Ali and Malcolm: Developing The Victorious Muslim Mindset

4) Don’t live according to temporal whims

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'” Ali

As brother  Ali demonstrates, if we truly desire to make an impact on the world, we cannot live life based upon what we like or feel like doing at any given moment. As Muhammad Ali was training rigorously for his boxing matches, he hated every minute of it due to the intense nature of the training. Despite this, he persevered and pushed through doing something that he disliked at that temporal moment for his long term goal of becoming world champion. The Qur’an in Al-Baqarah 2:216 teaches us that “It may be that you hate something when it is good for you and it may be that you love something when it is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know.” Don’t feel like studying? Do it anyways! Don’t feel like working? Do it anyways! Feeling too tired to carry out the necessary steps for your goals? Do it anyways. Sacrifice short term comfort and pleasure for the long term reward.