Get those stones removed!!

About two years back I got a severe pain in my abdomen that wouldnt go away no matter how many home remedies I tried. So I had to go to the hospital in emergency… after all the investigation they found that there were several stones in my gall bladder and the only solution was to get the gall bladder removed. But I was too afraid of surgery so I tried to find other less troublesome solutions. Anyway what happened was that no matter how many diet plans I followed still the problem did not go away and the pain would return off and on. Fast forward to this ramadan and the last day when I had my sehri, I started feeling sick and within minutes my whole body seemed to be in the grip of a most excruciating pain. I was hospitalized and again got the same report that there were stones which I have to get rid of. So with Allah’s help I decided to get it done in-sha-Allah.

As I am sitting here typing these words, I am feeling such an intense longing to share the lessons I have learned just in the process of preparing for this surgery which is going to take place tomorrow morning in-sha-Allah

There are so many feelings which I went through. But the greatest gift of all which Allah has given me is the realization that my most precious treasure is my relationship with Allah. Although I have greatly fallen short of my expectations and have not done what I had wished to do for the sake of Allah, but still its the only thing which I am constantly thinking about. You might call it wishful thinking, but I am amazed that even if someone just wishes to please Allah but is not practically able to do it, still Allah is so generous that He appreciates it and gives such a reward in the form of peace and contentment and optimism and hope.

This makes me even more resolved than ever before that in-sha-Allah as soon as I am recovered from this surgery and its after effects, I am definitely going to straighten up my priorities and work hard to make up for all my deficiencies in the past. May Allah allow me to do all that I had wanted to do for His pleasure only… Ameen

Digging for the treasures…

Here are ten short points that can help us attain the treasures of the “Night of destiny!‼”

1- The Night begins at sunset…
▪ And with the setting of the sun the race begins, and the counter of the good deeds is turned on!! Watch out and focus with all your senses and abilities… right from the azaan of maghrib.

2- Try to spend the whole night in the masjid (if you are not already in aitikaaf), 
The masjid is the place where mercy of Allah descends, and the niches are the places of gifts and glad tidings.

As Allah tells in the Quran about Prophet Zakariyyah (a.s.)
☀ {He was called by the angels while he was standing in prayer in the mihrab… that Allah gives good news to you}

3- Do not work without intention:
Breaking the fast and taking a nap during the day or during the night, will also be counted as worship if done with the good intention that it will give strength for worship and dua during the night… and not even a minute will be wasted tonight!

4- Not a moment without dua:
If you are able to do this… then be sure to do so.
In Sahih Muslim:
💫 “In this night, there is a time, in which whatever a believer has the tawfeeq to ask Allah from the matters of the world and the hereafter, Allah gives it to him… and this happens every night.”

And remember the saying of  Sufyan al-Thawri about Laylat al-Qadr: “Supplication on that night is dearer to me than prayer.”

5- Be extremely passionate for this dua:
Allahumma Innaka afuwwun, Tuhibbul afwa, fa’fu anni… 

Ya Allah you are the source of all forgivness, you love to forgive… so forgive me!

Because it is the most important dua for the Lailatul Qadr, and to be pardoned (afuw) is even better than forgiveness (maghfirah).

6- Boycott ‼ ️
All the Pages and channels (of social media), isolate yourself in these nights from your mobile phone,
Because it is an obstacle in the way of receiving the blessings and miracles of this night!

7- The tears flowing from your heart…
. And expressing humbleness and submissiveness, and crying before Allah, and confession of shortcomings. 
▪ And the Prolonging of duas in prostration are all signs of acceptance.
▪ Remember the supplication of the Prophet ﷺ On the day of Arafah in the form of feeding the poor, begging for Allah’s forgiveness, and for His bounties, and Provisions. 

8- Don’t forget your bereaved nation across the globe, in your duas.
▪ Intend to strengthen your resolve to work to support the Ummah with all your abilities.

9- Your kindness (Ehsaan) in the day is the key to success in this night’s worship.
“Ehsaan” includes staying away from Allah’s disobedience, and lots of good deeds, and acts of faith.

10- “Imaan” (faith) and “Ihtisaab” (expectation of reward):
In the hadith:
💫 “Whoever stands in worship, in Laylat al-Qadr, with “Imaan” and “ihtisaab”, will be forgiven for all his previous sins.”

✒ Meaning of “Imaan”:
️ ️ It is to believe in Allah, declaring the truth of Allah’s promise, and having trust in his great reward, and the virtue of standing in prayer.

✒ “Ihtisaab”:
️ ️ i.e. Expecting the reward only from Allah ta’ala, not having any intention of showing off, or any desire for fame or anything other than Allah. 

{Translation of an extract from “Zaad-ul-qulub fi Ramadan”}

Soon it will be gone…

All praise and gratitude is for Allah who gave us the opportunity to witness yet another Ramadan, in which once again we found the lost treasure of guidance. The question is whether we will be able to hold on to this treasure even after this month is over?

To be able to retain the blessing of guidance, first of all we need to recognize its value. Guidance is not just a temporary rush of emotions which comes in a certain time and environment, and then goes away as suddenly as it came. Nor does it mean the tons of information we can gather over the internet. Or the inspirational talks we listen for our spiritual entertainment. Rather guidance is the utmost awareness of who we are, and what our purpose is, and what do we need to do in order to fulfill that purpose. But even this awareness and realization is not enough, until and unless we get the energy from Allah to act on all the knowledge that we have acquired. To know the direction of our destination is one thing, but to be able to follow that direction is the real test of life. And even when we get that tawfeeq, still we have to keep asking Allah for guidance because we can never own it, nor can we store it for future use. That is why this is the only dua which Allah made obligatory upon us to ask in every rakah of every prayer…

“Ya Allah!! guide us to the straight path.”

Guidance is our biggest need, even more than food and drink. Because this life is a test, and for each and every step of the way we need Allah to tell us what to do? Because the options are countless, but we need to take the decisions which are pleasing to Allah. We cannot rely on our own intellect, because we love instant gratification more than we care for long term benefits. So unless we are guided by Allah, we will inevitable fall into the traps of our own desires, and the illsuions of the devil.

So what are the steps that we can take, in order to achieve steadfastness on the path of guidance?

1. First and foremost, we need to keep reminding ourselves that steadfastness upon the straight path, is the most precious treasure, and ONLY Allah has the power to give it to us.
2. Constantly struggle to upgrade our faith and taqwa.
3. Hold on tightly to the Quran, because it is the ultimate source of guidance.
4. Seek knowledge about Allah and His religion, on a regular basis.
5. Read about the lives of all the Prophets, and the Sahabah (companions of our Prophet sallallahu alahi wasallam)
6. Spend some time on a daily or weekly basis, to work in the way of Allah, by contributing in the efforts to spread the word of Allah.
7. Serve humanity by sharing your blessings with others. Bring a positive change in other people’s lives.
8. Safeguard the limits of Allah.
9. Stay away from all major and minor sins.
10. Seek the company of the righteous people.
11. Keep a strict check on what you see and hear. Be super selective and feed your heart only with beneficial stuff.
12. Control the use of your tongue. Because our faith depends on the state of our hearts, and hearts remain straight only when the tongue is used carefully and positively.
13. Fight against the useless desires of the nafs. Teach yourself discipline.
14. Daily maintain a journal to account for all your deeds.
15. Protect yourself against the deadly virus of self-praise and arrogance.
16. Avoid the company of heedless people who have no respect for Allah and His religion.

Last but not the least, make duas for Allah to hold your heart and make you steadfast on guidance. Because at the end of the day, our sincere intentions and struggle will bear fruits only with Allah’s help.

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوْبَنَا بَعْدَ اِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَّدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ

Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower.

( آلِ عمران : 8 )

May Allah guide us and keep us steadfast, so that we do not waste the gems of guidance, which we collected all through Ramadan. Although it seems too early to worry about the departure of this precious month, but look at how fast the days have gone by and soon we will be saying goodbye to it… I pray that we only say goodbye to Ramadan and not to the guidance and taqwa which we acquired in it.  Ameen

Why be so Miserable?

It is natural to feel anxious and worried when we face hardships in life but these feelings can become extremely harmful for us if we do not learn to manage our emotions in a healthy way.

Allah does not want us to remain sad and miserable. That is why He has taught us several duas in the Quran and Hadith, by which we can get rid of sorrow and grief.

One of the most powerful duas for removing sadness, is the one which Prophet Yonus made in the belly of the fish. In the Quran, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) narrates for us the whole story and then makes this eternal promise that through this dua, He will give relief to the believers.

فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ {87}

So he (younus) cried through the depths of darkness, “There is no god but You: glory be to You: I was indeed wrong!”

فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُنْجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ {88}

So We responded to him and delivered him from the grief and thus do We deliver the believers.

From the Hadith of our Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) we learn that this dua is not only a solution for our worries, but also gets rid of the difficulties of our life. Because any dua which we make after reading this, gets accepted by Allah. So we should take maximum benefit from this miraculous zikr. There is no proof for reading this dua in any specific number, so we can say it as many times as we want. The real thing is to understand its meaning, then to feel its intensity, and then to say it with all our heart.

What is it that makes this dua so special?

First of all, it is a declaration of Tauheed. We reaffirm our faith that we are convinced that there is no one worthy of our worship except Allah. No one worthy of our duas, no one capable of removing our stress, no one capable of solving our problems, no one having complete knowledge of our affairs, no one so concerned for our wellbeing, no one having any authority to make any decisions for us… except Allah.

Secondly we declare Allah’s absolute perfection that He is pure and free from any deficiency whatsoever. Therefore, we strengthen our faith that all the decisions of Allah are perfect. His timing for making anything happen is also perfect. If He makes us go through any trouble, then that is also by His perfect wisdom and knowledge. He doesn’t do anything haphazardly, or by mistake. All of His actions are perfect and absolutely free from any weakness or defect.

And finally we confess that we are the ones, who are imperfect, we are the ones full of flaws, it is our actions that are full of mistakes, it is our own hearts that are full of negative feelings and wrong ideas, it is our own lack of knowledge and lack of faith, which lands us into trouble. It is the constant weakness of deviating from the right way, and falling into sins over and over again, which makes our life a mess. So when we admit our mistakes, it is actually the first step of coming back into the shelter of Allah’s mercy. And this confession is actually the most important part of doing taubah… and what is taubah? It literally means to come back!! But we can come back to the right path only when we realize that the path we are currently on, is not right. So unless and until we recognize our mistake, we cannot do taubah. And if we do not come back then it means that our direction is still wrong, and so the troubles that lie on that path will continue to hit us… making us more and more miserable and hopeless.

Therefore, whenever you feel stuck in a situation from which there seems no way out, just remember this dua, that if Allah could save prophet Yonus (alaihissalam) and brought him out of the stomach of the fish, then what is my problem as compared to that?

So make a firm resolution to make your heart free from sadness and anxiety, and use this dua as the best anti-depressant.

Another thing which makes us sad is that we are constantly looking at the injustices of other people, and we assume that our lives cannot become free from problems, until and unless they change their ways. Although it is true that we get affected by other people, but instead of blaming them all the time, remember that their hearts are also in Allah’s control, so we should pray for their guidance too. But again we need to understand that the reason why we are facing any difficulty in our life is because of our own mistakes. So when we will stop looking at others, stop blaming them for our misfortunes, and take responsibility of our lives, then and only then we will get the motivation to change ourselves for the better. And only by changing our own thinking and behavior, can we bring any positive change in our lives.

So we must pray to Allah with utter humbleness, and express our grief to Him with all our heart. Surely He is the most merciful and extremely compassionate Rabb. And He has power over all things.

The shield of Tawakkul.

The problems and complications of life are not restricted to any specific group of people. Rather they come into the lives of both the rich and poor, educated and illiterate, young and old, first world or third world countries, whatever religion you might have… no one can be free of problems. But the difference is in the reaction… how we think, talk and behave when something unpleasant happens, reflects our belief about the reality of our existence.

So if we have a strong faith in Allah and His powers and attributes, then surely we will put our trust in Him… this is called tawakkul. Which means that although we take all the measures to solve our problems but we are utterly convinced that ONLY ALLAH has the ultimate power of making everything alright.

But then the question arises that if Allah is going to do everything then why do we have to make any effort? The reason is that Allah has given us the power to think and analyze our situations, and He has also blessed us with resources, so that we can work for our benefit. Allah loves those who use the blessings which He has provided them, He loves those who strive for beneficial things… and yet even while using all the resources and achieving our goals, we must never forget that it is only Allah who has made things work in our favour, otherwise nothing could be beneficial for us if He didn’t allow it.

Therefore, whoever puts his trust in Allah and calls out to Him for help in all his big or small problems, achieves a sense of peace and tranquility even if he does not see any immediate signs of relief. The faith in the help of Allah makes him feel secure even in the midst of the greatest difficulties. So he remains calm and hopeful, and is more able to think positively and find solutions.

On the other hand if someone puts his trust only on people and things, then even if his problems are solved, still his anxiety will not go away. Because he will continue to feel insecure… because he knows that the resources on which he is depending for his survival are so unreliable.

That is why we need to build on our tawakkul, i.e. our strong faith and reliance on Allah. But how can we achieve this conviction? How to build this strong bond with Allah? How to achieve this peace and tranquility of the heart and soul? So that we are not shaken by every little difficulty that comes our way?

The way to do this is very simple… just use your moments of weakness to turn to Him, and call Him for His help.

It means that whenever you feel constricted by anything, whenever you feel threatened, or anxious, or fearful, or confused, or helpless… just focus all your attention to Allah and make duas to Him, believing that He cares for us and helps us whenever we call Him. He is never too busy to listen to us, never misunderstands our situation, never short of resources, never goes to sleep, never gets tired of taking care of us… never gets fed up of our requests… never gets poor by giving us what we need… His treasures are infinite… His mercy is for everyone.

The other thing I learned, is that tawakkul is not just a matter of difficult times only. Rather even in the midst of blessings, when you see everything is there for you, in terms of tangible resources, still you should focus your attention on the fact that my life does not depend on these things, no matter how beneficial they seem, because there benefit can reach me only by the permission of Allah. Therefore my reliance, my tawakkul, should only be on Allah.

Just imagine how much strong our hearts will become when we are able to think like this… because then we will become free from the fear of losing our resources. What energy of hope and happiness must fill the heart of such a person for whom the only thing that matters is the pleasure of His Rabb… because he knows that the absolute master of all things, the owner of all resources, the actual provider of all benefits is NONE other than ALLAH… so all his efforts and concern is focused on doing everything which will bring Allah’s pleasure and mercy. And most of life’s irritations don’t even bother him anymore because he is already too busy trying to please Allah, that he doesn’t even notice such petty things. But for a person who does not have this higher purpose in his life, will be grieving over every little thing… feeling lost and insecure even while having the best of things, because of being so far away from Allah.

May Allah allow us to feel the comfort of His closeness, may He enable us to feel His love for us, so that we can strive to please Him in every way that we can. May Allah’s pleasure be our topmost concern, Ameen

The most important dua

Alhamdulillah today I want to thank my beloved teacher for selecting such a beautiful topic for the Ramadan program… Qareebun Mujeeb… which means that Allah is extremely close to us and He responds to our duas whenever we call upon Him.

MashaaAllah this lecture series is not only a source of knowledge but even more than that, it’s a life changing experience where we are learning and implementing the most important lesson of our lives…the lesson of duas which we never thought we needed to learn. At least for myself I have to admit that I thought dua was an instinctive thing which I know how to do. But now with these daily sessions, I am realising that dua is as important to learn about, as any other act of worship. Like for example, when we plan to go for hajj, we try to learn all the important steps of this journey. Or when we give zakah, we make sure to learn the correct way of calculation of how much we need to give and where to give. Similarly we need to learn about duas because it is also one of the greatest acts of worship. I am so glad that I am beginning to discover the beauty and depth of dua with every passing day. Although all the dimensions of duas covered so far, have been highly inspirational as well as informative, but today’s topic of making duas for a happy married life, has opened my eyes like never before.
SubhanAllah isn’t this so amazing that Allah calls this as one of His signs that He put so much love and mercy in the hearts of married couples. But what a pity that so few of us know it to be so. We think that an extravagant and glamourous wedding will give us happiness. Or that the most beautiful and lavish wedding dress will make our life beautiful. But the fact is that having sincere intentions, and showing genuine love and care is the key factor for making our homes a place of peace and happiness. Only when the parents have a loving and caring relationship, will it be possible for their children to learn this goodness of character… because children do not learn through speeches, rather they follow what they see.
The dua which Allah taught us in the Qur’an is so short but so comprehensive:
O our Rabb! Grant us coolness of eyes through our spouses and our offsprings. And make us leaders of the righteous people.
Just in one line, Allah has taught us that having peace of heart with our families is such a blessing, that we need to ask Allah for it as much as we can. Because if we don’t have this peace then we won’t be able to reach the maximum level of productivity in any area of our lives.
But at the end of this dua, Allah teaches us the most important thing that even though a happy marriage and a happy family life is a great blessing in itself, yet the ultimate goal of life is to be the leader of the righteous. Which means that in whatever capacity we find ourselves in, our utmost effort should be to learn and practice righteousness and to spread it as far as we can… so that the true purpose of our lives can be achieved.
Therefore even those of us who are deprived from the blessings of spouses and children, can be hopeful of getting the most beautiful recompense in the hereafter, by their sincere efforts to attain righteousness and spreading it to others too, only for the pleasure of Allah. Therefore we should never stop praying this beautiful dua… specially in this beautiful month when duas are even more precious and rewarding In-sha-Allah… for listening to the complete lecture please watch https://youtu.be/D4z7NldzRF4

Stop!!

The most amazing lesson for me, which I learned from the “Marhaba Ramadan” lecture was that sometimes even the simplest things are full of immense wisdom through which we understand the reality like never before. For example, the concept that some acts of worship engage our body (like salah) and some are related to our wealth (like zakah). Some are related to our heart and tongue (like zikr) And some are a combination of all these (like hajj). But fasting is a unique kind of worship, which by definition does not require any action at all… rather fasting is only to stop ourselves from certain things.

It makes me think of a vehicle in which there is the steering wheel and accelerator and fuel that gives it energy. All these things enable the vehicle to move forward at a great speed but what if there are no brakes!! Isn’t it amazing that something which is there just to stop the vehicle, is as important and crucial, as those other things which make it move forward.

All our lives we focus too much on learning to do things… but we also need to learn how to stop, where to stop and for how long?

So here comes a whole month of training in which we can develop this power to stop ourselves when there is a need to stop. Sometimes we know very well that we are going in the wrong direction. We wish we could end our bad habits. Sometimes even in the middle of a heated argument, we realize we are crossing the limits of decency, but we cannot stop ourselves. In difficult times we know we should exercise patience and put our trust in Allah but we cannot stop the negative thinking and behavior. Or there are times when someone starts gossiping about a third person, and even though we fully well know that this is wrong, yet we fail to stop ourselves from joining in that discussion. There are so many examples really, where we regret after the time has passed, that we should not have carried on… that we should have stopped… but we couldn’t…

Allah the most merciful, knows our weakness and He knows how we can become strong. Therefore, He prescribed for us this amazing act of worship which involves only the act of restraining ourselves. So that when we learn to hold ourselves, we learn to control our emotions and desires, we become powerful and can decide what to do and what not to do. This is such an amazing exercise in self-discipline and patience and perseverance that we could not have devised for ourselves. So it is a mercy of Allah on us that He is sending us this beautiful month. May we attain its purpose, may we learn to stop ourselves when we need to stop… in-sha-Allah

Becoming truly Alive…

Ibn ul Qayyim (r.a.) said, while he was reminding about the benefits of trials for the believers:
⚘ He said that it is from the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala that He makes the worldly things difficult upon his believers and they experience its bitterness… so that they don’t find comfort in this world and so that they don’t become content in it.
Rather they will be attracted and yearn for the complete blessings in their actual home and it’s neighbourhood… which is the paradise.
So He (s.w.t.) drives them towards this goal through trials and tests
Therefore He deprives them, to bless them.
And He puts them through hardships, to protect them
And He makes them die, to give them life.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Alhamdulillah for these precious reminders which really open our eyes to the truth that all that happens to us in this world has two sides to it. One side which is visible to us and the other is the hidden one… which we can perceive with our hearts. But the hearts can see only when they have the vision of faith and tawakkul.
So how beautiful it is that when we are faced with any kind of deprivation then in reality it is Allah’s way of blessing us with things that are far far better than what we think we need… but Allah wants to give us those things which will give us the everlasting pleasures.
And when we are facing hardships then we should be sure that in fact Allah is protecting us from those hardships which we cannot even imagine
And even when He will give us death… it will be not be to finish us… rather it will be the beginning of our real life.
SubhanAllah if someone can achieve this vision then how sweet will be the life inside his heart
Because every deprivation will become a gift in his eyes
Every calamity will give him the assurance of Allah’s protection
And even death will not be something to hate and be afraid of… because he will know that death is just the flip side of becoming truly Alive!!
How amazingly liberating these words are…
May Allah make them into the real feelings of our hearts ameen

How to remain steadfast?

In the Quran, Allah says:
”So their feet slipped after they had attained firmness”
He did not say that it was due to their lack of firmness, rather He says that they slipped after their firmness.
This means that this life is full of tests and to remain firm is difficult.
Steadfastness is not something that can be attained by listening to a lot of lectures. Rather it is attained by acting upon those lectures.
As Allah Ta’ala says:
”If they had followed what they were advised about then it would have been better for them and more likely to make them steadfast.”
So constantly ask Allah for remaining firm upon the religion by making duas:
”Ya Allah Turner of the hearts, make my heart firm upon your religion”

This powerful reminder made me realize that even when we attain steadfastness about our religion, we should be very careful not be relaxed against the plots of the devil. Often when we are going strong in our religious obligations, we are mistaken that nothing can deter us from our path. However the reality is that the higher we go the greater is the danger of slipping.
So we must keep praying to Allah and accept that we are weak creatures and it is only the fazal of Allah which keeps us strong.
The other thing is that listening to lectures is beneficial only when we implement the teachings. Otherwise it’s just an illusion created by the nafs that just by attending some classes we have acquired some higher level of piety.
We must remember that although knowledge is one of the most precious blessings from Allah, but it can become beneficial only through implementation.

100 days to go…

One of the things that I am quite obsessed with, is to have a good background on my phone. The logic behind this is simple… something that I am inevitably going to view so many times a day, must contain some message, that motivates me towards my goal. Whether that message is actually written in words or only represented by the image, doesn’t matter… but it has to be there. So recently I was browsing through some images that could satisfy my requirement and I found this calligraphy of the word “Ramadan” which literally captivated my heart, by its simplicity and beauty. So as I set it up on my phone, I had another idea, that why not I place a countdown widget, which could remind me daily, about the number of days left in Ramadan. I am really not at all familiar with such things but thanks to google, I found out how simple it was to do it!! But until this morning I had no idea that I would be making public, something so personal as my phone’s home screen. The reason for sharing it, is the number 100… can you spot it on the image above?

Well to me it seemed like a very motivating thing that if someone asked me, what can you achieve in a hundred days? My answer would be like “a lot… of course!!” But how many slots of a hundred days go by and we don’t bring any significant change in our lives? Why is that? Obviously it is not the lack of knowledge or the lack of desire… we have both the desire to change for the better, plus we have the knowledge of how to do it… but still we don’t do those things… why? because there is a third thing which is the most important in taking any action… and that is the motivation or the drive to actually do those things which we only dream of doing.

There can be a lot of things which could bring in this motivation… but the most powerful one which works on all sorts of people, is to have a deadline. When you know you have a limited time to achieve something, or to complete a task, then your brain, your body and your whole being starts working at a greater capacity. This is not only proven by experience but also recognized scientifically.

So coming back to the number 100… what does it say to you? If you have this limited time slot to prepare yourself for the blessed month of Ramadan, what would you like to collect? Would you memorize a hundred ayaat from Quran so that you can recite in those beautiful nights? Or would you read a book about Ramadan, dividing its pages into a 100 parts so that you can complete it before Ramadan arrives. Or maybe you would like to do a course on salah, so that your prayers can become truly meaningful and focused, in a month in which the rewards are multiplied so much? Or learn about the beautiful names of Allah… one name a day… so that you recognize the absolute majesty and power of the one you are worshipping. What a beautiful preparation would it be for that beautiful month…!!

There is so much that we can all collect in these 100 days… learn proper tajweed, increase the beauty and fluency of reciting quran… or do a short course on the understanding the Quran so that in Ramadan when you recite such a lot of it, you will know what Allah is actually saying to you… the ideas are limitless, but the time is limited… So what is the limit of your dreams then?

Do share your thoughts on this, and maybe someone else will benefit from your ideas, and you will get the reward too… in-sha-Allah