There is a concept that one of my teachers iterates again and again in her lessons. The past weeks, it has been on my mind more than ever. It is: كل فراغ فراغ لله Every free time you have is time that Allāh has freed for Himself. If your friends have moved away from you, if you are done with your studies, if you have not found a job, if you have been let go from a job, if are…
Sins prevent goodness from Allāh. Goodness in the form of material blessings and in the form of spiritual ones, like understanding of the Qurʾān, humility in prayer and high attainment in periods of mercy, like the month Ramaḍān. When people enter the blessed month of Ramaḍān with high hopes for themselves and achieve only a little, more often than not, it is their sins preventing them from success. This is why scholars advise that to prepare for a month like…
We want to do our best in Ramaḍān. We don’t want to spend a month forgoing food and drink. We want excellence in Ramaḍān. We have a general idea; fasting, praying, reciting Qurʾān. But how can you do this better? Allow me to suggest the following: Be mindful of three golden hours every day. If you guard these, then you’ll come out of the month having spent a solid 90 hours doing what pleases Allāh. The First: Finish prepare fuṭūr…
In the Qurʾān we often see parallels between the sending down of rain and the sending down of waḥī (Divine Revelation). This parallel between the concrete and the abstract is common in the Qurʾān. It helps us visualise the effect of what we cannot see directly. Imagine rain water. What happens when rain falls? It washes the surface of the ground; it removes the dirt; then it given life to a barren land. When the words and the meanings of…
It is crucial to tie your emotions to your ʿibādāt. (Remember, the pillars of worship are three: love, hope, and fear—all of which are emotions.) For this reason, scholars say that it is essential to anticipate the month of Ramaḍān with feelings of happiness, joy, and hope of earning the blessings of this month. We cannot meet any favour of Allāh with denial, and first step towards denying a favour of Allāh is to undervalue it. You undervalue the month…
❝Ḥusn aḏh-Ḏhan billāh (thinking well of Allāh): For you to not despair of attaining your share of His Raḥmah, even if all that is left of Ramaḍān is an amount of time equivalent to single unit of prayer.❞ -— Sheikh ʿAbdullāh Balqāsim. As this blessed month sets, some may be remorseful over time wasted; remorseful that no good habit was formed, remorseful that no bad habit was left behind, remorseful that the heart is still tough and unchanged… Here’s a…