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You are listening to Muslim mastery breakthroughs, a podcast series in which we share insight on how you can achieve breakthroughs in your life to unlock your spirituality, relationship and mindset. You will get practical steps towards living a truly extraordinary and fulfilling life Inshallah.
Spiritual shortcuts
Have you ever been in a situation where you had access to investors or experts from various fields but you could not make personal connections because of lack of confidence, not knowing what to say, how to say, where to start or you were busy focusing on less important parts of the events such as food and desserts? To really take advantage from such rare opportunities it is extremely important for you to understand your strengths and weaknesses and have a strategy tailored for you to make the best use of these magnificent moments. What we mean by magnificent moments and blessed times are times and places where a little effort from you can get you massive success and they are too precious of moments to be wasted. This week’s breakthrough idea is a collection of strategies for a variety of different states and stages. We will be focusing on special blessed moments to improve our relationship with Allah (subahana wata allah), get close to him, increase love of him but similar things can be applied for other less important areas of life.
Bismillah. Wallahumdulillah Wa Salat Al al-Salamu wala rasulullah.
So type one or stage one are the people who are feeling left out. They are people who said, hey, I see people are taking time off; they are trying to make the best of these bless time, weather it will be Ramadan, the last 10 night of Ramadan, first 10 days of Hijar, Friday of every week, last third of every night, and so on. But I just don’t feel motivated. So our tip number one for them is to get their mindset right. Your success depends heavily on who you hung out with, who you love to spend time with? Who you listen to, and who you have as your sponsor and allies. If you can’t identify expert in various fields of interest you, whether it’ll be health care business, education relationship, you can have direct access to them, how would you feel, how would it impact the connection you can have, how many mistakes can this save you from making, how much faster can you reach your goal, the questions is how do you get access to these people, think about it.
Are there any shortcuts to getting access to these people? Absolutely, for most people, you can identify certain time of the year, certain events, certain locations, institute, conferences, etc. where are much easier to get their attention. How can you get there would be another question. But the point is that if you really want to connect with them, then you should not miss out on these special opportunities. We have been talking on previous episode that if Allah is with us by His special support, guide us in facilitation then what an amazing journey to success we would have. From the generosity and mercy of Allah is that He has chosen certain time of the year that really makes it easy for us to get closer to Him, but much less effort and a speed that is not available during any other times.
Tip no. 2, you can’t love someone if there is nothing to love about. Commit to seek more knowledge about Allah. I am not talking about technical knowledge the Arabic language of Tajweed, but rather knowledge of who Allah is. What is this life about? The event of death, grave, and afterlife, as you learn it, open yourself to reminder how summiting to Allah will liberate you, empower you, how even protect you, and your family in this time and hereafter. As you consistently remind yourself of what is the state for you in this life and the life of hereafter. It will motivate you to take advantage of these bless times to secure yourself from hell fire, to secure yourself from the punishment of the grave, and so on and so forth. So knowledge in reminder is very important, they will also help you to get closer to Allah in ways that he had prescribed. That is following the Sunnah, the way of prophet of Allah (sallahu alayhi wasalam), and not innovating new ways of worshiping Allah. Find out what works for you, classes, books, radios, personal teacher. Find out what worth for you and commit to it, think about how you can have daily reminders, will you be reading Quran daily, or listening to it, or listening or watching, and reading the explanation of Quran.
Ok, now let’s move on to the type 2, stage 2, which is the people who would say, hey, you know what, I don’t feel like giving up anything. So they are saying that I see the importance, but I don’t feel like changing my daily routine and giving up what I am use to doing. So in that case, tip no. 1, is to remove the excess baggage, be light, be fast, how can you do that, well, sincerely ask Allah (subahana wata allah) for two things, a) motivation and facilitation, b) to forgive your sins and past shortcoming, because they really make us heavy, they deprive us from the sweetness of worship, and they deprive us of the good of this world and the hereafter. Then you realize the greatness of Allah, the greatness of His famous on us, and how you had been falling short on His right, and how His merciful! and you engage sincere one on one conversation with Him, with Duas, supplications and prayers, that will get you closer and closer to Allah, and will erase your sins and with your sincere repentance you will become light, and you will enjoy worshiping Allah (subahana wata allah), continue doing that and you will find, you start enjoying the good deeds and giving up bad things and bad deeds.
Tip no.2, build momentums, start doing things that are easy for you, if giving up your time is hard for you because you are busy with work and different engagement, think about giving extra money, think about sacrificing some of the things that you are going to buy for yourself, and give that money for the causes that Allah (subahana wata allah) loves, such as feeding people, helping people, or invest in spreading the knowledge of Allah (subahana wata allah). If reciting Quran is hard, but volunteering is easy, do that, right? So if sitting down and reading Quran, or sitting in the lecture is hard for you, give up your time and start volunteering for causes. So start stretching yourself slowly, but be consistent, so if you’re busy at work, then again think about spending your wealth for supporting other people, and In-Sha-Allah it will make it easy for you to engage in your own private worship as well. Start giving up and doing things for Allah that relatively easier.
Tip no. 3, don’t feel overwhelmed. This can happen if you’re comparing yourself to someone who is way ahead of you when it comes to the external. so if you are looking at someone in your family or your friend circle, and you’re are seeing that how much they are praying, how much they are reading Quran, how much class they are attending, how much good things they are doing, you might feel very overwhelmed, and you might feel like you are not trying at all, so don’t do that, right? Don’t worry about them, let them where they are, be happy for them, and start finding the right competition for you, the right support for you, right? Or better yet, you know what, just compete with yourself, make yourself better, make your today better you than yesterday.
Type no.3, people who are intellectually confused. So they would say, I can modify my routine, I can spend time in the group activity and volunteering, but I feel that I can do more if I did not have to fast, right? They are thinking that by fasting, they are losing more energy, if they preserve that energy they can do more things, or they would say like, why go spend my money on Hajj or ummrah, I can just use the money to help people, why I spend time on prayer, why don’t I use that time to help other people. So they have this intellectual dilemma. And this is a very common trap of Shaytan. Spend money on people, why go for hajj, why lose energy with fasting, use it for helping people, etc. No! If you know who Allah is, than you know He is completely and perfectly knowledgeable and wise. He has legislated obligation that has huge wisdom. When you do that, you are doing to worship of Allah, to show your submission to Him, to show your trust in Him and not to worship your own intellect. So when you fast, and feed hungry, tell yourself, it is not me being deprived of energy, and not being able to do other things I want to do. But think about this, I am doing this for the love of Allah. He is seeing me, I am getting closer to Him, and I need that, I in need of saving my own self rather than going to saving the world. I need to have my sins forgiven. He is happy with me by doing these things, as you reflect on these, and you will see many benefits of these things, but your submission is not depended on you seeing benefits or not. You are doing it for the sake of Allah (subahana wata allah), yes, there are many benefits, right? this deprivement of energy or lack of energy, or give a full sustenance actually makes you stronger, actually help you think on a spiritual level, and there are many other benefits to that. But the point of this is not to be chasing the benefits, not to be chasing the benefits and be ready to submit and to give up, and to trust in Allah (subahana wata allah) even if you cannot see the immediate benefit.
Also realize that this world is a place of shortcomings and gaps, right? This world is not meant to be perfected. So there will always be things that need to be fixed, there are always things you need to spend time on it to bring benefits to others. But at the same time, the paradise is the place for perfection, and this is a main aim that where we want to get to, right? So Allah (subahana wata allah) has lay out a system and has recommend this for us to have this balance whether we are taking care of personal worship as well as working on our community as goal.
Think about the life of the prophet (sallahu alayhi wasalam), he had a lot to do, but he still take time to connected to Allah (subahana wata allah) , engage in fasting, engage in reading Quran, engage in prayers, and so on and so forth. So this is the strategy that Allah (subahana wata allah) has given us for success on bringing good in this world. So let us not depend on our intellect to lead the guidance and the knowledge of Allah (subahana wata allah).
So, type no.4 are people who we would call can’t rise up. So they are doing all the previous things, but they don’t have time for private worship, for privately remembrance of Allah (subahana wata allah), engaging in prayer and reading Quran. So they are taking advantage of it, and they are sacrificing the time and money in doing a lot of community things. But they don’t have time for private things. So something to think about is that this private time is very important, because now you are trying to see that, ok, how can you raise up, right? I am doing something great, but are there things that are more be loving to Allah (subahana wata allah) specific time and how can I step my game up, how can I step up to that next level. So is important not to be just contempt at the level, we have to see that, ok, how can I start raising up?
So, Obviously, the previous advice on seeking forgiveness and asking Allah (subahana wata allah) is very important, and then start thinking about it that, ok, so if I want to start something privately, I have a few options, I can be sitting down and reading Quran, or I can be praying, or I can be doing ziqh, or, I can be making Dua, so different people will find one of these things to be relatively easier. So, if you find, ok, if you open a book, and you start reading the explanation of Quran, or translation, or reading Quran in Arabic, or just making Dua to Allah, just talking to Allah (subahana wata allah), or engaging prayer, so think about which of the private activities are easy for you, set aside some times for private worship either is 15, 20, 30 minutes, and do the activities that are easier for you, and make Dua to Allah (subahana wata allah), to make it easier for you to engage things that are more beloved to Him.
Now, the type 5 is feeling exhausted, right? And this can happen in all stages. So, a very important point here is to think about the balance, right? Think about a dial or knob and norm, think about what kind of the balance do you have between physical assertion and the present of heart. You know the quantities verse the quality. so are there places that you worship are moment in your worship where you can actually increase the qualities, so if you are praying four rakha, two rakha, or you are reading a page of Quran, 10 pages of Quran, 20 pages of Quran, somebody else doing the same amount of quantities can actually get much closer to Allah (subahana wata allah) because of their present of heart, their present of the connection with Allah (subahana wata allah), their love of Allah (subahana wata allah). So think about how you can, you know, move that nob on the dial to go more on the quality side, while keeping the quantities consistent. Or maybe you can slightly reduce the quantities, because you are feeling exhausted, so you can reduce the quantity and you can increase that quality. So think about where in your worship can you increase your quality. Now this can be done by your present of heart, or you know, changing the time, such as you know, praying in the masjid as supposed to praying in home, for men, so on and so forth.
So, think about those things and remember the narration from the prophet of Allah (sallahu alayhi wasalam), and he said, make Dua to Allah in a state that you are certain, that your Dua will be responded too. And know that Allah does not respond to a Dua that originate from the heedless heart. So this is very important right? And the same thing also said about the prayer that, you know the person only have the reward for the prayer for which he was actually present in, right? And somebody can get like, you know, a third of tenth, and so on and so forth of the reward, You may not even get the complete reward for the action that you are doing, and you are getting physically exhausted, so why not focus on the quality as well.
Now types 6 are people who are kind of looking down on others. So, they would say, hay, you know what, I think I do a lots, Allahamdulilah, but I feel angry and frustrated at my family and children for not caring, and not doing as much as I would like them to do. This is a very common issue, is a very serious issue, remember shaytan would try to deceive and distract you in all stages, when you see your love one are not caring for important thing as much as you do, you need to check in about a few things:
- a) Is your current practice that you care for the deen your own accomplishment? Or is a gift from Allah (subahana wata allah). If you realized is a gift from Allah (subahana wata allah), be humble and be grateful to Allah (subahana wata allah), and realize that it can go away. Keep asking for steadfastness.
- b) Do you want to help your family members connect with Allah, or are you just thinking them of them as needs and employees to help you making your numbers, to help you reach certain numbers. So this is very important to think, what is your mindset about your family members, so if is to connect to Allah (subahana wata allah), than you will be making sincere Dua for them, and most importantly, you will also be making Dua for your own steadfastness, and your own consistency.
Now finally, if you really want them to connect to Allah (subahana wata allah), you will be very careful that not pushing them in the way or using wrong words that would discourage them to worship Allah (subahana wata allah), that would cause them to kind of really not enjoying it, he start hating it. So this is not the purpose. So encourage them, use the method and technique that we talked about earlier, such as Dua, you know, help them to realize who Allah (subahana wata allah) is, if they don’t know who Allah is, what this world is about, and their distract by the Dunya, then they will remain distracted. So work on these stages, and do not overwhelm as well and do not look down on people.
So until next time we ask Allah (subahana wata allah) to help us to think about these stages, and to use them to take advantage of blessed times, so whether it’ll be the tenth night of Ramadan that are coming up for most of us, or your listening to this episode any other time, first ten day of Hijja, or we thinking about taking advantage of Friday, or taking advantage of the last hour of the night the time before Fajr, and so on and so forth. So is very important for us to take advantage of these times and get closer to Allah (subahana wata allah) and be friend of Allah (subahana wata allah), and allie with Allah (subahana wata allah). May Allah (subahana wata allah) make this happen,
Until next time.
Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, ash hadu anlaa ilaaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atoobu ilaik.
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Muslim Mastery Breakthroughs is our weekly podcast series in which we share insights on how you can achieve breakthroughs in your life to unlock your spirituality, relationships, and mindset. You will get practical steps towards living a truly extraordinary and fulfilling life in sha Allah.
To check out previous episodes visit Breakthrough Podcast
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