HOW WILL YOUR TAUBA BE REALLY ACCEPTED?

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuhu!!

 

Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [Surah Az-Zumur-53]

Every single Muslim must know how to do sincere Tauba. Tauba is much more than seeking repentance physically through prayers or istighfaar. It's about how you seek repentance through your body parts especially your heart. Although repentance should also be sought from constant istigfaar through tongue and lots of nafeel prayers to wipe of your evil sins by your limbs.

Narrated by Anas bin Malik RadiAllahu Anhu that the Prophet Muhammad Sallalaahu alaihi wasallam said,"Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than anyone of you who loses his riding beast in a barren land, and it was carrying his food and drink; he despairs of ever finding it, so it comes to a tree and lies down under its shade, having given up all hope of finding his riding beast;then whilst he is there like that, suddenly he sees it standing near him, so he takes hold of its reins and because of his great joy he says, "O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Lord!"-i.e,. he makes a mistake because of his great joy." (Sahih Muslim 4:2104)

Tauba consists of much more than a verbal exercise. In fact the condition of the heart of the repenter is the foundation of Tauba which is motivated by humility. Humility inspires the following conditions; This is the quote or saying of Sheikh Uthaymeen (Rahimullahu Alaihim):

1. Tauba should only be made because of the fear of Allah, bashfulness for Him and in honor of His Majesty i.e., no personal motive be pursued when making Tauba. (Fear of people or loss of some worldly gain shouldn't be reason why you repent)

2. Absolute shamefulness and sincere regret over past sins. (One shouldn't be proud of their sins rather he should hate his past acts and do not ever wish them to happen again)

3. The repenter should stop inward and outward sins immediately. 

4. He should make a firm resolution to not repeat that same mistake again in the future. 

5. He should do Tauba before he dies or before the sun rises from west because then it'll be too late for repentance and he will not be given any chance to repent. 

[But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now," or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment. 4:18]

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to repent to Him sincerely and forgive all our sins. Ameen 

Jazakumullahu khairan for reading! Make sure you rate, share and follow my blog for more posts! 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 

- Manal Mirza

REASONS FOR LACK OF GOOD DEEDS

Assalamualaikum Waramatullahi Wabarakaatuhu!

I would like to share one really important ayat with you all that could solve possibly the root cause of why we lack in doing good deeds or why we are lazy and do not seize the opportunity in doing good deeds, or do something that is beneficial for our deen.
Most commonly, we are living our daily lives in heedlessness without any purpose. We are doing what we are doing without worrying the least about aakhirat. We cook, eat, sleep, work, pray and back to sleep. So let me state what this ayat states. 

Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter - We increase for him in his harvest. And whoever desires the harvest of this world - We give him thereof, but there is not for him in the Hereafter any share. [Surah Al-Shoora- 20]

Whatever little good deeds we do, we must have an intention to get its reward in the Hereafter. Some of us complain about how we always pray, we always read Qur'an but Allah only afflicts us with troubles and adversity, never did we see anything good in our lives. This mentality arises when we don't do all the worship and good deeds sincerely for the sake of Allah or to attain its ajar in the Aakhirat. 
We must learn to accept the decree of Allah and remember that this world is a jail for a mo'min and paradise for a kafir. What else would you derive from this ayat? This is why you see celebrities and disbelievers getting everything in this world because that's why they are sowing their seeds for, to harvest its product in the dunya, to get all the riches and fame. But what they don't have is the peace and contentment in their hearts. Tis blessing only a true believer is blessed with which Allah gave him as a result of his sincere good deeds, he understands the wisdom of Allah behind every calamity and adversity. 

If a mo'min comes to know the reward of his good deeds in the Aakhirat, he would regret for any of his duwas of good to be accepted in the Dunya. Such is the reward of Allah!

Whoever desires the harvest of the seeds (good deeds) which he sowed in his field (lifetime) to achieve the reward in the Hereafter, it is for him whom Allah will increase. He will increase his reward by 700 times and more, just because of his strong intention. Not only that, He will increase him with more opportunities to do good deeds and therefore more rewards. A mo'min receives reward from Allah in this dunya with 'more ability to do good deeds'. This is a mo'mins reward. 
If you are not doing enough good deeds right now, it can only mean that you are sowing your field with the intention to harvest the fruits in the dunya and overtime, Allah snatches the tawfeeq of doing good deeds away from you which makes you sin immensely and then the shaitaan makes your sins beautiful to you.

Those who have the passion to do good will only get the tawfeeq to do good deeds. 

We usually don't do good deeds when we face trials because that's where shaitaan has an upper hand over a sad believing soul and for shaitaan, the sad believer is an open target to be tricked by him into making the believer believe that all his good deeds are nothing but a waste; all that comes to him from doing good deeds is nothing but trials and tribulations. 

Hasn't this thought ever cross our minds when someone we truly love hurt us after all the good we did to them, and in retaliation we get upset and start refraining to do any form of Ehsan for them? We start asking ourselves; why should I be the one to mend ways first? Why me? What good did it bring me except of sadness? Didn't this thought ever cross our minds? Yes, it did, because all we expected while doing those good deeds was expect its reward and goodness from this world

Which is why Allah says in the above ayat, "And whoever desires the harvest of this world - We give him thereof, but there is not for him in the Hereafter any share" 

That person will not receive any share from the Hereafter and if Allah wills He will give them what they want in the dunya only a little or even nothing. 

Allah has given us opportunities but it is we who need to avail those opportunities. 

Lessons learned from this ayat:
1. Purify your intentions before committing any good deed sincerely for the sake of pleasing Allah and to expect its reward in the aakhirah. With this sincerity, Allah will increase us in rewards and give us the ability to do more good deeds. 
2. A mo'min's 'ibaadah' will only be rewarded in the aakhirah, but what about the worldly acts like earning money, marrying, upbringing children, seeking education? If we try to purify our intentions to please Allah and expect whatever good that comes from these worldly acts in the Hereafter, then Allah will definitely increase you in every goodness, regardless of whether in this dunya or the aakhirat!

Question for my readers:
What draws you closer?
a) a great job offer or an opportunity that benefits you immediately with some worldly gain or experience OR
b) a good deed or a profession in Islamic education that may not benefit you that much in the dunya at all but brings you much peace at heart? 

Those who have passion to do good for the religion of Allah will not sleep or consider their aamal as enough for them. No good deed is enough for a mo'min. He keeps striving till his very last breath to earn good deeds for the sake of Allah and to expect its harvest in the Hereafter. 

Jazakamullahu khairaa for reading. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

PRODUCTIVITY GUIDE: BACK TO SCHOOL, WORK AND ROUTINE!

Assalamualaikum Readers!

I am so sorry for not blogging for a while now. I was lost.. So lost that I didn't have any inspiration nor motivation to write anything or do anything as a matter of fact. My sister Saadia asked me why haven't you blogged since so long until it hit me, that I should get myself together and think about how I can benefit others. So here I am.. LET'S GO! Bismillah!

Schools are re-opening soon and for me, work and school BOTH are re-opening at the same time and yes, I am a total mess at the moment. I haven't done any home works, (maybe I've done some; can't deny how nerd I am) nor am I close to being prepared or excited to go back to the same routine. I feel as if I haven't done anything this vacation that I wanted to do and I am still lacking behind. But hey, it's not the end nor is it too late. There is still a week. As I am writing for you guys, I am very much writing for myself on how to achieve my last minute goals in this one week which I have procrastinated for so long.

Step 1: MAKE A STRONG MIND SET:

Start with the pure intention in your heart that you only have these 7 days and after that you're not going to spend this time the way you want it to be. Make the most of it and remind yourself of how important it is for you to start doing your leftover junk of home works or chores NOW because it is only going to burden you later when you are already busy piled up with so many other things. (which let's face it, you are going to procrastinate even those)

Step 2: TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME:

Write down everything that you wanted to do and you didn't do. Keep some in the high priority list and the others in low priority list this way you'll know what comes first. You don't want to learn everything in one day or finish all your tasks, duties or plans in one day. If you're schools are re-opening, first step is to find where that bag is, then open it and just look at them and just appreciate how boring they are. Once you're over that phase of frustration of appreciating your books (:P), the next step is to open and read what's inside and start feeling fresh of your memory and believe me you will feel educated! lol
If you are looking to organize your room's mess, start with the worsened disaster that you've made these holidays and then jump into the slightly lesser mess you've made. Don't torture these days by only and only working or recollecting your mess because this still IS your holiday so enjoy at the same time. Go out for lunch or breakfast with your friends or families. Enjoy your time. Buy your classmates gifts, buy breakfast groceries for yourself or stationery from now itself. Do not leave anything remaining one day before your school or work begins. That is the day for you to sleep at 10 p.m sharp without worrying about a thing! in sha Allah!!


Step 3: START GETTING HEALTHY AND CHANGE YOUR SLEEPING HABITS:

For what I have noticed I became really unhealthy this summers. I don't know what happened but that happened which is why I feel that I have been easily demotivated or uninspired is because of how my fitness was not included much this summers. What you eat and how you sleep is what produces out of you. Either it is sickness, frustration or negativity. 

Try to pamper yourself, do facials, mani-pedi, get yourself a haircut and take care of your skin, get a massage because I am sure many of you haven't pampered yourselves as most of us are jet lagged, tired and are still working. So maybe why not? Give a try maybe? You'll feel great. So eat healthy, exercise daily and sleep at 10 and wake up at 4. Period.

Step 3: LEAVE EVERYTHING TO ALLAH:

If you aren't able to find time or aren't able to do everything in these ten days, do not worry. Leave the matter onto the hands of Allah. Trust in Him and make duwa for your difficulty to be eased. 
And what's there to even worry about, you still have weekends right? You can still do your procrastinated work in the weekend or if not, you can still do it daily during the weekdays because obviously your teachers or work is going to force you anyways! In the end, my advice is to not lose hope. These WERE your holidays and there shouldn't have been any home WORK in the first place. :P 
I hope this benefits some of you. It benefited me at least. I can now sleep peacefully thinking that I have done something productive today by writing for my lovely readers. 

Jazakumulllah hu khairan for reading. Don't forget to rate, share and follow my blog for more posts. 


Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

YOU AREN'T MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR RAMADAN IF...

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't reading Qur'an daily.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't helping anybody.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't praying the Qiyam Al Layl.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't seeking forgiveness for your sins and mistakes.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you are sleeping half of the day.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't giving charity.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't forgiving others.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't getting rid of your bad habits or you do not stop complaining.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you can't stop fighting, criticising others and behaving badly with others.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you can't stop the obscenity and stop wasting your time.

You aren't making the most of your Ramadan if you aren't planning to know more about Allah.

You AREN'T going to make the most of your Ramadan if you don't make a sincere intention that you really want to make a change and

you AREN'T going to make the most of your Ramadan if you didn't seek help from Allah to make your goals of this Ramadan possible.

We aren't going to achieve what we want this Ramadan if we don't stop worrying about other people, their success and the materials they have. What needs cleansing and nourishment is our hearts which have been rusted with constant suppositions about people and their lives; the constant niggling about someone and somebody you don't even know!

What needs more is the constant remembrance of our deaths to remove the desire of the worldly materials.

What needs more is the constant remembrance of you aakhirah, your hisaab kitaab (accountability) and your deeds.

What needs more, is that pain in our hearts for other people who haven't been blessed with Islam yet or the pain for people who don't have enough knowledge as you yet.

What needs more is the steadfast of our good deeds and regularity in them.

What needs more is the changing of our lazy lifestyles into something productive.

What needs more is the removal of selfish motives we have built for ourselves and our own families.

May Allah help us all to achieve what we really intended to do and make us successful. Ameen

Start little by little with constant duwas and excel in them and be constant in them. We aren't perfect but we can aim to be close to perfection in sha Allah! 

Jazakumullahu khairan for reading. Make sure you rate, share, comment and follow me. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here.Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza

PROPER WAY TO READ QUR'AN IN RAMADAN

Assalamualaikum Warahmatuallahi Wabarakaatuhu

Disclaimer: This post is not going to teach you on how you should read Qur'an with proper Tajweed. It is only going to show you the proper way to read Qur'an this Ramadan without rushing or feeling the need to finish it without understanding. 

Ramadan is a month of blessings and Qur'an is that biggest blessing that we muslims have received. What a mercy it is to us! SubhanAllah!
Before Ramadan begins we all make the intention of reading more Qur'an and try to finish it. But little to we care about pondering upon the ayats of Qur'an let alone finding out what it means.
Qur'an is a speech of Allah. It is something which we need to understand its value and try to recite it properly with etiquette and manners.

But If I asked you what Qur'an is, would you be able to answer it?
Qur'an literally means something that is read and collected whereas linguistically it means the revelation of Allah's ayats to Jibreel upon our Prophet Muhammad Sallalahu alaihiwasallam which begins from Surah Al Fatiha and ends with Surah An Naas which was revealed for the entire mankind.

Here are some simple and few steps on how to read the Qur'an in Ramadan. Just follow the pictures below.

Some of the best ways is to first take five to ten verses of the Qur'an and understand its meaning. Divide the Qur'an to understand but do not divide your time. (you have lots of time) The best translation according to me is the Sahih International. It's simple and clear and doesn't have difficult vocabulary. If there is any ayat that you fail to understand, then you may open the books of Tafseer to understand it even better. The best one out there is Ibn Katheer. Both the translation as well as the tafseer is available online for free. 
Then there are couple of things that you need to follow up through your recitation of Qur'an .  
1. understand the ma'rifat (recognition) of Allah through His names
2. absorb the rulings and commands by Allah
3. ponder upon the qualities of a mo'min and of a disbeliever
4. take lessons from the prophetic stories
5. understand the difference between Tawheed and Shirk,
6. understand the vision of heaven and hell 
7. get a clear idea about the aakhirat and fear of it severity
8. memorize any duwa that comes along the surahs and make them for yourself

If you've read the Qur'an this way, then in sha Allah you will taste the sweetness of Iman. :D

Ramadan is not about rushing over to finish the Qur'an and get rid of it quickly and not taking the benefit and blessings from it. Rather we must read it slowly and understand the meaning of what your Lord wants to speak to you and gain all the reward and the blessings from it.

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr: that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "He who recites the Qur'an in less than three (days), he does not understand it." (Jami At Tirmidhi: Vol 1, Book 43, 2949)

But if you read slow, struggling and are demotivated then this hadith is for you. :) 

It was narrated from Aisha that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: "The one who is proficient with the Quran will be with the noble and righteous scribes (the angels), and the one who reads it and stumbles over it, fining it difficult, will have a double reward." Graded Sahih: Sunan Ibn Majah 3779

Qur'an was sent to us as an admonition, cure, guidance and mercy but little do we take heed from this beautiful book. 

"O mankind, there has to come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers." Surah Al Yunus- 57

Let us all take heed from this beautiful Kalaam Ullah and seek forgiveness from Allah for reciting any verse wrong by mistake and pray that Allah gives us the tawfeeq to act upon what we learned from the Qur'an.   

Jazakumuallahu khairan for reading. Make sure you rate, share and follow my blog for more updates. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views.

- Manal Mirza