Shadowing Practice: One Hadith That Kills Toxic Competition and Jealousy | Snapshots with Imam Tom Facchine - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

61 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Once we had a young content creator approach us
2
and he asked for advice and I really appreciated it because he was very very open and vulnerable.
3
He told us when I see other creators
4
that are doing some of the things that I do
5
or they're kind of in my lane and I see that they're succeeding, I get a little bit jealous and I wonder if that is an indication of something that's wrong with me.
6
And he asked for advice.
7
He was very very open.
8
He said what should I do?
9
And we commended him for being so open and for so vulnerable.
10
But we realized that this is a systemic problem, that if you're not careful, you're going to be looking at other people as rivals, toxic competition with other people that you want to see them fail,
11
or you want to succeed at their expense.
12
And this reminds me of the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ in a slightly different context, but it's relevant.
13
A narrator from Abu Huraira ﷺ who said that the Messenger ﷺ said, look at those below you and do not look at those above you, lest you belittle the favors of Allah,
14
and that's narrated in Sahih Muslim.
15
We have to be grateful for what we have.
16
And part of being grateful is actually looking at people that are down the chain from us.
17
Now, I'm going somewhere with this.
18
That means that if all you spend is your time looking at those above you, and we're going to take this into the social media space or in the content creator space,
19
then it's easy to feel like other people that are at your level or below your level are competitors.
20
Meaning that you're so obsessed with chasing however many followers
21
or whatever type of platform or notoriety or fame that you're trying to get, that you're going to slip into looking at other people as competitors.
22
Now, when the Prophet ﷺ said to look at the people below you, it is an important reminder to be grateful for what you've been given.
23
And that's a key word, been given, right?
24
It's not by your own amazingness or awesomeness.
25
It's by the rizq of Allah subhanahu wa ta 'ala.
26
Allah chooses certain people, gives certain people a platform.
27
And there are some people that are amazing with amazing things to say
28
that are brilliant people that have like one follower or two followers or no followers and no one knows about them.
29
So realize that this is from a risk from Allah
30
and that'll change the way that you look at those people who are quote unquote at your level or below, that they're not actually your competitors.
31
They're actually your potential salvation.
32
They're your potential raw material for worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta 'ala
33
and really bringing something healthy to the online space or the content creator space, which is collaboration, which is nasiha, something we've been harping on a lot lately,
34
this loyalty, being true to one another.
35
And so when it came to this young man and the advice that we gave him, we said it's kind of natural to feel that way
36
and to be like a little bit territorial and a little bit competitive.
37
And then someone's going to reach out to you in like an email
38
or a DM and they're going to want to collaborate, you're going to maybe feel that pull to not want to collaborate with them because they're competition or whatever.
39
How do you fight against that?
40
You go out of your way to collaborate with that person.
41
You go out of your way to try to lift people up.
42
You go out of your way to give time to people that are quote unquote beneath you.
43
And in addition to that, you try to put people on and you get happy.
44
And this is a real, real important metric.
45
You get happy at other people's success.
46
If someone ends up surpassing you, goes super viral and is having a really good impact on people, you're happy for them.
47
And guess what?
48
If you collaborated with them, you're actually part of that success story and you're part of that process.
49
And even if nobody knows about it, then Allah knows about it.
50
And Allah will write it down within your good deeds and things that you did as an act of righteousness.
51
And the last thing, other than sharing resources and sharing tips and sharing networks and uplifting each other, collaborating, in addition, the very,
52
very simple thing, the very bare minimum is pray for them.
53
If you want to take the thing out of your heart, pray for their success.
54
And you know that if you pray for something for someone that the angels say, I mean, and for you too, though, that's not the point.
55
The point is that it's a transformative habit.
56
That transformative habit means that, yeah, it's not me against the world and me against this creator and that creator.
57
And if, oh, if this creator had a scandal and goes down, that means more viewers for me.
58
No, no, that's not what we're doing here as Muslims, inshallah, that we actually want everybody to succeed.
59
We want everybody to be able to collaborate.
60
We want everybody to be able to work together.
61
And that's going to not only uplift all of our work and make for a stronger ecosystem and a healthier, more pious, more righteous ecosystem, but it's also going to pay off in the afterlife.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Scan QR
Scan QR
Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

When Only One Sahabi Was Left In The World | Signs of the Hour Ep. 6 | Dr. Omar SuleimanC1
1

When Only One Sahabi Was Left In The World | Signs of the Hour Ep. 6 | Dr. Omar Suleiman

Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Umm Salama (ra) - Part 1: A Separated Family | The Firsts | Dr. Omar SuleimanC1

Umm Salama (ra) - Part 1: A Separated Family | The Firsts | Dr. Omar Suleiman

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
FOR YOU

Recommend Video

turn jealousy into inspirationB2
2
491 sentences

turn jealousy into inspiration

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
You Say You Love Allah (ﷻ)... But Do You Know What It Really Means?. | Shaykh Omar SuliemanC1
1
67 sentences

You Say You Love Allah (ﷻ)... But Do You Know What It Really Means?. | Shaykh Omar Sulieman

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
🤐 WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER SHOW OFF ON SOCIAL MEDIAB2
155
26 sentences

🤐 WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER SHOW OFF ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
You still have a lot to fight for.B2
2
72 sentences

You still have a lot to fight for.

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
Stop introducing yourself like this.B2
635
38 sentences

Stop introducing yourself like this.

Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation
For those feeling behind in lifeB2
2
47 sentences

For those feeling behind in life

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
DO THIS every day to become a magnetic communicator!B2
4
205 sentences

DO THIS every day to become a magnetic communicator!

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
The Only 15 Minutes You Need To Master Self-Control | Robert Greene MotivationB2
7
216 sentences

The Only 15 Minutes You Need To Master Self-Control | Robert Greene Motivation

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
How to Learn English as a Muslim | 10 Habits That Will Change Your Mind as a LearnerB1
3
267 sentences

How to Learn English as a Muslim | 10 Habits That Will Change Your Mind as a Learner

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
You’re Not Obsessed—You’re Avoiding Your LifeB2
2
227 sentences

You’re Not Obsessed—You’re Avoiding Your Life

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
مقتطف من خطبة غدٍ | بعنوان:"تقوية عزيمة النبي (ﷺ)" | #khutbah #تدبر #خطبة_الجمعةB2
3
30 sentences

مقتطف من خطبة غدٍ | بعنوان:"تقوية عزيمة النبي (ﷺ)" | #khutbah #تدبر #خطبة_الجمعة

Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Stop Comparing Yourself | Slow English Listening Practice (B1–B2)B2
1
250 sentences

Stop Comparing Yourself | Slow English Listening Practice (B1–B2)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

Speaking Goals for This Clip: Cultivate Fluency in Reflective Conversations

This video is perfect for practicing english speaking practice focused on thoughtful, empathetic communication. You’ll learn to express personal challenges, offer advice, and discuss abstract ideas—like gratitude and collaboration—with natural flow. The dialogue’s conversational tone helps you master pacing and pauses, key for sounding confident in real-life discussions.

Phrase Bank: Reusable Expressions for Daily Communication

  • "slip into looking at" – To unconsciously start a habit (e.g., "I slip into looking at my phone too much").
  • "go out of your way to" – To make a special effort (e.g., "She went out of her way to help me").
  • "harping on" – Talking about something repeatedly (e.g., "My friend keeps harping on about the movie").
  • "quote unquote" – Used to distance oneself from a term (e.g., "He’s a 'expert,' quote unquote").
  • "ends up surpassing" – Eventually does better than (e.g., "She ended up surpassing her brother in math").

Fix Your Weak Spots: Master Rhythm and Emphasis

This clip is ideal for improve english pronunciation by focusing on stress and intonation in longer sentences. Notice how the speaker emphasizes words like "grateful," "collaboration," and "success" to convey meaning. Practice shadowspeak by repeating phrases like, "Allah will write it down within your good deeds"—pay attention to how the rhythm slows for emphasis. Also, work on reducing pauses in complex thoughts, like when explaining the hadith’s relevance. Shadow speak helps you mimic the natural flow, making your speech sound more native.

By engaging with this video, you’ll not only build vocabulary but also learn to communicate ideas with depth—essential for learn english with videos that go beyond basic phrases. Try role-playing the advice-giving scene to practice empathy and clarity, and watch how your conversational skills grow!

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does ityou've been given · been given
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thingpeople who are · space, which is

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →