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 😁

Denai Larian @ Kangar, Perlis

 Denai Larian - Pengkalan Asam. A Runner's dream in Perlis

After a weak-long cheat day 🧐🤔, it was high time to strap on my running shoes for a post-Fajr run - a quest that brought me to one of the most unexpected, pleasant surprises of Perlis so far: Denai Larian.

An awesome track across Sungai Perlis, with a 3km jogging track loop over the river (for a total of 6km each round), and extends out to the scenic mountainous paddy fields at the back for one of the most breathtaking city runs I've experienced here in Kangar.

Not only that, but the park itself has some awesome distinguishing features that make it so unique: a rope bridge (jambatan gantung) , huge playground areas for kids, and my favorite part: an outdoor workout space with lots of pull up bars and dip bars🔥💪🏽.. Now, that's my jam 😁

Muawiyah Learns a New Skill today : Kayaking

Soon-to-be-7yo Little Man insisted to ride his own kayak by himself. Even though it's his first time kayaking.

Masha Allah surprisingly, he did really well, with minimal supervision. After the initial struggle and getting the hand of mastering the inverse motions (pulling back moves you forward), he picked it up quickly and was 100% engaged and focused for the entire 30 minutes.

Admittedly, initially we were a bit worried about him handling the kayak by himself and I wanted to share a kayak with him, but he was determined to go solo. And indeed, he proved himself fully capable.

As parents, we have to learn how to balance out our protectiveness and trusting in their abilities to provide the space for them to grow and to thrive.

Well done, Little Man. High five 👋🏽

An introspecive: “Family Life Guided by Qur’an” Forum, PISC Perlis International Sunnah Convention 2025

 

If there were two of my teachers who impacted me the most I would confidently say: Sheikh Hussain Yee, and Dr. Bilal Philips. 

And here I am, in 2025, sharing the stage with them, as a moderator for two of the most important educators of my life. 

SubhanAllah, it was such a huge honor, humbling and a surreal experience. It never crossed my mind that one day I would have an opportunity to sit with them together in one seating, let alone share a conversation about a topic which I am deeply passionate about: Nurturing a family life guided by the Qur’an. 

Both Dr. Bilal Philips and Sheikh Hussain played pivotal roles in shaping who I am today in different ways, and it is through them that Allah had provided guidance in two important areas of personal development: character, and knowledge. 

When I first attended his classes back in 2008, Shaykh Hussain Yee really opened up my eyes about our attitude towards the sunnah, constantly reinforcing the importance of adab (etiquettes) and practicing ihsan in all that we do. He constantly emphasizes developing strength in character to stay true to our principles, develop our resilience, to lead by example, rise up to our manliness by taking care of the people around us, and ikhlas in all our actions: do your actions consistently, even if no one gives you credit or appreciates you for it.

But one particular aspect of Sheikh Hussain character that left a long-lasting first impression on me was how he treated children. I noticed that he was always so friendly and joyful to kids, would spend time talking and listening to them just as he would any other grown-up, bearded adult. Before that, I have never met an ustadz who behaved like this with kids. Back then, my experience was that other Ustadz were often fierce, strict and not-so-nice to children, often seen as if they view children like a nuisance. But Sheikh Hussain treated them with kindness and respect, and you could see it in his actions that he was treating them like future leaders instead of a nuisance, and that inspired me, because I love kids!

Later on, as I learnt more about the biography of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ , the sunnah and hadith of how merciful he was to children, it was clear to me that Sheikh Hussain was a man who really walked the talk in practicing the sunnah. Little actions can make a lot of difference. 

Dr. Bilal Philips was a person who had benefitted me a great deal through his, primarily through his courses at IOU (International open university), previously named “islamic online university”). He is so much more knowledgeable than people realize: He has written books, conducted entire semester-long courses on subjects like Aqeedah, Fiqh, Tafsir, Arabic Language, Sciences of Hadith, and get this: even works of fiction. When we were studying wthose subjects, some of his best works of tafsir weren’t even published yet! 

Dr. Bilal really opened up my eyes on Islamic knowledge, appreciating the vastness and simultaneously the miraculous interconnectedness of the subjects. Two of his subjects that impacted me the most until today were the subjects on Etiquettes of Students of Knowledge, The Evolution of Fiqh (history of the mazhabs), Tafsir Surah Al-Kahf, Hadith on the Best in Islam, and his work on Usool Hadith, all of which really helped bring an elevated perspective and have a huge impact to me until this day.

And I am sure, there are thousands of others who have been touched by the work of these two great teachers. May Allah preserve them both and grant them continuous barakah and success in dunya and akhirah.

Lepak malam di Perlis bersama geng2 kenyalang

 

Masha Allah nice catching up with Sarawakian buddies Aziz, Aiman, Amal, Hisham, Erfan.. Lamak sik klaka Sarawak ehh.. di Perlis of all places 🤣. Rasa kedak balit Kampung iyeerrhh

Visited by bro Azizul n Wife.. Triggering deep discussion about parenting challenges and struggles and how we overcome them.. How we play our role as fathers and husbands, how to handle high needs children, how we prioritize and strategies their education and personal development, and so much more.

I find it's important that we fathers have focus groups on these matters as a jamaah, and surface out these challenges and solutions, like a community of Practice.
As my podcast buddy Aziz said, these are challenges that we all face, yet very few fathers speak out about it, and choose to keep to ourselves. Sometimes there is an unhealthy taboo of shame, judging ourselves, our spouses or our children ("is there something wrong with them/me?"). Parenting today in the 21st century isn't the same as it was when we grew up, and we can't just copy and paste what we think we know, especially if we aspire to be the change to raise future leaders in our ummah.

May Allah bless these gathering and these awesome brothers who travelled from Borneo just to attend PISC2025 , and may Allah grant us steadfastness to play our role to be the change our ummah needs to nurture and raise righteous families.

Coach Faisal AKYC2024: ready to go!

Alkhaadem Youth Camp “Arrival: The Battle Continues” 22-27th December 2024, Ipoh Malaysia #AKYC2024

Looking forward to work together with the team and fellow coaches for this year's Alkhaadem youth camp!

Alhamdulillah it’s a huge privilege to be a part of the volunteering team for this camp again. 

Since 90s, Alkhaadem Youth Camp has been week-long event where our youth participants (aged 10-18) are brought through obstacles and assignments that will take them through a week of physical challenges, team building activities, classroom modules, thought-provoking assignments, and everything in between.

As a coach, I'm also looking forward to putting my active listening cap, help them get through whatever difficulties in their life. What I've learnt dealing with the 16 year old group in AKYC2023, was that many of these teenage youth face a lot of very real struggles but don't know where or who to turn to without being ridiculed or dismissed. Challenges from friendship conflicts, addiction, low self esteem, identity crisis, abandonment issues from absent parents, mental health struggles.

These aren't pleasant to talk about, and we hope we can play a part - no matter how small - towards providing a positive steer and inspiration in their lives, and at the same time provide practical insight and wisdom to understanding what our children go through how I can do better as a parent.  

Looking forward to it. AKYC2024: Let's GOOOOOO! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

AKYC2024 Alkhaadem youth Camp 2024: Let's Go!

 

Looking forward to work together with the team and fellow coaches for this year's Alkhaadem youth camp!

Beyond the exciting challenges towards  character building and leadership development, I'm particularly excited and passionate about this year's theme - Arrival: The Battle Continues. How we can prepare ourselves for the coming of Dajjal - the Antichrist - towards the end of time as the Major Signs of the Day of Judgment appear.

It's a theme reminding us to step up to confront the brutal facts: The Dajjal - and subsequently, the End of Times - will be coming, whether we like it or not.
Whether we choose to accept or ignore it, it's going to happen. So the most important question we need to ask ourselves is the question that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked his companion, and subsequently to you and me:
وَمَاذَا أَعْدَدْتَ لَهَا ‏؟
"what have you prepared for it?" 

this year's camp theme of "Arrival" opens up an opportunity to clarify misconceptions and doubts related to the End of Times which are subject to so much false tales and conspiracies: the Messiah, the Mahdi, the second coming of Jesus, ya'juj and majuj - and how we can take these lessons to apply the deceptions of Dajjal as practical lessons in every daily life, today in the 21st century: how to equip our youth with the maturity to see through the lies around us. How to instill the courage to make the tough decisions to stick to your principles - even though material circumstances are forcing us to making poor decisions out of desparation?
How to put our trust in Allah when situation seems dire and hopeless?

Man, getting goosebumps!

See you there in Ipoh insha Allah - looking forward to meet and collaborate with the awesome team at AKYC2024... Let's gooo! 🔥💪🏽

(English) 🎙️💡 Tips for Starting a Podcast

Recently, I met up with a group of young, passionate individuals from IIUM (Aziem, Bashir, Izz, Adam Zafir) who aspire to start a podcast discussing current issues and life solutions. They sought advice based on our journey with The Barakah Effect (TBE) podcast, leveraging from our experience over the 90 episodes released since its launch in March 2021. 

Here are the key tips we shared:

1. Sincerity

Set your intention that you are doing this for a higher purpose, and commit to this sincerity! Sincerity fuels the team to stay motivated, committed, and consistent, even if the views, likes or subscriber counts are not high. Sincerity will also help you persevere through criticism and challenges, ensuring your efforts remain steadfast.

2. Planning

Don’t rush into it. Plan thoroughly to maintain consistency. Prepare a backlog of recorded episodes to avoid disruptions when team members get busy. For TBE, we spent seven months preparing before our launch—designing the logo, assigning roles, conducting research, and recording 10 episodes in advance.

You don’t need expensive equipment. Focus on good audio quality and minimize ambient noises. Affordable microphones like Boya are sufficient and readily available at Shopee. 

3. Just Start! 

Avoid over-perfectionism—it can stall progress. Start with what you have, review your work, and continuously improve. Mistakes are part of the learning process, so don’t be afraid to fail and try again.

4. Break the Ice

For guest interviews or panel discussions, have a brief ice-breaking session before recording. Discuss the topic early to ensure everyone is comfortable and prepared. This human touch fosters better communication and connection during the session.

5. Teamwork

Don’t do it alone. Running a podcast requires teamwork and proper delegation. Be patient with team members’ shortcomings, and use this opportunity to develop leadership skills by recognizing strengths, addressing weaknesses, and rotating responsibilities. If things go wrong, don’t give up—learn from mistakes and adapt.

At the end of the discussion, I asked them, “So. Are you ready to start?” 

One of them, Aziem replied, “this is scary, but we’ll try, inshaAllah.” 

I reassured them, “That’s real courage—stepping forward despite fear.”

This is how Allah describes Courage in the Qur'an. When God instructed Moses and Aaron - Musa & Harun - to confront pharaoh, they were scared, too! They felt fear in their hearts - of the terrible violence and brutality this tyrant is capable of! 

But in spite of that, they stood firm, stepped up & went forward anyway.  Now that is bravery. 

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear" (Nelson Mandela) 

Starting a podcast is a journey of learning, growth, and collaboration. May Allah bless their efforts and gran success. All the best, friends!

🎙️💡 Tips Memulakan Podcast

 

Alhamdulillah rezeki dapat berjumpa dengan saudara2 kita dari UIA / IIUM - saudara Aziem, Bashir, Izz, Adam dan Zafir - yang berhasrat utk memulakan Podcast yang membincangkan hal ehwal semasa dan mencari solusi permasalahan harian dalam kehidupan seharian kita.

Sahabat2 muda ini berjumpa dengan hasrat memohon tips dan nasihat, memetik daripada pengalaman kami di The Barakah Effect (TBE) , selepas 90 episod semenjak pelancaran podcast kami pada Mac 2021.

Antara tips yang dikongsikan dan dibincang kan

1. Ikhlas - pastikan niat kita buat podcast ni ikhlas semata-mata mencari keredhaan Allah. Adakan vision and uluwul himmah (aspirasi tinggi) untuk jemaah dan sentiasa ingatkan sesama sendiri , agar ahli sentiasa bersemangat utk beri yang terbaik (ihsan), tidak berkira atau banyak songeh dalam menyumbang. Dengan ikhlas, kita dapat bina ketabahan menghadapi dugaan: tidak mudah sentap atau putus asa tatkala Terima kritikan atau berhadapan dgn ahli yang tidak bekerjasama.

Dan kunci ikhlas; jangan mudah patah semangat kalau tak banyak views, shares, likes atau followers. Kalaulah kita betul2 ikhlas, usaha ihsan kita tetap konsisten, tak kira 10 atau 10,000 followers!

2. Planning - jgn tergesa-gesa.. Kita tak nak jadi kes hangat2 taik ayam, blast 1-2 episod kemudian terbengkalai. Buat perancangan dengan baik sebelum release, agar mudah istiqamah: line up tugasan, sediakan "stock" rakaman lebih, agar ada momentum yang baik dan tidak terbengkalai bila ahli podcast mula sibuk.

Kami di TBE mula buat persiapan pada Ogos 2020 - 7 bulan sebelum perasmian - untuk merancang logo, agihan tugas, research, dan dah siap record 10 episod sebelum launch. Tinggal nak edit & release je.
Untuk equipment, tk perlu invest barang mahal2. Dalam podcast, yang  penting adalah audio. Kalau video quality sempoi2 pakai phone murah pun takpe - janji suara jelas dan minimize gangguan persekitaran. Invest beli microphone. Zaman skarang microphone mcm brand Boya pun dah cukup baik, dan murah je kat shopee.

3. "Just do it" ✔️ - Ya, lakukan dgn ihsan, tapi pada masa yang sama, tak payah perfectionist sangat - kalau tak, kerja tak Jalan, Bang! Buat je dulu.. Proses taking action yang akan mantapkan kemahiran.
Lepas buat, Review balik, cari ruangan penambahbaikan. Kalau tak puas hati, just buang, move on and buat balik. It's okay utk buat kesilapan atau kekurangan.

4. Icebreaking 🫠 - kalau buat guest interview atau ahli panel, buat sedikit sesi taaruf sebelum sesi podcast. Kenalpasti dan bincangkan Tajuk awal2, agar Mudahkan bagi mereka buat persiapan, di sampling kita add "human touch" dalam hubungan: Buka ruangan mereka  berkenalan dgn kita, selesa utk bercakap dan berkongsi dengan kita.

5. Buat berjemaah - jangan buat sorang2. Nak maintain podcast ni perlukan banyak usaha, dan perlukan pengagihan tugas yang baik. Dan dalam Bab ini, kita perlu bersabar. Lapangkan dada utk terima kritikan membina, Jangan mudah sentap, janganlah cepat nak left group atau berputus asa dengan sahabat2 yang kurang menyumbang atau kerjasama.

It's a fact: Tak mudah nak kerja dengan orang.. Sebab tu Rasulullah ﷺ bagi special fadhilat, "seorang Muslim yang bergaul dengan orang lain, dan bersabar atas gangguan mereka, adalah lebih baik daripada seorang Muslim yang tidak bergaul (dalam masyarakat) dengan orang lain dan tidak bersabar atas gangguan mereka.” (HR At-Tirmidzi 2507)

Gunakan platform ini juga untuk Develop leadership skill anda: kenal kelebihan, kebolehan dan kekurangan masing2 - dan kenal pasti ni cuba try test peranan lain2. Mungkin anda ada bakat dalam skill2 yang tak sangka anda boleh buat!
Skali skala kita akan kantoi atau terbabas.. Biasa la tu. Belajar dari kesilapan, cuba lagi cara lain. Learn to fail fast, and move on.

Pada hujung Perbincangan, saya bertanya kepada mereka, "amacam? Apa perasaan? Makin yakin?"

Saudara Aziem jawab, "takut juga ni bang. Tapi kita cuba, insha Allah"

Saya jawab, "takut, tapi cuba. Itulah keberanian sebenar yang Allah gambarkan dalam Qur'an.

Nabi Musa dan Harun, ketika bertemu dengan firaun, mereka juga takut! Tapi mereka tetap Teguh, berdepan dan menegur firaun sang kuku besi.

Dalam surah Al-Ahzab, Allah gambarkan beza orang Munafiq dan Mukmin Ketika Madinah dierang tentera Al-Ahzab - 10,000 datang bertubi-tubi. Penduduk Madinah ketakutan sehingga jantung mereka di kerongkong mereka, mata berpinar, dan mula ada sangkaan buruk terhadap Allah (33:9-11)! 

Bezanya?

Geng munafiq - puak2 hipokrit - mereka cabut. Chicken out 🐔.  Macam2 alasan dan banyak songeh (33:12-13).
Tapi mukmin - orang beriman - walaupun mereka takut, iman mereka tercabar dan bergoncang - depa steady. Mereka ingat matlamat mereka di dunya, ganjaran Allah bagi mereka yang berjihad di jalan-Nya: mereka teguh, melangkah ke hadapan, dan melaungkan:

"inilah yang dijanjikan Allah dan Rasul-Nya. Benarlah Allah dan Rasul-Nya!" dan keadaan gentar ini hanyalah menguatkan iman mereka dan penyerahan diri kepada Allah (33:22).

Ini lah keberanian: Takut. Tapi step up.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear" (Nelson Mandela) 

All the best, sahabat2! Semoga Allah kurniakan success and keberkatan dalam segala usaha dan hasil podcast anda.

A Podcast Conversation with Dr. Anwar Sahib

 

A conversation with Sheikh @dranwarsahib, Dean of Arabic Language and Islamic Studies at @international_open_university and imam of @masjidattaqwa_nz, Auckland NZ together with brother Umairun from @iou_malaysia and Ustadz Suffian of @jayyidquranacademy at his center at Jayyid Qur'an Academy, Oasis Ara Damansara.

Look forward to our conversation with our youthful Sheikh Anwar where he shares his experience furthering studies at University of Madinah at the age of 14 (and staying there for a whole 19 years until completion of his PhD!), the key role of his father in his life (and what us dads can take inspiration from) , and his advice on parenting and seeking knowledge in this world of distractions and "too many choices" 

MC: The Straight Path Convention 2024