Welcome to a Mindful Ramadan 2022 -leaving a legacy this year. Our goal is to inspire each of you to choose how you want to be remembered and ignite your passion for contribution, whether at home or on a global scale. Our guest today has a degree in Islamic studies and a master’s in marriage and family counseling. He’s a licensed counselor and a director of mental health in California. He’s a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at AOL. He was recently featured on the Today Show on spirituality in America. We’re very excited to welcome our special guest for today’s episode, Sheikh Yasser. We will be discussing the psychological and spiritual benefits of leaving a legacy

It is important to have a purpose-driven life. What does it mean to leave a legacy?

Legacy can either be good or bad. It is the imprint you’ve left behind. Allah will examine your footsteps. If you leave good marks behind, then you know you will be rewarded. If you leave a negative mark behind, there’s going to be punishment.

As a believer, you should always look for ways to leave the world a better place than you found it. You need not be a scholar or someone famous to do this. Whether you’re a parent, stay-at-home mom or a working professional, every person can leave a legacy.

It’s not about how many people know you, but the people who knew you upon whom you left a mark. It’s always quality over quantity. We all have the potential to leave a legacy as long as you are not thinking in terms of popularity.

Leaving behind the righteous child, imparting beneficial knowledge and how interacting with others are all different types of legacy we can leave behind.

Social media is very driven by the number of likes and popularity. This can be very intimidating if you don’t have the following. You might assume that you are not leaving an impact big enough, but that’s not true.

It’s critical for us to purify our intention and remind ourselves that we are doing this for Allah’s sake.

There are individuals that are battling depression and anxiety. Sometimes, the main reason for this could be because they lack purpose in their life. They feel that they are not leaving an impact and their life is meaningless. Having a purpose-driven life is so incredibly important for being mentally healthy.

What is the psychological benefit for individuals who live a purpose-driven life?

The way you see life determines how you live life. If you think of life as a race, then the most important thing for you will be speed. If we think life is a big party, then the most important thing for you is to have fun. You will live without accountability. When you find something to do for a living beyond yourself and you start living with a purpose, you will find contentment and peace in your heart.

What is your purpose?

You have to leave this world with righteous good deeds. When you have a purpose, you eliminate a lot of nonsense. You will learn to live and love with a higher purpose and that higher purpose is pleasing Allah. When you have that as your motivation, everything you do becomes an act of worship.
There should be congruence. When we have congruence in our beliefs and our actions, we will feel mentally at peace.

How does someone go about creating goals?

Each one of us is walking in different stages of life. Choosing a goal and figuring out what our legacy is can look different for different people.
However, your goals should ultimately lead you to do deeds that will make your life purposeful, enjoyable, and beneficial for yourself and others.

Some of us are like naturally good listeners. Some are naturally really good at serving the needs of other people. Some of us are really good leaders. Some of us are really good teachers. So, whatever it is that you are good at, ask yourself how you can be better at it. How can you use this gift to serve those around you and please Allah in the process.
Figure out what you are naturally good at and capitalize on that. This is your gift and this is what you are going to give to society.
Do small consistent acts that are more valuable than getting burned out too quickly. Consistency and persistence is the key to achieving all your goals. Do not think about immediate gratification, because it can be dangerous when we’re just driven by seeing quick results. You want to make it last and have that delayed gratification.

What would you say is the difference between having a goal and having a means?

The danger in mixing goals and means is that once we look at our deeds as our goals, then we become stagnant. I’ll give you an example. If you want to build a masjid, is it your goal or a means? It is a mean! If you make it your goal, then once the masjid is built, you will stop right there!
Praying is our means to get us to a higher goal. Fasting is our means to get closer to Allah. The ability to differentiate between your goals and your means is crucial to achieve success. This will prevent you from getting stagnant.

In the process of achieving or pursuing a legacy, people will definitely face obstacles. What is your advice in dealing with obstacles in pursuing a legacy?

Sabr!
That’s the secret to success. You will not achieve prosperity and success until you understand and achieve sabr. In our minds, we associate sabr with “waiting”.

All virtues are actually a middle point between two vices. It’s good to be brave, but it’s a middle point between being a coward and being foolish. It’s good to be generous but there is a middle point between miserly and being extravagant. What keeps you in that middle point is patience/sabr.

Sabr means to go against that which your lowly self desires. We desire laziness. We desire easy work, not hard work. Be it abstaining from desires or consistency in what we are doing, it takes effort. It’s not the easiest thing to be done now, but it’s what needs to be done. Keeping the end in mind and focusing on your ultimate goal is crucial.

How do we deal with disappointments, struggles, or setbacks?

Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want the most. This distinction is very crucial. Motivation keeps us going, but discipline keeps us growing. The Quran does not expect us to be perfect, but we’re expected to pursue excellence.

All of us have a lot of unnecessary anxiety. Any kind of imperfection is unacceptable. We tend to break easily and get depressed. We have to learn to make peace with imperfection with the life around us and our own self.

Therefore, always strive for excellence, not perfection. If people go looking for perfection, it is neither achievable nor sustainable, it just becomes a source of pain and agony, not a source of joy.

What is the legacy that you’re working towards?

I just want to do a good job as a dad. I want to raise my children upon ihsaan and with akhirah in mind. We do our best, and then we want to see our kids succeed in this life and in the hereafter. A lot of people are so focused on serving the community that they overlook their own family members. This is detrimental in the long run. When the household is strong, the community becomes stronger, the ummah grows and thrives, so look out for your loved ones before looking out for strangers.