The Aida Azlin Show

For the longest time, we were all told to multi-task, to hustle, to do, do, do until we forget to just... be. I realised that the biggest reason why I've been so overwhelmed and anxious is because I was either in "overthinking about the future" mode or "stuck in the past" mode - never just "being and living in the present" mode. Working on my mindfulness muscle has helped changed the quality of my life so much, so I'm sharing with you some of the things I've learned on how to honour the now. May it be of benefit, In Sha Allah!

Join me and my soulmate Saphia as we candidly talk about beauty and answer some of these (heart) questions: do we beautify our character as much as we beautify our looks? Have we "glow-ed up" in terms of our spirituality? Do we put in the same dedication and work on the beauty of our character? 

Sharing with you more meaningful questions which were asked to me, or I've asked, when meeting someone new as an alternative to the most FAQ ever. PS: what are some of your favourite non-conventional questions to ask someone you are meeting for the first time? Share with me!  

Time. It's something that we all want most, but use worst. In this episode, I shared some important truths about time that I've learned, and how realising it has been life-changing. If you are struggling with "not having enough time", procrastination and / or time-wasting, I hope this episode will be of benefit and gives you some things to think about.  

On this episode, I sat down with my most fav introvert, Karim, aka my husband, and spoke about "gentle confidence", embracing oneself, trusting one's intuition, and more. Karim is one of my biggest teachers in life, and I learned a number of important things in this conversation, and it is my hopes that you'll get to take away a few gems too. 

I'll be the first to admit that I've struggled with overthinking too much, especially in my 20s! But something changed when I learned about one of Allah SWT's 99 Names, and in this episode, I'll share with you the one thing I'll do when I find myself nearing the dangerous edge of "thinking too much". I hope it will be of benefit! 

Assalammualaikum everyone! It's been a while, and as I battled with excuses and procrastination, I suddenly got an epiphany and learned a valuable lesson. My hope for Season 3 is to be able to share with you more of my thought processes and things that are close to my heart. New episodes will drop Mondays and Thursdays, In Sha Allah! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do recording these episodes - try to see it as something you'd listen to as you sip your morning cuppa.

OMGGGGGGG I am beyond excited for the season finale of #theaidaazlinshow because it's with none other than my beloved teacher, Anse Dr Tamara Gray! I have so much love for her (and I know I'm not the only one, every Sister who has studied under her can vouch for her ginormous heart and contagious humour and of course, boundless wisdom!) and I'm so proud to have her as the special guest who will conclude Season 2! I pray this episode will be of benefit to you and you'd enjoy it just like how I did when speaking to Anse Tamara! 

Joining me this week is Noor Mastura - she is an advocator, Singaporean of the Year (woop woop!), and an all-round inspiring human being. I've seen how she has positively impacted society through her various works, one of which is her Instagram Platform called BBW - Being Bravely Woman. And brave is definitely a word that I would use to describe Noor as she highlights some important, but uncomfortable topics that we as a society always try to sweep under the rug.  I can't wait for you guys to listen in to Noor's inspiring journey, and learn! Let's start, Bismillah!

Joining me this week, is Ayesha Syahira or as she is more famously known as the 'Quran Tag Girl'. So many of you requested that I speak to her, and Ma Sha Allah, I learned so much during our conversation! We spoke about how her journey of falling in love with the Quran started, how she started as a student and now has become a teacher of the Quran, how she give her feelings its Haqq or its rights, how one particular event in her life changed everything for her and so much more! I can't wait for you guys to listen in to Ayesha's beautiful stories, let's start, Bismillah!

Joining me this week, is Zehra Allibhai, and she is my virtual fitness instructor all the way from Toronto, Canada! I literally shrieked when I saw her on Zoom, coz it's so surreal to actually be speaking to the lady whos always cheering and motivating you when you are about to give up while doing a plank lol! Zehra's energy is contagious Ma Sha Allah, and I hope you guys will be motivated to change into your workout gear and start moving after this episode because that's exactly what happened to me! Zehra makes us see working out as a form of self-love, not torture, and I can't wait for u to listen in to this conversation!

Joining me this week, is Yasmin Redzuan, or better known as Princess Meenie! Although we've yet to meet IRL, I knew Yasmin would be a true sweetheart, and my conversation with her confirmed it 100%. We spoke about the true story behind her nickname, how she blossomed from a young K-Pop fan to being a beloved mother to her super cute daughter, Inara, our shared love for Seoul, what exactly she does for a living and so much more! Also, apologies in advance for my non-malay listeners as I lapsed into my mother tongue often this episode - I was just too excited to speak to Yasmin! Can't wait for you to listen to this conversation with our Princess Meenie! 

Joining me this week, is Esma Bošnjaković , a talented self-taught illustrator all the way from Austria! I've been a big fan of her work, and after this conversation with her, I'm an even bigger fan of her, Ma Sha Allah! Esma has such a pure heart and I really believe her illustrations can change this world - it was such an honour having her. We spoke about her Niyyah Chronicles, the power of intentions, our love for books, why she started illustrating, her fascination with The Great British Bake-Off and so much more.

I'm excited for u to get to know Esma and to step into her world that is full of beauty and inspiration - so Bismillah, let's start!

Sumi is like a dream elder sister whom I never had, because not only does she make super beautiful clothes over at her brand 'Olloum', she also shares really cool gems like the Seerah with such passion and her love for her faith and the deen is just so contagious. In this episode, Sumi candidly shares about how she fell in love with her Muslim identity, how she doesn't shy away from calling her business a 'Muslimah business', not just a "modest fashion" brand, but a Muslimah brand, her beautiful life lessons that we can all learn from and so much more!

Joining me this week, is the super-strong, super inspiring Norfasarie. I call her Kak Norfa and I see her as the Singaporean version of Victoria Beckham, because yes, she's married to one of our best national footballer in SG, but more importantly, she holds her own ground by running not one, not two, but three businesses of her own! Kak Norfa is one of the most humble ladies I've ever met and my respect for her grew millionfold after this episode because she's so honest with her struggles. In this episode, Kak Norfa bravely shares about her recent struggle with the law and how through that, she learned one of the most important lessons in her life. She also shared the importance of always trusting and relying on Allah in everything, to always bounce back after a failure, how having the redha of our parents is the foundation to success and so much more!

I'm so excited for this week's episode because the fangirl in me got to speak to one of my fav writers, A Helwa. Helwa wrote "Secrets of Divine Love"  - a book that I cannot recommend enough (if you haven't get it, please do!) -  and only Allah knows how much I've highlighted the heavens out of it! This episode with Helwa was also the first one I recorded for Season 2, and I was nervous that I'd be rusty from the break, but... Subhanallah, this conversation that I had with Helwa filled me in ways I cannot even imagine. We spoke about how we all plagiarised from Allah as writers and creatives, we spoke about how criticisms are sometimes the best round of applause, her choice to stay anonymous even with a following of almost 550k, but most importantly we spoke about love. This is honestly, one of my fave episodes on TAAS! 

PS: If you want to hear more from me, I also write the Tuesday Love Letters and I'd love for you to subscribe. To know more: aidaazlin.com

Siti Hawa is a professionally trained Pharmacist, and Ma Sha Allah she's been dishing out beneficial content on usually dry topics like health, but with an entertaining twist on her various platforms for us all. Since she's currently based in Manchester, I pleaded her to come to London where I'm currently at and Alhamdulillah, being the sport that she is, she agreed and the rest is history! We spoke about how she stays grounded despite moving across so many countries, despite her newfound fame, her real goal in life, the one thing she looks forward to doing in Manchester (her answer made me smile), AND she even taught me a little bit of the Kedahan loghat and so much more! (This episode is brought to you by our Sustaining Supporters - to know more + support: aidaazlin.com/support)

I felt like the honorary 4th CQ sister in this episode as I sat down with Yana, Farah and Azrina Khairuddin in their beautiful CQ HQ in Shah Alam to talk about their 10-year journey of running a modest wear fashion business, the importance of minding our own business, bullying, which brand they would love to be sponsored by, who'd survive in Mars, and A LOT OF OTHER THINGS IN BETWEEN! This one made me laugh so much, I hope you guys will like it too! PS: This episode is proudly brought to you by aaplus.co

OMG! YOU ARE HERE! I AM HERE! WE ARE HERE! LETS DO THIS. Don't forget to follow so that you'll be kept updated when a new episode drops.