Connect with us
by Safiya, India
﷽
We begin with praising Allah سبحانه وتعالى for Indeed all praises are due to Him. We praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of ourselves and from the evil of our deeds.
We bear witness that there is no true God except Allah, alone without any partners; And we bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
In our fleeting life in this world marked by the proof of its temporary nature and the allure of its distractions, Islam comes as a beacon of hope, guidance, and a reminder for those who are mindful of the end goal, the Akhirah, the eternal life.
As we navigate through the prevailing bleakness of this world, the Qur’an in several places reminds us of our ultimate purpose in this life; Allah says:
“And We did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me” [Surah Adh-Dhāriyāt: 56]
Even though one could write endlessly about how we could rebuild and nurture a profound relationship with Allah, I’d like to leave you with practical tips to implement in your daily lives and this is first for me, and then for everyone else. With sincerity, patience, and prayer, we are sure to reach our goal; i.e. rebuild our relationship with the one who is the Only most deserving of our love and devotion, our Creator and the Creator of this universe, Allah جل جلاله!
Here are 5 steps we must take in order to get back to Allah. Even though all of them deserve a separate article in and of itself, I’ll keep it brief but highly encourage you to explore and delve deeply into all of the acts. There are many more to list but these build the foundation of your journey towards success.
- Setting right intentions
(Niyyah): Pure intention elevates every action into a form of worship.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, deeds are only with intentions, and every person will have only what they intended” [Sahih Al Bukhari, Hadith 1]
The significance of intention further ties into the importance of sincerity (Ikhlas). A sincere heart is pure of doubts and submits fully to Allah.
2. Knowing Allah SWT
You love someone only if you get to know them, spend time with them and your day is filled with them. The same, or even more, must go towards the building of your relationship with Allah. Know your Lord, the one who created you. Look at the signs. Learn His 99 names and keep them close to your heart and read the Qur’an. It will be the most difficult thing initially but the ease afterwards makes it much more rewarding for it means you overcome your obstacles to reach Allah. Yearn for Him and run to Him.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: Allah the Almighty said: I am as My servant thinks I am (1). I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a cubit, and if he draws near to Me a cubit, I draw near to him a fathom. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed. (1) Another possible rendering of the Arabic is: “I am as My servant expects Me to be”. The meaning is that forgiveness and acceptance of repentance by the Almighty is subject to His servant truly believing that He is forgiving and merciful. However, not to accompany such belief with the right action would be to mock the Almighty. It was related by al-Buhkari (also by Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, and Ibn-Majah). [40 Hadith Qudsi: Hadith 15]
3. Seek forgiveness
Seeking forgiveness constantly and the importance of purification of the heart (Tazkiya): Only the Pure heart enters Jannah. The pure heart occupies only Allah and nothing and no one overtakes the love of Allah and fear of His punishment. A person with a pure heart fills it with Taqwa and is constantly in dhikr preparing for the akhirah while not neglecting their duties in this world and enjoying their share of this world that Allah has blessed them with.
Healthy self-critique and a very strong desire to change for the good and constant dua’a will help. Seeking Forgiveness is Key! Again, Run towards Allah for Forgiveness.
“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden [i.e., Paradise] as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous.” [Surah Āli-ʿImrān: 133]
4. Establishing prayer (Salah)
Salah occupies a huge role in Islam and the life of every Muslim, serving as a direct line of communication to Allah. It is what decides whether someone is a Muslim, a hypocrite, or a disbeliever. It is the first question that will be asked in our graves. It is the first deed that will be accounted for on the day of Resurrection. Allah called us 5 times a day. Perform all the daily prayers on time no matter what happens. Set an intention and ask Allah sincerely to help you stay steadfast. Salah is what reinforces our closeness to Allah and it is what devices the direction of our lives in this world and the next.
5. Incorporating the remembrance of Allah (dhikr)
“Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allāh. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allāh hearts are assured.” [Surah Ar-Raʿd: 28]
Make it a non-negotiable in your daily routine the Remembrance (Adhkar) of Morning and Evening. Refer to the Fortress of Muslim. Read about the importance of every dua’a and have a firm belief. Once you learn the benefits, you’ll know how much you’ve been missing out on in terms of reward, protection, and support of Allah.
To reach our final abode and the Best of Ending, we seek help only from Allah, we turn only to Allah, and yet we neglect building our relationship with Him جل جلاله! How foolish we are to think anything could be more important than that. How unfortunate of us that we lead a life as if all the blessings we live in, and all the privileges that we enjoy are from someone other than Allah. Had Allah wanted, he would have taken every single thing away from us and we couldn’t have done anything. He showers us with mercy and love every second of our day and yet we don’t pay heed! The Qur’an is the Word of Allah, and yet it’s the last thing we want to reach out to for guidance. One could go on and on and not be able to list all of our shortcomings and more so all of the ways Allah’s mercy manifests in our lives.
It’s high time we wake up, and pay heed and not be from among the غافلون- the heedless!
We ask Allah to fill our lives with the sweetness of Iman and make our hearts devoid of fear of anyone but Him. We seek forgiveness from Him for our shortcomings and ask for guidance and steadfastness in His Deen and help our hearts see from right and wrong. We ask Allah to heal our hearts from the transgression we’ve done against ourselves and we ask Allah to make us from the people who are mindful and not heedless of His signs.
May Allah reward everyone who read this. I ask Allah to forgive any mistakes and shortcomings and the oversimplification I’ve done due to various reasons.
We ask Allah for Jannatul Firdous and may Allah SWT give us a place with the martyrs and the pious and the Prophets.
Ameen.
With lots of love and Dua’as,
Safiya
Alhamdulillah,thank you 🤍 Love From Malaysia 😇