# Spiritual Burnout is Real | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek

**Author:** Dr. Tesneem Alkiek
**Series:** Real Talk Series
**Published:** 2025-12-31
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/JvT8sH6tWlc
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/spiritual-burnout-is-real-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek
**Topics:** Allah, Faith, Family & Community, Marriage

## Description
Between school, family, friends, health, and a hundred other obligations, how could you not feel burnt out? Is there any realistic way to juggle everything and stop feeling like you have to constantly push for more? In this episode, Dr. Tesneem Alkiek and host Qaanitah Hunter reflect on how to...

## Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction: Feeling Anxious About Ibadah
- 1:10 The Trap of Hustle Culture in Worship
- 2:32 The Anxiety of Spiritual Highs and Crashes
- 4:22 The Hadith That Changed Everything
- 6:37 Moving the Branch: Small Acts, Big Rewards
- 7:46 Finding Balance: Goals vs. Moderation
- 9:55 The Woman Who Prayed Too Much
- 11:08 Consistency Over Intensity
- 13:11 The Companions Who Wanted to Do More
- 15:32 Sleep and Breaks as Acts of Worship
- 18:40 Pushing Yourself vs. Bare Minimum
- 21:22 What to Do When You're Spiritually Burnt Out
- 23:15 Missing Your Night Prayer: Keep Pushing
- 24:50 Conclusion

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Sometimes ibadah makes me feel anxious. It's like it's a non-stop grind.

**[0:19]** 100% been there, done that. But I have to admit, no better place to talk about burnout than a park like this. Look at that view. I struggle sometimes because even when I feel

**[0:45]** like I'm doing everything right, it still feels really empty. You know, I had almost the exact same feeling, if not even more exaggerated. I realized something. I was absorbed so much

**[1:00]** into the hustle culture that I started importing hustle culture techniques to my ibadah. And what I noticed was that instead of just using my extra salawat, using my Qur'an as a time

**[1:19]** to just reflect and connect to Allah, it suddenly became this thing where I had to be productive. So what is productivity? If you use a productivity lens, what does that mean? Well, I gotta read more, I gotta do more. There's goals to reach every day. And

**[1:36]** it works fine, sure, it was good, it had that discipline. But then something interesting happened over time. It's Ramadan and I'm trying to pray taraweeh, right? I'm trying to pray qiyam al-layl at night. I'm trying to really push myself to do more. And then

**[1:52]** it became about how many rak'ahs can I pray, rather than are you even making du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Are you even connected, right? And I was starting to get frustrated when I couldn't even stand in salah and think to myself, I'm just going to enjoy two really

**[2:10]** good long rak'ahs. It didn't give me that sense of satisfaction. It's more, more, more. More, more. And here I am looking for even the idea, I'm looking for a sense of satisfaction. And I just kept thinking to myself, it made me feel that emptiness. I just need to pray

**[2:29]** more and more and more. And then I lost that enjoyment. Qur'an, same thing, I need to read more, read more, read more, and I lost that sense of enjoyment. And it really made me realize, what's the point of all of this? Is it about doing more? And the problem is

**[2:45]** then I started to get anxious around doing anything. Why is salah making me anxious? I'm told, remembering God, I'm going to have that contentment. But now I'm suddenly anxious trying to read Qur'an because I'm in this mentality that... So you're talking about anxiety. Do you know what makes me anxious? Have you ever gone

**[3:03]** through this feeling where, if you're listening to a podcast or you go to a conference or you go to a talk and your enthusiasm is so high, like you're going to be the best Muslim there is. Your faith is renewed on another level. Or if you go for Umrah, you come back

**[3:20]** and then that crash happens. And I get so anxious when that crash happens because it's like... I want to be that person. Yeah. Have you experienced that? Yeah, yeah. No, exactly. I think that's like the staple Muslim experience. You go to a

**[3:35]** conference, you feel great. You have this spiritual high. And what ends up happening is that we come back. It's like, I want to pray all night. I'm going to fast. I'm going to pray Fajr. I've never prayed Fajr in my life, but I'm going to pray every single day for the rest of my life. And we come back with this really intense inspiration. And

**[3:53]** you want to make use of it, right? Because there's an ideal that we all want to be. There's this ideal Muslim that we want to be and aspire to be. Yeah. And so you don't want to waste time, right? You really want to push and have this overnight transformation. But then I think about this idea that the more I squeeze in,

**[4:13]** if I pray more, that will gain my standing in front of Allah. If I fast more, if I do all these good deeds, right? There's this pressure to do it under a time crunch. I think that's the pressure I experience, right? It's like, I have to be a super Muslim. I got to

**[4:29]** do it really, really quick because time is ticking. And I think that's where part of my anxiety came from, which is like, I'm not doing enough. And now I'm not going to be good enough in the sight of God. And it's sort of like a downhill snowball effect from

**[4:45]** there. And I think that I just, so I come across a hadith, right? I'm in this sort of always this anxious state of like, I need to do more. I come across this hadith. I've heard it before. Like I've heard it, you know, a hundred times before, but it was the first time I felt like I really understood it. The Prophet (ﷺ) comes out, he's talking

**[5:04]** to his companions and he says, that none of you will be saved because of your actions. Like it wasn't about your prayer. It wasn't about your fasting. It wasn't about your whatever you did. None of that is going to be what actually saves you at the end of the day. And then the Prophet (ﷺ) was like,

**[5:23]** wait, what about you? Like you do it, you do it right. And the Prophet (ﷺ) just responds, not even me. Wait, what does that mean? And I think like that was like the turning point. Like the Prophet (ﷺ) is saying, even

**[5:40]** me, I pray all night. I'm the Prophet of God. I am like the closest person to God here. I do everything right, right? Not even me. My actions aren't going to be what get me into Jannah. Then what's going to get you into Jannah? إِلَّا أَن يَتَغَمَّدَنِي اللَّهُ بِرَحْمَتِهِ

**[5:55]** Like the only, the only reason you and I, the Prophet of God are getting into Jannah is because Allah is going to envelop us in His mercy. And I think that's so important because like this is like sort of the reframing I had to do. You know, famous hadith from

**[6:12]** the Prophet (ﷺ) that, you know, if you see something on the road, right? If you see something on the road and the person who moves it out of the way for like, for the believers, like you protect them from the road. Like that is, that could be what gets you into Jannah, right? We're at this incredible park. Like I'm like, there's so many times where I'm going out

**[6:29]** and I'm running on trails like this, right? Also like that one branch on the side of the road. Like this is what this reframing does to you. I see this branch on the road and I think to myself like, huh, maybe like I'm just, I'm like in this intense mode of running.

**[6:45]** I'm thinking about all the things I need to do and then I just stop and I see like it's like that one moment it's like it zooms in and you're like the whole world stops. You see that rest of the world. Think of the hadith from the Prophet (ﷺ) like whoever moves that like this is, this is like the amount of reward that's in just moving that. I think to myself like, and I move it of course. And I think to myself like maybe that's all it's going

**[7:04]** to be. Like maybe that, it's like that one thing that I did, right? And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on the Day of Judgment was like, by the way, like your mercy, you earned it because you moved that like branch. So it's like- Or you like petted a cat. Yeah, you petted a cat, right? We know the example of the hadith of the woman who like,

**[7:21]** who just feeds the cat water and that was enough to, you know, gain Allah's mercy. So let's break it down here. Do I need this checklist, this intense checklist that I'm going to be like, these are the goals that I'm going to set for myself for the year, for the month, for the day? Or should I be open to doing good wherever the opportunity

**[7:42]** arises? What's the mindset that I need to have? I think it's a bit of both. I think it's a bit of both. I think we absolutely need goals and motivation and like building habits. All of that is really important. What I say both is because you need to be able to switch gears, right? You don't read as much Qur'an

**[8:00]** as you wanted to. That can't be something that deflates you, right? And I think of the Prophet (ﷺ) like- Because that's what we struggle with, is that deflation. That deflation, yeah. Exactly. Then you just throw the baby out with the bathwater. You just say, well, it's done. If I didn't

**[8:16]** pray today, then okay. What's the point of doing anything else? It's like that trickle effect. So like, it's about finding a balance, I think. Of course, we do what God has told us to do. We fulfill our obligations. And after that, it becomes almost like this exciting opportunity. Where

**[8:33]** can you find God's mercy? Maybe it's in the way you treat your parents. Maybe it's the way you fed a cat. It's all of these different opportunities. But the point is, in all of this, is that you have to have that desire for goodness

**[8:50]** and then follow it up by moderation, right? I think of the hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ), he says, سَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا Right? You know, set your goals. Set your sight on righteousness, right? Be intentional about what you're doing. Like, have that vision for yourself.

**[9:08]** قَارِبُوا Come near to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Like, do what brings you near. Something in the morning, something in the evening, some parts of the night. Like, do a little. وَالْقَصْدَ الْقَصْدَ تَبْلُغُوا And it's through your moderation. Be moderate, be moderate, and you'll reach your goals. So this is not being mindless, right? This is not...

**[9:24]** Yes. So, but it's just not being obsessed with quantity. Exactly, right? And I think it's that, yeah, like what you're mentioning, this balance of, you know, you set goals, you set vision, you have that motivation. سَدِّدُوا Right? Have that vision for yourself. Be upright. And through that moderation, you reach your

**[9:44]** goals. The Prophet (ﷺ) walks in on, like, by the way, these are all the ahadith that like sort of run through my head every time I'm going through, like, I need to do more. I'm like, Tasneem, breathe. Remember the Prophet of God, right? (ﷺ). And he says, you know, walks into Aisha (رضي الله عنها), and there's a woman who's with her. The Prophet (ﷺ) is like,

**[10:01]** oh, you know, who's with you? Like, who's this lady? And Aisha's like, oh, this lady, she's the one, everyone knows her, she prays so much, right? Like, talk of the town. She's that lady. She's that lady, right? And the Prophet (ﷺ) says, like, he actually, what would you think the Prophet (ﷺ) would say?

**[10:17]** Amazing. Jannah. Keep doing. You are a woman, you do the same. MashaAllah, right? Like, that's what Islam is all about. No, like, that's what I think is incredible with this hadith. The Prophet (ﷺ) says, like, عَلَيْكُمْ بِمَا تُطِيقُونَ Like, just take it easy for a second. Do what you can handle. Like, the idea is not about,

**[10:36]** like, praying all night. It's not about, like, as much, like, get in as much as you can. Do what you can handle. Why? أَحَبُّ الْأَعْمَالِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَدْوَمُهَا وَإِنْ قَلَّ The best of actions to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are those that are consistent, even if they're small.

**[10:52]** When I was deciding what's going to be my word of 2025, I said, consistency, and then I was inconsistent the next day. But it is such a struggle. Consistency, consistency, we have these grandiose plans and they just don't work.

**[11:08]** You know, it's literally all about consistency. And this is something the Prophet (ﷺ) emphasizes, like, day in and day out. Like, he literally says, don't be like this person. That's a quid, like, don't be like that. So and so, he used to pray, but now he doesn't. Like, we've all been there. Like, we come back to that spiritual high, like, that's it. Every

**[11:25]** night, right? I'm getting up for tahajjud, I'm getting up for Fajr. And then it's like, day five, like, right? Don't do that. Don't be that person, right? Be that person who has these achievable goals. They can be moderate in what they're doing. Like, set, again, like,

**[11:42]** have this vision for yourself, but take it easy, take it slow. And I think what's so incredible about that is that to me, like, it's like this idea that consistency is a part of the sunnah, like, it's ingrained into the sunnah. Like, the Prophet (ﷺ) says, like, be consistent. It's easier for you. You can get it done better. Like, all of this sort

**[12:00]** of, like, adds up. And you don't have that crash and burn. You don't have that crash and burn, right? And it really requires sort of like this, like, sometimes you just have to balance, like, turn off the fire inside of you to be able to see the wisdom behind it. Because at the end of the day, what's going to matter? Is it going to matter that,

**[12:17]** you know, for a week straight, you prayed all night, and then by the time you passed away, like, your ending was one in which you weren't praying at all? So when I say vision, I mean, like, what's your vision for meeting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? What's your vision for when you're going to pass away?

**[12:32]** Because what does a life look like when you are doing something small and consistent? Well, I might not be praying all night, but every single night, until the day I meet my Lord, I'm praying those surahs. I'm just praying two quick ones. You can read Surah Al-Ikhlas and Surah An-Nas, and Al-Falaq, whatever the case is.

**[12:47]** But you know what? I did it every single day, right? And I think that's... and God, like, it's not even like, okay, like, you know, Allah, like, I'm doing this, like, ah, like... No, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, like, I love that for you. I want that for you. I don't want you to do things that you cannot handle, right?

**[13:03]** And so, like, there are so many examples of that from the life of the Prophet (ﷺ). You know, a group of men goes to the household of the Prophet (ﷺ), the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ). And they're like, you know what? Who are we compared to the Prophet of God? I mean, he is the Prophet of God, and he's going to get into heaven, but we got to push ourselves, right?

**[13:22]** That's the attitude I have. Yes. I don't got a free pass. Nothing is predetermined yet. Nothing is predetermined yet, right? I can't bank on the fact that I'm a Prophet of God, so I got to push myself. And the companions, the same exact thing, like, well, we're pushing ourselves. So, they're waiting at the household of the Prophet (ﷺ), and he's like, well, you know what?

**[13:40]** I got this, like, me? Me, I'm going to fast rest of eternity. Like, until I die, I'm going to fast every single day. Like, that'll really get me somewhere. One person says, well, I'm going to pray all night, every single night for the rest of my life. Another person says, well, I'm never going to get married.

**[13:56]** Like, I'm going to have that time for myself, you know, that closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Prophet (ﷺ) comes and hears what he's saying, and he's like, listen, إِنِّي أَخْشَاكُمْ لِلَّهِ, like, I fear God the most. أَنَا أَتْقَاكُمْ, like, I am, I'm most conscious of God of you. I don't do this, right?

**[14:12]** Like, I don't do any of this. Like, what you need to do, I get married. I pray part of the night. I sleep part of the night. I fast some days. I don't fast other days, right? Like, have that moderation. Do what you can handle.

**[14:28]** And then there's this reframing that the Prophet (ﷺ) gives us. He says, you know, in another hadith, right? Like, someone who had this motivation, like, I'm going to fast every single day for the rest of my life. He says, well, like, why not try fasting three days of the month?

**[14:43]** Okay? Like, look, it's the genius of the Prophet (ﷺ). Every single act you do, every single good deed is times by ten. Why? Because that's the mercy of God. Well, if you fast three days of the month, times it by ten, that's 30 days.

**[14:59]** And because of that, it's as if you fasted every single day. Like, to me, I just, I'm like, how incredible is our religion? Like, you get a free pass. Like, God says, like, you could fast 30 days and you get the reward for fasting the whole month. Or you can fast three days. And because of my mercy, I'll just, I'll ten times it for you, right?

**[15:16]** So, this thing, we settled it, right? We are not having a conversation about the compulsory and obligatory. Like, that's in its place. But there are times when it's hard to fast. We spoke about this in another episode. It's really hard to fast. When is it okay to take breaks?

**[15:32]** You have the famous quote from Mu'adh ibn Jabal (رضي الله عنه). Big companion, right? He says, like, brilliant. أَحْتَسِبُ نَوْمَتِي Like, I consider my sleep كَمَا أَحْتَسِبُ قَوْمَتِي Meaning, I consider my sleep, the hours that I'm sleeping,

**[15:47]** just as I consider my hours that I spend praying. Wow. So, like, why? I go to sleep for the intention to recoup and get up and pray. So, there's no guilt associated with it, right? The idea that, no, if I'm recouping, right?

**[16:05]** I'm taking this time to be able to use it to make me strong for the sake of God. That counts as ajr. Like, that's the beauty of our religion. Abu Darda (رضي الله عنه), similarly, he says, like, you know what? I enjoy, I take breaks of lahw, right?

**[16:22]** Of distraction, of fun. Like, I take that as an opportunity to, like, again, recharge and get back to what matters. You know, when you're on the spiritual high, there's, like, this guilt that creeps in. Because if you're reading so much of Qur'an and you're trying really hard, it's Ramadan,

**[16:38]** just going for a walk and you feel guilty. Yeah. Or, like, going for a nap and you feel like, oh, I'm the worst person. Yeah. Why do we feel like that? I agree. And again, I think to me, it was like, oh my God, I'm absorbing hustle culture into my ibadah, right? And this is like, these examples are like just a reminder to Tasneem.

**[16:56]** Like, it's about your intention. It's about what you can handle. Like, I can keep going with these ahadith. It's not like these are one-off. Like, oh, I dug in a deep book of a weak hadith. No, these are so common in authentic narrations. Emphasis, time.

**[17:12]** And again, it's not about how much, it's about what you do. Be intentional. So just to clarify, breaks are not just okay, they're actually necessary? Absolutely, they're necessary, right? I'm going to do this to be able to, you know, stand forth when I need to.

**[17:29]** Which reminds me, like, it's a quote from Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه). He says, like, you know what I like a man to be? I like a man when he's with his family, he's carefree as a child. Like, he has that outlet to just let go, just be himself, just have a good time. But when he's needed, he stands up as a man.

**[17:47]** Like, when duty calls, like, you get up and you do what you have to do. That's the mentality. Like, relax, take breaks, enjoy your family, all for the sake of Allah. That is what's going to give you the strength to stand up like a man. That's going to give you the strength to stand up all night and pray

**[18:03]** and engage in more ibadah. And so I think, like, it's, I think sometimes it's just like, let's just appreciate the mercy of God that He allows that for us. Like, and again, I get caught up all the time of, like, well, no, no, no.

**[18:19]** That means I just, I energize myself, so now I have to do even more. And you just lose sight. Like, what is this about? At the end of the day, it's about pleasing God. And God is telling you, like, I love you, right? I love you and I want you to do what you can handle. And to me, that's like, again, the self-talk that I always have.

**[18:36]** It's just like, this is about God. It's not about you, right? What about pushing yourself? Because what I worry about is bare minimum energy. Yeah. OK, I'm just doing my best, but me and you know that your best is the bare minimum. Yeah. How do you avoid that?

**[18:52]** Yeah, and I think that's really important. It's not, this is not like a sort of a call to be complacent where it's like, well, I'm banking on God's mercy, therefore, you know, I don't need to push myself. No, no, no, no, no, right? We're talking about situations where you're feeling guilty, not doing enough, right? We need to always push ourselves.

**[19:08]** Again, going back to the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), like, be, like, set that vision of success for yourself, to have that uprightness and get to that vision, but just do it in a way that makes sense. So you're always having, you're always keeping a clear vision. And you need, and we talked about in another episode,

**[19:26]** you need that balance between targheeb and tarheeb. Like, you need that motivation sometimes, that hope in Allah's mercy, but you need that, that fear doesn't go away, right? That idea that, no, no, I need to push myself because I fear slacking and meeting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with a lacking state of the situation.

**[19:42]** Like, there are two blessings. Yeah. Most people miss out on your free time and good health, right? Because like, oh, broke my leg once. Story for another time. Shattered it three surgeries later, a whole like six weeks on crutches.

**[19:59]** And you never know how much, like, your health, like the amount that I could have been doing when I had my foot, so much more. The amount I could be doing before I had kids or before I had responsibilities, it's like so much more.

**[20:14]** I'm like, I really wish I took advantage of that time, right? And like maghboon, the choice of wording here is interesting because it literally means, the Arabic is like, you got ripped off, right? The idea is like, you, it's like, you go into a store, whatever, right? You're foreign, you travel a lot, right?

**[20:30]** You're in foreign places all the time. I'm sure you get ripped off all the time. It's like, and then you find out like, wait a minute, I just paid a hundred bucks for that $5 thing. Oh, don't start. Don't start, right? And you're like, oh, like I can't, that anger of like, I can't believe I got ripped off. Like, that's the sense of like, when you miss out on your time,

**[20:46]** like, I can't believe I wasted that time, right? So you need that push that's so important. It's critical, in fact, to be able to have that push, to be able to get to where you want to go. So balance is not laziness then? Balance is not laziness, right?

**[21:02]** And I think, again, it's just like, it is ultimately this balancing act. I'm gonna set high standards for myself. Always hold yourself to the highest of standards. But don't let that cause despair and anxiety. You see the difference here? Like, push yourself, push yourself.

**[21:17]** But if that pushing leads to anxiety and despair, that's when you need to pause and re-evaluate. But then what if I'm there? What if I'm spiritually burnt out? I just can't get myself back up, what do you do? I think about how optimistic the Prophet (ﷺ) was, right?

**[21:34]** Like, the Prophet (ﷺ) comes and says, احْرِصْ عَلَى مَا يَنْفَعُكَ Like, take advantage of what benefits you, right? Like, think about it, like, take advantage. Go hard, go big, whatever, do what you need to do. And the hadith continues, and he says, like, and if something doesn't go your way,

**[21:51]** if something's just not working out, like, man, I hit another roadblock, right? Maybe I hit a roadblock in terms of how I'm feeling. Don't ever say, لَوْ كَانَ كَذَا وَكَذَا if only I did this and this, if only I prayed more, if only I, you know, I hadn't made this mistake.

**[22:07]** Don't ever say that, the Prophet (ﷺ) says. Because law, like, if your whole, like, basically second-guessing yourself, that opens the door to shaitan, right? That leads to despair. What good does despair do anyways? Well, yeah, despair just keeps you locked in place, right?

**[22:23]** And the Prophet (ﷺ) says, don't do that, don't get stuck in that state. وَلَكِنْ قَدَرَ اللَّهُ وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلَ But when you're feeling that sense of, like, what am I doing, like, what's the point, right? You say, this is what God has decreed, and whatever He decrees is gonna happen.

**[22:39]** Like, again, just think about what that tells you, like, mentally, like, the strength that that gives you. When I say, like, listen, you're gonna, the Prophet (ﷺ) is saying, look, there's going to be 1,001 moments that you're gonna think, if only. That's human, right?

**[22:55]** Don't do that, don't do that. And always ground yourself, like, whatever God, that's what God decreed. I made a mistake, God forgive me. I could have pushed myself more, God forgive me. But you keep it pushing. And that's the optimism that's, like, so inherent to the life of the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[23:12]** Like, think about, like, just even a simple hadith, right? The Prophet (ﷺ), and this is narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه), he says, whoever misses their portion from the night. So say you get up for tahajjud, you pray, you normally pray qiyam al-layl, you normally do something at night.

**[23:30]** That person, you normally do this, right? Some nights you might miss it, right? What happens when you miss? Like, you start off your routine in a bad day, it's like you've got to do it. No, if you miss one, you miss all. You miss all, right? And then, like, that's the cycle that we're always stuck in. It's like, I missed tahajjud,

**[23:46]** oh, like, should I even bother praying Fajr or sunnah for Fajr? And like, well, today's just gonna be a bad day. Like, and it just kind of, like, snowballs into this negativity, right? And the Prophet says, you know what he tells you? He says, you, if you're that person, you missed it.

**[24:02]** Make it up during the time of Dhuhr, between the time after Fajr and before Dhuhr, in the permissible time to pray. Make up whatever you're gonna pray at night during that time, and you know what? You get the same exact reward. Like, if that doesn't tell you, keep it pushing, I don't know what will, right?

**[24:18]** So missed opportunity isn't failure. Missed opportunity isn't failure. And the Prophet says, nope, say that's what happened. For whatever reason, I missed my alarm. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to get up. That's what God decreed. And you know what? I'm gonna keep going at it. I'm gonna pray it,

**[24:33]** and I'm gonna get the same exact reward. And that's the beauty and the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Tasneem, what I'm getting from you is that Allah rewards effort, persistence, and optimism. Absolutely. What about you? What do you do when you're feeling spiritually burnt out and need a boost?

**[24:49]** Share with us in the comments or with a friend who's on this journey too.

## Other Episodes in "Real Talk Series"
- [Build Your Relationship With the Qur’an Before Ramadan | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/build-your-relationship-with-the-quran-before-ramadan-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [When You Feel Conflicted About a Hadith | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/when-you-feel-conflicted-about-a-hadith-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [Tips for When You're Struggling With Your Faith | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/tips-for-when-youre-struggling-with-your-faith-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [Are We Becoming Too Self-Centered? | Real Talk ft. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/are-we-becoming-too-self-centered-real-talk-ft-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [The Healthy Way to Think About Feminism | Real Talk ft. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/the-healthy-way-to-think-about-feminism-real-talk-ft-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [The Social Media Spiral | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/the-social-media-spiral-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [The Problem With Hustle Culture | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/the-problem-with-hustle-culture-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [What if it's Not a Gender War? | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/what-if-its-not-a-gender-war-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [Why is Marriage So Complicated? | SERIES PREMIERE | Real Talk ft. Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/why-is-marriage-so-complicated-series-premiere-real-talk-ft-dr-tesneem-alkiek.md)
- [LET’S CHAT | First impressions, Hijab, Highschool Awkwardness | New Series with Dr Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/lets-chat-first-impressions-hijab-highschool-awkwardness.md)
- [Trailer | Real Talk with Dr. Tesneem Alkiek and Qaanitah Hunter](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/real-talk-series/trailer-real-talk-with-dr-tesneem-alkiek-and-qaanitah-hunter.md)