INVITING TO SALVATION AND FORGIVENESS

Many of us are leading our lives without wondering what's going to happen. What's going to happen when we die, what's going to happen when we lie in our graves, what's going to happen when our families, children, loved ones, money, possessions leave us behind, what's going to happen when we are resurrected, what's going to happen when we'll be handed the book of our records and deeds whether in our right or left hands.. What's going to happen?

If you have ever thought of this before, then I invite you to seek forgiveness. Seek Forgiveness from Allah no matter how big that sin is and no matter how small that sin is because Allah is The Most Forgiving and The Most Merciful. Do not despair in the mercy of Allah. Do not think of Allah as He won't forgive. Because He will... If your intentions are sincere and if your forgiveness is real and if you try not to repeat that sin again. Then sure HE will. And even if you do it again, seek forgiveness from Allah again and again. 

Astagfirallah, Astagfirallah, Astagfirallah!

Read, read the Qur'an and hadiths to know who your Rabb is and to lead a better life.

Save, save yourselves from the sins and prohibited acts because those are the best of deeds. 

Seek, seek forgiveness more than 70 times a day because we need it more than our Rasool Sallalauhu Alaihi wasallam; who was pure without sins and still he sought repentance.

Try, try to do something with your time in those good acts that will benefit you in your Hereafter.

Remember, remember that this world is not even worth a drop of an ocean.

Realize, realize that this time and this day won't return and that this day is already recorded, so what have you done?

Pray, pray five times a day not because Allah needs it but because it's you who needs.

Glorify, glorify Allah because every single creation on this Earth is glorifying Him endlessly and without any rest. 

Follow, follow our Prophet alone and do what he said and don't do what he forbade,

Don't, don't follow your desires or the innovators or non-believers or even compromise your deen because these are the dangerous paths. 

Give, give whatever little you have to people you know and to people you don't.

Be, be grateful for every single blessing you have because many don't have what you have and would kill to be where you are.

Mend, mend your broken relations with kith and kin so that all the good deeds you have done, be accepted by Allah.

Control, control your tongues from futile talks and from words that'd hurt others or  dishonor them behind their backs or even say a word of shirk which could become a source of Hell for you.

Consider, consider Shaitaan as your enemy and, consider all the traps that he plots as a plot you’d remember to stay away from.

Find, find a reason to live and love your family and find a way to be a source of help for them.

Invite, invite people to salvation and to forgiveness and invite them to Allah and to Our Prophet.

AND

Fear, fear Allah wherever you are and whatever you do, publicly or privately, because 

He, HE is in knowledge of every little single thing that you do. 

Think, think, Repent, repent...

Ask me anything regarding this topic here 

BarakAllahu feekum for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 

- Manal Mirza

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