If you’re anything like me, you’ve committed a few sins… today… since breakfast. We humans sin all the time: it’s just how Allah azza wa jall chose to make us. The important thing is repent and try. Try to be better, try to recognize your sins and things that trigger sinning. Pick one little thing to do to try to avoid the sin the next time. But don’t despair: in Surah Az Zumar, Allah tells us

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”

Continue reading “do not despair”

Many years ago, I was talking to my friend the DJ. He told me some about a mission trip he took to Africa, and said something to the effect that over there, where people live closer to the land and the natural environment, you more clearly see the hand of God in the world, but here in America, there was a filter over everything that distracted us from Him and masked His presence in the world.

So how do we get around this filter? Well, Allah azza wa jall told us

وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ ۖ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا

And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.

Allahu Akbar! Continue reading “who do you trust?”

Islam is not about perfection. Allah is alone in His perfection. Islam—the submission to the will of Allah, obeying His commandments, and following the teachings of the prophet, peace be upon him—is about striving for perfection. It’s not a race; it’s a lifelong journey. And like many journeys, there are detours, false starts, breakdowns: it’s not always smooth sailing.

So what do you do when you falter on the path to Allah? Continue reading “baby steps”