Torn between two extremes

"Some days,

 I feel everything at once,

Other days,

I feel nothing at all.

I don't know what's worse:

Drowning between the waves

Or dying from the thirst."

In one of the recent lectures by Shaykh Kamaluddin, he talked about a trick of shaytan and that was that he keeps some people at extremes; these people either are totally submerged in the dunya and so lack the feelings in all their acts of worship or they are so submerged in the deen that they do more than they can and eventually burn out. As sad as it is, many of us are victim to this trick of his, however, Alhamdulilah there are many ways to combat it.

1) Make the right niyyat: Actions are based on intentions (niyyat). This is one aspect that is so often repeated yet the most neglected, we take it for granted that whatever acts of worship we are doing are obviously for Allah Ta’ala and hence we don’t specifically work on our niyyat. However, just working on and renewing one’s niyyat can stir up miracles! Working on one’s niyyat helps one realize that whatever is being done is only for His sake and so it cancels out any room for corrupted intentions that may creep up every now and then (such as showing off etc) if we don’t renew our niyyat. Secondly, it acts as a great imaan booster; perhaps it is a blessing from Allah Ta’ala that just by renewing our intention, we can feel such a strong sense of purpose and a stronger imaan Alhamdulilah. Moreover, the best part about niyyat is that it can have a multiplier effect (this is the coolest part)! :D What does having a multiplier effect mean? It means that for every one action the more niyyats you’ll make the more reward you’ll get. So, for example; if a person does wudu then that person can make multiple niyyats like getting cleansed from sins, getting cleaned because Allah Ta’ala likes purity, getting cleansed to do worship, fulfilling the sunnah of the Prophet (S.A.W.W.), so on and so forth.

2) Make dua: I had never understood why the Sahaba karaam (radi Allahu Ta’ala anhum ‘ajmaeen) used to make dua for everything, even for the soles of their shoes when they would break. Seriously, it was just beyond me. I felt that it would be disrespectful if I would ask Allah Ta’ala for such little things as He is so Majestic and Supreme. But I was so wrong in my myopic judgment. My fifth semester; my worst semester at university begun like this; my exams were about to start and my phuppo was going for umrah. She told me that she would make duas for my studies and deen and everything and I being so smart (read ignorant) said that “No, no. My studies are manageable; just make dua for my deen, please.” I didn’t say that because I thought I was smart enough but I felt that it wasn’t important enough for me to make dua for it. Lo and behold! I had the worst experience in that semester only to realize that Allah Ta’ala is in fact Supreme and Majestic, in fact so much so that not even the easiest of things are possible without His aid. That was when I realized what it meant when Sahaba karaam (radi Allahu Ta’ala anhum ‘ajmaeen) prayed for even the smallest of things from Allah Subhan-a-hu-wa-Ta’ala because He is capable of everything and we are capable of absolutely nothing without His help. (Sorry this got longer than it was meant to be!) In short; “Nothing is difficult if you seek it through your Lord and nothing is easy if you seek it through yourself”! So we must in shaa Allah start any and everything with dua, make a small dua if you are short on time but do make dua. This is also a huge blessing that Allah Ta’ala has given us. It is an amazing tool since it not only helps us in getting His help but also helps us build a connection with Him!

3) Start small: The first blunder we make is that when we feel a surge of imaan, we make the mistake of doing everything we possibly can and hence find things extremely difficult and impossible to sustain. Instead of doing this, we need to start small; for example; if you didn’t recite Quran previously then start small like one page a day and slowly build on to it. Do not over exert yourself and do not try to become perfect Muslims in one day. It is simply not possible so don’t aim for it either!

4) Consistency: This is perhaps one of the hardest parts because it is so easy to fall back especially when a person tries to add new good actions into one’s routine. One way to go about it is to make a routine! Specify times for different actions you need to do; for example; one can decide that he/she needs to make all tasbeehat by maghrib time. Furthermore, while adding new tasks, for example adding new tasbeehat in one’s routine, add them in small quantities so that you don’t fall back on the tasbeehat that you have been doing regularly.

Apart from the aforementioned points, other things that can help in staying consistent and having feelings in one's acts of worship are:

5) Self-check: This is essential because it helps in reflecting upon our mistakes and makes us realize our areas of improvement and the needed plan of action. It should be done daily and also on a weekly or/and monthly and so on basis. Every night one should evaluate the decisions, conversations, thoughts etc one has had and think about what he/she did wrong and if he/she did good then what more could he/she have done or what could have been done better. Self-checks are extremely helpful because many times we don't pay attention to what we do until we sit and reflect. Daily self-checks can really give us insights about our weaknesses and strengths and help us do much better. One should also keep daily/weekly and so on goals and should check whether he/she has been able to achieve them or not.

(Keeping good company also helps in keeping check on ourselves because when we are surrounded by righteous company then that leads to positive peer pressure and motivates us to do more good and helps us abstain from bad deeds which is extremely hard to do if one is striving all by him/herself!)

6) Imaan boosters: (This is my favorite part!) So we all have something that just gives us that needed push, for most of us it is usually the same; like recitation of Quran, making dua, Islamic lectures or/and company of our elders. Since none of us lives in isolation and we interact with the world on a regular basis hence it is very easy to get distracted or concerned about worldly matters and these imaan boosters help in making us realize what is actually important and ever-lasting and hence are able to  increase our imaan.

These are just a few pointers, there can be many more that one could use to have consistency in one's good deeds and to have the right kind of feelings in one's ibaadaat . May Allah Ta'ala guide us to do good and may He be pleased with our little efforts for verily He is Ash-Shakoor! Ameen!

Everything good herein is from Allah Ta'ala and all the shortcomings are my own.

Nostalgia

This is a guest post by an amazing person who wishes to stay anonymous, may Allah Ta'ala accept his/her efforts in His way and grant him/her good beyond his/her expectations. If you benefit from the article then please remember the writer in your duas. Jazakumullahu khair.

I am holding my cup of tea and gazing out of the window on this chilly winter morning. I’m not a tea-person but I love feeling the warmth of the cup in my hands and the steam on the tip of my

otherwise freezing nose. I can see the blue sky with patches of white clouds and the dim sunlight falling on the adjacent apartments and I can hear this beautiful morning chirping of birds. I love this part of the day. I love mornings. Somehow the serenity and calmness of the morning always reminds me of the serenity and calmness of my childhood and sometimes I just wish that I could go back. I wish to go back to those early school days of innocence. Those days when the biggest worries were what your mother gave you for lunch today. And the biggest happiness was… well; I can’t remember what my biggest happiness was when I was that young. May be that’s because we found happiness in every little thing. We celebrated moments. We didn’t have smartphones, laptops, internet, wifi-signals-not-catching to worry about. We lived in the moment. We lived in the present. We didn’t hold on to grudges. We didn’t care if that girl called us fat last week, we’d still want to go to the swings with her. We didn’t care if our mother scolded us last night, we’d still want to hug her goodbye before leaving for school. We didn’t worry about what would happen next. We were all thoroughly convinced that everything ahead will be good. We always looked up to the happily ever after-we trusted that God had one for us.

We were disciplined and organized. I remember my mother giving us dinner at 7pm and tucking us in the bed by 8pm. We would wake up early in the morning. We would have breakfast. We would WANT to go to school. We would do our homework on time. We would pay attention in classes. We would respect our teachers. We loved our teachers. Everything that the teacher said was the only reality for us. Yes, we asked questions and explored but we trusted their words. We didn’t know how to argue. We didn’t feel insulted if we were corrected. We didn’t go into depression if we were punished. We had no sense of entitlement. We were grateful if someone gave us anything, no matter how small that thing was. We loved sharing. We loved people. We were happy and content with what we had... If only life could be that simple again.

But is it really life that has changed or is it us? Every human is born with these genuine traits of goodness. No one is born greedy, no one is born proud, and no one is born as a thief or a rapist or a murderer. The Asal and the Fitrah of each of us IS that pure and simple. If only we don’t fall prey to the desires and the temptations of the world, we would continue to be that pure. But this is how we are. We are bound to make mistakes because we are humans. But every time we make a mistake, there is that stingy feeling inside and there’s that voice that always tells us to STOP. That same feeling you had when you lied for the first time in your life. That feeling you had when you called someone with a bad name when you were young. That voice that told you not to pick that cute pen and keep it in your pocket because it didn’t belong to you. Every time we ignore that voice and we ignore that feeling, we lose some part of our innocence, we become somewhat numb to the reception of such feelings and we put a veil over that voice until one day, we become completely numb and our hearts are sealed.

No counselor, parent, teacher, friend can change anything then.  The heart becomes so hardened that even the word of God doesn’t melt it (illa ma sha Allah – except if God wills). So, till when would you and I keep killing that voice that comes from the inside? Are we waiting for the seal to be placed? The seal that hardens the heart and shuts the doors of guidance, the seal that blinds the eyes and deafens the ears, this seal gives me shivers. The Qur’an e Kareem declares about such people:

“And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.”

-         Surah Al-A’raf, Ayah 179

As I write this deficient collection of random thoughts, the sun outside has become brighter and my cup of tea has finished. The chirping of the birds has become distant and I listen to the cars as they honk. The day has started. Another day has started. And this new day gives me new hope. It gives me that feeling that you get when you are attempting a really lengthy exam and you have suddenly remembered the answer to a question but you think the time is over, you don’t even have time to look at the clock and then the invigilator says: “You have five minutes left.” Let’s just say that this new day is like those five unexpected minutes you get in an examination. It’s your choice now whether to sit and stare at the paper or to pick up the pen and write without wasting any more time.