All of us want happiness. Amidst the busyness and daily stresses of our lives, we strive to find happiness, peace, and calm. But sometimes it can be difficult to find. However, it’s there. We just need to look more closely.

It’s not that difficult considering that Allah has told us of numerous ways to be happy. First, let’s start our day with Allah’s remembrance. Ensure that you have offered your obligatory prayers. Read a few azkars (e.g. reciting Allah’s praises and asking for His forgiveness). Pick up the Quran and recite a few verses with full devotion. Send salams and…

Let’s ponder on the attached Quran verse attached below about seeking Allah’s refuge from Satan.

If we think about it, Satan plays with both our hearts and minds constantly. Here are just a few examples:

• We ignore Allah’s commands and fall into sinful acts,
• we compromise on our values to satisfy the whims of our ‘nafs’ and others,
• While we may say that we trust Allah that He will do what’s right for us but our hearts stay unconvinced,
• we stand for prayers with distracted hearts and minds,
• we neglect to remember Allah during the day,
• we get angry, depressed…

Allah is the “Rabb-ul-Alameen” (Lord and Guardian of the Worlds). As Muslims, we not only believe in this fact but we are to love Allah more than anything else. Accordingly, we also long and wish to meet Allah after this life such that He is happy and satisfied with us.

Prophet Muhammad said about meeting Allah as was narrated by Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit and mentioned in Saheeh Bukhari (6026):

“Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah will love to meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah will hate to meet him.”

On hearing this from the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi…

Why is it important to have ‘Tawakkul’ in Allah? Tawakkul (trust in Allah) enables us to handle the complexity of our lives and provides us with the spiritual energy needed to ward off the onslaught of the challenges and problems resulting from those complexities.

If you haven’t noticed, our lives are multi-dimensional and complex. At any given point in time, we are constantly tackling challenges related to different areas of our lives, which include professional, spiritual, physical, relationships, mental, financial, and others. …

Islam is against all forms of racism, bigotry, and injustice. We learn this both from the words of Allah mentioned in the Quran and in the messages of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The following are some of those messages.

Quran Verses on Injustice

• “O mankind, indeed we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Aware.” — (Surah Al-Hujurat, 49:13)
• “And among His wonders is…

Allah has granted us life and we all have a duty to protect ourselves from harm in a manner that Allah has commanded us.

We also have a duty to do what we can to protect those who we are responsible for from our families, friends, and neighbors.

Wherever and whenever possible, we ought to advise others too about making the right choices to help them help themselves.

But the most important thing we can do is to pray and make a Dua (supplication) for ourselves and for everyone else.

By this we mean, we must take the time (minutes…

Madain Saleh (translated as Cities of [Prophet] Saleh and also known as cities of Al-Hijr in the Quran) is a collection of small sites located in North Western Saudi-Arabia near the town of Al-Ula. These sites were inhabited by the Nabataean civilization and the people of Thamud around 6 BC to 4 AD. Due to its historical significance and the magnificence of large tombs and structures that mark this area, the United Nations placed Madain Saleh on its World’s Heritage Sites list.

Al-Ula is a remote and sparsely populated town located about 400 kilometers north of the city of Al-Madinah…

Khushoo is about being mentally present in one’s prayers. It’s about knowing what we are reciting from the Quran and engaging our hearts with Allah when saying Allah’s remembrances and Azkar in salat and our prayers.

It’s about having our hearts and minds focused towards Allah when we are in the state of salat.

Here is a short explanation by Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) who said,

“The khushoo’ of true faith is when the heart feels aware and humble before the greatness and glory of Allaah, and is filled with awe, fear and shyness, so that…