بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Have you ever examined your self? Lifestyle is very important. We have be careful when choosing our lifestyle because it is what defines us. It is about our interests, opinions and behaviours. Have you ever wondered whether you have a sustainable lifestyle ? A healthy one? A lavish lifestyle? A fun lifestyle? A religiously fulfilled lifestyle? These thoughts helps us put things into perspective.
Here are some recommendations on how to cleanse your inner self;
SELF CLEANSING INITIATIVES
1. AVOID BACKBITING:
We all know how rampant backbiting has become. It happens every day of our lives. Our family members, office colleagues, friends all sit together and engage in backbiting. It has become the new normal. we have to make sure we don’t trap ourselves in such things.
2. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:
Ability to control our emotions is very important. Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people. we need to exercise patience and self control otherwise our actions will have a devastating effect on us and those around us.
3. Remember Allah”s blessings;
In difficult times we need to sit and a get a Journal where we list all the blessings Allah SWT bestowed on you . Another way is compare oneself with People that are beneath you. This is a great coping mechanism
4. Sunnah Duas
Always put your self in a position where you learn and memorize Sunnah duas all the time. There are many duas we as Muslims are supposed to memorize such as: Dua for entering and coming out of toilet , for sleeping and waking up, for entering in and out of the masjid, when wearing clothes, after witr prayer etc. When we engage in this act , we exemplify our dear Prophet Muhammad PBUH.
If you indeed love God, then follow me, so that God will love you and forgive you your sins." God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate (Aal-i Imran, 3:31)
Al Maududi expresses the statements below about surrendering to the Sunnah:
”Leaving the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad even on a small scale could lead you to be loved less by God and His messenger. The first condition of love and affection is absolute submission. One who loves the Messenger of God, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), should submit him/herself to him and should obey his commands.”
5. Ethical standards:
As Muslims we should always do the right things. we know what is right and we should not be told to do so before we exercise it. There are so many ethical standards that we can abide by such as : obeying traffic light, not stepping on plants, maintaining good hygiene in public toilets, avoiding road rage, avoid abusing office hours etc. This makes us better people.
6. A good environment for children
Let us Train our kids with the best of manners, paste their duas on the doors, provide them with colorful praying mat, Quran and Dhikr beads. They should know the dangers of telling lies and stealing and also stress the importance of corevalues such as saying ”thankyou” and ”please”. Identify their weak traits and endeavor to work on it.
7. Ties of kinship
Maintaing ties of kinship is very important. We all want long lives so we should try and visit our loved ones. If we don’t have gifts for them, simple phone calls can suffice. Dutifulness to kinship is one of the greatest and loftiest good deeds that bring one closer to Allah. Allah, Exalted be He, says, {and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship).} [An-Nisaa' 4:1].
{وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ وَالأَرْحَامَ} النساء: 1
Transliteration: Wa ittaqu Allaha allathi tasa'aluna bihi wa al-arham
8. A little extra for guests
Discipline your self on such a way that you always go an extra mile to serve your guest.
If you normally serve them drinks when they come, this time around, add some chicken or fried samosas, it will go a long way.
Abu Shuraih Khuwailid bin Amr Al-Khuza`i RA reported: I heard Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) saying, “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day, should accommodate his guest according to his right.” He was asked: “What is his right, O Messenger of Allah?” He (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) replied: “It is (to accommodate him) for a day and a night, and hospitality extends for three days, and what is beyond that is charity.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
9. Honor people’s invitation
We all take this for granted sometimes. If we all knew the reward of honoring people’s invitations we would have rushed to it.
Anas reported: A Jewish man invited the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to a meal of barley bread and stale meat and the Prophet accepted his invitation.
Source: Musnad Aḥmad 13201
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Arna’ut
عَنْ أَنَسٍ أَنَّ يَهُودِيًّا دَعَا النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَى خُبْزِ شَعِيرٍ وَإِهَالَةٍ سَنِخَةٍ فَأَجَابَهُ
13201 مسند الإمام أحمد بن حنبل
13201 المحدث شعيب الأرناؤوط خلاصة حكم المحدث إسناده صحيح على شرط مسلم في تخريج المسند
10. Giving out your favorite things
we normally pack out all the things that we don’t need and take them to charity shop but this time around let us try something better for a change . It is more rewarding if we pick a dress that we love so much and give it out to some one .
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, said: “Charity does not in any way decrease the wealth and the servant who forgives, Allah adds to his respect; and the one who shows humility, Allah elevates him in the estimation (of the people).” (Muslim)
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