Preparation and Progress

As part of my efforts to attain consistency, readers can now expect to find at least three posts per month, a post in the beginning, middle, and end of the month inshaAllah.

The following two lectures go very well together because one deals with preparation while the other discusses progress. I happened to listen to them one after the other and the combinations of the two had an extremely strong impact on my daily actions…

Listen Here: The Power of Preparing by Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar

Preparation is the key to progress in the deen.

There are two types of people:

• One person will come late to the masjid and leave fast. He will gain minimal benefit because of his lack of preparation.
• The other person sees salah as an event and goes to the masjid having prayed the sunnah. He does dhikr on the way and prepares his heart. This process maximizes his benefit.

This applies to everything in the deen, to Ramadan, to Hajj etc. (Ramadan can meet you, or you can meet Ramadan). This applies to everything in the dunya as well. Preparation is what distinguishes people and their progress.

Always be prepared for the big event that is salah.

Listen Here: Dhikr: an Indispensable Tool for Progress by Shaykh Omar Hussaini

Dhikr prepares the heart. It is the light that cleanses the soul. Many students try to progress in the deen. They have their hands in various activities but fail to take time out for the dhikr of Allah سبحانه و تعالى‎ which makes their spiritual progress stagnate.

Beautiful Points:

• The word “bored” should not be in the vocabulary of a Muslim, “When the dhikr of Allah is there, how dare you say you’re bored?”
• If it is possible to be engrossed in the dunya, then undoubtedly there is state of obsession in the remembrance of Allah.
• The similitude of one who remembers Allah and one who does not is the similitude of the one who is alive and the one who is dead (hadith).
• What lover is there that does not remember his beloved?

Put in at least an hour of dhikr. You have to dedicate serious time in order to progress in anything in the dunya as well as in the deen.