In the Moment with Mamoon

Exactly one week ago was "Blue Monday".

This is statistically supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, for a number of reasons...

We've all heard about the importance of willpower and discipline when it comes to achieving our goals.

But what very few people talk about is the importance of "Allah will" power.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is they set big, audacious, hairy, scary goals, and then they try to force themselves to be really disciplined and achieve the goal all by themselves. Then, they get stressed, frustrated or give up on it altogether.

Back when I was a single, lonely, divorced bloke I went through a phase of not seeing anyone or considering anyone, which lasted about 9 months.

Then I had a life-altering insight that I wrote about in the book, "Inside the Soul of Islam".

And after that, I was basically a magnet.

Back in 2010, I had just started my coaching business and was taking every coach training course I could get my hands on.

One of them was to become a certified relationship coach. Which, I'll admit, was a little ironic given how my marriage was constantly filled with conflicts that I didn't know how to resolve. But I figured this course might help me - I wasn't planning on helping others in an area I was struggling....

During the last year of my first marriage, right before it crashed and burned in divorce, I was online searching for answers to the marriage problems I was having.

I started with trying to learn the Islamic laws of marriage. It turns out that improves your relationship about as much as the Islamic laws of sacrificing an animal improves your cooking.

True story:

Once upon a time a couple goes to a very wise marriage therapist and starts spilling the beans on how terrible their marriage is.

It starts with the husband. The more he talks about his wife and everything she's doing wrong, the more upset and heated he becomes. Pretty soon, he starts ranting...

"Always be skeptical of anyone who claims to be an 'expert' on relationships. Chances are, someone in their family strongly disagrees."

– Anon

Even the best advice from the best so-called 'experts' on relationships will likely backfire when you try and apply it.

A few days into Ramadan in 2017, I sat in the Sheikh's living room after bringing him home from the airport. He had just returned from Umrah, which he had to cut short due to a death in the family.

In the taxi home, he had just read the first few pages of my soon-to-be-released book, "Inside the Soul of Islam" which was the purpose of our meeting...

The quality of your marriage, and your life, is directly proportional to the depth of your spiritual presence. There's no mystery behind the fact that the Prophet (peace & blessings upon him) was the most spiritually elevated human being and was, as a result, the "best to his family".

The secret hiding in plain sight, is the deep level of...

Let's be honest: Santa Claus has a pretty tough gig. He's running a global operation, managing elves, navigating tight deadlines, and let's not forget the intense pressure of being judged by millions of kids every single year. Naughty or nice? That's a lot of responsibility for one man.

So how does his marriage survive all this stress?