Fahad's
Notes

The word "algorithm" comes from al-Khwarizmi. The concept of systematic problem-solving was pioneered by Muslim scholars centuries before Silicon Valley existed. AI is not foreign to our tradition — in many ways, it grew from it. The question for a Muslim today is not "should I use AI?" but "how should I use AI in a way that pleases Allah?"

Islam teaches that all tools are neutral — it is the niyyah (intention) and the use that give them their moral weight. Use AI to learn, to serve, to create benefit — and it becomes a means of worship. Use it to spread falsehood, to avoid accountability, or to harm others — and it becomes a sin. The Prophet ﷺ reminded us: "Actions are judged by their intentions."

Practical Islamic principles for using AI: Tawakkul without laziness — trust Allah, but use your tools with full effort. Don't let AI replace your thinking; let it sharpen it. Amanah (trustworthiness) — if you use AI to produce work, be honest about it. Deception, even with a machine, is still deception. Maslaha (public benefit) — ask: does this use of AI benefit people? Does it reduce harm? Build with that in mind. Haya (modesty) — avoid AI content that violates your values. Guard your eyes and your mind as you would offline.

Most students approach their week reactively — responding to whatever is most urgent. I used to do the same. Then I built a system, and everything changed. Every Sunday, I spend 45 minutes planning the week ahead. Here's exactly how.

Step 1 — Review (10 min): Look at last week. What did I accomplish? What didn't happen? Why? No judgment — just data. Step 2 — Priorities (10 min): Identify the 3 most important things to accomplish this week. Just 3. Everything else is secondary. Step 3 — Time blocks (15 min): Open my calendar and block time for those 3 priorities first, before anything else fills it. Study blocks, web work blocks, writing blocks. Step 4 — Buffer (10 min): Leave 20% of my schedule empty. Life happens. Lectures run long. Friends need you. Buffer time is not wasted time — it's planned flexibility.

The tool I use: Notion. I have a simple weekly dashboard — tasks, priorities, habits, and a reflection space. The template is in my toolkit, free to access. The principle behind all of this is barakah — blessed productivity. It's not about doing more. It's about doing what matters, with full presence, and trusting Allah to bless the effort.

Building websites is not just a technical skill — it's a way of thinking. When you build something and put it on the internet, you enter a different category of person: someone who creates, not just consumes. Here are 5 websites every student should build.

1. Your personal site. The foundation. A clean page with who you are, what you do, and how to reach you. This alone will differentiate you from 90% of your peers. 2. A project showcase. Pick 3 things you've worked on — a study guide, a campaign, a design — and build a simple page showcasing them. Work speaks louder than credentials. 3. A resource hub. Curate the best resources in your field and build a simple Notion-linked page. I did this for AI tools — it gets visits every week. 4. A newsletter landing page. Even if you don't start a newsletter immediately, having a landing page ready means you can launch in one day when the time comes. 5. A client site. Do one website for someone else — a friend, a family business, a local organisation. The experience of building for someone else will teach you more than 10 tutorials combined.

When my Umrah flight was cancelled due to the Iran-Israel conflict, I had two choices: despair, or trust. Islam didn't ask me to pretend the disappointment wasn't real. It asked me to hold it with something greater than the disappointment — sabr.

Sabr is mentioned over 90 times in the Quran. It is not passivity. It is not suppression. It is the active choice to stay grounded in trust when everything around you is shifting. The Prophet ﷺ said: "How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him." (Muslim)

Sabr in the face of a cancelled flight is small. But it is training. The same muscle you use to stay patient through a minor disappointment is the one you'll need for the major tests of life. My Umrah is rescheduled. I go with more du'a than I had before. What Allah delays, He perfects. This is what I've come to believe — not as a coping mechanism, but as a conviction grounded in years of watching this principle prove itself true.

I've tested dozens of AI tools over the past year. Most are hype. These seven are genuinely useful — and I use every single one.

1. Claude (Anthropic) — For long-form thinking, writing, and complex analysis. Better than ChatGPT for nuanced reasoning in my experience. 2. ChatGPT — For quick answers, code help, and content generation. The Swiss Army knife. 3. Perplexity AI — For research with citations. I never use Google for academic questions anymore. 4. Notion AI — For summarising lecture notes and organising information within my second brain. 5. Grammarly — For polishing writing. Every article I publish goes through Grammarly before it goes online. 6. Canva AI — For quick graphics, thumbnails, and visual content. The AI design tools have improved dramatically. 7. Otter.ai — For transcribing lectures and voice notes. I record lectures, Otter transcribes them, and I have searchable notes within minutes.

The principle I apply: each tool must save me more time than it takes to learn. If it doesn't pass that test in the first week, it's gone. Your workflow should serve you — not the other way around.

The first campaign was imperfect. We underestimated logistics, overestimated our capacity, and scrambled to deliver on our promise. But we delivered. And that felt more meaningful than anything I had achieved academically.

By the third campaign in 2026, Trust & Will Alliance had grown — more volunteers, more reach, more du'as. But the lesson I carry from all three years is not about scale. It's about sincerity. Allah does not need our numbers. He wants our niyyah. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever feeds a fasting person will have a reward like his, without any decrease in the fasting person's reward." (Tirmidhi)

Three years of this work has taught me: Start before you're ready. We were not "ready" for the first campaign. Nobody ever is. Small is not less. One meal given sincerely is worth more than a grand event given for show. Giving makes you bigger, not smaller. Every time I give — time, money, effort — I feel more expanded, not depleted. This is the barakah of sadaqah that the Quran promises. Find your co-founders. Nobody builds anything meaningful alone. Find people who share your values and your vision — and build together.