# How To Live A Distraction-Free Life | Anchored Ep. 8 **Author:** Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy **Series:** Anchored **Published:** 2026-11-08 **YouTube:** https://youtu.be/UNbSJQ7ptyk **URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/how-to-live-a-distraction-free-life-anchored-ep-8 **Topics:** Islamic Ethics ## Description What you do in private is not hidden forever. On the Day of Judgment, your worship will be made public and it will either illuminate your path or speak against you. Every action you take is shaping your reputation, not just in this world, but in the next. Your character, consistency, and sincerity... ## Chapters - 0:00 Brain fog, stolen focus and Hadith 12 - 2:32 Why you fall off after a good reminder - 5:32 Being watchful of Allah - 7:29 Keeping quiet versus leaving it altogether - 9:52 Clearing the clutter from your heart - 11:25 Your destination decides what concerns you - 14:01 Why the heart needs rest - 16:32 Good deeds multiplied up to 700 times - 18:04 You will forget this - 20:09 How to come to know Allah ## Transcript **[0:00]** People are distracted from God, not distracted by God. You find your heart moved in a verse of the Qur'an you recited at a funeral procession. Immediately, you pull out what? Another food ad? Another news feed? Some of you will lock in, I want to make my Islam perfect. **[0:16]** You'll lock in for a few hours, for this evening. Some of you may lock in for a week. I'm gonna mind my own business, I'm gonna talk a little less, I'm gonna stay focused. But then eventually, you'll relapse. If you relapse enough times, you may not want to get up again. Why can't I get this right? Is it impossible? Or is it impossible for me? **[0:32]** You think someone recognizes the glory of Allah, and then they really care about like who's driving what car right now? Who said what about me? Who went viral and who didn't? Let me be blunt, you will forget everything I said about this hadith for the most part. **[0:48]** Except what you put in the work to remember. So welcome back everyone. We move on tonight to Hadith 12. And Hadith 12 addresses one of the most universally common pain points **[1:11]** that we can all relate to in our modern times. And that is that feeling of being disoriented throughout our day. It's a very felt experience for everyone these days, right? Of being stuck on what some people call the devil's treadmill. **[1:29]** Having to grapple with racing thoughts, brain fog. Some people put the term tech dementia on it. That idea of fragmented thoughts or trying to reclaim our stolen focus. That's the name of a book actually, Stolen Focus. **[1:47]** In this world that is filled with distractions, floods us with all of these distractions, this hadith comes to cure that. In the Prophet ﷺ statement here, as was reported in Sahih Muslim from Abu Hurairah radhiAllahu anhu, **[2:04]** من حسن إسلام المرء تركه ما لا يعنيه It is part of the excellence of one's Islam to leave off that which does not concern him. It is from the husn. You know husn is beauty. **[2:21]** But husn and ihsan are very close. They all refer to notions of excellence, perfection and beauty. And what's the relationship between excellence, perfection and beauty? **[2:37]** Beautification usually happens at the last stage, right? You build the building. Then you add the doors and the windows and the flooring. And then you decorate. So beautification is about the final touches. **[2:53]** You know, the perfect strokes. Perfecting the construction. So it's a sign of perfection that you get involved in beautification. Where did this term ihsan come from? Where did we hear it before? **[3:09]** Hadith 2. Hadith Jibreel. What is ihsan? Excellence. He said to worship Allah as though you see him and if you cannot see him then you know that he sees you. It's showing up here again. Husn. Ihsan. **[3:26]** But there's a difference between these two hadith. A very important difference. The first hadith spoke about the root of ihsan. The inner state. This hadith is speaking about the fruit or at least one of the fruits of ihsan. **[3:45]** And let me show you why the difference is so important. Because if you conflate the two, you're going to miss out on a lot. If there is any good in you right now sitting here tonight, you're going to want to lock in. **[4:02]** How's that? After tonight. Some of you will lock in. I want to make my Islam perfect. You'll lock in for a few hours for this evening. Some of you may lock in for a week. Right? Simply by virtue of this hadith inspiring you. **[4:19]** I'm going to mind my own business. I'm going to talk a little less. I'm going to stay focused. But then eventually you'll relapse. And relapsing is a problem because you know if you relapse enough times you may not want to get up again. Right? It's very deflating. Like why can't I get this right? **[4:34]** Is it impossible? Or is it impossible for me? Like does Allah hate me? That could be it. Maybe. Right? Even Al-Hassan Al-Basri rahimahullah. He said that that is actually true for some people. Inna min iradi Allahi ta'ala anil abdi. **[4:50]** It is part of Allah turning away from a servant. An yaj'ala shughulahu fee ma la ya'nihi. For Allah to preoccupy him with that which does not concern him. Very similar wording to this hadith. So what is like the reason why I keep relapsing? **[5:05]** You know the Prophet told you peace be upon him. When Allah wishes well for a servant, he grants him understanding in the religion. A big part of understanding is being able to differentiate between the fundamentals and between the branches. This hadith is a branch. **[5:22]** Hadith Jibreel is a root. And so why do we relapse? Why do we show signs of this fruit sometimes? You know there are expressions of this, sometimes focusing. But we can't be consistent in it. **[5:38]** It's because we didn't address the root. The root cause. What's the root cause? I'm only dealing with symptoms like the painkillers. I'm sort of dealing with the fever reducers, right? **[5:53]** To make me feel good about myself for a little bit. But the root cause is I don't worship Allah as though I see him. And if I can't see him, then he sees me. Were I to find the courage inside me to admit that to myself, I'll begin on the road to recovery. **[6:08]** Not just sedatives. Not just band-aids. Not just fixing or addressing the symptoms. Is that clear? That's how you find consistency. Imagine being watchful of Allah. You're gonna sort of be on top of your game 24-7. Allah's watching me, right? **[6:25]** I'm watchful of him being watchful of me. This is why Imam Al-Harawi, rahimahullah, when he was speaking about the station of muraqabah, being watchful of God, he puts it in beautiful words. He says, huwa assayiru ila Allahi alad dawam. It is to continue your walk to God. **[6:43]** You're consistent. You're continuing the walk to God. He says, bayna ta'zeemin mudhhil. Between these three experiences. Ready? He says, a distracting glorification. You're distracted from what? From the distractions. **[6:58]** Because I'm glorifying God. You get it? How can I be distracted? How can I be inconsistent? When I can recognize the glory of God. Right? Observant of God. He said, bayna ta'zeemin mudhhil. He said, wa mudanatin hamila. And a nearness to God that entices me. **[7:16]** I want more of this. He says, wa sururin ba'ith. And a joy that I find in my faith that drives me. That is ba'ith. That drives me forward. This happens when the root is well established. You have that experience that allows you to continue your walk. **[7:32]** Can you imagine being recognizing of God? And then being distracted by any of these lesser distractions. You think someone recognizes the glory of Allah, and then they really care about, like, who's driving what car right now? And then they really care about like who's driving what car right now. Who said what about me? **[7:50]** Like who went viral and who didn't? This is the idea. You know, I'm in it for survival. I'm en route to meeting my Lord. And I'm going to stand in front of Him. And I'm going to go one of two places after that. **[8:05]** At that crossroad I'm going to go to paradise forever. Or I'm going to go to the hellfire. May Allah forbid. Right? Something interesting about this hadith also is the Prophet ﷺ said, tarkuhu. He didn't say sukutuhu. **[8:21]** Of the ihsan. When the root is there. Part of, from, part of. One of the fruits you'll see is this. That you mind your business. But he didn't say mind your business meaning you don't talk about what's not your business. He said you ignore, you shun what's not your business. **[8:40]** And there is a difference there. They say that when people are distracted from God, not distracted by God. Right? The glorification of God. When they're distracted from God, this is when you essentially you indulge in everything. Right? You go and you look for fulfillment from what will not fulfill you. **[8:58]** And it won't. So you get stuck in. You know they say that the infinity scroll that by design is made on these platforms. Is like the equivalent of you being brought up to a conveyor belt or a buffet. With your mouth open. **[9:13]** You're just sort of. Without a filter. You just, you're grabbing whatever. That's the image that some of these neuroscientists depict for us. That's what it's like. Just like I'm out there without any sort of discernment. **[9:29]** But when you become a novice on the path of God. When you're a beginner, you get your feet wet. That's when you become silent about what doesn't concern you. So you see it, but now I'm not going to talk about this. You resist speaking about these things. And that's a step in the right direction. **[9:44]** But the master of the path or someone en route to a faster coverage of ground. They accelerate on the path of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. These are people who tarkuhu. They ignore, they don't see it to begin with. **[9:59]** I don't mean they live in alternative reality. I don't mean sort of like they're hallucinating or they're hypnotized. It doesn't mean anything to them. They recognize the world as it is for what it is. Opportunities to earn Allah's pleasure and, you know, escape His anger. **[10:15]** They see the varying duties that come with the world, but that's it. So the first step is to be silent about that which doesn't concern you. But you want to even move beyond that. Because you know when you don't talk about something, **[10:32]** you actually start diminishing its weight in your heart. You know, you are a big factor in what is important to you. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said, **[10:48]** Forbearance is found through acting forbearing. Pretend, act it out. You're enraged inside. You don't want to forgive but you're forcing yourself to. That's how you get there. It's a step in the right direction. Whatever you do on the exterior, **[11:04]** intentionally, it has an effect on your interior. So you do want to start with not talking about all of the frivolous things in life. Because that helps clear the clutter from your interior. That clutter gets in the way of you spiritually climbing, **[11:20]** spiritually elevating yourself. Like, real simple example, you found your heart moved in a lecture, in a talk, in a verse of the Qur'an you recited, at a funeral procession. Immediately, you pull out what? Another food ad? Another news feed? Another this, another that? **[11:41]** How can your spirit sort of cultivate? The seed needs time to settle and take root so it can blossom. You know, that is why the early Muslims, they used to say, ذكر الناس داء، وذكر الله دواء. **[11:56]** The remembrance of people is a disease. To remember people too much, including yourself, is a disease. And the remembrance of God is a cure. It is liberating from all of this. So that's another important point. **[12:13]** Abandoning that which doesn't concern you. Now let's move on to what should concern us. To be able to properly identify what should concern you, you have to first identify where you're going. **[12:28]** Because it depends on your destination. Am I going to the beach in the summer? Or am I going hiking atop Mount Everest in the winter? It's going to make a big difference. What should I be worrying about? What should I be thinking about? **[12:46]** So your destination will determine what should concern you, what is of importance to you. And so where is our destination? We should be very clear on this. We are all travelers. And we are all en route. **[13:02]** It's not just those of us who have gray hairs right now. None of us, as Dr. Hatim says, have our baby teeth anymore. Right? Those are gone. That phase is over. You've been shuttled over against your will to another phase. **[13:19]** And from there, there will be another phase. And we will not all have the exact same journey. Some of us may be in our farewell year right now on this planet. Some of us may be in our farewell month on this planet. And so we are on this journey. **[13:36]** And some of us have different journeys than others. Therefore, what is the only sane thing to do once I've identified the destination and that I'm getting closer to it by the minute? One of the Salaf used to say, based on this premise, **[13:51]** it is unbefitting for any intelligent person to be seen pursuing anything but a good deed for his meeting with Allah or income for his momentary livelihood. **[14:08]** It's the only thing you should be doing, he's saying. You should be gaining good deeds, amassing them for the Day of Judgment, or earning your livelihood so that what? Not for the sake of itself. So that it can enable you to continue on in your purpose in life. **[14:24]** Enable you to continue pursuing Allah's pleasure and preparing for the day you will meet Him. So he's saying you should only be seen pursuing Allah's pleasure or what enables you to continue pursuing Allah's pleasure. **[14:40]** It's not just money per se, by the way. Money is what you need, the juice of life, they call it, right? But even this could apply to recreation for some of us, at least, right? Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu 'anhu, he used to say, **[14:55]** رَوِّحُوا الْقُلُوبَ سَاعَةً فَإِنَّ الْقَلْبَ إِذَا أُكْرِهَ عَمِيَ Look how self-aware they were. He says, allow your heart a chance to rejuvenate. Because the heart, when it's overworked, it goes blind. **[15:13]** Like even religiosity. If you overdo it too fast, it could backfire. You know like the keto diet? I'm not going to eat this and this and this. And then it's sort of like you come back with a vengeance, right? **[15:29]** But don't forget your body. You don't want to play with your soul. We only have one go at this. So he's saying don't overdo it or else your nature, your nafs, your inner self, wants a snack. And depending on how healthy you are, you may need to wean it off of the snacks. **[15:47]** But until you're ready to wean it off, you want to be considerate of this a little bit. Or else it will have a counterproductive outcome. You don't want to play with that. Abu al-Darda', another companion of the Prophet ﷺ, he used to say similar to this. **[16:03]** وَإِنِّي لَأَسْتَعِينُ عَلَى الْحَقِّ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْبَاطِلِ And I seek assistance in my pursuit of truth, in my pursuit of purpose, with a little bit of idleness or sort of **[16:22]** باطل is invalidity but باطل also means useless things. Things that are useless unless they are intended to be a refresher, right? So imagine playing with your family. Imagine sort of playing athletics and otherwise. **[16:38]** Be sort of tending to my humanness. If I don't feed my horse, my horse will break down. Your bodily urges are not evil but you need to maintain your body the right way so that it can serve your soul. That's the idea. **[16:55]** What else do we want to say here? Measured snacks for your nafs to be able to continue to pursue the health of your soul and your journey to Allah. That should concern you. Good deeds and whatever will enable good deeds including sort of your livelihood, including your liveliness, your recreation. **[17:13]** The last thing I want to say here is there are major, major perks that come with having ihsan in your Islam, excelling in your Islam. We said when the root is in place, it causes these fruits to blossom. **[17:33]** Once you reach that status of getting better and better at your Islam, there are major perks that come with this in the sight of Allah. You know, people have different statuses like in loyalty programs with the airlines or the credit cards like silver and then gold and then diamond and then platinum and so on and so forth. **[17:51]** And each one gets you certain things. The Prophet ﷺ said, listen to this hadith. It's in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim. إِذَا أَحْسَنَ أَحَدُكُمْ إِسْلَامَهُ When one of you is excellent in their Islam, when they get better and better at this. **[18:08]** He says, فَكُلُّ حَسَنَةٍ يَعْمَلُهَا تُكْتَبُ لَهُ بِعَشْرِ أَمْثَالِهَا إِلَىٰ سَبْعِمِئَةِ ضِعْفٍ Every good deed they do is written as 10x, 10 times its worth, up to 700 times more. **[18:27]** So 10x is the minimum because that's Allah's promise that a good deed is worth 10x. Up to 700 times more and Allah multiplies beyond that for whomever He wishes. Why? How is that fair? **[18:42]** It is actually very fair because the work you have to put in to stay focused, to stay away from what doesn't distract you has earned you that status, has earned you that privilege. **[18:57]** And so what you're doing in that state is multiplied on a completely different formula than what others do and get. Which is the last point I do want to share about this hadith. The work it takes to be a person of ihsan who is eligible for all this. **[19:16]** Let me be blunt. You will forget everything I said about this hadith for the most part. Except for what you put in the work to remember. Such is life, right? The test of life is such that we are forgetful creatures. **[19:33]** That's why the Qur'an was called dhikr, a reminder. More than anything else we need reminders, constant reminders. So how do I become, let's be very practical here. How do I become more acquainted with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? You feel a little bit more intimate right now. **[19:50]** The rust has been a little bit polished right now. It's because this is a gathering of reminders. So now you have to regiment for yourself sufficient checkpoints at these stations, these reservoirs of reminders. **[20:06]** And you will not find anything better than reflecting on the Qur'an and spiritual labor, sincere personal devotion to Allah. You want to get acquainted with Allah? **[20:21]** He sent you a book. That book, if you reflect on it intentionally, sincerely, even in the English language, will do for you what nothing else ever can. And to believe otherwise is a disservice and an underestimation of what this glorious Qur'an is all about. **[20:39]** You know, we say, if you can just lock in the destination, it becomes very straightforward what you should be concerned about. That's actually on every page of the Qur'an. There's some sort of mention of the Day of Judgment isn't there? Right? So how could you forget it? **[20:54]** And the second one is spiritual labor. That is, how do you water the tree of your faith? That is how you make sure that root of glorification of Allah is there, well anchored. Abu Sulayman al-Darani, rahimahullah, they once asked him, **[21:09]** بِمَا تُنَالُ مَعْرِفَةُ اللَّهِ How does someone become intimately acquainted with Allah? Ihsan, right? To worship Him as though you see Him. How does one become intimately acquainted with Allah? **[21:25]** He said, بِطَاعَتِهِ By obeying Him. So they said back to him, وَبِمَا تُنَالُ طَاعَتُهُ And how can a person get themselves to obey Him? What if they're like heavy-footed, foot-dragging? **[21:40]** How do I get myself to obey Him? قَالَ بِهِ He said, through Him. It's the virtuous cycle. You ask Him to help you, so you obey Him. You become more acquainted with Him, so you obey Him even better. And the wheel begins to move. Now you have your game plan. **[21:57]** And remember that the Prophet ﷺ said to Mu'adh, Oh Mu'adh, I love you. And so do not fall short in saying at the back end of every prayer, اللَّهُمَّ أَعِنِّي عَلَىٰ ذِكْرِكَ وَشُكْرِكَ وَحُسْنِ عِبَادَتِكَ **[22:13]** Memorize this. Oh Allah, help me remember You and worship You and thank You beautifully. It's the key word in the hadith. حُسْنِ عِبَادَتِكَ Beautifully. **[22:28]** May Allah help us do it and have us rely on Him above and before anything else to get it done. اللَّهُمَّ آمِينَ ## Other Episodes in "Anchored" - [Why Your Du’a Isn’t Being Answered | Anchored Ep. 6](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/anchored/why-your-dua-isnt-being-answered-anchored-ep-6.md) - [Does Islam Command War on Non-Muslims? | Anchored Ep. 5](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/anchored/does-islam-command-war-on-non-muslims-anchored-ep-5.md) - [Who Decides What Is Haram? | Anchored Ep. 4](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/anchored/who-decides-what-is-haram-anchored-ep-4.md) - [The 4 Decrees Written For You In Your Mother’s Womb | Anchored Ep. 3](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/anchored/the-4-decrees-written-for-you-in-your-mothers-womb-anchored-ep-3.md) - [The Prophet ﷺ, An Angel, and An Orientation for the Ummah | Anchored Ep. 2](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/anchored/the-prophet-ﷺ-an-angel-and-an-orientation-for-the-ummah-anchored-ep-2.md) - [Should You Work for Big Tech? | Anchored Ep. 1](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/anchored/should-you-work-for-big-tech-anchored-ep-1.md)