Three simple health tips for Ramadan

By: Mohamad Kadry

Source: khaleejtimes.com

Fasting during the month of Ramadan can bring out many changes in those who observe it, but gluttony and laziness should not be among them.

These are problems that many people face each year when fasting from sunrise to sunset, tempted by copious amounts of food at Iftar combined with little to no physical activity throughout the day. But Ramadan should never be an excuse to overindulge.

While fasting, your body’s metabolism essentially slows down which can make you feel lethargic and help pack on unwanted weight. But with some careful planning there are a number of things you can implement into your daily schedule that will help you remain fit and strong throughout the month.

Six ways to help lower the gaze

Source: productivemuslim.com

By: Aiman Azlan

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.

Master anger and enter Paradise!

Source: lastprophet.info

By: Halide Yenen

One of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.) asked Prophet Muhammad for advice. He asked that the advice be short so that he would be able to remember it. “Don’t get angry,” said the Prophet. The same Companion repeated his request for some brief advice; each time he received the same answer from the Prophet each time, “Don’t get angry!”

(Source; Bukhari, A’dab, 76)

Anger is a natural, universal and intuitive emotion that human beings have been given as a means of self-defense against threats. When expressed in a healthy fashion, anger can display productive and protective results, yet its uncontrolled use leads to destruction. Anger has the effect of making at least two people unhappy.

When we feel that we are not understood, that our desires cannot be attained, that our expectations have not been met, when we sense a threat or act of aggression against our values or our loved ones, we feel as though we are in an impasse; when we are obstructed from reaching an important goal, we become angry. This feeling, while alerting us to the presence of a problem, triggers feelings of concern, hatred, revenge and aggression, all in the name of protecting ourselves.

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)”

The Procrastination Doom Loop—and How to Break It

Source: theatlantic.com

By: Derek Thompson

When I woke up this morning, I had one goal: Finish this article by 11 a.m.

So, predictably, by the time it was 10 a.m., I had made and consumed two cups of coffee, taken out the trash, cleaned my room while taking a deliberately slow approach to folding my shirts, gone on a walk outside to clear my head, had a thing of yogurt and fruit to reward the physical exertion, sent an email to my aunt and sister, read about 100 Tweets (favorited three; written and deleted one), despaired at my lack of progress, comforted myself by eating a second breakfast, opened several tabs from ESPN.com on my browser … and written absolutely nothing.

What’s the matter with me?* Nothing, according to research that conveniently justifies this sort of behavior to my editors. Or, at least, nothing out of the ordinary for writers, as Megan McArdle has explained on this site. I’m just a terrible procrastinator.

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.

How Successful People Stay Productive and In Control

Source: talentsmart.com

By: Dr. Travis Bradberry

TalentSmart has tested more than a million people and found that the upper echelons of top performance are filled with people who are high in emotional intelligence (90% of top performers, to be exact). The hallmark of emotional intelligence is self-control—a skill that unleashes massive productivity by keeping you focused and on track.

Unfortunately, self-control is a difficult skill to rely on. Self-control is so fleeting for most people that when Martin Seligman and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania surveyed two million people and asked them to rank order their strengths in 24 different skills, self-control ended up in the very bottom slot.

And when your self-control leaves something to be desired, so does your productivity.

How I’m Trying to Raise 8 Intelligent, God-Conscious Children: Interview with Sharifah Mastura Al Jifri

Source: productivemuslim.com

I’d met the eldest daughter at law school: a hafidhah who was fluent in English, Arabic and Malay, a bright student who’d studied 3 different syllabuses and was a remarkably disciplined girl for her age. When she told me all her other 7 siblings were or are becoming huffaadh and were being educated and brought up like she was too, I couldn’t wait to meet their wonder mom.

When I first met their amazing mother Sharifah Mastura Al Jifri – a petite, serene Singaporean woman; and the rest of her beautiful children at their house; I knew I’d never seen an entire productive family like this one in my life, mashaAllah.

HOW TO STOP BEING A CELEBRITY SHAYKH FANBOY OR FANGIRL AND BUILD REAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM INSTEAD

Source: muslimmatters.org

By: Omar Usman

Random Muslim Person sees inspirational Islamic video on YouTube. Random brother or sister now feels speaker in said YouTube video is the solution to all of their life problems.

Random Muslim Person finds the Facebook fan page of said speaker. They now feel compelled to comment on every single one of their statuses. For example:

Popular Islamic speaker Facebook update: “alhamdulillah Allah (swt) has blessed our family with a new baby, please keep us in your duas.” Random Muslim Person commenting on this status: “OMG SHEIKH CAN YOU PLEEEEEZ VISIT ME IN ANTARCTICA ITS MY DREAM TO MEET YOUUUUUU!!!” The only way this quote could be any more accurate is if it had an Emoji after every third word.

Love it or hate it, celebrity speaker culture is here. I wrote about this topic previously from the perspective of seeking fame. Now it is time to write from the perspective of how we view and approach Islamic speakers.