I know the question. I get it in my DMs, I get it when I bump into people at the masjid, I get it from old followers who still remember the skits, the stages, the 300 million views across Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat – “Stuzz, where have you been?”

So let me actually answer it properly for once, instead of a 30 second face-to-face explanation before Jumu’ah – or just posting a smiley emoji on Facebook and then moving on.

A few years back I made a deliberate decision to step away from the spotlight. Not because I fell out of love with the work – hosting Khabib Nurmagomedov in Sydney back in 2019, just months after he beat Conor McGregor to defend his Lightweight crown, sharing stages with Mufti Menk and Sonny Bill Williams, building the International Eid Festival from the ground up, even co-starring in a movie!

All of that was a blessing I’ll never stop being grateful for. But somewhere along the way I realised the version of me that was always “on,” always filming, always chasing the next viral moment, wasn’t leaving enough of myself for the people and the things that actually matter most.

So I made some changes.

STUZZ: Family First

My wife and children needed more of me than just the time between content shoots. My kids are growing up fast (Alhamdulillah, my oldest Jacob got married earlier in the year!) and my mum and dad aren’t getting any younger. I didn’t want to look back one day and realise I was more present in other people’s feeds than I was in my own family’s. That had to come first. No amount of views was worth missing that.

More Sadaqa, Less Spotlight

The other big shift was pouring myself into Sadaqa Welfare Fund. This isn’t charity work I do for content – it’s become one of the most meaningful parts of my life. Less time worrying about algorithms, more time actually being on the ground where the help is needed.

Community and Rugby League

I’ve also leaned more into community work here in Australia – quiet stuff, not the kind of thing you put a highlight reel together for, just showing up for people who need a hand. These days I’m also heavily involved with the Syrian Rugby League here in Sydney, which has taken me right back to my roots, so being able to give back to the game and the community through it now means a lot to me.

Closer to Allah

And honestly, the biggest shift has been spiritual. While I’d like to think I never ignored the deen, stepping back from the noise gave me space to reconnect with Allah in a way that constant content creation never really allowed. SubhanAllah, that alone has been worth it.

So that’s the honest answer. I didn’t disappear. I just rearranged my priorities – and I haven’t looked back.

On the Ground in Nigeria

Which brings me to where I actually just got back from. I’ve not long arrived home after a fortnight overseas, including several days in some of Nigeria’s most remote communities – a humanitarian mission with Sadaqa Welfare Fund, delivering much-needed assistance to some of the country’s most disadvantaged communities.

Late last month, I travelled to Nigeria alongside 22-year-old Fatih Efe Cetinay and his father Ayhan Cetinay, a Sadaqa board member. We only spent a week in the West African nation, but it felt more like months because of how much we managed to get done.

One of the first things that struck me was the caring and flexible approach Sadaqa Welfare Fund takes as an organisation. Rather than deciding what children needed, we purchased tailored clothing based on what the children themselves actually asked for. We also visited schools operated entirely by Sadaqa Welfare Fund and saw firsthand the impact these projects are having on local communities.

Eid al-Adha was an unforgettable experience. We joined approximately 50,000 people for Eid prayer in the open before heading directly to the slaughterhouse. Over the next day and a half, our team oversaw the sacrifice of 1,050 sheep. Every sacrifice was individually recorded with the donor’s name to ensure complete transparency, with videos sent directly to donors through the Sadaqa Welfare Fund app.

The meat was prepared in four-kilogram bags and distributed across some of the most remote parts of Nigeria. Refrigerated trucks transported the meat and recipients collected their allocations using tokens. Women and children were given priority, followed by the men. We estimate that around 40,000 people benefited from this Eid al-Adha meat distribution program.

What many readers may not realise is that for some families, Eid is the only time of the year they eat meat.

The conditions were challenging. Temperatures regularly reached 45°C, with an extreme UV index. Yet everywhere we went, people immediately recognised the Sadaqa Welfare Fund colours. They knew that help was coming. SubhanAllah. The organisation has built numerous schools, 41 mosques and 45 water stations throughout Nigeria, making it one of the most active providers of Islamic charity work and community development projects in the region.

I have to give a special mention to Ayhan Cetinay, who accompanied me on this trip. His dedication, and his son Fatih’s, was something else – despite running a successful business back home in Australia, Ayhan volunteered his time to help those less fortunate, and watching father and son serve together was truly special.

One of the highlights of my trip was being invited to deliver the Adhan at a newly opened masjid in a remote village of around 4,000 people. The project is part of Sadaqa Welfare Fund’s ongoing mosque construction efforts across Nigeria. The community’s previous masjid was little more than a small tin shed, now replaced by a modern mosque of more than 200 square metres, complete with solar power, electricity, fans and carpet imported from Istanbul, Türkiye. Alongside it sits a brand new, sophisticated water station project capable of supplying clean water to dozens of families every day.

Indeed, the experience was life-changing. I hope one day to return with my own family and, in particular, to share this journey with my sons so they can witness the incredible humanitarian aid and Islamic charity work being carried out by Sadaqa Welfare Fund and the resilience of the people it serves.

This trip to Nigeria was far from my first humanitarian mission with Sadaqa Welfare Fund. In recent years, I’ve been fortunate to participate in numerous aid trips, including a recent visit to Egypt, where I witnessed the delivery of five fully equipped ambulances destined for Gaza and met families also benefiting from Sadaqa’s Welfare Fund ongoing humanitarian programs. Whether supporting emergency relief, education, water projects or food distribution, these journeys have reinforced my belief in the importance of being physically present on the ground and seeing firsthand how donor contributions are changing lives.

If you would like to build a masjid in your name or a relative that has passed away, please click on this link.

No Regrets

Looking back on the last two or three years, I can honestly say stepping back was one of the best decisions I’ve made during that time. My family has had much more of me. Sadaqa has had more of me. My community has had more of me. And Allah has had more of me!

The views and the follower counts were never really the point – and indeed, looking back, the preceding decade now seems quite surreal, even though it didn’t feel that way at the time. These days, the moments that matter to me aren’t measured in Likes. They’re measured family and community time, in masjids built, water flowing where the ground was previously barren and kids in Nigeria eating meat on Eid for the first time all year.

Helping the less fortunate has become a regular part of my life now, and every trip leaves a lasting impact long after I return home. I wouldn’t trade that for any number of views!