1. The Game Plan

The Game Plan There is nothing more valuable than our time or life here on earth. Our time here is very short and limited but far from insignificant. How we conduct ourselves here will determine our eternal abode in the afterlife. We don’t want to be from amongst the losers on that day who lose themselves and their families. The greatest sign of tawfeeq from Allah is that we utilize our lives only in what bene fits us in this life to please Allah and raise our degree in the afterlife. And the greatest sign of loss is that our lives are spent in the disobedience of Allah. The amount of time we waste in this life is insane.

Some of us are kept busy with countless hours in front of a screen, watching sports or binging on countless Netflix series. Some of us are into video games and spend endless hours on our PlayStations. Allah wants us on our Pray Stations, not PlayStations. And then there are those who are hooked on social media, spending hours scrolling through their feeds or plan-ning or preparing a video. Worse still is the endlessly abundant stream of pornography that alarming num-bers of our Muslim brothers and sisters are addicted to, effectively enslaved by it.

What are we doing? When will we wake up? Don’t trade an eternal Paradise in the afterlife for sixty to seventy years of this life.

It’s a bad bargain! In fact, it is the worst deal we can possibly make, and it lasts for eternity.

Our beloved Prophet said: عن أنس - رضي الله عنه - قال قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم “لو تَعْلَمُونَ مَا أَعْلَمُ لضحكتم قليلاً ولبكيتم كثيرًا”

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— here or there or making more money, but m ther, they’re concerned about obeying and ful filling Allah’s commands. But those who worship money will stop at nothing to save a few dollars. Beware.

Things to Avoid If you’re not careful, you’re going to end up taking a few steps towards Allah, but more steps away from Him. If you take two steps towards Allah by obeying Him and then two steps back by disobeying Him, then you didn’t really go anywhere, did you? Here are some of the things I avoid, and I’ve found it very useful and helpful on my journey to Allah. Avoid what you can and ask Allah for help with whatever you can’t

TV
Limit smartphone screen time as much as pos sible except when using it to attain religious knowledge or to give da’wah Music: Some religious tunes can be okay. There is a difference of opinion on the matter. Just do what you can.
Backbiting or talking about others when they’re not present in a way that would upset them if they were present Lying. Avoid it at all costs.
Mixing excessively with the opposite sex, pecially without a religious need
Looking or listening to anything that is haram Guard your senses
Guard your thoughts. Be mindful of the thoughts rising in your head. All misconduct begins with an evil thought.
Any dealings with riba (usury interesti 187

and a miswak. Utilize antiperspirant and deo-dorant. Mouthwash is essential to take care of morning-breath right when you wake up. Use good scents that are not too overwhelming or cheap. Spend on good perfume. I don’t talk ta anyone in my family before I complete all of these rituals in the morning: Performing ablu tion and using mouthwash, scented beard oil deodorant, and perfume. As a rule, make sure the person standing next to you in Fajr Salah is glad they’re standing next to you. If you’re married, don’t take your marriage for granted. Smell just as good for your husband or wife Ensure you use mouthwash and smell nice te fore you demand affection. Ensure you take care of your health by working out and cating right. More on this in Part 2 of this manual, inshallah. 2. The rights of your spouse and children: Be someone they enjoy being around. Play with your kids and don’t just buy them toys and game consoles. Go out on dates with your spouse and spend quality time together away from the kids. Take her or him to a fancy res-taurant every once in a while. Overlook their shortcomings and praise their good qualities. And most importantly, pray for them at night. 3. The rights of your parents: They are your key to Jannah (Paradise) and a long life on earth. If you care for them properly, Allah will cant for you. Be patient with them. As they grow older, it will become handler and harder to care for them. They also can trigger you more easily and more often than anyone else can. Just remember that soon, you’re go ing to be in their shoes The rights of your hrüness partners or co leagues: Make sure you don’t cheat them and always be honest with them. The honest and truthful businessman will be around the propbetsm/the Day of Judgement. It’s such a high caliber but it’s not easy. Many Muslims pray all night and fast all day but their dealings with other people in business and trade, or in the workplace, could use a tremendous amount of work. Those who worship Allah are tot concerned with saving a few bucks 185

e. Close your eyes and meditate. Visal ize that you died and those who love you most are in tears, washing you body to prepare it for burial, and then they place you in your Kafan and pay on you at the masjid. Then visuall your grave and being placed in it, and everyone walking away, and the two angels come and sit you up for ques tioning. 5. Night prayer or tahajjud. It has a secret and is a door unto Divine presence a. Wake up at least an hour before Far time enters and pray. Spend most of your salah in your sujood and practice mindfulness while in suidah. Think how Allah is watching you and fil your heart with love and gratitude for Him, and remember all of His boun-ties upon you. b. Pray at least two rukar along with Witr. If you can do four rak’as then all the better. If you have enough time, divide your tahajjud time i i Praying ii. Du’a or supplication for yourself, your family mem-bers, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and the Ummah at large iii. Istighfsar. Secking Allah’s forgiveness iv. Recitation of the Qur’an. Tahajjud is where you should complete most of your Qur’an daily recitation.

Service to Humanity There are rights we owe to Allah and rights we owe to people. Ensure that you don’t go over and beyond your obligations to Allah in a way that impacts your obligations to the creations of Allah 180 181

It comes in a hadith that the prophet anked the Sa habah: وعن أبي عريرة رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: ” اندرون من المفلس” قالوا : المفلس فينا من لا درهم له ولا متاع فقال: ” إن المفلس من أمتي يأتي يوم القيامة بصلاة وصيام وزكاة، ويأتي قد شتم هذا، وقذف هذا وأكل مال هذا، وسفك دم هذا، وضرب هذا، فيعطى هذا من حسناته، وهذا من حسناته، فإن فنيت حسناته قبل أن يقضي ما عليه، أخذ من خطاياهم فطرحت عليه، ثم طرح في النار ” (رواه مسلم) Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) re-ported: Messenger of Allah (2) said, “Do you know who is the bankrupt?” They said. “The bankrupt among us is one who has neither money with him nor any property”. He said, “The real bankrupt of my Ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with Salat, Saum and Sadaqah (charity). (but he will find himself bankrupt on that day as he will have exhausted the good deeds) because he re 182 viled others, brought calumny (slander) against oth-ers, unlawfully devoured the wealth of others, shed the blood of others and beat others; so his good deeds would be credited to the account of those (who suf-fered at his hand). If his good deeds fall short to clear the account, their sins would be entered in his ac-count and he would be thrown in the (Hell) Fire”. Reference Riyad As-Salihin 218 Source: Sahih Muslim To sure we dane’t lose our good ileeds on the Day of Judgement, we have to ensure that we fulfill the rights of people after we fulfill the rights of Allah. These are some dil hoegghts yuki have to be aware of and make an effort offl

The rights of your mafs Keeping yourself clean and tidy is essential in Islam. You can’t help others if you can’t help yourself, and you need to set a good example for others. Make sum you always smell great. Use a toothbrush 1183

Make sure you’re reading at least one new book every month to increase and improve your knowledge of the deen of Islam. I have some recommendations in the Resources chapter.

Remembrance and worship of Allah Whenever we are heedless of Allah, Shaytan has an inroad to whisper into our heads. As long as we’re mindful of Allah, the light of presence will bum Shaytan and he won’t be able to get through to your head To practice mindfulness and to get to a point where we remember Allah at all points, we will need to set a daily regimen for ourselves. In onder of Importance

Our five times daily salah a In the masjid for mon b. On time but at home for women
Daily Qur’an recitation a One he for those fluent in b. Whatever daily amount you can real with consistency if you’re not fluent 178
Daily mindful Adhkar in the morning and in the evening time with a. 100 x Astaghfirullah b. 100 x Salah on Prophet Muhammad c. 100 x Subhanallah wal Hamdulillah wa La ilaha illa Allah, wa Allahu Ak bar wala Hawla wala Quwwata illa billah
Contemplation before sleep a. Take yourself to account before Allah does b. Go over what you did good and thank Allah, and what you did bad and re-pent to Allah c. Make proper tawbah for all sins d. Clear your heart by forgiving every one, including your sworn enemies whom you despise especially those you despise. Get in the habit of asking Allah for good things for them and Allah will change how you feel to-wards them. 179

benefit, if Allah wants, he can give honor through the means of disgrace or disgrace through the means of honor. He does what He wills and He has control over everything. Da’wah Frequency There are 24 hours in a day, so try to give da’wah least 25 times a day to benefit inshallah. I will expand on this point in Part 2 of the manual, inshallah.

Learning and Teaching Our Prophet said: وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: ومن سلك طريقا يلتمس فيه علما سهل الله له به طريقا إلى الجنة (رواه مسلم) Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) re-ported: The Messenger of Allah () said, “Allah makes the way to Paradise easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge. “Reference: Riyad As-Salihin 1381 Source: Sahih Muslim 176 177 For knowledge, there’s the knowledge of virtues, meaning the rewards associated with doing certain ac-tions, and the knowledge of rulings. The Halal and Ha-ram. What’s permissible, impermissible and recom-mended from a shariah perspective. We get knowledge of virtues from the books of virtues. (See the Resources chapter.) Because we’re forgetful and there are many distractions in today’s world, we have to spend at least 30 minutes every day reading the books of virtues to stay motivated in our discipline to fill our days and nights with righteous deeds that please Allah As for the knowledge of shariah rulings and Islamic theology, we make an effort to get a hold of a trusted and traditional scholar of Islam and ask them all of our questions pertaining to the figh, or jurisprudence of worship, and the figh related to our dealings with other people. It’s also essential to learn the fundamentals of Islamic theology so we know Allah well by under-standing what He is not. Having a clear understanding of Allah’s attributes goes a long way in strengthen-ing our eman.

Narrated Anas: The Prophet () said, “If you knew that which I know, you would laugh little and weep much” Reference: Sahih Al-Bukhari 6486 Rabi’a told Sufyan, “You are made up of days, every time a day passes, a part of you passes away with it” Remember, your time is your capital, so don’t spend it on what is not necessary. Stay focused on the follow-ing four activities. If you’re not busy with one of these four activities, Shaytan is busy with you. Imam Shafi said, “If you don’t keep your nafs (yourself) busy with good, it will keep you busy with evil” The four activities are:

Da’wah (inviting to Islam)
Learning and teaching
Remembrance and worship of Allah
Service to humanity.

What are we doing? When will we wake up? Don’t trade an eternal Paradise in the afterlife for sixty to seventy years of this life.

It’s a bad bargain! In fact, it is the worst deal we can possibly make, and it lasts for eternity.