Muslim Life Hackers

Dean Mousad: Using Your Superpowers for Community Service

• Mifrah M • Episode 3

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In this episode, Dean Mousad, founder and director of Invictus Solutions, Brothers in Need, and co-founder of Project Quran, shares his journey and insights on making a contribution in life. The conversation covers various topics, including the motivation behind Dean's projects, the importance of reflecting on life and death, the power of consultation (Shura), and utilizing personal resources and superpowers for making a difference.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:22 Dean's Journey of Starting a Non-Profit
04:07 The Impact of Death on Life Perspective
10:54 The Power of Asking and Seeking Advice
16:58 Identifying Your Superpowers and Resources
27:37 Managing Multiple Projects and The Importance of Self-Care
28:03 Understanding the Five Pillars of Health
30:06 The Power of Reflection and Self-Awareness
34:26 The Importance of Conscious Living
40:05 The Power of Gratitude and Forgiveness

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Dean Mousad:

Look at the resources that Allah SWT has given you and give back with the resources that you've been given. So what do I mean by that? Sometimes we like to look at maybe a billionaire or a millionaire and how they were able to fund a whole orphanage or they were able to fund a whole project, a whole masjid, a whole town, and I wish I could do that. The person hasn't been given that wealth, but someone's been given a lot of time or someone's been given a ability to be able to rally people up and advocate for a particular cause. So look at the resources that you've been given and use that resource to allow you to contribute the best way and the most efficient way possible.

Mifrah:

As-salamu alaykum and welcome to the Muslim Life Hackers podcast. I'm your host me from Barris. And this is the podcast where we get better every day. Through conversations with experts, leaders, and inspiring individuals. We're going to give you actionable insights to help you win in this life and the next. So if you're ready to level up in every area of your life and you committed to living with excellence for the sake of your Lord. You're in the right place. Get ready for insights, inspiration, and a whole lot of life hacks. This is a Muslim Life Hackers podcast. Let's dive in.

Mifrah Mahroof:

As-salamu alaykum Dean, welcome to the show.

Dean Mousad:

Wa ʿalaykumu s-salāmu wa-raḥmatu-llāhi wa-barakātuh Mifrah, thank you very much for inviting me.

Mifrah Mahroof:

So Dean, you do many things. You are aware of many hats. So, the first thing is the founder and director of Invictus Solutions. So that's a community led business that provides counseling and mentoring workshops. And in fact, speaking about in Invictus, I have the pens that you gave the Invictus Pen I'm using, and also the Invictus bookmark. So. Invictus Bookmark has a really nice quote on it. It says, strong people stand up for themselves, but the strongest people stand up for others. So I like that. And so you have that, and I guess a lot of people know you through being the managing director of Brothers in Need. So a local charity here in Australia that provide support to those in need, Including doing things like homeless runs, soup kitchens and youth programs and more. And along with that, I by saw that you are also the co-founder of Project Quran, which is a nonprofit organization focused on Dawah work. And what I didn't know was that, project Quran was the one behind giving the first ever English Quran, that was gifted to Prince William and New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Aden. I didn't know that actually.

Dean Mousad:

Yeah Alhamdulillah.. We wouldn't say we got lucky,

Mifrah Mahroof:

True

Dean Mousad:

honored.

Mifrah Mahroof:

That's really good. So I mean like they're the three main areas that I have here. I know there must be more like is there anything I missed out on at this point?

Dean Mousad:

I think you sum it up well.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Actually I forgot to mention, you are also a father and you serve as a role model and leader in for the youth in the community as well. So that's also something to note and something that we shouldn't forget as well. So, the first thing that I really think about when I see someone with doing so many projects, there's always a story behind it. Like, things don't just come overnight and you become the director of all of these things. I'll start off with a simple question before I get to the hard questions actually, Dean. So what motivated you to do all this?

Dean Mousad:

So let's start off with the best of words. So what started me, what made me get into this, I think from a young age, I've always wanted to help people. It's kind of something that's been, embedded in me from a young age, Alhamdulillah, So it's always been in the back of my mind, even though, growing up in my early teens, I got up to some mischief, from my early teens to our early twenties, but I guess when I had a near death experience at the age of 24, I started to reflect on, my life where I was at. And the saying goes, if nothing changes, nothing changes. So I reflected on the last age years of my life and I thought, forward, if I live the last age and do nothing about it, I'm probably gonna live the next age the same way.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

so that's where, at that point in time, I started thinking, oh, what I've really gotta start now putting some of the things that I learned in childhood, into action. And that's kind of where the age 24 I started to go through, I guess, a bit more of a conscious thought process, after that near death experience. I went to umrah about three months after,

Mifrah Mahroof:

Hmm.

Dean Mousad:

so February 2014. And then I think from there I started thinking, okay, you know what? This is now the path I want to take. This is the path where I want to embark on a journey of doing as many good deeds as I possibly can. Number one, to rectify the wrong that I've done. But number two, to pave I guess a good. Foundation into the future to secure me, I guess, a spot, in Jannah, right? then that got further certified in February, 2015 when my grandma passed away a and I actually buried my grandma, myself. So putting her in the grave, in the white shroud, into the earth and seeing her go in with nothing. All of those kind of experiences in the year and a bit before kind of solidified themselves even further in my mind. And I thought that, okay, we're going inside the ground with nothing here. It's now or never. And so immediately that's when brothers in need started in 2015, in February. And, the boys that are sitting at the table with over dinner at the time, we're all of this, we're all born here in Australia, and

Mifrah Mahroof:

we're all kinda thingking about

Dean Mousad:

what can we do to kind of help us moving forward, how can we change the stereotypes? at the time, obviously you had the Lin Siege Cafe, you had the whole, Ciesco that was happening in the Middle East at the time, in the years before 2015, in Syria. and the Lavant. and so for us, we kind of thought, We need to do something to kind of change the stereotype for Muslims here, born in Australia and that's where the organization Brothers in need came about, Alhamdulillah, eight and a half years on right in December 2023 Alhamdulillah, the operations spread out three different states in Australia and it's reached more or less goes global through, you know, a some Podcast like this.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Masha Allah, it's really nice to hear about that, how everything just starts with that conversation and that intention. Like, how can I make a difference? And one thing I really take away from your story here so far is that how having these experiences with death actually is what opened our eyes. And it really reminds me of that whole concept of living with, thinking about death constantly is the best way to live because that allows you to be really clear on how you want your life to look like.

Dean Mousad:

You're definitely right about that. And there's something prophetic there as well. the prophet of Allah, SAW in Mecca initially, the prophet stopped the companions going to the graveyards to visit the graveyards because the Iman was new. There was a lot of grave worshiping. those years in Mecca was there to help them build their iman, tauhid, knowing Allah SWT, but then in Madina, the prophet SAW encourage the companions to go and visit the cemeteries, to visit the graveyards because it is a destroyer of all pleasures and it reminds us of the reality, and the reality, like you said, is death, regardless of what religion, nationality, race, we all agree upon that we're all gonna die. And so I think reflecting on that.

Mifrah Mahroof:

I've seen in a lot of like personal development kind of writings, even from a non-Muslim point of view, they say death is the most liberating thing because at that point, you prioritize what's important to you and you don't care what other people think or what society tells you to do. And so it's just you and your difference and what you wanna make out of this life. And I think that it really forces you to get clear and get clarity. And that's what I hear from your story, how you mentioned about you having India death experience and your grandmother and having to bury her as well. And that, you know, it's hard to capture that in words, the feelings that would evoke. So I'm interested to know, Dean, actually, so you took me back to the early days of Brother in need where you and your friends were all sitting around the cafe thinking, what can we do? Um, and so I wanted to know at that point when you started Brothers in Need and you started going out there and helping the community and the homeless and everyone, did you ever envision at a point how it would be today?

Dean Mousad:

No chance in the world, right? So for us it was just kind of like a very premature idea. We said, let's create a Facebook page, show the people you know what we're doing. They're giving us money, they're giving us donations, and let's just, show that what we are receiving, we're giving out back to the community, to the most needy. And from there, the videos got shared, the comments are likes. people wanted to give more money. People wanted to support us in ways that we couldn't imagine. And so we thought, okay, hold up. We probably should register this

Mifrah Mahroof:

And

Dean Mousad:

set up a non-for-Profit

Mifrah Mahroof:

official.

Dean Mousad:

and do something properly with it, right? Make it official. so we got connected up to a few professionals. We set up, everything by, June. 2015. So three months in we set up everything, got it set up as a registered non-for-profit tax deductible, set up everything. And from there we just hit the ground running. And yeah, like you said, there was no like strategic plan. It, it's not

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah. at that when you went and registered your charity. Did you have big plans then at that stage that you're gonna be three states and gonna extend your impact?

Dean Mousad:

No, it literally like, we didn't get hired. usually when you hire a director for a non-for-profit, you look at their resume, you see, you know what contributions they've made on other boards, and you hire them based on that So we had zero qualifications, we had a hundred percent zeal and wanted to put in effort to get things done, and that was pretty much it. Right? And so, Alhamdulillah, I think over the years, putting ourselves in different organizations where we can learn from professionals that have done great job, in the NFP(not-for-profit) space. we've sought mentors, we've sought advice, we've sought Surah, to learn from others. And I think that's like, if we were to talk about, for our Muslim audience here that want to look at, a hack, you know, the first hack in this podcast could be, let's go back to the basic and let's go back to Surah. So, Surah is consultation. This is what the prophet of Allah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa sallam told us to do. You know, every other person's business card has the word consultant on it, right? But consultants, through and through right, is actually sitting down with like-minded people, like-hearted individuals bouncing off your ideas and getting people to poke holes in it, so, I don't claim I've got the best idea in the world, but this is an idea. This is what we'd like to do. Poke holes in it. And I think because we did that early on.

Mifrah Mahroof:

yeah.

Dean Mousad:

We put ourselves in different circles, different pockets. we had different, informal advisory boards and Surah it allowed us to, like the saying goes, two heads is better than one and learn about what's probably the better way of going about something without actually having to go through it yourself and spend money and time and resources. So that has been, I think one of the things that we've held dear, to us and we've made sure that at every point as best as we can, we do Surah.

Mifrah Mahroof:

So did you

Dean Mousad:

people

Mifrah Mahroof:

to do Surah with it? cause I know in this, society that we live in, a lot of people find themselves isolated and they have this grandiose idea and then they go tell their friends or something, and maybe they're not into that kind of stuff, and they're just kind of all alone typing away. So, how did you go about with that?

Dean Mousad:

Like the saying goes, ask and you shall receive and it sounds very simple You

Mifrah Mahroof:

keep asking around, right?

Dean Mousad:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. so initially I think it was like Muslim made Australia sat down, with the CEO at the time, I wanna learn from you. then a year after that. I think it was NZF. Same thing with the CEO there. I wanna sit down, I wanna learn from you, and so on and so forth. Like I've put myself in these circles, if I couldn't get through them directly, I'd ask, someone who may know them or someone who volunteers with them. But I've always asked, and I think because I've been comfortable when asking, Ehmmm.. you will receive, right. You might make a few mistakes along the way. You might get a couple of roadblocks along the way, very normal. Uh, but if you're consistent, in asking, I believe at some point,

Mifrah Mahroof:

Mm. Things start to open up.

Dean Mousad:

Allah SWT will, yeah. will line things up, for you. So ask.

Mifrah Mahroof:

point that you make, about asking, because I think we just have that fear about being rejected when we ask. But like you said, there are road roadblocks. But the reality is many people are open to helping you and actually giving that advice. So one of the things that you did mention though, was around not having a grandiose plan. And the reason I mentioned this is because there is this whole thing that some people feel that when they start a project, they need to have this grandiose plan. They need to have it all kind of visioned and written. And it comes to some people, I don't deny that, but sometimes It doesn't come to others, and it may be a blocker for them to start something. What are your thoughts on that?

Dean Mousad:

from my experience, I don't think you need a grandiose plan. I'm more of a foot soldier than like a strategic, mastermind, so for me, I've got a couple people who like, I'm as creative as a doormat, right? So for me, I'm not that creative. I'm not gonna give you great ideas. I'm the last person to be giving anyone great ideas, if you gimme a great idea that's been thought out, through and through I will, with the will of Allah SWT make sure that it's done. So that's my superpower. My superpower is getting things done. So I guess you need to look at your superpower, and then work with that. If you are setting up your own NFP(not-for-profit), There's nothing wrong with, trying to, dot your eyes and cross your T's. There's nothing wrong with asking around how do you think I should do things, but trying to achieve perfection before implementation. It's not realistic. It's not gonna happen, Yeah,

Mifrah Mahroof:

That's big blocker a lot of times it's like, I need to get all of these things set, and then you get so paralyzed by that and then you don't do anything.

Dean Mousad:

So I think, look, tie your camel. So do your part dot your eyes cross your T's and then rely on Allah and go forward, That's true We we don't control the results, right? The results are with Allah SWT. So I've learned that the hard way along the way,'cause we always try and make sure that, we present our best thing and put it forward. Although it's okay, like you'll make a mistake along the way. Your ideas will, probably have a lot of holes in them, but humble yourself to the process, and I feel that through that process Alhamdulillah and through the will of Allah SWT we've been able to see those Projects go and I think once we learned from one project, we took those learning. It's gonna brought us to project two project three and so on and so forth

Mifrah Mahroof:

yeah. That makes a lot of sense. I guess what I notice is having that sincere intention and just taking whatever action, you know, at that stage with the knowledge that you have at that stage. I would even say, like with the knowledge Allah SWT has given you at that stage, and then placing your trust in him and then seeking Al Shura, and that's Some steps that you can start taking to start working on the area of contribution in your life, actually. So, one of the things though is some, a lot of us as practicing Muslims, we have many areas in our life. That we want to improve. So even here in Muslim Life Hackers, we aim to help our audience level up in their health, wealth, work, relationships, their religion, their contribution. So when it comes to that area of contribution, what advice would you give to listeners who want to make a contribution in their life? Like how would they go about with that?'cause they're like, Hey, I wanna give back. I just, I don't know what to do.

Dean Mousad:

From experience. Look at the resources that Allah SWT has given you and give back with the life, give back with the resources that you've been given. So what do I mean by that? Sometimes we like to look at, maybe a billionaire or a millionaire and how they were able to fund, a whole orphanage or they were able to fund a whole project, a whole Masjid, the whole town, and I wish I could do that, and you know, the person hasn't been given that wealth, but someone's been given a lot of time or someone's been given a, ability to be able to rally people up and advocate for a particular cause. So look at the resources that you've been given and use that resource to allow you to contribute the best way and the most efficient way possible.'cause sometimes, once again, you look at the person next to you, to your left, you look at the person next to you, to your right and you wanna do what they do. I wanna do what they do. But that's not the resource that Allah SWT gave you. Right. And you see that in the companions. Some companions were great on the battlefield, like Khalil bin Walid some companions had money. Like, you know, Abdurrahman ibn Auf ra, and like Abu Bakar radhiyallahu anhu, Utsman bin Affan, and different companions have different skill, right. Billal radhiyallahu anhu was awesome at, you know, adhan, and every single time he made adhan, guess what he'd get the rewards for bringing the people in to pray. So everyone's got a different way of, worshiping Allah, getting closer to Allah, contributing to the original of Allah. So look at those resources that you've been given and use that superpower. Use that resource to contribute.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Would you say resources and superpowers are the same?

Dean Mousad:

Yes, I would in this context. I would say in this context, yes. If Allah SWT has given you, intellect right then I would say that this is a resource that Allah SWT has given you. It's something that has been given to you by the Almighty. So use that to your advantage if Allah SWT has given you another resource. Which is a beautiful voice, or it's wealth, or your time. These are resources. I'm not talking about it from a technical standpoint, but for the sake of our audience, through this podcast, I would look at that resource, and if that's your superpower, then use it to your advantage, I've been told that I can gel well with people of all ages. That could be a superpower of mine, So use that to contribute. When you're sitting down with the youth, have a conversation on their level, and get them maybe, you know, if they're struggling with something to turn back to Allah. If me gelling well with a businessman, allows me to help get money out of their pocket to put it towards a non-for-profit, then do so and so on and so forth. Right.

Mifrah Mahroof:

So like just mentioned right there that somebody else told you that you gel well with people. So also hearing what other people have to say about you in order for you to identify these superpowers and resources that you have in your life.

Dean Mousad:

Yeah, most definitely. Look, sometimes we don't look in enough. And so sometimes when you don't look in enough, you don't see the resource that Allah SWT has given you, the superpower that you've been given. So sometimes you know that mentor, or someone around you, might, pick a strength or pick, something that, You really haven't thought. Yeah, that's right. That, yeah, you didn't really think it was anything. You're like, oh, actually I could actually use this for my benefit and the benefit of the community. Right.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah, of course. That's a very good point. So I guess if you were to sum that up, it's really knowing yourself and to know yourself. You look inwards. You also ask others what they notice from you through mentors or through your friends as well, and just the people around you. It's like, what am I good at and what do you see in me? What do you think I can do that, that comes easy to me. That doesn't come easy to others. And that's a very good point actually,'cause that gives you the starting point on then knowing what to do in wanting to give back.

Dean Mousad:

That's correct.

Mifrah Mahroof:

we went through how you actually, started your Charity Brothers in Need and then thought process that went through that. So I wanna know now, so fast forward that you have brothers in needs, you have multiple projects, you also run your business as well. I actually had another question about brothers in need. One thing that I do wonder though, when it comes to your early days in Bro Brothers in Needs, or even the days after you decided to register it as a nonprofit and keep moving forward, was there any point where you just felt like, that's it, I wanna give up and move on with my life?

Dean Mousad:

Yeah, most definitely. Probably the first time was a few years in. And I spoke to one of my mentors and I said, look man, I wanna hang the gloves up, I'm done

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

And he was like, why are you done for, like, what do you mean mate? He, his early days and we had a bit of a chat about, essentially the, the reasons why and then he kind of told me, look, In order you've embarked on this journey right, journey of contribution, the journey of trying to give back to humanity, support others and, benefit the scales on your right hand side. He said Shaytan is now on this journey and Shaytan is coming in guns blazing. He's coming in from the front. He is coming to ambush you from the side, from the left, from the right, from behind, from every single way shape of form, trying to detour you and stop you from achieving this noble vision. The vision of entering Jannah, the vision of serving Allah SWT, and at the same time saving a few people if Allah wills along the way. And so when he kind of painted that image in my mind, I kind of visualized it as he was talking, right? I was actually like giving out some thought, oh wow. Like this is actually what's happening, right? Like it's no longer now Dean trying to secure his place in Jannah, but now what the team's trying to build, they're trying to build a vehicle to take people to Jannah too. And so obviously Shaytan's like, Ooh, hold up mate. I'll let you kind of slide, but now that you're trying to bring people with you, this isn't on.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

And so I guess like. Even since that conversation, there's been times where I've thought about, like maybe I should take a step out. Maybe I should get somebody else to come in instead of myself. Uh, I haven't thought about it since then to close the whole operation. Um, but I guess part of my succession plan, what I would like to do is, I'd like for brothers and need to do is run in my absence while I'm alive, although not in the organization. So usually what we tend to hope for is when we pass away the organization to still run as a Sadaqah Jaariyah. But why would I risk that happening? And there could be a chance where the organization doesn't run, and then a lot of that might come to an end. So the smarter thing to do would to try to build a structure, a process, right, where it doesn't revolve around me. And start on that journey in my lifetime and hope that in my lifetime I've got the opportunity to step out of it, get the right people in it to allow it to run and grow. and so that's kind of where, I'm at now and In shaa Allah, what I'd like to see over the next few years is that coming into fruition. And then I can kind of add some value from afar, and that way then at least. I know to the best of my ability, I've done my part. I've tied my camel, I'll rely on Allah SWT, but I'm ever conscious of my mentor's words at the time that now that you're on this journey, Shaytan is plotting and planning and Shaytan got time. Shaytan's been around since before Adam AS, and he's got respite till the day of judgment. So he is plotting and planning. Even though you may not see him, he's gonna come and try and blindside you. So just be conscious of that. And I feel like when that becomes front of mind for me, and I remember the reality, it reminds me, Dean, you gotta now step it up a notch. You gotta now mate bring it into down another gear and go harder and obviously like without going too much on attention, we know the story of Imam Ahmed ibn Hambal, right, hmm. one of the four Imams, Imam Ahmed, and you know when he's going in and out of consciousness and he's saying, no, not yet. No, not yet. So his sons asking him, what? You don't want to die now? He's like, no. Shaytan came to me and he said, oh, Ahmed, you've slipped from my fingers. You've left and I haven't been able to get you. He's like, no, not yet. No, not yet. Till I die, then Alhamdulillah, I'll be safe. And so Shaytan is conniving and Shaytan is really working hard to try and take us away from the cause, even right till those last moments. And so I just try and etch in those amazing stories into my mind to remind me of the reality, that we are in.

Mifrah Mahroof:

So it sounds like at that point when you wanted to give up, you thought about, the bigger picture and how this is. Because you are actually stepping up in your life and the Shaytan wants to come and stop you from that. But then also on the other hand, now that you've built it to what it is, you are now thinking about how can I, build it in a way that it continues as a Sadaqah Jaariyah so that you can be able to step away from it. So it's like what it, what it sounds like is that complete the whole cycle of it, complete the whole cycle of that project. So that even if you do move on, then it's not that you've quit and it all just like fell apart. It's more like you've left it at a good place so that you can be able to move on to the next thing that Allah SWT has in store for you.

Dean Mousad:

Yeah, that's a plan, because I'm sure you've been in the community for a long time. As we have Alhamdulillah we see a lot of great projects around us, Unfortunately, sometimes they don't have the succession plan that they need. Or maybe, some of the elders that have set it up, unfortunately they've moved on in, you

Mifrah Mahroof:

on just one person.

Dean Mousad:

Yeah, that's right.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

And so you really part of that Surah process, you really wanna learn from other people's mistakes.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Mm-Hmm

Dean Mousad:

Okay. I need to make sure that I don't do the same thing that everyone else is doing. And so it goes back into point, learn from other people's mistakes. Do the consultation and Surah.

Mifrah Mahroof:

That's a really important one. Okay. So, but I wanna fast forward to how things are now. So you actually have brothers in needs. You have, the Quran project and also you have your main business Invictus Solutions. So I wanna actually unlearn from how you actually manage everything. And I know one thing that I know you're a big fan of very well thought of self-care plan Self care envolving. Self-care. And one of the things that I know that, one of the things that I wanted to learn about you was, you mentioned something about Five Pillars health. Five Pillars of health. it wasn't something that you mentioned in the interview, but just something that we spoke about beforehand.

Dean Mousad:

So, um, this is like old school, they used to teach this to us back in PDHP in high school, right? the five dimensions health, So you've got your physical dimension of health, you've got your emotional, your mental, your social, and your spiritual. So for us, our overall health, optimum health has to be based off these five dimensions or on these five dimensions, so you might have,

Mifrah Mahroof:

what were their, again? Emotional.

Dean Mousad:

so you got physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Okay. Yep.

Dean Mousad:

Sometimes people have great physical health, right? They go to the gym seven days a week, they're pumping a, they're pumping iron, they're loving life, but mentally they're not doing the greatest, and that impacts their overall health. Or spiritually, they might be 10 out of 10, they might be doing their five daily prayers and everything else in between. But socially, they're isolated. They don't have a good social network, or they don't socially engage with anyone. And so that brings down also their health. And, so for us, what we try and do is we try and get individuals to look at those five dimensions and see, where do you rank today? So you do a quick little exercise on a scale of one to 10. For each of those five dimensions, where are you today? Say you might be a seven on a physical, you might be a three on the emotional, you might be a eight on the mental, you might be a three on the social and a nine on the spiritual. And then you say, okay, in six months time, where would you like to be on a scale of one to 10?

Mifrah Mahroof:

Right.

Dean Mousad:

And then you do the same thing and then you, how do I work towards it? Okay, I'm doing great here. What could I do better there? And so for us to live a better quality life, I believe that we need to focus on those five dimensions of health.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Hmm. I see. So how do you know when you're low on a low on a pillar? Like you have to have some sort of awareness, right?

Dean Mousad:

When you go through life, I think we don't do enough of this, because of, I'm speaking, in the context of the Western Australia, you know, go, go, go, go, go. Concrete jungles. There's no time to rest and breathe.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

we don't have enough time for the concept of Tafakkur, right? Reflection, prophet of Allah, SAW he would, you know, leave, he go to mount Hira, he sit down on a cave and he reflect, right, for hours, for days upon time, and he'd really think, okay, you know what? He observe the surroundings. He'd give some thought to himself and then he'd go back into society. Right? And so for us. I think we need to go back to the arc of reflection, working inwards and upwards. So we need to reflect on ourselves internally, look at ourselves, internally. Where are our deficiencies? Am I really living a purposeful life, what could I do better? And then also my connection with Allah SWT. And then once you've kind of got that awareness. Then you are able to really, put a plan in place. This is what I need do. Uh, once again, having that support of those mentors around you, they'll also be able to help, pick out, okay, hey mate, you know, you've fallen short here. That's really what a mentor should do and accountability partner should do, someone part of your Surah should do. They should because they love you for the sake of Allah, they wanna see you succeed. So you need to have a good circle, a good click around you

Mifrah Mahroof:

support networks

Dean Mousad:

So they'll be able to see things that you may not be able to see,

Mifrah Mahroof:

That's true.

Dean Mousad:

and then you're able to work on, those dimensions and other things in your life.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Hmm. So you mentioned here, emotional, physical, mental, social, spiritual, physical, social and spiritual is straightforward. But what's the difference emotional and mental?

Dean Mousad:

So look at your mental wellbeing, internally in terms of your mind, and then look at your emotional wellbeing, internally, as maybe your heart, So you look at how you, comprehend things on an emotional front your emotions, how in tune you are with them. When times of sadness, your sad happiness, your happy, excited anger, and so on and so forth. And then look at your mind, the mental state in terms of your cognition and how your mind processes, information.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Hmm. I see. That makes a lot of sense. So I'm curious to know though, how does your self-care routine fit in with all of these five pillars?

Dean Mousad:

You know how as Muslims, We make sure that Allah revolves arounds our prayers

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

after after our prayers. My life revolves,

Mifrah Mahroof:

my self care routines, right. Okay. Tell us more about that

Dean Mousad:

And it's ever evolving, as you grow, as you know, life throws beautiful things at you. You learn to adapt. You learn to chop and change things. Sometimes, your life might work in seasons. So for me, I might get busy during certain parts of the year, and so there might be less, not no, but less self-care. While other seasons there might be a bit more opportunity for more.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Right.

Dean Mousad:

So for me, I review and refind my calendar as often as I can. I use my calendar as a form of keeping myself, a very regimented routine or as close to as possible. And, in there will be like my float therapy sessions. So I jump in a pool, right, with about 500 kilos of Epsom salts and magnesium, then I just, sit back and I float. Right? And, uh, obviously the Epsom salt in the magnesium being absorbed into your skin, the effects that has on the body is phenomenal and great. And I use that as an opportunity as well, because you're in a room by yourself with a light soft. I use that as an opportunity to reflect, am I doing enough? Am I a good individual? How could I do things, better? And so. Being alone in a room by yourself for an hour. It isn't an easy

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah, not, with this tech technology age where we just like grab our smartphones any second and just staying still. I find it quite hard, just like staying still. I have to be reading, I have to be listening to a podcast. I have to be doing something.

Dean Mousad:

And sometimes we have to ask ourselves, why is that the case?

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

Are we running away from something? Are we trying to fit in? you go to dinner with a group of friends, and try and not be on your phone for an hour. What you'll see happen is, some people will last for a bit, but then as everyone's phone comes out, you made yourself a conscious decision not to take it out regardless if everyone took out their phones and somehow the phone ends up in your hands right now. Why have I taken out my phone for? Is it because I don't wanna sit in silence, right? Is it because I'm gonna awkward when everybody else is on their phones, I'm not. And so sometimes, we do things just as on autopilot without even being conscious. There's a problem.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

a problem with that

Mifrah Mahroof:

Because when you get away from being conscious, then you're just living on autopilot, and then there's not much that

Dean Mousad:

Yeah.

Mifrah Mahroof:

out of that. All right. Well, look, did, we're actually near the closing of our interview, and I guess one question that I do want to, hear from you is like, as a, well, a lot of productivity fans are very curious about this in general, about how does your routine look like? So say your morning wake up routine.

Dean Mousad:

yeah. Well look, once again, our life revolves around a lot of reviewing and revining, And so it ever changes and ever evolves. So probably since our trip, in October or end of September, we had our trip to Indonesia. After that, I made sure that okay, we wake up for fajar and after fajar, I've been going to the gym. So.. Something recently that I've been doing in

Mifrah Mahroof:

as a new habit Very nice

Dean Mousad:

I've added. So once again, constantly review and refining how can,

Mifrah Mahroof:

to see where your life is at. True.

Dean Mousad:

yep. So, what my morning routine looks now is. On the spiritual front. I'll wake up, I'll pray fajar, I'll go to the gym, I'll get my, dose of physical activity in. Obviously the effects that that has on your mental health is phenomenal and great, and there's a lot of research to show that. So I get to work already by eight o'clock. I've already worked on the spiritual, the mental, I go with a couple of brothers, so, even technically my social wellbeing is great. You're having a good conversation with, the brothers that you go into the gym with. then I'll have, like a, protein shake, So it's more oats protein, blueberries, peanut butter, honey, right? Um, it's very Shake and it really keeps me going mostly, most of the time till probably about Dhuhr time.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

the meal itself is very heavy meal. Uh, and then from once I've stopped all of that, like, in terms of the gym workout, uh, I've gone home, I've gotten showered. I've either taken my daughter to preschool, I'm doing some work right from about 8, 8 30.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah. till probably, into Dhuhr time You might have a little break in between or two, So you, you might do a 90 minute block of work, have a little breather, have a little breath, go for a little walk, jump off your chair, jump on for another 90 minutes. and then once again, you do that a couple times. he comes into Dhuhr time, but then, a new hack that I've also been cognizant of and I've tried to be mindful of and implemented as much as daily as possible is my Qailulah. So my little siesta, my little cat nap, right? Uh, that really helps a lot. The nap. Yeah,

Dean Mousad:

I've found that, uh, a nice 20, 25 minute session at most. If I go longer than 25, if I hit that 30 minute mark, I'm finished. Right? Um, and so 25 minutes is really that sweet spot that I try and hit, and it's literally like a quick cat nap, but that really recharges my batteries, especially if I've been up, for us now fajar is four o'clock. If I've been up 4.30 or so.

Mifrah Mahroof:

And that

Dean Mousad:

You are, you know, 12 hours later. you are really, you know, um,

Mifrah Mahroof:

these these days,

Dean Mousad:

So there are a of hacks.

Mifrah Mahroof:

uh, before, uh, how your day actually starts off the night before.

Dean Mousad:

Yeah. So when I read the book, the Productive Muslim by Muhammed Fariz, he said, you know, in his book, waking Up Early Starts the Night before. So we always say, you know what? We really wanna make sure that we wake up and we're gonna stay up after fajar. And we've also did a thousand wrong times and we've all gone to sleep 1,002 times, right? Um, but then I thought, Let's try it out. Let's try and try it out as consistently as possible and then let's, really look back and think, okay, did it work, did it not? I'm not gonna know until I try it.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah, true.

Dean Mousad:

Um, and Alhamdulillah as best as I can as well, since coming back from my trip, I've tried to make sure as best as possible that most nights I'm in bed at 10 o'clock and I'm sleep by 10.30.

Mifrah Mahroof:

yeah,

Dean Mousad:

Sometimes it deviates, but once again, takes.

Mifrah Mahroof:

of at least you have a target.

Dean Mousad:

That's right. Yeah. so I think 90% of the time, since coming back from our trip in Indonesia, uh, I've had a good strike rate. it could definitely be better, on the weekends, So sometimes it's Saturday night, we treat ourselves and we stay out a bit later.

Mifrah Mahroof:

True. Um, but Alhamdulillah, this month Monday to Friday, for the most part Yeah. They revolve around that, so I guess it just shows more about getting, um, consistency the best you can.'cause life is not perfect. We're not gonna hit it every single day, and that's something to keep in mind. Okay, so we have, two more questions before we wrap up, today's interview. So this is a question that we ask all our guests, and the first one is, what is one life hack that has improved your life?

Dean Mousad:

One life hack that has improved my life. look, for me personally, it might sound cliche, but as best as I can, when I catch myself doing nothing, I rotate between Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah, and so the virtues of saying both of those, I feel like it's infused so much Barakah in my life, that this is something that when I wasn't saying it. comped, So let's just say I've been on the dean, right, quote unquote, since 2013, November 2013 to now, So it's about 10 years, right? 10 years in a month. And I compare these last 10 years to the 10 years before where I probably wasn't as practicing and I wasn't saying Astagfirullah, Alhamdulillah, and looking at the benefits that has brought me in my life in the last 10 years, Alhamdulillah, by repeating Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah, I feel like the blessings of Allah SWT,

Mifrah Mahroof:

It's

Dean Mousad:

Has been infused in my life. And so when you bring me onto this podcast and you ask me, Dean, how do you have the time to do X, Y, Z, it not because I've got more hours than you.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah. True.

Dean Mousad:

'cause we've both got the same amount of hours in our, in our time. Right. Um, but I,'cause I try and reflect a lot and then when I start to research what benefits are there in saying Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah, you look into the Qur'an, and the Qur'an tells us, Right.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Allah SWT says, lainsyakartum laazidannakum, right, in the Qur'an, mm.

Dean Mousad:

And if you are thankful, if you are grateful, I'll give you

Mifrah Mahroof:

increases.

Dean Mousad:

more. More what? Allah hasn't told us? More time, more wealth, more health, more barrakah, wallahualam, right. And then when you make Astagfirullah, when you say istighfar, when you, when you say Astagfirullah, Allah SWT other than forgiving you your sins and allowing you to raise up in ranks, he increases you in in rizq, in wealth, in children, in gardens, and the list goes on, Subhanallah. So this has been something that I've tried to share with as many people as possible, alternating on my lips between Astagfirullah and Alhamdulillah.

Mifrah Mahroof:

if a like a block of free time comes, you would just be like, Astagfirullah Astagfirullah or are you saying Astagfirullah Alhamdulillah..

Dean Mousad:

So even if I'm driving.

Mifrah Mahroof:

that okay?

Dean Mousad:

Even when I'm driving And I'm not making any phone calls, I'm not listening to anything,

Mifrah Mahroof:

Hmm.

Dean Mousad:

I'll just drive and I'll say Astgafirullah

Mifrah Mahroof:

wal hamdulillah.. Astgafirullah walhamdulillah Ah, okay. So you, yep.

Dean Mousad:

alternate between the

Mifrah Mahroof:

so alternate it within that sitting. Right. That makes sense.

Dean Mousad:

It could be anywhere. Like even when I'm in the, flotation therapy. Right,

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

My anchor is Astagfirullah, because trying to sit in a room by yourself for an hour, your mind is racing.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah.

Dean Mousad:

And I'm like

Mifrah Mahroof:

I focus on myself, dude. I, that, really reminded me of time, when I did scuba diving for the first time, I was frightened. And calmed me down was

Dean Mousad:

yeah,

Mifrah Mahroof:

like 11 meters down in the Great Barrier Reef, right? So

Dean Mousad:

yeah. Subhanallah, that's my life hack man.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Okay. That is a very powerful one. And I wanna start like consciously implementing that because it's like you say, it's cliche, but we need to be reminded of these things because it's like when we consciously be like, Hey, I can do this and I need to remember to do this. So Thank you for sharing that. I want to start doing that in my life.'cause I am in need of a lot of barakkah as well. Um, we all

Dean Mousad:

we all are.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah. And finally, what book would you say has helped you level up in your life?

Dean Mousad:

So I haven't read as many books this year. I read a lot more last year. if I reflect on one of the books last year I read it was, uh, with The Heart in Mind by Mikael Smith.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Oh

Dean Mousad:

is a revert. Yeah, you heard of it?

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah. You were telling me about that.

Dean Mousad:

Yeah. There you go. So it must be good, right? If I'm saying it again.

Mifrah Mahroof:

Yeah. If you're

Dean Mousad:

So,

Mifrah Mahroof:

it

Dean Mousad:

um,

Mifrah Mahroof:

it

Dean Mousad:

yeah. So with the heart in mind,

Mifrah Mahroof:

on my list.

Dean Mousad:

it's, um, by revert, by the name of Mikael Smith. He's currently released his second book, which I've bought called, when Hearing Becomes Listening. So the

Mifrah Mahroof:

Oh, actually I you told about when hearing behind listening, so, okay, so this author Has written two really good books.

Dean Mousad:

Yeah. And so last year when I was reading with the Heart and Mind, he was talking about the importance of emotional intelligence. So, the world has focused a lot on iq, on academics, a lot on, how much we can retain, how much we know. Although only in recent times. If we focus on or try to bring to life the emotional intelligence, how to deal with different people, right? How deal with yourself, and so our master, the prophet of Allah, SAW, he taught us in many different interactions and engagements, whether he was, dealing with Quraish at the time or dealing with, his wives or dealing with the companions or, on military expeditions, or being the head of state or, having Surah with different individuals, he taught us how at every point in time to be emotionally connected and attentive, to the needs of the people in front of us, and to be able to, I guess, achieve the best result. And so for us, and we're always trying to achieve the best, with our engagements and interactions with people, you need to be cognizant, of how to deal with people, and that requires, I guess, an emotional, intelligent individual, so, that's a good book.

Mifrah Mahroof:

That's very true. Well, thank you very much for sharing that, and thank you very much, Dean, for coming on our podcast and In shaa Allah, hope to speak to you again soon. In

Dean Mousad:

shaa Allah I appreciate it. Once again, we hope that there's a benefit to it. Anything that's good from this is from Allah SWT and anything bad is from myself and Shaytan.

Mifrah Mahroof - Podcast Ending:

Hey everyone, that wraps up another episode of the Muslim Life Hackers podcast. I really hope you enjoyed our chat today and got some great takeaways from it. If you like what you heard and don't want to miss out on our next conversations, hit that subscribe button. It really means a lot to us and helps us grow the show. And you know what? If you're feeling extra generous today, drop us a review or a rating. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you again for tuning in until next time, keep striving and getting better every day.

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Mifrah Mahroof

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