Islamic Self Help – Page 64 – Islam + Self Help = Success in Both Worlds

May

2015

10 Time Management Tips for Ramadan – Part 1

Time Management Tips for Ramadan

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

The countdown has begun and we have less than one and half months left until the greatest month of the year, Ramadan! I’m sure by now most of you are stock-piling the goodies for iftaar and downloading as many resources as possible for Ramadan preparation but the question remains “How can I manage my time well enough to get it all done?” That is what this series of articles is going to assist you with, inshaa Allah. Without any further intro, let’s jump right into our Time Management Tips for Ramadan:

1. Plan in Advance

Time Management is divided between planning and application. Without adequate planning, there isn’t anything much to apply and the result is another Ramadan that just flies by. Don’t allow this to be such a Ramadan. You have a few weeks to plan this properly, so let’s start working on our plans now.

To plan for Ramadan, we need to be clear regarding the goals (Maqasid) of Ramadan. As per the Qur’an, we know that fasting has been obligated on us to increase our Taqwa (God-consciousness) and that the Qur’an was revealed in Ramadan as a guidance for mankind. (See Surah Al-Baqarah, verses 183 and 185)

This means our overall objective of Ramadan should be an increase in Guidance and Taqwa. Every goal you formulate must work towards these two ends. With this end goal being clear, let’s move on to the next step.

2. Calculate how much Ibaadah time you will have daily

Ideally, we all want to spend Ramadan performing acts of worship 24/7, but this isn’t realistic and most of us have other obligations that we need to take care of as well. As the zeal dies down towards the middle of Ramadan, many people get caught up in their work, family responsibilities and rest, resulting in less Ibaadah (acts of worship) being done than initially desired.

This can be avoided by working out in advance how much time you will have daily for Ibaadah, then setting goals to get that much Ibaadah done minimum daily. The formula is simple: 24 Hours – (Sleep time, Work Time, Family Responsibility) = Ibaadah time.

For example, if you need six hours of sleep daily, work an eight-hour job every day and spent at least an hour helping the children with their homework, add in time for eating Suhoor and Iftaar, time spent in traffic and rest time after eating. The average person can free up between four to six hours a day for Ibaadah in Ramadan. (Makes me wonder why we can’t do the same outside Ramadan)

Let’s work with a smaller number though, as many people have other responsibilities like preparing meals and visiting relatives. Let’s bring it down to a minimum of three hours Ibaadah daily. If you work out that you just have three hours for extra Ibaadah every day in Ramadan, that is still enough time to accomplish some major goals. Multiply three by 29 and you get 87 hours of Ibaadah. 87 hours of optional Ibaadah in one month can transform your life and increase your Taqwa dramatically.

This means if you just schedule in an hour of Qur’an reciting, an hour of studying Islam and an hour for dua and Dhikr, you can really get a lot done if you stick with that for the entire month. This brings us to point number three.

3. Set Clear Goals

Now that you know the overall goals of Ramadan and how much time you have available daily to chase these goals, the next step is to set S.M.A.R.T goals to dedicate this time to. S.M.A.R.T means that the goal is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. Let me give you an example.

If you make it a goal to study some Tafsir this Ramadan, the problem with this goal is that it is too vague (which Tafsir), not measurable (How many pages), and not attainable or realistic (does one page of Tafsir fulfill the goal or five books of Tafsir?)

A S.M.A.R.T goal would be: I want to complete studying this 800-page book of Tafsir this Ramadan. In order to complete 800 pages in 29 days, I need to read an average of 28 pages a day. This goal is:

Specific – It is a specific book of Tafsir you plan to read
Measurable – It is easy to measure and keep track of 28 pages daily
Attainable – It is possible to read 28 pages of Tafsir every day if you dedicate an hour to reading daily
Realistic – The book is at your level so it won’t be too difficult to read
Time-Bound – Ramadan takes care of this naturally as all Ramadan goals are time-bound to 29 days

Set a series of goals like this and you will have a clear concrete plan to follow for the entire month of Ramadan. As for which times of the day to dedicate to each goal, that will be discussed in Part 2 of our tips for Ramadan.

Shaykh Ismail Kamdar is the author of Getting The Barakah: An Islamic Guide to Time Management, available exclusively via Islamic Self Help.

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PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

May

2015

What exactly is Islamic Self Help?

What is Islamic Self Help?

Before looking at what is Islamic Self Help, let us define the genre Self Help. Self Help is a genre of literature that focuses on giving you the tools to help yourself improve as a person. Books focusing on confidence, stress management, time management, anger management, goal-chasing, focus, concentration, and positive psychology all fall under the category of Self Help books. Essentially, it is a book that you purchase to assist yourself in improving in a specific area of your life.

Self Help books are very popular in the twenty-first century due to the deficiency in our education system. The current school system is a twelve-year process of sapping one’s creativity, confidence and optimism, and a system in which important life skills like time management and goal-setting are overlooked, while the syllabus focuses on less important subjects like algebra and biology.

As a result, many young adults enter the adult world with no clue regarding what they want to do with their lives and how to achieve such goals. Algebra, second languages and biology aren’t going to help much if we have no idea what we are doing on this earth or what we plan to do with the rest of our time here.

This creates a dilemma for many adults who are wondering aimlessly day to day, just following social norms and suppressing all their unique talents and skills just so that they can fit in. Self-Help books exist to fill this void.

The problem for Muslims, however, is that most Self-Help books are written from a secular perspective leaving many readers puzzled as to whether the tools and skills taught therein are acceptable in Islam or not.

This is where I decided to step-in. Over the past six years, I have read dozens of Self-Help books and as a graduate in Islamic Studies, I analysed each principle and tool in light of the teachings of Islam. This allowed me to sift out the Halal from the Haram.

I realized there is a great need for books focusing on Personal Development (another name for Self-Help) from an Islamic Perspective, and decided to dedicate the next few years of my life to writing such books and articles. This is why I decided to start this website and dedicate it this topic. So inshaa Allah, through the articles and books on this website, I hope to share with you many tips and skills related to personal development, helping us all grow professionally and personally.

Not sure where to begin? Why not subscribe to this blog and receive a free copy of my e-book “10 Self-Help Tips from 10 Authentic Hadiths”. This will give you a taster of what to expect.

Apr

2015

Defying Stereotypes – How to live outside expectations

Defying Stereotypes

By defying stereotypes, these are the kind of stereotypes I am referring to:

By studying Islam, you are subjecting yourself to a life of poverty!

If you get married too young, you will not be able to have fun!

You can’t study, work and take care of a family at the same time!

If you don’t dress the way society wants you to, nobody will take you seriously!

If you homeschool your children, they will become unsociable!

These are just some of the many stereotypical expectations which I have strived to prove wrong over the past few years. Humans have a strange habit of limiting what we are capable of doing by enforcing man-made stereotypes and expectations. In many ways, we create our own limits and live our lives imprisoned by them.

Alhamdulillah, I have been gifted with a rebellious nature, which means whenever people tell me you can’t do this or that, without giving a genuine reason, I get a strong itch to prove them wrong!

Allah has created us with the potential to accomplish so much and gifted us with a religion that allows us to do any worldly thing that isn’t explicitly prohibited or harmful. This creates a situation in which there are so many possibilities and very few limits to what we can accomplish in our lives.

Yet for some reason, we were not content with the laws of Allah and decided to invent our own limitations, making life unnecessarily difficult and robbing ourselves of our own potential.

These limitations are generally linked to race, country, gender, age, family or career paths. You are told you can’t do that because you are a female, too young, too old, from a specific race, or because your family doesn’t do it that way. A lifetime of indoctrination of such self-limiting beliefs leads to young people who lack belief in themselves and are chained to cultural expectations.

It doesn’t have to be this way though. Allah has given each of us a brain to think for ourselves and the abilities to accomplish amazing things. It is up to every individual to use these skills to evaluate what to believe and what is just man-made nonsense.

From this day forward, do not allow the expectations of people to stop you from accomplishing anything great. The next time someone tells you, “You can’t do this because xyz reason,” ask them why! Is it something prohibited by the Creator? If so, thank them for reminding you and stay away from it. If not, then they need to provide a clear logical reason, otherwise it is just a self-limiting belief invented by someone.

Whenever you feel chained to such self-doubting beliefs, remember the following points:

1. Allah created you and has given you great skills and opportunities
2. Allah has given us a religion that allows us to do anything Halal we desire
3. Islam encourages us to strive for excellence (Ihsaan) in every aspect of our lives
4. You are primarily responsible for fulfilling your obligations to Allah and being your best self, not living by the expectations of His creation.

Allah has created you with gifts, skills and abilities to accomplish amazing things. Listen carefully to constructive criticism but ignore the doubters who tell you you can’t do it, simply because they did not chase their own goals and dreams.

Break that stereotype, defy those expectations and let the world see that, with the help of Allah, we have the ability to accomplish far more than we thought possible.

Best Of Creation: An Islamic Guide to Self-Confidence is available for purchase and download here.

Apr

2015

What is Positive Stress?

What is positive stress?

Any stress that pushes you to do your best and improve is positive stress. We all need a push to improve. Without such a push, we just fumble through life without accomplishing anything. For success in both worlds, stress is necessary, and there are many examples of positive stress in both our spiritual and material lives.

An example of a spiritual form of positive stress is the fear of the Hellfire. As Muslims, we believe that the Hellfire is a real creation of Allah, and it is the final destination of those who consciously reject Allah and His message. It is also a temporary destination for those who choose to live lives of sin, despite believing. Fear of the Hellfire keeps people from committing sins and avoiding obligations. This is a good type of stress if balanced with hope in Allah’s Mercy

This only becomes a negative form of stress if it is misunderstood or unbalanced. In some communities, the Hellfire is overemphasized and Paradise is rarely mentioned. Youth growing up in which communities grow up under a lot of stress to be perfect, and perfection is impossible. The result is that many young people lose hope in Allah’s Mercy, they crack under too much stress of His Punishment, become despondent and fall into a life of sin and hopelessness. Balancing fear and hope is key in making this a positive stress in the lives of believers.

We all face situations in which we are tempted to commit great evil, and nobody is watching us except Allah. If our faith is strong enough, then at such moments the stress of thinking about displeasing Allah is enough to prevent us from committing such major sins. If not, then it is at least strong enough to make us feel guilty and make us repent from our sins, as Allah is the Accepter of all repentance.

This is a good example of a positive form of stress that we cannot afford to live without. We need this stress to keep us from making mistakes that can harm us in both worlds.

Likewise, in our worldly lives, there are many examples of positive stress. A good example of this is the concept of deadlines. Deadlines exist to keep us stressed enough to get our work done on time. Without deadlines, many people will never get their work done ever. As someone who has spent the past few years in a management position, I know that deadlines are critical for successfully managing a team. Yes, they do stress employees out, but it is stress that motivates them to work and get things done, and this is positive stress.

Likewise, bills are a positive form of stress. If people did not have bills to pay and things to buy, they wouldn’t work. People who don’t need to work often end up lazy, unproductive and wasting their lives away. Knowing that you have bills to pay at the end of the month is a positive stress that leads you to excel at your career and work hard, and the world benefits from hardworking people.

The desire to fulfil your dreams and goals before death is a positive form of stress. Knowing that our time in this world is temporary pushes us to seize the day and make each day count. In this way, we strive to accomplish our goals and make the most of our lives. Without the fear of death, there would be no urgency to seize the day and make it count.

I hope this has made you realize that you do not need to eliminate stress from your life altogether. Embrace the positive stressors in your life, and accept them as a motivational source to help you excel and be your best. It is only negative stress that needs to be eliminated or reduced significantly.

The advantages of Positive Stress can be summarized as the following:

They get us to work
They push us to be our best
They protect us from sin and laziness
They give us a reason to live
Without stress, nothing would ever get done

This article is an extract from Abu Muawiyah’s upcoming book on Stress Management, available early 2016.

Apr

2015

Dawah and Long Term Goals

Over the past decade, I have seen many du’aat give up in their goals and vision because they were not seeing immediate results. This hasty attitude towards Dawah shows a lack of understanding of history and how the world works.

A critical analysis of the life of any great reviver of Islam will show us that their efforts to revive Islam took place over several decades, decades full of trials, patience, and constant growth and effort. It is very rare to find a reviver of Islam who accomplished much in a short period of time.

Some may claim that Umar Ibn Abdul Azeez revived Islam in two years, but they don’t take into consideration that it was the last two years of his life. And that it was after decades of studying Islam and serving in positions like Governor of Madinah or Vizier to King Sulaiman Ibn Abdul Malik. It took him a long time before he became Caliph and had the authority to revive Islam like that.

If you are serious about reviving Islam then you need to be ready for a life long commitment to the Dawah. This means you need to be ready to dedicate the next five decades at least to serving Allah’s Deen, whether you are witnessing results or not. This is the only way to cause real change in society, through constant life-long efforts with one’s trust in Allah. In fact, it is likely that the fruits of one’s efforts may only be witnessed in old age (like Ahmed Deedat), or may only really take place after one’s death (like Ibn Taymiyyah).

It doesn’t really matter when you accomplish such goals because your real goal is to do the Dawah for the sake of Allah and to earn His Pleasure in the Afterlife. We need to be real and focused on what matters most. Only then will we experience the true benefits of our Dawah in both worlds.

A reminder about the importance of Dawah in Surah Al-Asr

By Time
Indeed, mankind is at a loss
Except for those who believe, do righteous deeds, assist each other in the truth and assist each other in being patient and persistent.
(Surah Al-Asr 103:1-3)

Buy Now

10 Time Management Tips for Ramadan – Part 1

Time Management Tips for Ramadan

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

1. Plan in Advance

2. Calculate how much Ibaadah time you will have daily

3. Set Clear Goals

What exactly is Islamic Self Help?

What is Islamic Self Help?

Defying Stereotypes – How to live outside expectations

Defying Stereotypes

What is Positive Stress?

What is positive stress?

Dawah and Long Term Goals

A reminder about the importance of Dawah in Surah Al-Asr

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