A high īmān gets you through the small every day as much as it gets you through the bigger and unexpected circumstances. It is usually the small every day that is a good gauge of where your īmān is. If you find yourself easily frustrated and quick to anger, chances are whatever aroused it was not warranted, rather it is a low īmān that is the culprit. Consider a person driving home from work, for example. When a person who…
When you are trying to understand an āyah and you know that there is a treasure trove right at your finger tips, yet you cannot seem to access it. When you are frustrated, you are upset, you have done all that you can, yet you end up at a closed gate–a figurative one, but one that keeps you from getting to that treasure. That block that you experience is the darkness of the heart that prevents you from understanding the āyāt…
If there is one lesson our dīn repeatedly teaches, it is that Allāh treats you the way that you treat others, especially the ones who are below you. This teaching is so consequential that it is almost as if you are given a choice of how you want to be treated by Allāh in this life and in the Next simply by your treatment of those around you. …
Imagine a small child. A toddler. Let’s suppose that he’s an excitable young toddler who is unable to express himself verbally yet. Imagine the following situation: His mother tells him that they are going to the park; do you want to go to the park?! There are swings there! He knows the park, so he jumps up excitedly and races to the front door and waits eagerly for his mother to come and open the door so that they can…
Keep making duʿāʾ and keep trusting that Allāh sees your efforts and He hears your prayers. I say make duʿāʾ not as a hopeless plan b. But I say this because I know that so many people lose out on the good that Allāh gives because they give up on duʿāʾ too soon. Or they lose spirit too soon. Or they lose interest too soon. Allāh is al-Ḥakīm and He arranges our lives perfectly. Even if something causes us grief…
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…