Sacred Sustenance

Sidi Shahryar Abbasi delivers a Khutbah about the struggles of the nafs (lower self or ego) and our modern idols that enslave us. He gives us tips to free ourselves from the captivity of dedesires.

This sermon was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on Friday, June 7, 2019.

More Sidi Shahryar: http://mcceastbay.org/shahryar


More MCC East Bay:
Events & Activities: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
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Sidi Shahryar Abbasi delivers a Khutbah about the struggles of this world being a test our Creator uses to cleanse our soul.

This sermon was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on Friday, July 15, 2019.

More Sidi Shahryar: http://mcceastbay.org/shahryar

More MCC East Bay:
Events & Activities: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Support MCC: https://www.mcceastbay.org/sadaqa
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
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Today’s high school environment is the most intense and stressful it has ever been in history.

Students have to cope with all types of pressures: from 13 year olds having intimate relationships to 14 year olds using juule pens and vapes, to many operating a secret Instagram account to post revealing images to avoid being seen by their family.

Most parents think "my kid will never slip," only to never realize the impact of this toxic environment on a student’s emotional and spiritual health until it’s too late. This impacts a student’s deen (faith), self-image, stress levels, academics and most importantly - their spiritual heart.

Sidi Shahryar Abbasi held an open and real conversation about what is actually going on and what a student can do to combat this situation and what a parent can do to be prepared.

In this session, he covers:

- Relationships and sex in our Muslim high school community
- Usage of vape pens, Jules, weed and other drugs
- Social media and the impact on self confidence
- Revealing clothing and how its more widespread than you’d expect
- Academic pressure, stress and the impact on mental health
- Why a good parent/child relationship is so crucial in high school

This talk is geared towards our middle and high school students and their parents. We do not recommend viewing this video with young children (under the age of 12) because of the frank discussion and content contained in the recording.

Here is part two in the series: https://youtu.be/bm81d8HTP7Q

- More Sidi Shahryar: http://mcceastbay.org/shahryar
- More Real Talk Series: http://mcceastbay.org/real-talk
- More Islamic parenting workshops at the MCC, please visit: http://mcceastbay.org/parenting
- More Islamic marriage talks & workshops at the MCC, please visit: http://mcceastbay.org/marriage
- More sessions for Muslim teenagers: http://mcceastbay.org/teens
- Presentation Deck "MCC: What Actually Goes On In High School and What to do About It?": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eYgvxzvDtGyUIQuoFwcZH0aCndXuUTIq/view?usp=sharing

The MCC Real Talks series is overseen by MCC’s Youth Director Shaykh Rami Nsour, who holds monthly spiritual counseling sessions with our youth at the MCC and hears about their struggles.

For East Bay youth seeking spiritual counseling at the MCC, please visit here to schedule a 30-minute phone call with Youth Director Shaykh Rami Nsour. Schedule a call at http://www.mcceastbay.org/rami

If you are struggling and you need professional counseling at the MCC or to talk by phone or via text with a counselor, please visit http://www.mcceastbay.org/counseling

This talk was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on Friday, July 19, 2019.

More MCC East Bay:
Calendar of Events: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Support MCC: https://www.mcceastbay.org/sadaqa
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcceastbay

Sidi Shahryar Abbasi delivers a Khutbah about understanding the purpose of our self while living in the eye of the store as we alternate through the tumultuous circle of life.

This sermon was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on Friday, September 13, 2019.

Sign up for the MCC’s weekly event updates at www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter

For more from Sidi Shahryar Abbasi:
http://mcceastbay.org/shahryar

MCC partners with SuccessCo (Formally mPower) for this college admissions workshop that addresses the challenges and opportunities that go into the college admission process, including writing the college admissions essays – the most difficult part.

High school students and their parents hear from two passionate community youth who share insights, tips and tricks on how to develop the right habits, the right mindset and have the right plan to become the best version of the one self.

Due to a technical difficulty, only the audio is available for this workshop. The audio is superimposed over the presenter’s presentation deck.

The couple also present how to get into your dream college in this webinar: https://youtu.be/w5P9dzYJSoU

- More Sidi Shahryar: http://mcceastbay.org/shahryar
- Sidi Shahryar’s "Real Talk Series": http://mcceastbay.org/real-talk
- Sidi Shahryar’s "Traits of the Righteous" Series: http://mcceastbay.org/hallmark
- Sidi Shahryar’s "Controlling Your Desires" Series: http://mcceastbay.org/desires

This workshop was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on September 14, 2019.

About the SuccessCo Presenters:
Sadia Saifuddin,
Co-Founder and Director
Sadia is a UC Berkeley alumna and former Student Regent on the UC Board of Regents. She is a seasoned speaker, writer, and mentor and has guided dozens of young women as they pursue their dreams. Learn more about her at the Success Company: https://www.successcompany.co/about-us

Shahryar Abbasi
Co-Founder and Director
Shahryar graduated from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and served as the External Affairs Vice President of UC Berkeley’s student government. He is an experienced speaker, mentor, and coach. Learn more about him at the Success Company: https://www.successcompany.co/about-us

This workshop covers:

- How to approach the college admissions process.
- How to pick the right colleges to apply to.
- How to make sure you get good recommendations from your teachers.
- How to pick a college major and factors you should consider in this process.
- How to prepare for a college interview.
- How to write a great college application essay.

THEIR STORY
As the children of immigrants, we had to navigate the entire high school and college system ourselves. It was overwhelming - we needed to build productive habits, figuring out how to prepare for the SAT, join the right clubs, apply to college, and get a job all on our own.

While we didn’t have the guidance, the systems, and the strategies to achieve success – we had the ambition. Eventually, we noticed a problem – there are tons of families who have ambition but lack a roadmap, and some who don’t have ambition or a very clear roadmap at all. That’s when we decided to start SuccessCo (formerly mPower). We’re passionate about helping families and making college admissions more accessible.

We focus on students in middle school and high school and take a different approach to learning. Before you can bring home A’s, you need to have the right foundations. That’s where we come in. We’ve developed a unique curriculum that focuses on cultivating motivation, discipline, time management, energy management, study strategies, and a lot more. Then we layer on the fun stuff: practical reading, writing, math, and SAT skills.

We round it all off with helping students in the final step of that journey - whether that is applying to college, finding a job, or just trying to live their best life. We have now worked with hundreds of families, edited thousands of college essays and delivered amazing results to all of our clients.

Learn more about The Success Company at https://www.successcompany.co

More MCC East Bay:
Events & Activities: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Support MCC: https://www.mcceastbay.org/sadaqa
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcceastbay

Today’s high school environment is the most intense and stressful it has ever been in history. Students have to cope with all types of pressures: from 13 year olds having intimate relationships to 14 year olds using juul pens and vapes, to many operating a secret Instagram account to post revealing images to avoid being seen by their family.

Most parents think “my kid will never slip,” only to never realize the impact of this toxic environment on a student’s emotional and spiritual health until it’s too late. This impacts a student’s deen, self-image, stress levels, academics and most importantly – their spiritual heart.

In part two in our Real Talk Series, Sidi Shahryar Abbasi frankly addresses youth issues to teens and their parents.

In his first session (watch at: https://youtu.be/FAHzVEdpcZw) we discussed some of the major challenges that students face in high school.

In this session, we focus on specific spiritual and practical solutions to fix the these issues:

- Relationships and sex in our Muslim high school community
- Usage of vape pens, Jules, weed and other drugs
- Social media and the impact on self confidence
- Wearing of revealing clothing and how its more widespread than you’d expect
- Academic pressure, stress and its impact on mental health
- Why a good parent-child relationship is so crucial in high school

This talk was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on Saturday, September 28, 2019.

- More Sidi Shahryar: http://www.mcceastbay.org/shahryar
- More Real Talk Series: http://www.mcceastbay.org/real-talk
- More Islamic parenting workshops at the MCC, please visit: http://mcceastbay.org/parenting
- More Islamic marriage talks & workshops at the MCC, please visit: http://mcceastbay.org/marriage
- More sessions for Muslim teenagers: http://mcceastbay.org/teens
- Watch the first part at: https://youtu.be/FAHzVEdpcZw
- Presentation Deck "MCC: What Actually Goes On In High School and What to do About It?": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eYgvxzvDtGyUIQuoFwcZH0aCndXuUTIq/view?usp=sharing

This talk is geared towards our middle and high school students and their parents. We do not recommend watching this talk with young children under the age of 12.

The MCC Real Talks series is overseen by MCC’s Youth Director Shaykh Rami Nsour, who holds monthly spiritual counseling sessions with our youth at the MCC and hears about their struggles.

For East Bay youth seeking spiritual counseling at the MCC, please visit here to schedule a 30-minute appointment or phone call with Youth Director Shaykh Rami Nsour. Schedule at https://mcceastbay.org/spiritual

If you are struggling and you need professional counseling at the MCC or to talk by phone or via text with a counselor, please visit http://www.mcceastbay.org/counseling

More MCC East Bay:
Calendar of Events: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Support MCC: https://www.mcceastbay.org/sadaqa
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcceastbay

Sidi Shahyrar Abbasi has an open discussion about our inner emptiness, our skyrocketing stress levels and our tumultuous anxiety, and how they are linked to a desire to bring God back into our lives.

More Sidi Shahryar: http://www.mcceastbay.org/shahryar
More Real Talk Series: http://www.mcceastbay.org/real-talk

Sometimes everything is going well, and yet deep down inside we are feeling empty. Do you ever feel like you are searching? Trying to figure out what is going on with you, your kids or someone in your family even though everything seems just fine on the outside? And yet its so hard to figure out.

We live in an age of emptiness and most of us try to hide it and fill this void with other distractions. We hide behind our phones, our iPads, our TVs. We don’t want to confront ourselves and our issues. Our problems pile up, our anxiety keeps increasing, our stress levels are sky high and yet we never show it or discuss it because we see everyone else living such ‘great’ lives.

Today, more than 50% of high schoolers reported being stressed all the time. Many of the same students reported being depressed.

The numbers are no better among adults where ~80% reported being stressed or worried. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among people ages 10-34.

Sometimes we don’t have the spaces to discuss these issues. Come join us for an open discussion about our inner emptiness, our skyrocketing stress levels and our tumultuous anxiety, and how they are linked to a desire to bring God back into our lives.

This talk is for everyone 13+ (youth and adult)! In this talk, we dive into:

- the primary causes of stress, anxiety and emptiness among high school students, college students and adults
- different factors in our life that increase stress for youth and adults
- how everyone tries to fill this void with something: smoking, drinking, screen time, and other addictions
- solutions to bring tranquility and sakeena back into our lives, the lives of our kids and our homes
- how we can prevent this lingering emptiness from coming back

This talk was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on Saturday, October 19, 2019.

Do we go to that meeting with our boss or go to Jumu’ah? How do we find a place at work to pray? What about wudu at work…no one wants to get caught with their foot in the sink. How do we deal with a stressful boss? What do we do when everyone at work just wants to backbite everyone else?

It is not easy to manage the pressures of today’s intense working culture. We all want to do well at our jobs and succeed in our careers - but how do we do so in a way without compromising our spirituality?

Whether you are interning, just graduated college and are starting your first job, or are 20 years into your career - join us for a discussion about how to succeed in your spirituality and your career.

This is the fourth talk in the MCC’s Real Talk Series (watch prior sessions at http://mcceastbay.org/real-talk). In this Series, Sidi Shahyrar Abbasi frankly addresses youth and societal issues and solutions to keep the deen in confusing times.

More Sidi Shahryar: http://www.mcceastbay.org/shahryar
More Real Talk Series: http://www.mcceastbay.org/real-talk

The MCC Real Talks series is overseen by MCC’s Youth Director Shaykh Rami Nsour, who holds monthly spiritual counseling sessions with our youth at the MCC and hears about their struggles.

For East Bay youth seeking spiritual counseling at the MCC, please visit here to schedule a 30-minute phone call with Youth Director Shaykh Rami Nsour. Schedule a call at http://www.mcceastbay.org/rami

If you are struggling and you need professional counseling at the MCC or to talk by phone or via text with a counselor, please visit http://www.mcceastbay.org/counseling

This talk will be recorded and livestreamed at http://www.mcceastbay.org/livestream

More Sidi Shahryar: http://www.mcceastbay.org/shahryar
More Real Talk Series: http://www.mcceastbay.org/real-talk

This talk was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on February 8, 2020.

More MCC East Bay:
Events & Activities: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcceastbay

Sidi Shahyrar Abbasi talks about the worry about promotions and social belonging for Muslims employed in corporate environment where the pressure to join the Happy Hour is a dilemma between ostensibly building relationships while not feeling comfortable being in that environment.

This was during a discussion of managing pressure of work life. Watch that insightful panel: https://youtu.be/M3zi3GLAZbQ

More Gems series videos: https://www.mcceastbay.org/gems
More Sidi Shahryar: http://www.mcceastbay.org/shahryar
Sidi Shahryar’s Real Talk Series: http://www.mcceastbay.org/real-talk

The Gems Series is a youth-initiated effort at the MCC aimed at providing viewers with bite-sized nuggets of wisdom and memorable anecdotes from the hundreds of hours of talks, sermons, workshops, and lectures at the MCC to help you cultivate a more deeper love, understanding, and connection with your Creator and your faith.

The talks span a range of topics from spiritual knowledge to current events from MCC’s vast video library. If you enjoy this youth-run effort, please like and share and watch more at https://www.mcceastbay.org/gems

This discussion was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on February 8, 2020. Watch the entire panel at https://youtu.be/M3zi3GLAZbQ

More MCC East Bay:
Events & Activities: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcceastbay

This sermon or talk was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California.

More MCC East Bay:
Events & Activities: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcceastbay

Each year, the fitan (tests & temptations) worsen. In this two-part series, Sidi Shahyrar Abbasi discusses the signs of the end and how they impact our life in 2020.

In this talk, Sidi Shahyrar talks about the Prophetic advice for our children and communities to prepare for difficult days ahead. Watch the first part at: https://youtu.be/XibAlw6z7Ok

More Sidi Shahryar: http://mcceastbay.org/shahryar
More Real Talk Series: http://mcceastbay.org/real-talk

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf on Signs of the Last Day: https://youtu.be/uAGBaOeIRU4

This talk was delivered at the Muslim Community Center - East Bay (MCC East Bay) in Pleasanton, California on February 23, 2020.

More MCC East Bay:
Events & Activities: http://www.mcceastbay.org/calendar
Weekly Updates: http://www.mcceastbay.org/newsletter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MCCPleasanton
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcceastbay