Ramadan Nights : Seek Repentance

Salam Everyone !

I recently came across a picture online, which got me thinking quite a lot. The picture is actually, the second picture on this post. It basically shows a guy checking out somethings on the internet he really shouldn't and wouldn't want other people finding out what it is. However, because he is so caught up in doing this dirty habit in private he has forgotten that the most important being is watching him. Allah of course ! The ayat next to it (you can find it in surat al Nisa ayat 108 ) basically explains how some people are so embarrassed from other humans but not Allah, even thought He is with them all the time and He knows everything they do.

This brings me to the topic, how many of us do/ have done things that we're not really proud of. How many of us sin and brush it off ? Or do certain things, that we know if the prophet was standing right in front of us whilst we were doing these things, we would not have the ability to look up ever again ! If you got that really shameful feeling whilst reading the prophet example, imagine how you would feel in judgement day when Allah subhan wa tallah brings the situation up again and you have to face Him?! 

As humans, it is in our nature to commit sins. Abu Huraryrah once narrated the Prophet to have said ' I swear by the One whose hand is my soul. If you did not commit sins, Allah would have surely gotten rid of all of you and He would have surely brought another people who would commit sins - so that they would then seek Allah's forgiveness and so He would forgive them!' As you can see, Allah expects humans to sin however, He also expects humans to seek His forgiveness - because that is one of the main reasons why we were even created. So we can constantly do Tawabah to Allah.

So how do we repent to Allah ?

1 ) One can repent to Allah, by simply saying 'Istaghferallah' (seeking forgiveness) in all sincerity of quitting and never repeating their sin again and being truly sorry about it.

It is said, that the Prophet Muhammed PBUH used to seek forgiveness 70 times a day ! It is also said, if you ask for forgiveness 70 times (that's saying Istaghferallah x 70 ) all of your sins will be washed out, even if they were the size of the ocean. Of course, there is no limits to how many times you seek forgiveness from God because really, this is a matter between you and Him and only He can be the judge of that.

2) The Prophet PBUH said ' Whoever says it during the day with firm faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise ; and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the morning he will be from the people of Paradise. '

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّي لا إِلَهَ إِلا أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ وَأَبُوءُ لَكَ بِذَنْبِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلا أَنْتَ

“O Allah! You are my Lord! None has the right to be worshiped but You. You created me and I am Your slave, and I am faithful to my covenant and my promise as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I confess to You all my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for nobody can forgive sins except You.” [Bukhari]

3) The Prophet PBUH said 'whoever commits a sin, then performs wudhu then offers prayer (2 Rak'ahs) seeking forgiveness of God, God will certainly forgive him.'

Tabarani has also quoted the Prophet PBUH saying  'The Scribe on the left delays registering the sin of a Muslim for six hours. If he repents (within the six hours) and seeks Allah's forgiveness, they drop it off. If he doesn't they write it down as a single sin.'

 The Prophet ﷺ tells us in this hadith: “The Scribe on the left delays registering the sin of a Muslim for six hours. If he repents (within these six hours), and seeks Allah’s forgiveness, they drop if off. If he doesn’t, they write is down as a single sin.” [Tabarani]

4) Tasbeeh is another way of seeking forgiveness and repenting. At the end of every Salah, sit for a few moments and remember Allah and say 'Subhanallah' 33 times, 'Alhamdulilah ' 33 times, 'Allahu Akbar' 33 times and after that say the shahadah ' la illah illa allah wahduh la shareek lah, lah il mulk wa lah il hamd wa howa alla kul shay kadeer'( لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له, له الملك, وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير )  

5) The Prophet PBUH also told us, that when we pray the 5 prayers, fast Ramadan, attend the Friday Prayer , then all of our minor sins will be forgiven,

Also, if we constantly seek forgiveness from God and repent, He turns all of our sins in to good deeds :

"Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.” [Qur'an, 25:70]

~

Sometime we avoid seeking forgiveness, out of fear of being rejected or that it will be too hard. But how can you avoid seeking forgiveness from Allah, when it is also a form of worshiping Him? 

Allah says in a Hadith Qudsi :

“O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.” [Tirmidhi

Subhanallah ! May Allah forgive all of us for our sins whether they are minor or major, for certainly He is the al Ghafoor (the Forgiving)  and Al Tawab (the One who constantly accepts repentance)

Stay Blessed & Ramadan Mubarak,

RAMADAN NIGHTS : Why is my Dua not being Answered ?

Has any of you ever asked why your duaa wasn't being answered ? Have you ever wished and needed something so bad but, it just never happened ? Have you ever felt like Allah subhana wa talah wasn't listening ?

In the Quran {2 :186 } Allah Subhana wa Tala Says :

وإذا سألك عبادي عني فإني قريب أجيب دعوة الداع إذا دعان فليستجيبوا لي وليؤمنوا بي لعلهم يرشدون"

"And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided."

~

It can be frustrating sometimes when you want something so much and nothing is happening for you and you cry and ache and think 'why am I being tortured, what have I done wrong ?' But you need to remember , that Allah never wants to hurt you. He LOVES YOU ! Allah is the only one who is always here for us, He knows you even more than you know yourself and most importantly He knows what the future holds and what is BEST for you.

Allah doesn't reply to your duaa's and needs with words , he replys to them with ACTIONS . Sometimes, this action may only take a few seconds after the duaa for it to come true and sometimes it may take 50 years . All is with reason. Everything, that He does is to guide you to the right path, to make you good and happy and made for Jannah.

"To completely trust in God is to be like a child who knows deeply that even if he does not call for the mother, the mother is totally aware of his condition and is looking after him." –Imam Al Ghazali

Times when duaas are most readily accepted:

* Duaa at the time of Sehri (Surah Ale Imraan, Ayat 17)
* Duaa between azaan and iqaamah (Tirmizi- Anas ibn Maalik (R.A.))
* Duaa made after azaan (Abu Dawood- Sahl ibn Saad (R.A.))
* Duaa after fardh salaat (Tirmizi- Abu Umaamah Al Baahili (R.A.))
* Duaa at the time of Zawaal (midday) (Musnad Bazaar- Ayesha (R.A.))
* Duaa on the day of Arafat (Tirmizi- Abdullah ibn Amr (R.A.))
* Duaa in the month of Ramadhaan (Tabraani- Ubaada ibn Saamil (R.A.))
* Duaa on the 15th of Sha`baan (Sahih ibn Hibbaan- Mu`aaz ibn Sahal)
* Duaa upon completion of Quran (Tabraani- Irbaad ibn Saariyah)
* Duaa at the time of drinking Zam-Zam water (Haakim/Darul Qutni- Ibn Abbas (R.A.))
* Duaa on Wednesday between Zuhr and Asr (Musnad Ahmed- Jaabir (R.A.))

* Duaa on Friday at the following times:
When the Imaam ascends a mimbar for the khutbah till he completes the Jummah Salaah.
-Time between Asr and Maghrib
-The last few moments before maghrib (Sahih Muslim – Abu Hurrairah (R.A))

“I respond and accept the duaa of the one who supplicates unto me”. (Surah Al Baqarah: Ayat 186)

Make lots of Istaghfaar & Pray to Him. He is the only one who can help you.

All will be revealed in time.

Inshallah.

Stay Blessed,

Ramadan Nights : Islam for Success

This video is a classic example as to why the Islamic population of the planet need to step up their game.  The Quran is packed with useful tips about being successful and racing in the direction of success however, some of us sadly, are too blind to see.

Here are a few tips that will (insh'allah) guide you to SUCCESS:

1) Have Faith & Do Good : By having faith and believing that everything in life happens for a reason and that Allah has a plan just for you; you are less likely to be depressed when things don't go your way. Actually, you'll go the exact opposite and you will work even harder praying that Allah is guiding you to something even better and more worth your time. Something you know you deserve.

“How wonderful is the situation of the believer, for all his affairs are good. If something good happens to him, he gives thanks for it and that is good for him; if something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience, and that is good for him. This does not apply to anyone but the believer.” - Prophet Muhammed PBUH(Narrated by Muslim, no. 2999).

2) Focus on the PRESENT : As tempting as it is sometime to hang around in the past because it's 'safer', you just have to accept the fact that the past is history.  It's not coming back, no you don't have a time machine and there is no such thing as that rewind remote control that would be so useful if it only just existed ! But what you do have, is 'istaghfaar' (seeking forgiveness) from Allah. That, my friend is even more powerful than any imaginery time machine. Use it wisely - especially during this holy month when the gates of heaven are open and hell all closed. Also, it's completly natural to focus on the future and obsess over it , I know I did almost everyday - a horrible habit I know which caused me so much stress, mentally and physically ! But did you know, that the future is unknown ? It doesn't exist ! No one can define your future aside from God ! So if you want an amazing future, then just improve your relationship with subhana- wa- ta'alah by praying to him, asking for forgiveness, making lots of duaa's for yourself and your family and even strangers and of course trusting him and building a good relationship with Him.

3) PRAY : I cannot even explain the importance of prayer (salah) from the amount of times that its mentioned in the Quran , almost every surat I believe , to the amount of times its mentioned in the hadiths. Prayer is the ultimate key to success and getting what you want in this world and the next. So make sure you keep up with your prayers , the mandotary ones, the sunnah ones and any other extra ones you wish to do. If you do , have issues with carrying out your salah or maybe you'd like a few tips on how to make your salah as beneficial as possible I highly recommend you clink on this link .

4) Trust Allah : In Arab the word for trusting Allah, is called 'itwakil' which basically means handing over your problems to God and trusting him to guide you to the right direction. This certain excersice really depends on your faith with God but, once you are able to 'itwakil' then you will have so many less headaches and you will be able to live a much happier and inshallah a better blessed life.

Some more tips on how to be successful by Brother Nouman Ali Khan ...

I hope this post has inspired you to be successful in your life. If you do have any more tips you would like to share, please don't hesitate to comment below. I look forward to reading your input.

Stay Blessed & Ramadan Mubarak,

Ramadan Nights : GETTING READY !

The best way to make the most out of something, is to prepare for it beforehand. Ramadan, is no different !

As the most spiritual month of them all, Ramadan requires so much preparation and dedication than any other month in your life and by that, I don't mean buying lots of food from the store, as if you were going in to hibernation mode! Not at all. I am talking about, doing the little things that will Inshallah bring you further to being a better person, a better Muslim and of course being closer to God.

So here's my top tips to making the most out of this month :

1) Ramadan is a time where you reflect on your past actions, your habits and your personality as well as relationships. Its the time to repent, regroup and refocus. So I really advice you guys, to get a notebook , get some time to yourself and just think back at all your habits that you'd like to change, things that you've done that you're not particularly proud of or you know you could have done better and just think and write everything that comes to your head. Then, on a new page , write down all the things that you'd like to be (or do) it doesn't matter how big or little they are, how far-fetched or down right simple just write . it . down. think forward. On, the third page write down a list of all your future & present plans and all the traits that you'd like to have and be. I personally like to focus on my personality during this excersice simply because I am always focusing on my career and my outer-self on regular days, so I like to spend Ramadan on changing my inner self.

2) Start thinking of ways of reaching your goals. Put your plans to action straight away e.g. if one of your goals is to spend more time with your family , start by offering to help your parents or one of your siblings with something. They'd appreciate it and you'd start to see the results of your goal in no time! Also, don't forget to make loads of duaa's in order for your goals to come true and also to have Allah's blessing.

3) Ramadan is about having a fresh start. So get rid of all the extra baggage before the month starts - by making amends with those who you are not talking to ( if you can't just make a duaa for them ) Forgive those who have hurt you or done you wrong and don't just tell yourself to forgive them really think about it and mean it (again if you can't just say 'hasbee allah wa ni'im el wakeel' and leave it for Allah to deal with) This is also a really good time, to stay away from bad friends (those who have the wrong influence on you) try to keep good company ( the mosque is a good place to start, maybe your family too?)

4) Get your Quran ready & arrange a little plan that will get you reading the Quran every night.

5) Get your prayer timetable ready.

6) Thank Allah for the year you've had and for everything. Ask for forgivness for your past mistakes. Start now.

7) Shower and wash away the year you've just had because you're about to embark on your best year yet . Starting from this month.

Are you ready ? 

A Thousand Ramadan Nights

It is now that the gates of heaven have been open, now that the gates of hell have been closed. It is now that the devils have been chained. And it is now that Allah(swt) has given you the chance to live to witness this night, and to inshaAllah witness this blessed month till its end. Remember that He(swt) has granted you the blessing of living to witness this for a reason. (quote taken from http://calltothewayofallah.tumblr.com}

  Don't waste it. Think. Reflect. Repent. Make A CHANGE.   

It brings me the greatest pleasure to wish everyone reading this blog.... a very happy and BLESSED RAMADAN! 

This holy month, I am going to be introducing a special edition segment to my blog called 'A thousand Ramadan Nights'. Basically, this segment will last for the entire month - during this time, I will be posting up all kinds of advice, tips, duaa's, videos etc on a daily basis (that's every night folks!) to help YOU make the most out of YOUR Ramadan. 

I really cannot wait to get started, Ramadan is my FAVOURITE month of them all and the fact, that this year I will be sharing my journey through it with my readers makes me even more happier!

Inshallah it will all be worth it ♥ 

♥ RAMADAN KAREEM ♥