format_quote Originally Posted by
allahuakbar90
Hello brothers and sisters,
I am 20 years old an converted to islam around two years ago. I started off very strong in my faith tried my best and felt very peaceful and connected with God. But just about a year ago now i started straying like drinking, eating pork not reading or thinking about god at all but ive still knwon all along that allah is the one and only god and that islam is the right path, and im trying to push myself back but i dotn know how for some reason im finding it so difficult i feel like allah has sealed my heart. Has anyone been though this before and come out the other end stronger?
Asalaamu Alaikum, Jazakallah for sharing your issues with us. My brother life is full of ups and downs and many a times we will trip and fall and get knocked off course for a while and find it hard to get back up again but we must do our utmost to get up and continue to strive in order to achieve what we need to achieve in life. None of us are ever going to be perfect and we will always sin no matter what we do but we must always try our best to continue striving to please Allah and get closer to him through doing good actions and refraining from anything that may anger or displease him.
My Brother the fact is that you came here for a reason and it is because Allah is wanting you to realise your very purpose in this life again and he is wanting you to get closer to him and it is a true blessing that he has enabled you to feel a sense of guilt and that you want to change and bring Islam more into your life and prepare for the hereafter before death comes to you which may be ANY second.
My brother in the past Allah gave you guidance to enter into Islam and he gave you the gift of imaan out of so many billions of people so you should feel honoured and privelaged that Allah chose you and this should encourage you to get yourself back on track again.
My Brother shaythan is always trying to make us forget our real purpose in this life and that is why we have to continuously remind ourselves as to why we are here and what is our REAL purpose is on this earth. Have we been created to study, work, get married, have kids and then die? Well you could say that this is part of what we have to do in our lives on this earth but Almighty Allah tells us the sole purpose of our creation:
"I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship"
The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 51, Verse 56
What is the greatest form of worship to Allah? The answer is:
Salaah!
Salaah is the second pillar of Islam and is the most important act of worship after the Shahada (decleration of faith).
It is the first question we will be asked as Muslims in the hereafter as to whether or not we fulfilled our Salaah or not. Therefore it is the most important act of worship that has been ordained to mankind.So until our very last breath we should know what our priorities are and focus on fulfilling all of our Salaah as it is the very purpose of our creation. Shaythan is very well aware that Salaah is our biggest obligation and so therefore is forever trying to divert mans attention away from fulfilling this obligation to Allah.
My brother there is NO such thing as being a part time Muslim. We CANNOT be Muslims when we want to be now and again. We CANNOT be Muslims only by name and not action. Therefore let us be proper Muslims and be proud of the fact that we are Muslims and that we have been given imaan but if we neglect our imaan then we may risk losing it and destroying ourselves.
Allah tells us In the Qur'an to enter fully into our deen and not partly:
O believers enter into Islam completely and do not follow the footsteps of Shaitan, surely he is your clear-cut enemy. If you falter after receiving the clear-cut message, then keep in mind that Allah is Mighty, Wise. Are they waiting for Allah to come down to them in the shadow of clouds, along with the angels, and make His decision known? Ultimately all matters will be presented to Allah for decision.
(Surah Al-Baqara, Ayah 208-210)
Allah does not expect us to be perfect angels but he will judge us on what efforts we made throughout our lives. When you hear a person say
"I try to read Salaah or i try to do what i can". Do you think they are really trying? Or are they just saying they are and decieving themselves? If we really tried we can do anything.
We can decieve ourselves but we cannot decieve Allah. Allah knows us better than we know ourselves and he knows what we are capable of and praying 5 times a day is not impossible for any of us.
If we calculate how long it would take to pray 5 times a day then you could sum it upto around 40 minutes a day. Now there are 1440 minutes in a day and 40 minutes out of 1440 of our day is ONLY 3% of a day and we still can't manage that? Many of us spend that much time eating, excreting or in front of a mirror and we can't even spend it praying and fulfilling the very purpose of our creation? We spend hours on end in front of the television or listening to Music or playing our playing the latest play station games or seeing who's poked us on facebook but we can't spend a few minutes praying to the one who has given us EVERYTHING we can possible imagine and far more? We are truly at loss!
Many of us work full time jobs having to work almost everyday of the year having to get up at early hours in order to do so. If we can do this then can't we pray Salaah 5 times a day for a few short minutes that it takes to pray them? If we really did try then we would not fail in praying our 5 prayers but we decieve ourselves and we end up wasting our lives decieving ourselves and then regret it later on when it is too late! Let us not be of those who will regret it forever!
I'm not saying that we should become saints overnight but what i am saying is that we should at least fulfill our obligations to Allah and that is to establish our 5 times prayers and to keep away from that which Allah has forbidden. If we can't pray the Sunnah and Nafil then we MUST at least pray the Fard as a minimum.
Rather than moulding our life around our Salaah we mould our Salaah around our life so whenever we are sitting around at home then we decide to pray.
We must remember that it is an act of kufr(disbelief) to neglect the Salaah beyond its correct time and this is for missing one Salaah but how many Salaah do we continuously miss day in and day out? Some scholars even say missing Salaah intentionally takes one out of the fold of Islam. This is how serious missing Salaah really is!
Rasulallah (Pbuh) said: "What lies between a man and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer."
(Muslim)
It is a major sin to miss even one prayer and leaving even one Salaah without a valid excuse is said to cause one to spend tens of thousands of years in Jahannam and on top of that every Salaah missed is VAST rewards missed out which we will never be able to gain back.
Therefore it is incumbant on us that we fulfil ALL of our Salaah and not make excuses as to why we cannot fulfill it because Islam has been made easy for us but it is us who makes it hard upon ourselves and because of the amount of sins that we committ we find it hard to do even simple acts of worship.
Allah has made it so easy for us so let us not make it hard for ourselves and let us not listen to the lame excuses that shaythan and our desires gives us.
My Brother we also need to realise how limited our life really is and so how can we really be sure that we will live until tomorrow? I have known many people around me who have died at such young and tender ages. Go to the grave yard and you will see Muslims of all ages in their death beds. The fact is Brother me or you could be next!
We have a 50% chance of dying at any moment and 50% is a huge chance of dying yet we live everyday like we will live forever in this world but we are asleep and so heedless. We do so much for this world and gain wealth, propertys and various other investments but if we die the next day then will this wealth and assets accompany us? The ONLY thing that will come with us is our good deeds. Our good deeds will be our companions in the grave and in the hereafter because they will be there for us when we REALLY need them the most, whereas what we gained in this world will leave us at the point of death.
So is it wise to spend our whole lives working for this world in expense of the next? Are we going to be here for that long that we should do so much for this world and neglect our final destination?
The succession of the night and day teach us an important lesson about this life; what goes will never come back again. This lesson is only understood by the wise people and leads them to invest all of their time in useful things as they realise that these times will never come back again. Once each second, minute, hour and day is gone it will NEVER come back. Yet our seconds go by and we do not even bother to ensure we make the best of how we spend them.
Rasulallah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) urged us to use our time in a useful way when he said: “Grab five things before five others: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your wealth before your poverty, your leisure before your work, and your life before your death.”
(Al-Hakim)
He also indicated that we are to be asked about these times and how we invested them in the judgment day. Rasulallah (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “A servants two feet will not move on the Day of Judgement until he is questioned about four (things): His youth, how he spent it, his knowledge, how he acted upon it, his wealth, how he earned it and how he spent it and his body, how he used/wasted it.”
( Al-Tirmidhi)
So, whoever used his time for the benefits and pleasures of this life will regret after he died and his remorse will be very great at two times:
When he is dying he will wish that he is given another chance or extension to his life so that he may do good as Allah says:
In Falsehood will they be Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: “O my Lord! send me back (to life),- In order that I may work righteousness in the things I neglected.” By no means! It is but a word he says. Before them is a Partition till the Day they are raised up.
(23:99-100)
The key to success in this life and the next is making the hereafter the MOST important thing to us and making it our main focus. If we constantly keep the hereafter as our main focus everyday of our lives and strive as much as we can everyday to ensure that each second is spent on building up our hereafter then we will not go wrong inshallah.
Ibn Masood said: “I have never regretted anything as a day spent of my life without doing good deeds.”
How many days have we had like this where we have completely wasted them? On the day of judgement we would want to go back so that we could gain the HUGE rewards that are available just for saying Subhanallah!
Bilal ibn ass’d once said: if we are asked: ‘‘do you want to die?’’, we answer ‘‘No’’; and if we are asked ‘‘why?’’ we reply ‘‘in order to repent ad do good deeds’’. However if it’s said to us ‘‘Ok then do good deeds’’ we say: ‘‘Yes I will do’’; we keep working for this life everyday and postponing working for the hereafter.
We CANNOT afford to waste a single second in this life wasting it on that which will give us no benefit in this world or the next. Once our focus becomes the hereafter then NOTHING else will matter. Even things that we do in this world like work, study, look after and provide for family, parents, wife children etc will be like worship for us because we will do them for the pleasure of Allah. Even going to the toilet can be a worship if done in accordance with the Sunnah. Our WHOLE life from sleeping, eating, going to sleep and even breathing can become reward and worship with the right intentions so let us not waste a second more.
In the hereafter, when people are rewarded according to their deeds in this life, he wishes if he can go back to this life so he can do good deeds as he has experienced the hardness of punishment.
Allah says:
They will say: “Our Lord! Twice hast Thou made us without life, and twice hast Thou given us Life! Now have we recognized our sins: Is there any way out (of this)?”
(40:11)
Qatadah said regarding the last verse: By Allah, they don’t wish to go back to their families or clans, to get more of the pleasure of life, or to spend and fulfill their desires. Rather, they wished to return in order to perform and do acts of obedience to Allah - the Almighty -; God have mercy on those who do, in this life, the same good deeds and act of obedience that the unbeliever will wish to do when they meet the punishment in the Judgment Day.
Allah Also says:
But warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are negligent and they do not believe!
(19:39)
Ibn Kathir provided the following translation for the latter verse:
(And warn them of the Day of grief and regrets) warn the creation of the Day of Distress.
(When the case has been decided) when the people of Paradise and the people of Hell will be sorted out, and everyone will reach his final abode which he was destined to remain in forever.
(While (now) they are) today, in the present life of this world.
(In a state of carelessness) with the warning of the Day of grief and regret, they are heedless.
(And they believe not) meaning they do not believe that it is true.
Imam Ahmad narrted that Abu Sa`id said that the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “When the people of Paradise enter Paradise and the people of the Hellfire enter the Hellfire, death will be brought in the form of a handsome ram and it will be placed between Paradise and the Hellfire.” Then, it will be said, “O people of Paradise, do you know what this is?” Then, they will turn their gazes and look, and they will say, “Yes, this is death.”' Then, it will be said, “O people of the Hellfire, do you know what this is?”' Then, they will turn their gazes and look, and they will say, “Yes, this is death.” Then, the order will be given for it to be slaughtered and it will be said, “O people of Paradise, eternity and no more death, O people of Hellfire, eternity and no more death.” Then the Messenger of Allah recited the previous Ayah; then, the Messenger of Allah made a gesture with his hand and said: “The people of this life are in the state of heedlessness of this life.”
Let us get ourselves out of this heedless state that we are in and let us make our ONLY focus the hereafter so that EVERYTHING we do we do to please Allah. Before we do any action we should just stop and think to ourselves "Is this action going to be of any benefit to me in the hereafter"? If it is not then let us do that which WILL be of benefit to us. This brief moment of reflection will help us throughout our lives because it will prevent us from wasting our precious time and it will enable us to spend our precious seconds pleasing Allah and doing good deeds.
A clever and intelligent person realises that they have such limited time in this world and therefore each second should be spent on doing that which will benefit them in the long term as oppose to in the short term. Short term gains are what we do for this world and long term gains are what we do for the hereafter. Now if we spend our lives living for this world then we will have gains which are so short lived and after we die what will we have for eternity? Whereas if we lived this life to a minimum and spent our entire lives working for the hereafter then we will benefit FOREVER!
This world is like a dream that will end at any moment and in the next world we will wake up from this dream and that is when reality will hit us but by then it will be too late to do anything about it. Our chance to act is NOW! Therefore we CANNOT waste a second more.
Let us spend our time learning about Islam and implementing what we learn into our lives as well as teaching others what we learn as learning is the best of all worship.
Let us enjoin good and forbid evil and give as much dawah as we can inviting people to the way of Allah. Let us attend the Masjid and keep good connection with it so that we can gain a good connection with Allah. Let us keep good and pious company and disregard those who do evil as bad company is like poison for us. Let us sit with the scholars and learned people and those who remember Allah.
Let us spend our time reciting the Qur'an as every letter is so much rewards that we cannot imagine. We will be raised among the levels of Paradise until we stopped reciting the Qur'an in this world. So let us keep reciting so that we can be raised to the highest stages of Paradise. Let us also learn the meanings of what we are reading so that we can understand what Allah is telling us and so that we can implement what Allah is telling us in the Qur'an into our daily lives.
Let us perfect our characters all of the time and whatever we need to change about ourselves for the better then let us constantly work on these things.
Abu Darda (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, "Nothing will be heavier on the Day of Resurrection in the Scale of the believer than good manners. Allah hates one who utters foul or coarse language.''
Let us strive to be the best towards others in conduct and let us serve our parents as much as we can as serving ones parents is better than jihad.
Let us give as much as we can to charity for the pleasure of Allah for we will regret the money we wasted and did not spend in the way of Allah.
Let us also busy ourselves in prayer and much prostrations in the for of nawafil prayers because the more we prostrate to Allah in the form of prayer then the higher our ranks will be in the hereafter.
We should always ask of Allah in dua and know that dua is the weapon of the believer and this weapon should be used as much as possible for all of our duas that are not answered in this world will be stored for us in the hereafter and when we see the reward of those duas we thought were not accepted then we will wish that NONE of our dua's were ever accepted just so that we can gain these HUGE rewards.
We should be of the appreciative and thankful and always thank Allah for everything he has given us because he has done so many favours for us that we can never imagine. Allah gives more to the thankful and increases them in blessings.
-Allah likes those who are thankful
[39:7]
-Allah rewards those who are thankful
[3:144]
-Allah gives more benefits and blessings to those who are thankful
[14:7]
-Allah protects those from harm who render Him thankfulness
[54:34-35]
Also let us be patient through trials, hardships and adversities because they will help rid us of sin and it may be that a person who went through much trials in the world would face Allah with little or no sin and imagine how lucky that person would be on a day when we will tremble for the sins we committed in the world. What a terrible day that will be. So we should spend our time in repentance and have hope in the mercy of Allah and at the same time have fear that our repentance and deeds won't be accepted. Hope and fear should always be balanced and one should not have too much hope and one should not have too much fear but strike a balance between the two.
Let us keep our tongues moist with the remembrance and glorification of Allah, How easy is it for us to utter useless words but how much will we regret when we realise that instead of all the useless talk we did in the world we we could have glorified Allah and even one glorification of Allah like Subhanallah and La ilaha ilallah gains one rewards one cannot imagine. It is just that in this world we cannot see these rewards but when we will see the rewards for ourselves on the day of judgement then we will say "Woe to me i wasted my life in useless talk when i could have been glorifying and remembering Allah."
Hadhrat Mu'az [RA] narrated Rasulallah (sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “The Inhabitants of Paradise will not be grief stricken or sorrowful about anything they did in the life of the world except for the time they spent without being in the remembrance of Allah”
(Tabaraani)
We can remember Allah where ever we are no matter what we are doing and this is the best thing we can do in our lives is to constantly remain in the remembrance of Allah. If we alwyas have Allah in our hearts then we will do EVERYTHING to please him and refrain from anything that displeases him.
The Prophet of Guidance (sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) told us that remembrance of Allah is the best and the purest deed.
Abu Dardaa narrated that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “Shall I tell you of the best and purest of your deeds before your King, the one that elevates your position the most; that is better for you than meeting your enemies whose necks you strike and they also strike your necks, and better than spending gold and silver?”
The companions said, “O Yes.”
The Prophet (sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) then said, “Remembrance of Allaah, the Exalted.”
(Ahmad, Tirmidhi and others).
My Brother let us take heed and make the changes in our life NOW for tomorrow may never come and then we will regret the precious short time we have wasted in our lives on useless pursuits.
Let us think before doing any action to ensure that EVERYTING we do we do to please Allah and if it will benefit us in the hereafter then we should do it but if it will only waste our time then we should not do it.
We CANNOT put this off any longer for shaythan will always say to us "You can change after you have done this or after you have done that, You can change next week or tomorrow". But tomorrow may never come so the time to change and act is NOW!
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: “Seek sweet happiness in three things: performing prayer, Remembering Allah, and reading the Holy Quran. If you find (delight in those three things), it is alright. But if you do not, it means that the door (to Allah’s Love and Mercy) is closed; so search for the reason.”
Another of the righteous men said, “How miserable people of the present world are! They pass away from it without having tasted the most delicious thing therein.” And when he was asked: “What is the most delicious thing therein?”, he said: “Knowing Allah, the Almighty, loving Him, and remembering Him.”
So let us strive to make the best of each second of our lives to ensure that each second is spent on pleasing Allah and each second that we waste on that which will not benefit us in the hereafter will be seconds that are wasted and seconds that we will regret FOREVER!
Whatever has happened in the past learn from it now because we all learn from our failures no our successes. Therefore the past has made you who you are today. So you can take lessons from the past and be a MUCH better person now and the future. There is not a second to waste anymore.
You came on here for a reason and that reason is that Allah is wanting to guide you towards him. From this point onwards is the beginning of your new life. Leave your past behind you now and concentrate on now and the future. You have every chance and opportunity of gaining forgiveness and salvation from the fire and the punishment of the grave. You have every opportunity now of becoming close to Allah and being of the God fearing.
Your chance to change and go towards Allah is NOW as tomorrow may never come. So GRAB this chance and NEVER let it go for you may not have another chance. Death is awaiting us and any one of us may be next. The graves are ready for us and the angel of death is always waiting therefore our time is short so we need to act now.
Do you really wish death to come to you whilst you are drinking or committing a major sin? My brother many Muslims have past away whilst committing major sins and If we die in a bad state whilst committing major sins then we are doomed. The person who is committing a major sin does not have imaan at that time and if he dies in such a state then surely he will be punished severely from the grave until the fire of Hell. Is it then really worth committing such major sins which just give one more anguish and misery than any long term pleasure and at the same time one is losing the hereafter.
Therefore my brother you must stop ALL major sins immediatley for your own good. You are very lucky that you have not died in such a state. You have the chance now to stop such sins and go towards Allah. If you do not take the opportunity then it may be your only chance you have. It is clear that you heart and soul are not happy at all but you feel misery and anguish with such a life devoid of any peace, blessings or true contentment and happiness. Once you go towards Allah and start fulfilling your obligations like praying then you will feel peace, blessings, contentment and happiness that you never imagined.
Therefore my brother the first thing you must do is focus your mind on the fact that you must stop this evil immediatley and focus on going towards Allah and bringing him into your life again. In order to begin to do this you must make ghusl (bath) and then do the shahada with your heart and beg to Allah for forgiveness crying to Allah with full remorse of your past actions, with the firm intention never to go back to such a life again. Then you must begin to pray your Salaah which is our biggest obligation and the purpose of our life. You can do this gradually at your own pace as it is not easy to begin 5 times over night but you must balance this with a sense of urgency with the fact that every prayer missed is a huge obligation on us. So you should at least start off by praying just the fard for each salaah for now and then gradually bring the Sunnah and nafil prayers into your salaah.
After that take things step by step and EVERYTHING will fall into place i promise and you will have a new lease of life and a feeling you never thought possible for the feeling in your heart would be the feeling you would have longed for and it is the feeling of satisfaction that Allah gives to the hearts of the believers that fulfill their obligations to him and remember him.
Here is an E book which you should read which covers all of the basics of Islam including how to pray Salaah, do wudu, ghusl and much more and is such an easy read:
http://www.islamicbulletin.org/free_...m_children.pdf
So act now my Brother and know that whatever you need to know or ask then please ask as i will try my best to help you inshallah.
In regards to waking up for Fajr Salaah then you must take the following steps:
1. Try to sleep as early as possible if you do not need to do anything imortant after Isha Salaah because the earlier you sleep the easier it will be to wake up for Fajr
2. Try not to have any heavy meals in the evening as this will make it harder for you to wake up for Fajr
3. Try to encourage your family to also wake up for Fajr and tell them of the importance of Salaah as well as the fact that it is the purpose of our creation. If your family wakes up for Fajr then it will also be easier for you as they would also wake you up. If one or two of your family members do wake up for Fajr then tell them to also wake you up.
4. Make firm intention in your heart that you will wake up for Fajr no matter what and ask of Allah in your dua to make it easy for you to wake up for Fajr prayer.
5. Put on two or even three alarms and put them on 5 minutes apart and put them in places in your room where you know it will be a struggle getting to them. This way you will have to be wide awake to get to the alarms. As there will be three of them this will prevent you going back to bed again.
6. Most importantly when you awaken for Fajr then do NOT say to yourself i'll lay for a bit and then get up. This is the biggest trick of shaythan to make us fall asleep and miss Fajr prayer. As soon as the eyes are open then go straight to the bathroom.
These articles wil help you to maximise the amount of good deeds you do everyday inshallah:
10 Steps to Increasing our Iman(Faith)
http://www.islamicboard.com/manners-...man-faith.html (10 Steps to Increasing our Iman(Faith))
30 ways the youth should spend everyday of their lives!
http://www.islamicboard.com/manners-...eir-lives.html (30 ways the youth should spend everyday of their lives!)
Easy Dhikr which is light on the tongue but heavy on the scales!
http://www.islamicboard.com/manners-...vy-scales.html (Easy Dhikr which is light on the tongue but heavy on the scales!)
My Daily Ibadah (worship) check!
http://www.islamicboard.com/manners-...hip-check.html (My Daily Ibadah (worship) check!)
10 steps to getting closer to Allah
http://www.islamicboard.com/manners-...ser-allah.html (10 steps to getting closer to Allah)
Forty Very Easy, Quick & Rewarding Good Deeds for all of us to do Everyday!
http://www.islamicboard.com/worship-...-everyday.html (Forty Very Easy, Quick & Rewarding Good Deeds for all of us to do Everyday!)
VERY Rewarding Nafl Salaahs we can Pray Everyday!
http://www.islamicboard.com/worship-...-everyday.html (VERY Rewarding Nafl Salaahs we can Pray Everyday!)
Here are some very beneficial lectures to increase your imaan and fear of Allah:
AMAZING short speech -"The Goodly Life"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fugf1DcNyc
Remembrance: ask Allah for his forgiveness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-EK9r3rMzQ
Angel of Death!!! - Sheikh Ahmed Ali
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUzRJXlB2uA
HARD HITTING Lecture on HELLFIRE & the Day of JUDGEMENT! يوم القيامة والجحيم
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O6L_fBk7VM
Sheikh Ahmad Ali - Hellfire Talk Part 1/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWTehIeCOUU
Sheikh Ahmad Ali - Hellfire Talk Part 2/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXTtk7rWx_U
Sheikh Ahmad Ali - Hellfire Talk Part 3/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmiD86w9fBc
Islam - Punishment of the Grave by Sheikh Riyadh ul Haq
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWb-hYIm2WE
Death and the Grave by Murtaza Khan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r2nzJVecqo
How can we not appreciate what we have after watching this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkEBUC0APMg
If you need any help, advice or anything at all then please do not hesitate to ask. Please also mention me in your duas.
And Allah knows best in all matters