Shadowing Practice: The Secret Key of Intelligence In Islam — Ousama Alshurafa - Learn English Speaking with Video
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114 sentences
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الدنيا is the prison of the believer and the paradise of the non -believer
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because this world was not meant for us to fulfill our desires but this world
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Allah created it for the fulfillment of his commands
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so whoever's going to be free in this world doing whatever he pleases will be a slave in akhira.
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No halal, no haram, nothing.
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Whatever he wants he does it.
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No red lines.
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No red lines but
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if you're a slave to Allah subhanahu wa ta 'ala in this life fulfilling all his commands
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you're gonna be free in jannah in akhira and
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that is the ultimate goal now the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
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it takes work he says man dana nafsahu wa amila lima ba'dal mawt he says whoever steps on his ego
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and works for the what comes after death why steps on the ego because the the nafs wants instant gratification
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It wants the fun now
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It doesn't want a rain check
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It doesn't want to wait
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And the Prophet ﷺ is giving us advice
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That step on that ego
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And work for what's to come in the afterlife
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And then he said
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The not so intelligent person
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The not so intelligent person
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He does whatever he pleases
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He goes about this world
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Anything he desires
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With no consideration for Allah's commands
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He does whatever he feels and he goes, I'm free, right?
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I'm free, I have freedom, I get to do whatever I want.
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But he pays for it in the afterlife.
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And then what does he say?
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He says, Allah is ghafoorun raheem.
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Of course Allah is ghafoorun raheem, but you have to put in the effort first.
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It's like somebody, Usama working, and he wants to get paid literally every hour.
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He doesn't want to wait till the end of the month.
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Sometimes when you're just waiting for the end of the month,
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you're going to be more disciplined through the month to reach the end of the month and get your paycheck ready.
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Absolutely.
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Imagine you're getting paid every hour or you probably take it easy the hour after.
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You'll get paid, let's say you get paid the end of the day, probably the next day you won't wanna come to work.
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But when you know 30 days you gotta put in work to get paid by the end of the month, I think this is a good,
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it's a close story to what you're saying that it makes you feel akhira, it's where you're gonna get your full check.
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Absolutely.
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Your full check.
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Hopefully, inshaAllah.
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Big check, inshaAllah.
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That's what we're all hoping for, but you have to put in the work.
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And like we said, because this world is the prison of the believer, in prison everybody's worried about the rizq
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but subhanallah the prisoner is not worried about his food
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and water right it's secured for him it's guaranteed
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but at the same time he doesn't get to do whatever he pleases
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so as long as we keep that in mind
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that we remain within the boundaries of Allah subhanahu wa ta 'ala will be successful not only in this life
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but in the afterlife
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that is the intelligent person not the likes of many people are impressed by the likes of Warren Buffett
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and Elon Musk saying that they're the smart ones.
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But the Prophet is saying the not so intelligent one is the one that just follows their desires.
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So the real intelligence is working for the afterlife.
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Okay, Osama, but nowadays we see people are full of dunya
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and I usually don't like even to sit with these people, man.
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Whoever you sit with, he's all into dunya.
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How am I going to make money in this dunya?
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How am I going to be so happy in this dunya?
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People full of dunya, right now it's where I don't want to be around.
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I want to be close to people talking about akhira and making for this akhira.
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What's their message we could talk to people who are just living?
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Their main aim is this dunya.
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Anybody who makes his sole purpose and main aim this dunya, Allah subhanahu wa ta 'ala will have no regards for them.
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And will afflict them with four things.
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Number one, a never -ending anxiety.
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Always worried about making more and more money number two they're so busy he's becoming occupied
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Allah will occupy him in such a way
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that he has no spare time left and then also number three no contentment
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or rida every time his money increases subhanallah his expenses also increase there's no barakah in his life
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and then never ending hope in the future like he's always kind of like thinking about what's next
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and then he's distracted from the ultimate aim.
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How many of us are falling into these categories, man?
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How many of us are listening and watching this and literally thinking every second, man, I don't have barakah in my time.
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You got to wake up, solve it.
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What can I do, man?
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How can I decode dunya and live for the right purpose?
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The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam gave us a hack.
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He said, He says, be in this dunya as a stranger or a passerby,
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like a traveler, because you're going through it.
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It's just one of the stages.
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You know, I came here to visit Amman.
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Imagine if I got here, I'm like, okay, let me purchase a car.
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I'm here for two weeks.
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And I go ahead and I buy a car.
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Next thing you know, I go and I buy a house.
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You'd say, this guy's crazy.
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I'd buy an entire wardrobe.
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You'd be like, Osama, what are you doing?
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Typically, people, when they travel to someplace that is not home, that's temporary, what do they do?
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They may Uber it around, right?
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They rent a hotel.
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They pack a small suitcase.
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I love the example.
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I know where you're going.
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That's the thing.
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So most of us, where we are, we're so heavy, man.
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We're carrying such a huge load.
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And we're so distracted by all the things because they want us to do that.
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They want us distracted, bro.
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They want us as consumers.
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What's a consumer?
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Someone that's consumed.
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مشغول, distracted.
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What are you distracted by?
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They want you to buy things you don't need with money that you don't have to impress people who don't care.
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Think about how crazy that setup is.
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Really.
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Because most of us think people care, you know, we're trying to show off or check out this watch
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or these shoes or whatever it is or my house or my nice Ferrari or whatever it is.
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But actually, people, you're busy worrying about what people think.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Secret Key of Intelligence In Islam — Ousama Alshurafa”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: dunya, whatever, Allah, akhira, distracted. This video has 114 sentences and 1131 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:58. The speaker talks fast, about 189 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| distract verb | /dɪˈstɹækt/ | To divert the attention of. |
| intelligent adjective | /ɪnˈtɛlɪd͡ʒənt/ | Of high or especially quick cognitive capacity, bright. |
| prophet noun | /ˈpɹɑ.fɪt/ | Someone who speaks by divine inspiration. |
| believer noun | /bɪˈlivɚ/ | A person who believes; especially regarding religion. |
| whoever | /huˈɛvɚ/ | Who ever: an emphatic form of who. |
| slave noun | /sleɪv/ | A person who is held in servitude as the property of another person, and whose labor (and often also whose body and life) is subject to the owner's volition… |
| impress verb | /ɪmˈpɹɛs/ | To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably. |
| occupy verb | /ˈɑkjəpaɪ/ | To fill. |
| fulfill verb | /fʊlˈfɪl/ | To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.). |
| temporary adjective | /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/ | Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time. |
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| guarantee noun | /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/ | Anything that assures a certain outcome. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| instant noun | /ˈɪnstənt/ | A very short period of time; a moment. |
| sole noun | /səʊl/ | The bottom or plantar surface of the foot. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| show off verb | To exhibit the best attributes of something. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Whoever you sit with, he's all into dunya.
- How am I going to make money in this dunya?
- What's their message we could talk to people who are just living?
- What can I do, man?
- What are you distracted by?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who are · Anybody who makes · people who don |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was not meant · are impressed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 40 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: consideration /kənˌsɪd.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, shoe /ˈʃu/, gratification /ˌɡɹætɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: intelligent /ɪnˈtɛlɪd͡ʒənt/, temporary /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, consideration /kənˌsɪd.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, gratification /ˌɡɹætɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like distract, intelligent, prophet.
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.