Qur'anic Reflections

#26. Steps to success

In this ayah, Allah gives us the clear cut steps to success which is something that man has been yearning for, since time immemorial.

First step:

Purify onself, which means to clean one's heart with respect to three things:

»Allah:
Knowing that He is the First and Last, the Living and the Sustainer. Purging ourselves of any traces of Major or minor shirk.

One thing that helps :
Know Allah's attributes and memorize His beautiful names. Call Him by those names and see how much your heart feels at ease.

Because to love someone and totally trust someone, you need to know about them.

When we know Allah's attributes by heart, we realize that He's the one to solve all our problems.

Sahih Bukhari (Oneness, Uniqueness of Allah (Tawheed) - 21)

Narrated Abu Huraira, Allah's Messenger (pbuh) said, "Allah has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one; and he who memorized them all by heart will enter Paradise." To count something means to know it by heart.

»His Messenger (Peace be upon him)

Knowing and believing that Mohammed (Peace be upon him) is the last messenger of Allah and His slave.

Following in his footsteps. Holding onto the Sunnah and protecting ourself from Bid'a

Jamiat Tirmidhi (Chapters on Knowledge - 15)

Abdullah [bin Mas'ud] that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: "Whoever lies upon me, then let him take his seat in the Fire."

»The people around us :

To purify one's opinion of others.

To not hold any grudges, to not judge a person by his outward appearance, to not harbor hate or malice or envy and most of all, to forgive, forgive and then some.

Ramadan is the perfect time to practice this. When a person fasts, his entire body does too-- including his heart. That makes it easier to keep our heart on a leash and not let it slip into evil thoughts.

"You will not believe until you wish for your brother what you wish for yourself. "

A lot of us struggle with this. Envy is a real thing. And sometimes, even though we don't want to feel it, it's the first thing that comes to our mind.

Here I'd like to share this beautiful reminder by Mohammed Zeyara (you know him don't you? ❤❤)

He says, "When you feel jealous of someone, make dua for them. Pray that Allah grants them barakah in whatever they're doing that makes you jealous of them. "

Isn't that the ultimate dua? Doesn't that help us achieve that state of purity where we want others to progress with us?

Subhan Allah. I love this deen man. 💖

But wait! Don't forget your cute self!

When Zakariya (Alayhissalam) would enter upon Maryam's (Alayhissalam) chamber, he would find that she would have unseasonable fruits with her.

When he'd inquire about them, she'd mention that they were from Allah.

Right then and there, Zakariya Alayhissalam makes dua to Allah to grant him the blessing of a child.

What does this teach us?

Allah's bounty is boundless. If you see someone having something from that bounty, then there is no need to be jealous about it.

Just ask Allah to grant you that too!

You want it? Then ask for it!

"Allahumma inni asaluku min fadhlikal 'adheem"

As simple as that! 😀

Second step:

To be engaged in the remembrance of Allah. It's interesting how this is mentioned before salah. Almost like saying, if you want to pray a proper salah where you remember Allah, you have to make sure you remember Him all day.

There's no way you can magically attain Khushoo while ignoring Him all day long.

To keep one's tongue moist with Allah's remembrance is literally the easiest task Alhumdulillah.

Some tips that I've found beneficial :

»Bismillah before everything

»Memorize all the duas that go with your daily actions ie. Dua before and after sleeping, eating, drinking water, entering and leaving the house, washroom etc etc. You know it. The ones you learnt as a kid! 😎

»Reflecting over the surroundings. 
I don't know about where you live, but my city has the most pleasant weather right now. There's wind and clear skies and greenery everywhere. Subhan Allah. It's ridiculous how we just don't look up at the sky more often.

I mean its just freakin' gorgeous. 😍

The glory of the creator can be seen and felt through His creation itself.

When you look around you, at all the clouds and flowers; when you look at yourself, all skins and bones, veins pulsing and eyes twinkling, you will automatically say Subhan Allah and praise your Lord.

Literally everything around us is reminiscent of Allah, the most High. We just need to look closer!

»This is an idea I've got recently and today is the first day of its execution. Let's do it together folks!

The one thing we check more often than our Facebook accounts (😛) is the clock.

Condition yourself in a way that whenever you look at the clock, you think of Allah.

For every hour that you check and keep track of, make sure you make tasbeeh for at least 5 minutes.

Make some high yield tasbeeh. Refer to #18.

In sha'Allah, let's do this yo.

Start now.

I'll wait for you.

...

...

...

...

Done?

Alhumdulillah!

The third step :

Salah (Refer to #25. Need I say more? :'D)

All of these combined will *certainly* lead to true success.

Sounds easy right? Then why do most of us fail? 

Allah gives the answer too.

The sole reason why we don't succeed is because we are too caught up in the duniya, too busy running behind the deception to look at the reality.

Not anymore in sha'Allah!

May Allah make us of the people who are truly successful. Ameen!