How to crush laziness while following Islamic teachings?

Source: http://www.idealmuslim.com/

It is the responsibility of every living Muslim to follow Islamic teachings and perform all the duties which Islam bestows upon them. In addition, following the teachings of Islam is something that a person needs to turn into a Muslim needs to turn into a hobby of theirs. Following the teachings of Islam should be included in the everyday schedule of every living Muslim. However, it is because of the fact that every Muslim follows the teachings of Islam every single day that most Muslims start suffering from laziness whenever the time for them to follow the teachings of Islam comes.

It is important for a Muslim to crush laziness while following the teachings of Islam because if they succumb to their laziness, they will not be able to follow the teachings of Islam, ultimately displeasing their creator. Laziness is the arch nemesis of productivity, which is the reason why every person should crush it. In addition, this is also true in the case of Muslims. Muslims need to crush laziness because if they do not do so, they will not be able to follow Islamic teachings.

Q&A: How can I stop thinking about women?

Question:

How can I stop thinking about women? I try too fast but don’t have enough money to get married and I try to lower my gaze but it’s so difficult. Please advise.

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Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

Thank you for your question.

Allah says in the Quran:

“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things)…” [Surat al-Nur: 30]

Al-Junayd (rahimahullah) was asked: “With what do we seek help to lower our gaze?”

He replied: “Your knowledge that Him looking upon you precedes whatever you look at.”

In regard to these verses Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) says: “So He (Allah) put purity after lowering of the gaze and protecting of the private parts. For this reason lowering the gaze away from the prohibited things warrants three great benefits. The first of them is the sweetness of Imaan and the pleasure that comes from it, which is more sweet and pleasing than that which he diverted his eyes away from for Allah’s sake. Verily, whoever abandons a thing for Allah’s sake, He (Subhaanahu WaTa’ala) compensates him with better than it…The second benefit is a light in the heart and quality of intuition… and the third benefit is the strength of the heart and steadfastness and courage. So Allah (Subhaanahu WaTa’ala) would give him, by His strength, the ability of wisdom and substantiation, and the devil would flee from him as it has been mentioned in the saying, “Whoever fears his whims, the devil would race out of his shadow.”

So part of the answer dear brother is recognizing that Allah is watching you and that by looking at that which He has forbidden, you risk losing the opportunity to see Him on the Day of Judgment.

As far as practical tips are concerned:

1. Install a firewall on your computer/laptop that filters lewd material
2. Enroll in a program online to help you deal with pornography. Purify your gaze is one that I would recommend.
3. Try not to put yourself in a situation that will make it harder for you. So avoid places that will cause your gaze to wander and also being alone with your computer/laptop/TV.
4. Fasting controls ones desires and builds that consciousness in Allah needed to fight this disease.
5. Remind yourself frequently of the reward of paradise for lowering your gaze.

May Allah make it easy for you and grant you strength and firmness. Ameen

And Allah knows best.

Answered by Shaykh Omar Suleiman
Hadith of the Day Imam
Director – Islamic Learning Foundation

Suicide in Islam

Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “None of you should wish for death because of a calamity befalling him; but if he has to wish for death, he should say: “O Allah! Keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and let me die if death is better for me.’ ”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 70 Hadith 575

Narrated Thabit bin Ad Dahhak: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever intentionally swears falsely by a religion other than Islam, then he is what he has said, (e.g. if he says, ‘If such thing is not true then I am a Jew,’ he is really a Jew). And whoever commits suicide with piece of iron will be punished with the same piece of iron in the Hell Fire.” Narrated Jundab, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “A man was inflicted with wounds and he committed suicide, and so Allah said: My slave has caused death on himself hurriedly, so I forbid Paradise for him.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 23 Hadith 445

Narrated Qais bin Abi Hazim: We went to pay a visit to Khabbab (who was sick) and he had been branded (cauterized) at seven places in his body. He said, “Our companions who died (during the lifetime of the Prophet) left (this world) without having their rewards reduced through enjoying the pleasures of this life, but we have got (so much) wealth that we find no way to spend it except on the construction of buildings. Had the Prophet (peace be upon him) not forbidden us to wish for death, I would have wished for it.” We visited him for the second time while he was building a wall. He said, “A Muslim is rewarded (in the Hereafter) for whatever he spends except for something that he spends on building.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 70 Hadith 576

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever purposely throws himself from a mountain and kills himself, will be in the (Hell) Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever; and whoever drinks poison and kills himself with it, he will be carrying his poison in his hand and drinking it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever; and whoever kills himself with an iron weapon, will be carrying that weapon in his hand and stabbing his abdomen with it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 71 Hadith 670

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Ten-Point Plan For What To Do On The Night Of Power

Photo of a ray-less Sunrise, a sign of Laylat’l-Qadr the night before

Source: http://almaghrib.org/

We prepare ourselves so well for Laylat’l-Qadr in terms of what it means to us andwhen it will be, but when we get there many of us don’t know what to actually do on the night itself and achieve the success being offered!

So, we came up with a plan as gleaned from the actions of the blessed early generations:

1. Prepare a list before the evening starts listing all of the specific du‘ās you want to make. This is not necessarily a Sunnah of course – this is only because the Muslims of our generation are not so great at ritual worship and making long, detailed meaningful du‘ās by ourselves; thus we need help, direction and structure.

2. Pray ‘Ishā in Jamā‘ah – that’s half the night in prayer achieved as stated by the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in Muslim, and that’s a portion of Laylat’l-Qadr achieved as stated by some of the Salaf like Ibn al-Musayyib and al-Shāfi‘ī.

3. Pray with the Imām, don’t leave him after 4 rak‘ah or 8 rak‘ah or whatever. Finish the Tarāwīḥ prayer with him and the Witr prayer as well, even if he prays it early in the night. You have now achieved the reward of praying the full night, which if it is Laylat’l-Qadr, then you’ve in sha Allah achieved the full reward of standingthe night of Laylat’l-Qadr as stated by the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam).

4. Avoid setting up two night prayers, calling them Tarāwīḥ and Tahajjud.Either elongate one of them to last longer in the night, or just pray one of them completely with the Imam with Witr. This is the Sunnah of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in Ramaḍān: a single congregational prayer, not two separate ones, is the action of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam).

5. Make a HUGE amount of du‘ā during ALL the rest of the time available before Fajr starts.

6. If you feel the need to take little breaks in the night, only do the following in them:

a) Give plenty of Ṣadaqah, carefully and judiciously, to the highest-returning projects as possible, across as many fields and initiatives as possible, as varied as possible, as much as possible. Take advantage of the hugely multiplied rewards on offer. You can plan this in advance online to save time browsing on the night itself.

b) Read or reflect on something beneficial about Allah or read the Qur’ān itself. Focus on His Mercy. And then call upon that Mercy later in your du‘ā.

c) Keep your tongue busy with dhikr. Don’t waste a single second talking, watching or listening to anything from the dunya if possible. It’s just not worth it. It can wait one night.

7. If you want to bank on just one du‘ā to really focus on during this night then choose the best Prophetic one of:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي

Allāhumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuḥibbul ‘afwa, fa‘fu ‘annī

(O Allah, indeed you are the One who pardons, indeed you love to pardon. So please pardon me.)

8. Reduce the amount of food and time you will spend on eating Suḥūr so that you can spend more time making du‘ā. This night is about standing in prayer, yes, but if you’ve done the above, then that standing is sufficient. Now make the night allabout du‘ā.

9. Pray the Fajr prayer in Jamā‘ah with the Imām. You have just achieved standing the entire night in prayer as stated by the Prophet (ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in al-Bukhāri. So that’s all of Laylat’l-Qadr in standing achieved if it was indeed that night. Doing this is like a double guarantee for the night

10. Finally, after your dhikr until Sunrise and your Shurūq prayer, get to sleep quickly so as to not to sleep too much during the day because there’s more ‘ibādah to be done on the 27th day too, to complete a successful night of al-Qadr as per the actions of the Salaf.