THE KHALIFAH DIARIES Be The Best Muslimah For Allah SWT

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Do you believe that Allah is watching over you every second of your life? How does that make you feel? Do you feel Allah’s presence in your life? He is the One who takes care of all your needs from the day you were born on this earth – your food, the air you breathe, your physical health, everything.

And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (An-Nahl 16:18)

Yet, sometimes we feel as if we are left all alone to fend for ourselves in this cruel and deceiving world. Why is that? Maybe it’s because we have been living our lives without fully trusting Allah and we don’t even realize it. For example, we still blame Him for all the hardships that He puts us through, when Allah says, ‘He will not burden a soul beyond that it can bear’ (Al-Baqarah 2:286). 

And it’s disheartening to see that some of us are still making money from Haram means while neglecting our Salahs thinking we will miss out on that big promotion, when Allah says, ‘Allah provides sustenance to whom He wills without limit’ (Al-Imran 3:37). 

These things will affect our relationship with Allah and thus, we may feel as if He is not present in our lives. So how do we fix our relationship with Allah and feel His presence in our lives once again?

Let’s start with these steps, shall we?

1. Make dua Allah softens your heart

The first step to getting closer to Allah is to acknowledge that you actually need His help. That you can’t do it alone and you need His help to give you constant guidance along your journey. That, my friend, can only come from a soft humble heart. 

It’s true, asking Allah for help can only come from a humble heart. For people who feel they are self-sufficient aka arrogant, Allah puts a lock over their hearts so they don’t even bother to find the truth. They’ve already lost from the beginning. So, don’t be like them. 

Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil. And for them is a great punishment. (Al-Baqarah 2:7)

Always make dua to ask Allah for help and guidance in humbling your heart so that you can always correct your ways and continue to receive His guidance throughout your life. If you’re wondering how Allah accepts your duas, this is exactly how – by asking with a sincere humble heart. 

InsyaAllah, as you continue life with a humble heart, you will start to feel Allah’s presence in all your daily affairs. 🙂

2. Never lose hope, Allah is always with us

No matter how far you are in your journey to connect with Allah, never lose hope because Allah is always with us even if we may not necessarily feel His presence.

And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein. (Qaf 50:16)

As you remember that your jugular vein is pumping blood every second of your being, remember that Allah is closer to you than that jugular vein around your throat. How cool is that? 

Allah is always with you, watching after you, and guiding you. It’s up to you to remember Him often and remember that Allah’s mercy encompasses all things. The fact that He still allows your jugular vein to keep pumping that blood of yours day in and day out is already a remarkable reminder that He loves you.

So do not lose hope nor be sad, and you will be superior if you are [true] believers. (Al-Imran 3:139)

SubhanAllah. Always think good of Allah and never lose hope is His mercy. 

3. Always beware of Shaytan’s traps

When we embark on this journey to get closer to Allah, Shaytan will come to you whispering on all sides to persuade you to stop and leave Allah. It is one of the most notorious traps of Shaytan.

Remember the story of Iblis? How he has sworn to Allah that he will pull every single son of Adam a.s into hellfire with him? He has developed many tactics to sway us from ever practicing our religion since the time of Adam a.s, so he’s probably a real expert by now. 😉 He will distract and deter you with all kinds of means including entertainment and even your own laziness. 

[Iblees] said, “My Lord, because You have put me in error, I will surely make [disobedience] attractive to them on earth, and I will mislead them all, Except, among them, Your chosen servants.” (Al-Hijr 15:39-40)

And what did Allah say to that?…

[Allah] said, “This is a path [of return] to Me [that is] straight. Indeed, My servants – no authority will you have over them, except those who follow you of the deviators. (Al-Hijr 15:41-42)

As long as we follow Allah’s guidance through the Quran and Sunnah, insyaAllah we will be amongst Allah’s servants whom Shaytan will ‘have no authority over us. Make dua to seek protection from the Shaytan often. 

Many of us forget that Shaytan is our ultimate enemy today and forever, as a result,  we may end up being friends with him. Nauzubillah. 

You need to remember that Shaytan is your sworn enemy. Even when you have developed a strong relationship with Allah (insyaAllah), Shaytan will influence you to be arrogant and to look down on others who are just starting their journey. 

Take heed. Guard your heart against the Shaytan and seek Allah’s protection every step of the way.

4. Fall in love with the Quran

This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah. (Al-Baqarah 2:2)

How do you consciously and strategically fall in love with something? Of course, you have to get to know it first, right? 

Let’s say you went to a foreign country that you’ve never been to and the food there looks totally weird! Like completely different from your home-cooked meals back home. Wouldn’t you want to at least give it a try now that you’ve come so far? (once you know it’s actually halal, of course 😉 )

You’ve been living your life for – Allah knows how long – 20, 30, 40 years and still you haven’t taken the chance to dive deeper into the one book that God Himself wrote? How in Jannah are you going to stand in front of Him on Judgement day? Sorry if I scare ya but the thought is truly scary, right? 

Let’s truly understand the Importance of Quran. The Quran is a book that contains all the answers on human existence, the purpose of every creation and our destination in the next life.

Everything Allah wants you to know about yourself and the world is contained in the Quran. It’s like the ultimate life manual to be successful in this dunya and the akhirah. Isn’t that remarkable?

You might be wondering, okay so how do I learn the Quran fast? To understand the Quran, you need to ponder upon His words. It takes time. In fact, you’ll never be done with it even if you live a Million years because of its miraculousness. 

You can start by getting a tafseer and reflecting on verses you find interesting. The more you understand the Quran, the more you can implement His teachings. You will see your life change for the better insyaAllah. 

If you want to start reading the Quran daily, set aside a quiet time just for you and the Quran. This can be in the early mornings when everyone else is asleep or later in the night. 

5. Have Khushoo in Salah

Having Khushoo in Salah is essentially having a proper concentration in Salah. This is the key to feeling Allah’s presence in your daily life. Why? Because Salah is the closest position you can be with Allah during your entire lifetime. 

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If one of you is in prayer, let him not spit in front of himself, for Allah is in front of him as he prays.” (Sahih Muslim 547a)

So pray as if Allah is standing in front of you. That should allow you to gain the most Khushoo insyaAllah. 😉

If you are finding it difficult to perform the Salah on time, I remember something profound that Yasmine Mogahed shared that might help you.

She was talking about how many of us are having a hard time performing the Fajr prayer. So she said, Iblis disobeyed Allah by refusing to make sujood to Adam a.s once. If we dismiss the Fajr prayer day in and day out, that means we are denying Allah not just 1 but 4 sujoods every day.

Ouch. That hit me like a ton of bricks. May Allah forgive us all. In our journey to connect with Allah on a deeper level, we must strive to have Khushoo in our Salahs. And when we’re performing the Salahs, be mindful that you are humbly standing in front of your Creator. 

This is how you do Salah properly and attain Khushoo insyaAllah.

6. Look at others with eyes of mercy

Of course, we all want to be kind and merciful towards one another, but unfortunately, sometimes we may not realize there are things we do that are not quite merciful. I’m not perfect either. None of us are, but Allah loves those who continuously reflect on our ways and strive to be a better version of ourselves each day.

Some of these questions can help us reflect on the way we appear merciful to others.

• How did you talk to your parents today? How was your tone?
• Did you feed your cat on time today?
• How did you handle that argument with your spouse?
• Has anyone wronged you lately? Did you make dua for them? Forgiven them?

We need to ask ourselves these honest questions often because we are very forgetful creatures. It’s very easy for us to treat others unkindly especially when we’re not at our best.

Islam emphasizes the importance of kindness and mercy because Allah Himself is Ar-Rahman, The Most Merciful. If we want to connect to The Most Merciful we surely need to have this beautiful trait ourselves. 

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 7376)

So let’s strive to be more merciful towards everyone in our lives from now on. Starting with our parents and family members of course. 🙂

7. Make tawbah often

… Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.” (Al-Baqarah 2:222)

Tawbah is repentance in Islam. It is a powerful way to redeem ourselves when we fall into sin. Doesn’t matter how big or small your sin is, Allah will forgive them all except Syirk which is associating partners with Allah.  

Since we all sin every day whether we realize it or not, we need to engage in tawbah on a daily basis. It’s exactly like wanting to live in a clean environment, but we haven’t cleaned up the space therefore the place is dirty.  

“When the believer commits sin, a black spot appears on his heart. If he repents and gives up that sin and seeks forgiveness, his heart will be polished. But if (the sin) increases, (the black spot) increases. That is the Ran that Allah mentions in His Book: “Nay! But on their hearts is the Ran (covering of sins and evil deeds) which they used to earn.” [83:14] (Sunan Ibn Majah 4244)

If we want to feel Allah’s presence in our lives, we need to maintain a purified heart. Our hearts go through many things in a day –  sinful thoughts, negative intentions, hurtful comments and the list goes on. In order to purify our hearts, we have to engage in tawbah on a regular basis. 

How to make tawbah? Our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW makes istighfar more than 70 times a day. This is one of the easiest ways to make tawbah every day. If the most beloved to Allah who is ma’sum (infallible) was making istighfar 70 times a day, as fallible slaves of Allah, what does that say about our need to make istighfar part of our daily routine? 🙂

Praying Salat Al Tawbah is also another way to make tawbah. You can find out how to make Salat Al Tawbah here. It’s important to note that scholars list 3 conditions to make tawbah.

1. Stopping the sin.
2. Regretting the sin.
3. Sincere intention to not commit the sin again.

Tawbah purifies the heart like nothing else. When we remove all the dirt (of sin) from our hearts, insyaAllah Allah’s guidance and mercy can reach the very depth of our soul. 🙂

Final thoughts on ways to feel Allah’s presence in our daily lives

Allah is waiting for you. Don’t leave Him hanging. He wants you to come close to Him. His doors are always open to His beloved slaves. 🙂

I hope these tips will help you to continue to feel His divine presence in your life every single day. Whenever we forget and fall into our old ways, don’t despair, just turn back to Allah and ask Him for strength and guidance. He is always right there with you. Watching over you. 

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “My Lord says, … if my slave comes to Me walking, I go to him running.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 7536)

Walk to Him, He will run to you. 🙂 May Allah keep us all safe in the comfort of His security. Ameen. 

Salam,

Aimi

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).