujan-Hujan area one is by far the best of them.

Other things we love ❤️:

🕌 So many mosques, everywhere! It may be a small state but there are abundant, comfortable and well-built mosques

🐟 Ikan Bakar +ikan Keli: puas makan!

Would love to come back again for more. Jom pakat mai lagi Perlis! 

Time to plan family trip post PISC2026 😁