Blog Archives
Six ways to help lower the gaze
Source: productivemuslim.com
By:
The eyes have desires that have a great tendency to want to be fulfilled, as if there is a gravity-like force that pulls the sight to the things we should not be looking at. Like gravity, those who resist will feel the force acting on them, while those who just go with the flow will feel little or nothing at all. Like gravity, it takes a lot of strength to escape it.
18 sources of Barakah!
Source: productivemuslim.com
By: Abu Productive
If we were to look for an Islamic definition of Productivity, it can probably be summarised in the word “barakah” or Blessing. Being able to achieve more with few resources, doing much in little time, and generating a lot with little effort is surely a blessing from Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala). Yet Barakah has somehow become a lost treasure these days; everyone’s looking for it, but no one seems to find it! You always hear people complaining that there’s no barakah in their time, no barakah in their sleep, no barakah in their money and the rest of it.
In this article, we’ll solve this mystery inshaAllah: we’ll find out what Barakah is and where you can find it!
What is Barakah?
A Well-known daee explains it as follows:
والبركة: هي ثبوت الخير الإلهي في الشيء؛ فإنها إذا حلت في قليل كثرته، وإذا حلت في كثير نفع، ومن أعظم ثمار البركة في الأمور كلها إستعمالها في طاعة الله عز وجل.
“Barakah is the attachment of Divine goodness to a thing, so if it occurs in something little, it increases it. And if it occurs in something much it benefits. And the greatest fruits of Barakah in all things is to use that barakah in the obedience of Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’ala)”
12 Tips from the Sunnah to Communicate Effectively with Others
Source: productivemuslim.com
By: Noorul Irfana Mashooq Rahman
We communicate with people on a daily basis, and what’s better than learning some important types of etiquette that could improve our daily interactions! I personally worked as an elementary school teacher in Sharjah for a period of time. After Allah 
blessed me with my third child, I couldn’t get back to work and I didn’t miss the work environment much except for a few wonderful things that used to happen. I reminisced all those small, lovely things and especially remembered the peace greetings.
The school where I used to work, being an Islamic one, had the full Islamic greeting instilled in its students from an early age, so whenever I used to enter any classroom and utter the greetings of peace, the entire class would reply, ‘wa’alaykum as-salaam warahmatul laahi wa barakaatuh’ (and may the peace and blessings [of Allah] be upon you) in unison.
It was so beautiful, so pleasing to the ears and I had taken it for granted! Though I knew I could not have that many duas showered over me now that I was at home, I made a mental note to use every talking/meeting opportunity (provided the kids weren’t crying or in tantrum-mode) to say the full greeting to everybody with the hope of receiving the same beautiful greeting; a small decision with much to yield, In sha Allah.
Prioritising for Productivity
By: Amal Stapley
Source: http://productivemuslim.com/
Do you have a massive To-Do List that keeps getting longer and longer, and, although you run around like crazy, ticking things off it, you never feel as if you’re achieving anything productive?
There is a solution, alhamdulillah, and you’ve probably heard it before, you need to prioritize! But how do you do that? To work out your priorities, you’ll need to have a system. This will require you taking some time out of your busy routine just to sit down and work out, but insha’Allah, the end result will be worth it.
Overcome Soft Addictions: Habits That Keep Us From Our Goals
By: Saadia Jabbar
Source: http://productivemuslim.com/
We are witnessing a growing trend of addictions to what I would like to call demoralising desires and temporary pleasures.
We know of our purpose, we know of our destination — so why do we continue to live for the dunya (this world, as opposed to the Hereafter) as if it were our only goal and the real essence of our existence?
This life is but a preparation for the next. We must focus on our destination and choose our paths wisely.
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. [Qur’an: Chapter 51, Verse 56]
Yet we find ourselves sitting in front of televisions, computer screens and game consoles, investing our precious time in unprofitable matters, and in many cases, haram exposure. We waste away our wealth in masking our insecurities and fulfilling a moment’s thrill for a lifetime of debt. We are even shamelessly falling deep into the culture of drugs and alcohol despite their clear forbiddance in the Qur’an!
10 Tips for Maintaining Your Health After Ramadan
By: Nadine Kamal
Source: http://productivemuslim.com/
Every year, the Holy month of Ramadan provides us with the opportunity to eliminate unhealthy eating patterns and gives our overburdened digestive systems a much needed break. During this sacred month, the rituals of fasting, night prayer and reading the Holy Qur’an on a daily basis can have a transformational effect on our overall sense of well-being and contentment.
However, now that the blessed month of Ramadan has passed and the Eid ul-Fitr festivities are over, here are 10 tips for maintaining the incredible health benefits and habits that you worked so hard to gain in Ramadan.
Mohammed Faris: Productive Ramadan Tips (Video Playlist)
Mohammed Faris, founder of ProductiveMuslim.com (aka Abu Productive), shares with you daily tips to help you become productive during Ramadan. In this episode you’ll learn about:
Sustaining energy throughout Ramadan with the power of “Intentionality”. This is not about simply stating intentions but being “Intentional” about how you’ll spend your Energy, Focus, and Time to maximize your Ramadan potential.
If you like these videos, like, share, comment below or subscribe to our newsletter and get these videos sent to your inbox daily: http://productivemuslim.com/newsletter/
Productivity Ninja: Staying Disciplined; Overcoming Resistance
Managing Attention
Realising the need to get beyond time management and start to manage your attention to its optimum capabilities is a huge step forward. Develop a good sense of your daily attention flow so it dictates the rhythm and difficulty of your work at different times of the day. Give yourself permission to handle the low brow and easy tasks when you are flagging at inactive attention lows, but equally be sure to bite off the most difficult tasks when your proactive attention has you salivating for results.
Protecting Attention from Interruptions
Remember, proactive attention is your most precious commodity. The vultures of interruption and potential distraction will circle you, trying to make you a victim. Stay in control. Aggressively and ruthlessly defend your attention.
Self-Awareness and Agility
A productivity ninja is agile. The plan for the day at 1 PM may be entirely different from what it was at 9 AM. Pay attention to your attention levels and change your plan if you are having one of those ‘hitting top form’ kind of days, or of course if you are fading faster than you expected.
Minimise Set-up Cost
With any new activity, whether email, writing a report or attending a conference, there is a high set-up cost in terms of time and attention. For email, you have to fire up Outlook and let the program load and synchronise with the server and open your emails. If returning to a report, you have to reread all the bits that you have forgotten you wrote last time; you have to navigate back through the document. All of these are the set-up costs of doing. The cost is twofold: It takes time and it also takes attention and energy. Working in larger ‘chunks’ (such as writing the whole report in one go, rather than trying to split it over several days) is a great way to minimise the time and attention spent in set-up mode.
Mix and Match
Potential distractions are around every corner. Do not even create the temptation to get distracted because you are bored. Keep your days and weeks fresh by giving yourself variety. So if Monday is very much a solitary thinking day, perhaps Tuesday will be full of interesting people and conversations. Wednesday might be out of the office, but allow Thursday to focus back onto admin and getting your in-tray back to zero.
Top 10 Tips to Become A Productive Muslimah
There is a profound statement by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah which says: ‘Women are one half of society which gives birth to the other half so it is as if they are the entire society.’
If women make up nearly all of society, shouldn’t we be striving to be productive in this life for the next? Yet we know it’s no easy task being a Muslimah today! In fact, being a sister, mother, wife, professional and more means a Muslimah in the modern day can find herself struggling to be productive, trying to juggle all the tasks on that ever-growing to-do list. Here’s the good news though: at Productive Muslim we believe in starting off with a sincere intention and working hard to reach our end goal.
So “who’s a Productive Muslimah?” I hear you asking. We believe a productive Muslimah is a woman who uses all the resources around her with a mission to live her life to excellence, ultimately working to achieve the highest stations in Jannah. Once a Muslimah in the world is armed with these tools she can achieve some great things insha Allah!
In this article we’re going to start exploring the top 10 tips to becoming a Productive Muslimah and we’ll look at the practical steps you can take to live a more productive life.
1. Have sincere intentions
At Productive Muslim we have a motto which says: ‘Have sincere intentions and work hard’. This is the motto of the life of a productive Muslimah. By beginning with sincere intentions in any of our actions, whether as a working professional by going to work with a good intention to bring about positive difference or as a busy wife or mother looking after the family, we are able to gain rewards and blessings in our actions so start off with a sincere intention always!
2. Be proactive
One of the best lessons I’ve learnt in life is that in order to be productive, we need to be proactive. This doesn’t mean in order to be productive you have to be busy; in fact, busy people may be unproductive. Instead, you must focus your energy on being active in areas which will bring about benefit to your overall life goals insha Allah. For example, one of the ways I am proactive is by attending personal and spiritual development courses and then sharing that with others through writing articles or delivering talks. We find that in the example of the historical and contemporary figures, being proactive is one of the traits of successful Muslimahs.
3. Seek knowledge
It is often said that if you ‘educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a nation’ which highlights the importance of sisters continuously seeking knowledge.
To become a productive Muslimah, seek out courses from those available online through various Islamic organisations to offline seminars and courses locally which will help to develop your knowledge. In the modern era, accessing books on Kindle and in libraries and bookshops means you can read up on almost any subject that you need to develop your knowledge in and then impart it to your children, families and wider community.
PASS THE KNOWLEDGE (LIGHT & LIFE) 