THE KHALIFAH DIARIES Be The Best Muslimah For Allah SWT

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Some people have lost their children and loved ones in this Covid-19 Pandemic.

Some have been laid off from their jobs.

And many have suffered the severe pain this virus has brought to us.

These are extremely difficult times.

While I don’t claim to understand the pain every one of us is going through, I am continuing to make duas for Allah to give us strength and patience to endure these hard times because He knows what is best for us, while we may not.

A few days ago (at the time of this writing), a member of my family was announced positive Covid-19. 

While my heart sank into the pit of my stomach, I didn’t realize the calmness and ease I felt as I let this reality truly sink in.

To be honest, I almost felt ready to die. I told Allah in my heart that if this is truly what you want for us, then I accept. But I will do my best to protect myself and do whatever I can to make this situation better.

The reason this feels rather odd for me is because, usually in the face of death like a fatal illness, I would be the one to panic and flinch at the mere thought of it!

But this time it’s different. 

I have been equipping myself with new sets of daily duas and recitations of the Quran a few weeks earlier. Just to get my iman up and upgrade my ibadahs (since I have so much time in my hands).

Little did I know, that was Allah’s way of preparing me to face this challenge. Alhamdulillah.

I probably wouldn’t have realized this if I hadn’t reflected on it.

Glory be unto You ya Allah! Thank you for saving me from potential grief that I may face if it wasn’t for your guidance to keep my connection with your Quran.

After receiving this Covid-19 news, our whole family took the RTK test (Antigen Rapid Test Kit) at a nearby clinic to determine if any one of us had also contracted the virus.

While we patiently waited in the car to receive the results, the ambiance grew more nerve-wracking by the second. Which one of us has the virus too? Do I have it? OMG! What if I have it!

The agony while waiting was real. 

But, Alhamdulillah we got to know that the rest of us are negative…. Until 2 days later.

My sister started having headaches, accumulating mucus more than her nose can carry and … coughing.

So she did the test a 2nd time.

Lo and behold, she’s positive Covid-19. Innalillah. Our whole family is devastated… for the 2nd time.

Apparently, if you contracted the virus in the early stages, the test cannot detect the virus until later. That’s the deadly part.

We don’t know who else has the virus until someone displays some kind of symptom.

Anyway, I’m still grateful we’re still alive alhamdulillah… at least for now.

But I’m preparing myself for the worst, no matter what happens, I’m just reminding myself that ultimately we are all slaves of Allah, He has the right to take our lives whenever He pleases and give whatever calamities He wishes for us.

Alhamdulillah. I’m surprised myself, but I think I’m in a quite contented place.

I fully trust Allah in everything He plans for me and my family.

But this defining moment will reveal how much patience I have in enduring this difficulty.

So I’m taking measurable steps. I want to show Allah that I’m truly doing my best to please Him in this moment insyaAllah.

Here are some great actions I’m taking to truly strive in the face of this hard time.

If you’re suffering from your difficulties as well, I hope these steps will help insyaAllah.

May Allah accept all our efforts in pleasing Him. Ameen.

1. Breathe

Receiving any bad news is beyond our control. Some outcomes just simply cannot be changed and you cannot entertain the dark thoughts that will immediately flood your mind.

So the best thing you should do is just breathe. Stable yourself and let the news truly sink in.

2. Find out emergency steps to take (if there’s any)

In my Covid case, as soon as we received the news, everyone in the house immediately went to the nearby clinic and took the RTK test to see if anyone else had the virus. 

Different cases call for different measures. Take the necessary steps. It could be life and death for you.

3. Say Innalillah and start making lots of Istighfar 

(this also helps you calm down)

Innalillah means ‘we belong to Allah’. A longer version is ‘Innalillah hi wainna ilaihirajioon’ meaning ‘we belong to Allah and to Him we will return’.

Repeating this phrase to myself reminds me to accept the fact that I am a slave of Allah, and so I should accept that as my Master – Allah has full control over me and my destiny. Whatever calamity or difficulty He put my way is out of His divine knowledge and right.

As His slave, I have no right to question, act out or reject His decree. 

But this does not mean we are not allowed to feel the emotions that Allah Himself has put in our hearts. It just means that we express it moderately while constantly turning back to Him for more strength.

As long as we don’t give in to the hopelessness and give up on the Mercy of Allah, then we’re on the right track insyaAllah.

Istighfar is saying ‘Astaghfirulla hal azeem’. It means “I ask Allah’s Forgiveness, the Almighty”.

Seeking forgiveness from Allah is the best way to clean our hearts from any ill feelings or sins we may have unknowingly done in the past.

So for example, if your calamity involves life and death like mine, and Allah was to take your life any moment, insyaAllah we will be in a state where our hearts are clean enough to meet our Creator.

4. Make dua

Your dua can make the situation better insyaAllah. 

Allah says in His Quran,

Call upon Me, I will respond to you. (Surah Ghafir 40:60)

Allah promised that He will respond to all of your calls. So keep on calling Him. Ask for everything you need and want.

You will not lose anything. If Allah thinks it’s good for you, He will grant it to you. If it’s not, He will replace it with something better from His divine knowledge.

So never lose hope. Keep on making dua, love!

5. Talk about it

Talking about it helps you understand the situation more clearly. It does not matter if you want to talk to yourself in the form of journaling, talk to a friend or talk to Allah in your sujood. 

You should talk about it. 🙂

Let your feelings out and don’t hold back any of it. Your feelings are healthy, you should be able to express them in a healthy way so that you’ll learn from this experience and be able to move on from it.

I talk to my group of friends all the time. Alhamdulillah, they always have just the right things to say to make me feel better. May Allah bless them all. Ameen.

6. Acknowledge that some things will be different from now

Just like good events have an impact on our lives, bad events have them too. 

If we are able to acknowledge and accept that things will be different from now, it will be easier for us to transition to the next phase in life insyaAllah.

You can take as long as you need. Search yourself and find the comfort that you need in Allah and all your loved ones. 

There’s no need to rush in this matter. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Prophet Muhammad SAW said:

​​”Never a believer is stricken with a discomfort, an illness, an anxiety, a grief or mental worry or even the pricking of a thorn but Allah will expiate his sins on account of his patience”.  (Bukhari & Muslim)

Allah wants to remove all your sins insyaAllah. If you truly knew, it would be easy for you to think good of Allah and move on insyaAllah. 🙂

7. Take care of yourself physically

It may be very difficult for you to eat and continue your daily routine in the face of hardship, but this is the least you could do to please Allah because your body is an amanah (a trust) from Him as well.

If you are able to take care of yourself physically, insyaAllah the rest will come more easily.

Your mood will get better. You can think more clearly. You’ll have more energy to face your inner demons insyaAllah. 🙂

8. Make more sujood

The moment you feel lonely, sad and grief starts to take over you, immediately take whudu’ and make Salah.

Find your comfort in sujood.

Allah says in the Quran,

O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:153)

Allah is always with you, so seek Him for comfort. 🙂

And there is no other place where you can be as close to Allah other than sujood.

So, start there.

9. Establish a new normal

How do you want your life to be better from here? You can take up a new hobby, go to new places or change up your home for starters.

Bring in something new into your life to start a new leaf.

It can be anything you want. It’s your life after all, have fun with it!

You can even create a new bucket list and start checking them off. 

10. Be grateful

Being grateful starts in the heart. Look at everything around you and see how you feel inside. Do you like what you see or would you like to change it?

If there is even ONE thing that you like in what you see, that is enough for you to feel grateful to Allah for giving that to you.

You know why?

Everything that Allah has given you in your life so far is free out of His Mercy.

If He chose to, He could’ve not given you anything. But He did, therefore we should always show our gratitude to Him.

Allah says in the Quran,

Truly where there is hardship there is also ease. (Surah Ash-Sharh 94:5)

So, no matter how difficult the situation seems, try to find the good in it because Allah says there is ease in every hardship. 🙂

11. Help others cope with the situation as well

Life is really funny this way. The more you care about the well-being of others, the more your life affairs fall into place. 

Funny right?

I have seen this time and time again in my life and in others. (again, this is just my life experience, you can disagree 🙂 )

I’ve never found a depressed person who is truly selfless. Selfless in the sense that they are willing to do whatever it takes when it comes to taking care of their loved ones. 

Most of the depressed people I meet are selfish in the sense that they are never willing to go out of their comfort zone to meet the needs of their loved ones. 

Most of the time, they are only thinking about their own needs and how much others are not fulfilling their rights instead of looking out for the well-being of others. (But then again, I may not have met that many people)

But as of today, this is where I stand. I don’t think a truly selfless person can ever fall into depression. It just doesn’t make sense to me. (Let me know in the comments if you disagree, I’d love to know your thoughts. 🙂 )

So, turn your focus to others’ wellbeing for awhile, you’ll see how quickly your life will turn around for the better insyaAllah.

Final word

I am still going through this difficult time of having my loved ones infected with this virus. It is sad and nerve-wracking.

But alhamdulillah, at least the rest of us are still safe.

Please extend your duas to us as well as the entire ummah that is suffering insyaAllah.

May Allah continue to give us the strength of patience to endure life’s hardships. Ameen.

Any good from this article is from Allah and any evil is from the shaytaan and me. May Allah forgive our shortcomings in practicing His deen.

Wa billahi tawfeeq wa hidayah

(All successes come from Allah and His guidance).