A Youth's Search ForTruth

Some time ago there was a young boy by the name of Amsa. Amsa lived in
a little house with his mother Mariah and little brother Joshua. Amsa
worked hard everyday, listened to his mother, and often from time to
time he would go to the little mosques in town. The other boys in town
would often make fun of Amsa because instead of playing tag and
throwing rocks in the pond he would have much rather want to peer into
the door of the mosque where he would silently study and observe the
men as they prayed on there little carpets 5 timesa day. This
fascinated Amsa a lot he wanted to pray just like the men he observed,
but he knew that his friends and familywould object. So one day Amsa
just stopped sneaking to the door of the mosque and started throwing
rocks in the pond like the other boys did. Years passed and Amsa had a
family and became a good Muslim man but he never told his family that
he had became Muslim in fear of what they would say. But one day he
went to visit his mother and little brother and he noticed that Joshua
wasn't playing with the other boys instead he would go to the mosque
and peek into the door just as Amsahad did as a child. Seeing this
amazed Amsa so much that he had cried out to Allah in happiness. Amsa
immediately took Joshua by the hand and Joshua could see the visible
tears in Amsa's eyes. Amsa told Joshua all about Islam in that day and
Joshua immediately joined Islam the same day.
Allah has done somethingso wonderful for Amsa Allah gave Amsa the gift
of teaching Islam to his little brother.

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Sunnah is like Medicine

Shaikh Khidir from Toronto, Canada once gave a very beautiful example
on the importance of following the ways (sunnah) of Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him). He said that sunnah is like medicine. Usually,
when we visit the doctors for treatment, they write on the
prescriptions the medicines we need. We take these prescriptions to
pharmacists who then sell the medicines to us. Sometimes these
medicines are bitter and hard to swallow, but we still consume them as
we know that the cure is in them. Similarly, each and every sunnah has
physicaland spiritual cure for us inthis world and in the hereafter.
Even if some of sunnah are hard to follow,we should still follow them
as the cure is in them.
"...So take what the Messenger gives you, and refrain from what he
prohibits you..." Al Quran 59:7

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Ramadan Marathon! Are You Ready? Psychological Approach to AchievingYour Goals

MM Treasures are posts on MuslimMatters that we believe are overlooked
'gems' that NEED to be read, especially by our new readers.
Most people slack off all year religiously and wait for Ramadan to get
a new boost of spiritual energy. These individuals are spiritually
out of shape & religiously flabby- not praying any sunnah prayers,
lacking khushu (sincerity), barely having time to read the Quran. They
come into Ramadan completely depleted of iman, breathlessly crawling
towards the month in order to resuscitate themselves before they
spiritually die. It's a vicious cycle that a lot of people experience,
yet very few address.
What usually happens with these individuals whoare so religiously out
of shape? It takes them 2 weeks to get in the groove– the first week
will be filled with headaches and grogginess until the new schedule
falls into place, then when they finally get accustomed to the new
program, Ramadan is over. The abundance of blessings are so
overflowing during Ramadan that anyone who puts forth even the
smallest amount of effort will reap the rewards. However; they are
getting the bare minimum amount of blessings and missing out on an
ExtremeSpiritual Makeover !
What if we changed our perspective and started planning for Ramadan
the way we would plan for a marathon? How different will our
experience be if we were already prepared,sprinting into Ramadan with
full iman gusto? The way we can do that is by training way in advance
in order to build our spiritual stamina. Whether we are preparing for
Ramadan or any other event in our life there are a series of steps we
need to take in order to achieve our goals:
"A goal without a plan is just a wish." Larry Elder
1. Write down the goals, prioritize based on importance and make a plan.
Break down large goals into small, achievable goals. For instance, if
one of our goals is to completethe Quran during Ramadanthen make a
plan to read for instance 4 pages after each prayer. This will make
it easy to achieve. By starting ahead of time and taking small steps
towards the goal, once Ramadan comes along we will be prepared &
trained.
To start with the end in mind means to have a clear understanding of
the destination. Stephen R. Covey
2. We need to focus on what we want to achieve and what kind
ofoutcomes we want. Visualize achieving the goals. We need to see
ourselves overcoming our temptations, reaching our goals and having
success. See yourself achieving attainable goals for Ramadan.
What the mind of man canconceive and believe it canachieve! Napoleon Hill
3. Ask yourself good questions : The questions we ask or the questions
we fail to ask shapes our destiny. The way we evaluate our life is by
asking questions; therefore if we ask good questions then our mind can
come up with good answers which will affect our interpretation of
events. We need to ask what is good about this situation? What can I
learn from this test? How can I bring out the best in this person?
How can I make the most of Ramadan?
It's not the events that shape our life that determine how we feel and
act, but rather, it's the way we interpret and evaluate our life.
Anthony Robbins
4. Be optimistic: Having a nice, positive attitude makes all the
difference in achieving any goals. Whena person is hopeful, puts trust
in Allah and makes the necessary effort, anything is possible.
Right now we need to start implementing the steps to achieving our
Ramadan goals in order to get the maximum benefit:
1. Start fasting Mondays and Thursdays to prepareyour body for Ramadan
– this would be equivalent to 2 intensive work outs during a week to
prepare for a marathon.
'A'isha said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, used to take care to fast on Mondays and Thursdays."
[at-Tirmidhi]
2. Increase your baseline in worship by simply increasing your
worship, so if you currently only pray the obligatory prayers, start
praying sunnah and also do the dhikr afterwards – this would be like
increasing the amount of weight you are pumping in the gym.
3. Set goals for reading Quran daily - reading the Quran nourishes the
soul the way healthy, nutritiousfood rejuvenates the body.So start
feeding your soul!

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