Small Reminders. :)

Assalam-o-Alaykum! Will soon be posting more articles In shaa Allah, till then here are some little reminders. :)

Taken from: https://www.facebook.com/productivemuslim

"O mankind! What has made you careless about your Lord, the Most Generous?”

When I head to university, I am bombarded with images on standees, notice boards, large banners and on pretty much everything imaginable. These images are the pictures of the panel standing up for the upcoming student council elections. And with all this hype, it is not surprising that every other person is talking about the same thing- elections.

This isn’t just the case of our university in the time of elections but this is the case with people and their lives. People create obsessions and then they create hype about it. And the obsessions are by no means limited in scope; they range from addiction to music to movies to technology to money to sitcoms and the list goes on forever.

Yet, in this endless list of obsessions people forget their real purpose of living, they just base their existence on extremely vain and superficial things and then they are surprised when they experience a feeling of emptiness. However, these people are not entirely to be blamed for being distracted and deluded, either.

We live in an era where we are continuously exposed to irrelevant information; where the advertising agencies have not even left us alone in our homes. We are succumbed to a system based on selfishness and materialism. We live by the dictates of the society yet we claim to be “liberated”. We get educated not to benefit from knowledge, but instead to get good jobs. We, once in a while, study fancy things like “business ethics” or “corporate social responsibilty” but that too just to give businesses a competitive edge and ultimately higher profits.

However, many people are unaware of their own slavery to the society. They are so attuned to the idea of doing what everybody else is doing that they don’t stop and think for a second of what this life is, what is our purpose of being and what are we supposed to do. This, my friends, is exactly what our society does not want us to think about. Our society wants us to be SO preoccupied with all the fancy things that it has to offer so that we don’t do the one thing that we are actually supposed to do and that is to please our Lord, Allah. And Allah Ta’ala says in Surah Dhariyat, Verse 56:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”

But that does not in any way mean that we cut off from society or from people but, in fact, to worship Allah i.e. to be a Muslim means to live in society and with people in a way that benefits everyone and not just our own selves. The teachings of Islam are based on concepts such as brotherhood, honesty, equality etc. In fact, Islam is not just a religion but rather it is a way of life. Where society has been wrong time and again, it has seen the failure of a purely capitalist system, it has made various blunders in the field of science, it has destroyed lives in the name of democracy and the devastating mistakes of society do not just end here. Yet the teachings of Islam brought to us fourteen hundred years ago still stand corrected.

Allah Ta’ala says in Surah Al-i-Imran, verse 103:

“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.”

So how exactly will we attain the purpose of our lives? We can do so by minimizing distractions and by praying to Allah Ta’ala for guidance. And Allah Ta’ala does not just leave us alone here; He EVEN shows us how to ask Him for guidance in verses 6-7 of Surah al-Fatiha:

“Guide us to the straight path (6) the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray. (7)”

And through these verses it is also clear that the straight path is the path of those on whom Allah has bestowed His favor and these people are the Prophets (A.S.), the companions of the Prophet S.A.W.W. and all the righteous Muslims.

The question is whether we are ready to leave these insignificant and temporary things for something everlasting and worthwhile? There is one “happily ever after” that is possible even outside Disney and that is the one you will get from following Islam completely.

Anything good herein is from Allah Ta'ala and any shortcomings are from myself.

The other side...

One of my khalas (maternal aunt) is a Psychiatrist in Indianapolis. So one day, I was asking her if she ever gets extremely weird cases and she started telling me that the weirdest cases she gets are of teenagers. The reason being that since they are trying to discover themselves, hence they try all these different things like different religions etc.

With that explanation, she narrated one certain incident to me…

She told me, that once a boy came to her who seemed pretty normal on the outlook but on talking to him, she felt that he was devoid of emotions. And she wanted to know why it was so. So she started asking him about his life and what he did. She found out that he was a Satan worshipper.

*At this point I was like “woah” because I honestly thought that this was just something that they showed in the movies and that no one would actually be crazy enough to be a Satan worshipper. *

Anyway, continuing the conversation, khala told me that she asked him how he had become a Satan worshipper, what was his motivation to do so and if he had to do anything out of the blue to join such a group.

He said that once he was online and was randomly surfing the net so he came across this website of Satan worshippers and found it to be interesting. He started it as something fun and kept visiting the site. One day he thought of taking the plunge and becoming a Satan worshipper himself just for the heck of it. So he told the members of the website that he wanted to be a Satan worshipper and they told him that he couldn’t just become one because there was one thing that he had to do first.

And that one thing was that he had to sacrifice SOMEONE who was the MOST beloved to him before he could join this club…

This kid was baffled as the most beloved person for him was his mother, so he just put things on a halt for a while, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. He loved his mother but he wanted to try this out too, he was on the verge of becoming a Satan worshipper and now he was confused.

Then one day, either because his mother scolded him or he was in a bad mood or something like that happened, that he decided that he was ready to “sacrifice” his mother. Not even thinking for a second, how real and grave this event would be for his own self.

Having made this decision he went online to that same website and he told the members of the site that he was ready, but he added that he didn’t know how to murder his mother because he loved her so much. (Astaghfirullah!)

And these new “friends” of his on the website willingly offered to do the job themselves, telling the kid that he only had to tell them his address. The kid, as if in a trance, told them his exact location. And soon enough, (I don’t remember if it was the next day or sometime later), these people murdered his mother. And the process was not simple enough like a blow in the head but they brutally murdered her, torturing her till the last breath escaped her lips because the sacrifice had to be done a certain way.

Allahu Akbar!

Khala told me that this kid was narrating this whole story to her without a single expression on his face! It was as if he was hollow inside, he hadn’t realized that seriousness of the situation till his mother was actually murdered but then it was too late…

This is the other side; the evil, barbaric, vulgar and inhumane side of this world which is very fancily hidden under the pretext of appealing and tempting things.

There is NO doubt left that Satan is indeed our open enemy:

“And [mention] when We said to the angles, "Prostrate to Adam," and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He said, "Should I prostrate to one You created from clay?" (61) [Iblees] said, "Do You see this one whom You have honored above me? If You delay me until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely destroy his descendants, except for a few." (62) [Allah] said, "Go, for whoever of them follows you, indeed Hell will be the recompense of you - an ample recompense. (63) And incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them." BUT SATAN DOES NOT PROMISE THEM EXCEPT DELUSION.”- Surah Al-Isra, verses 61-64.

This is as true as it gets…

And on one hand, where Satan orders us to do profane, vulgar, indecent and vicious things, on the other hand Allah commands us to do good, kind and noble deeds! How obvious is the truth yet we are still SO ignorant!

“These are the verses of Allah. We recite them to you, [O Muhammad], in truth; and Allah wants no injustice to the worlds.” – Surah Al-i-Imran, verse 108.

“And do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you. Indeed, their killing is ever a great sin.”- Surah Al Isra, verse 31.

“And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], "uff," and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. (23) And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, "My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small." (24)”- Surah Al Isra, verses 23-24.

This is Allah and this is Islam!!

SubhanAllah!!

Not only does Islam show us the right way to live so that we don’t end up doing injustice to our own selves but on top of that Allah Ta’ala gives us rewards on doing the SMALLEST of good deeds. For example, even smiling is charity!

"O mankind! What has made you careless about your Lord, the Most Generous?”- Surah Infitar, verse 6.

Anything good herein is from Allah Ta'ala and any shortcomings are from myself.

Ya Allah SWT, give us the strength to help our Muslim brothers and sisters no matter where they are. Ameen.

Purpose of life.

An excerpt from "Purpose of life".

The most important question in life is ‘Why are we here?’

Well, why are we here?  To amass fame and fortune?  To make music and babies?  To be the richest man or woman in the graveyard for, as we are jokingly told, “He who dies with the most toys wins?”

No, there must be more to life than that, so let’s think about this.  To begin with, look around you. Unless you live in a cave, you are surrounded by things we humans have made with our own hands.  Now, why did we make those things?  The answer, of course, is that we make things to perform some specific function for us.  In short, we make things to serve us.  So by extension, why did God make us, if not to serve Him?

If we acknowledge our Creator, and that He created humankind to serve Him, the next question is, “How? How do we serve Him?”  No doubt, this question is best answered by the One who made us.  If He created us to serve Him, then He expects us to function in a particular manner, if we are to achieve our purpose.  But how can we know what that manner is? How can we know what God expects from us?

Well, consider this: God gave us light, by which we can find our way.  Even at night, we have the moon for light and the stars for navigation. God gave other animals guidance systems best suited for their conditions and needs.  Migrating birds can navigate, even on overcast days, by how light is polarized as it passes through the clouds.  Whales migrate by “reading” the Earth’s magnetic fields.  Salmon return from the open ocean to spawn at the exact spot of their birth by smell, if that can be imagined.  Fish sense distant movements through pressure receptors that line their bodies.  Bats and blind river dolphins “see” by sonar.  Certain marine organisms (the electric eel being a high-voltage example) generate and “read” magnetic fields, allowing them to “see” in muddy waters, or in the blackness of ocean depths.  Insects communicate by pheromones.  Plants sense sunlight and grow towards it (phototrophism); their roots sense gravity and grow into the earth (geotrophism).  In short, God has gifted every element of His creation with guidance.  Can we seriously believe he would not give us guidance on the one most important aspect of our existence, namely our raison d’etre our reason for being? That he would not give us the tools by which to achieve salvation?

So what does the Creator, God, tell us about our purpose in life? God states in the Quran that He created the human to be His trustee on earth. Mankind’s basic trust, our responsibility, is to believe in and worship God:

And I did not create the jinn and humankind except to worship Me…  [Quran 51:56-58]

http://www.onereason.org/islam-unveiled/purpose-of-islam/

An eye opener! Please watch!

What’s Your Morning Routine?

I hate routine. Except when it comes to morning routines :) That’s something I try and stick to! ;)

There’s something about starting your day on a number of pre-planned actions that really set your day straight. Below I describe the ‘ideal’ ProductiveMuslim morning routine. (Note: I assume that Fajr Athan is at 5.00am and that work starts at 8am, feel free to ‘adjust’ the routine below to suit your timetable inshaAllah)

4.00AM – 5.00AM: 5 Essential Actions

1. Wake up!

Perhaps the first and most important step to having a great morning routine is waking up early! And it is in that moment of indecisiveness – whether you should wake up immediately or enjoy your nice comfy bed for ‘5 more minutes’- wherein lies the secret to either a great day or a crazy one. Here’s a tip that always works with me for waking up: You know how shaytaan whispers in your ears “just sleep for 5 more minutes”… I simply whisper back to myself “just wake up for 5 minutes” ;) Yup, you can imagine the rest. As soon as you’re awake and begin reciting the Adkhar and making wudhu, you can imagine what happens to sleep – (Gone! Left the building!).

2. Make the Dua(s) for waking up and recite last 10 verses of Surah Al-Imran

Alhamdulillah, we have a beautiful set of “waking up” supplications which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught us. A collection of Wake Up Supplications can be found on MakeDua.com. My favorite is the recitation of the last 10 verses of Al-Imran (Chapter 3 of the Quran). You can almost feel your heart coming to life and being ‘juiced’ when the first thing you do as soon as you wake up is remember Allah & recite His Glorious Words from the Quran.

3. Make Wudhu

We can all agree, there’s something about wudhu that really focuses your positive energy and cleanses you inwardly as well as outwardly. I had a friend who used to call this feeling “WuBuzz!” short for the “Buzz” you feel after wudhu ;) Don’t forget to say Bismillah before starting wudhu and the dua after finishing wudhu! The 8 gates of Heaven will be opened for you, (not a bad way to start your day ;) and you’ll feel refreshed and ready for the day ahead.

4. Tahajjud & Witr

Tahajjud or Qiyaam has been described as the “honour of the believer”, because who else would go through what you just did (wake up, wudhu..etc) just to stand up and pray? The beauty of Tahajjud is hard to describe; from the feeling of tranquility in your heart and understanding the Quran better at this time, to feeling closer to Allah at a time of isolation from others and wishing that you would never get up from that prostration, to self-reflection moments that we rarely get a chance to exercise in our busy world… all of them and more come from Tahajjud! Finally, praying Witr after Tahajjud and making sincere dua to Allah is a true booster to your day!

5. Istighfar moments

Don’t forget to use the last 5-10 minutes before Fajr to ask Allah for forgiveness and making lots of istighfar so that you are among those Allah mentioned in the Quran:“And in the hour of early dawn, they (were found) praying for Forgiveness” (Quran, Chapter 51, Verse 18).

5.00AM – 5.05 AM: Fajr Athan

Say as the muaddhin (The person who calls to Prayer) says and don’t forget the Dua after athan. Supplications Related to Athaan can also be found at MakeDua.com

5.05AM – 5.30AM: Between Athan & Iqama

1. Pray the 2 rak’ahs Sunnah of Fajr

Don’t miss this! Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “The two rakahs before the dawn (Fajr) prayer are better than this world and all that it contains. (Riyad-us-Saliheen (Hadith # 1102). Just think about this hadeeth for a moment; 5 minutes of your time to pray 2 short rak’ahs are better than this whole wide world with all its’ lands, people, treasures, nature and beyond! SubhanaAllah!

Also, if this is the importance and merit of the Sunnah of Fajr, what about the obligatory Fajr prayer itself? (There is a heartwarming video reminder to those who neglect Fajr Salah called: ‘Are you neglecting the Fajr Prayer?’)

2. Dua

Did you know that the time between the Athan & Iqama is a prime time to make dua? Make the most of it! Narrated Anas ibn Malik: “The supplication made between the athan and the iqamah is not rejected.” (Sunan Abu Dawood, Book #2, Hadith #0521)

3. Lie on your right side

Narrated ‘Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her): “Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) used to pray two light rakahs before the morning (compulsory) prayer after the day dawned and the Mu’addhin had finished his adhan. He then would lie on his right side till the Mu’addhin came to pronounce the Iqama.” (Sahih Bukhari, Book #11, Hadith #599)

4. Brainstorm session

I sometimes use this time to either plan my day, or brainstorm ideas for ProductiveMuslim/articles or just reading and writing. You’ll be surprised how active your brain is at this time! You’re awake, alert and kicking ;)

5. Quran memorization

Speaking of your mind being active, memorizing Quran at this time is incredible as well. I have tried memorizing Quran after Asr/Maghreb when I’m tired and back from work Vs. after Fajr. The difference is overwhelming, SubhanaAllah! After Fajr, your brain is truly like a sponge and it is the best time to memorize verses from the Quran :).

5.30AM – 6.00am: Fajr Salat & Dhikr

If you are a brother, and can get to a mosque no matter how far – go for it! The beauty of praying Fajr in the masjid is hard to describe. I prefer walking to the Masjid Vs. driving (cycling is good as well ;) since you get a chance to breath in the fresh morning air; Allah says in the Quran: “And the Dawn as it breathes away the darkness” (Chapter 81, Verse 18)

After Fajr Salah, sit back, relax and enjoy performing the post Salah Dhikr and morning supplications.

6.00 – 6.30am: Recite, Read or Exercise

1. Quran Memorization/Recitation

Recite and/or Memorize Quran as mentioned previously, or if you have a good tafsir book, then reading the meaning of at least one page of the Quran is a great bonus!

2. Reading

Spend this time reading Islamic material. I stress that the reading must be Islamic, because as I mentioned previously, your mind is like a sponge at this time and is highly active. You want whatever you’re reading to be truly embedded into your mind & soul inshaAllah.

Suggested books to read: Hadeeth books, Stories of the Prophets, Seerah, etc…

3. Exercise

Another option is a quick 30 minute exercise. This could be jogging around the block, cycling, using a treadmill, some aerobics/cardiovascular exercises and anything that builds your stamina.

6.30AM – 6.45: Plan Your Day

This is where I plan the rest of my day, of course, using the Taskinator ;). Sometimes I check and send e-mails around this time as well to help me plan my day or set out tasks for myself and team members.

6.45AM – 7.00: Get Ready For Work

Shower, get dressed, and gather your paper work, (although organizing your items the night before makes this 15 minute process of getting ready a lot smoother!) Put things where you can find them so that you don’t waste time searching for them.

7.00AM – 7.10: Duha Prayers.

Nothing sets your day straight like Duha prayer, as mentioned in the “Top 7 Spiritual Productivity Habits” to adopt. Nu`aym ibn Hammar (Allah be pleased with him) relates that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “Allah Most High says: O child of Adam, don’t fail to perform four rakahs in the beginning of your day, and I shall be your sufficiency at its end.” (Abu Dawud (1289) and Tirmidhi (475).

7.15AM – 7.30AM: Breakfast

Reward yourself for a ProductiveMorning with a big FAT hearty (healthy) breakfast! Try to avoid caffeine and have a fibre filled bowl of goodness to set you in good stead.

7.30AM – 8.00AM: Commute to Work

Don’t forget my tips about commuting ProductiveMuslim style! ;)

Imagine if all your mornings were like the above… how much will you gain spiritually? How much knowledge will you acquire? What will your mood be like for the rest of the day? Try the above, just for one day, and let me know how it goes inshaAllah.

This article has been taken from: http://www.productivemuslim.com/