I'm a Clinical Nutritionist with more than six years of experience in diet planning and counselling for patients with nutritional and medical problems. I have a degree in Foods & Nutrition with major in Dietetics. I believe that food has an impact on our lives in so many ways, ranging from a cellular nourishment level all the way to emotional, physical and social wellbeing. My aim is to teach you how to live your healthiest life, give you ways to enjoy simple and delicious food, provide you tools you need to feel and look your best. I believe you deserve to and can feel your best everyday.
So, join me in this goal and start living a healthy life!
Hope you all are fine and in the best of your health and fitness. I am going to share few powerful words from the book (The power of positive thinking) I was reading today because I love the statement and I actually have experienced this in my life. As I have mentioned in my profile that I am a believer of law of attraction, I truly believe of the fact ; with God (Allah) on your side and a mind set of positivity you can do wonders in life, obstacles will not look like obstacles, you will have solutions to all your problems. Trust me, from my experience I m saying this that the power of faith (Imaan) and positivity that comes from within you is the strong force that can move mountains.
William James, the famous psychologist, said:
“Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing (now get that — is the one thing) that insures the successful outcome of your venture”.
To learn to believe is of primary importance. It is the basic factor of succeeding in any undertaking. When you expect the best, you release a magnetic force in your mind which by a law of attraction tends to bring the best to you. But if you expect the worst, you release from your mind the power of repulsion which tends to force the best from you. It is amazing how a sustained expectation of the best sets in motion forces which cause the best to materialise.
So message to learn is always expect the best and get the best. Think positive and surround yourself with positive people to live a life full of peace and positivity.
Reading “The Productive Muslim” for the second time
Assalmualikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu!
I Hope you all are well and in the best of your health and fitness. I am a student of Alhuda Online, Taleem al Quran Diploma Course, Allhamdullilah I am blessed with such knowlegable teachers who guide you in every aspect of your life. Currently we are on a winter break, I live in Perth, Western Australia and here its Summer Season though, But in many countries winter is on its peak, many people are having their winter break so our Ustazah gave us some valuable and practical tips on how to be more productive during our winter holidays and how to beat laziness.
I am already following few of these tips, found them really beneficial and will follow the rest as well inshallah and I am currently reading this interesting book “The Productive Muslim” by Muhammad Faris, this is highly recommended. I really loved the content that I am actually reading it for the second time. So this is about my plan for summer holidays in Perth. I just thought of sharing few of these important tips with you. Intention behind sharing these tips with you guys is to share something which I’ve benefited from and if anyone of you follow this, it can be a source of sadaqa e jariya and can increase my reward inshallah.
TIPS FROM MY USTAZAH:
During Your Winter Break It is a good time to make up for your missed fasts as days are short.
Alhamdulillah, Companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would welcome winter with a lot of enthusiasm due to all the rewards that they could gain from it. Winter can only be a blessing to the believers, as the time we spend during it can become very valuable. It has a lot of benefits and the most obvious one is fasting. Fasting becomes easier in winters as the days are shorter and nights longer. With nights being longer comes another benefit, and that is of being able to pray at night, while still getting some rest. It is reported from Abû Hurayrah – Allâh be pleased with him – he said:
Shall I not point you to comfortable proceeds? People responded, “And what is that o Abû Hurayrah?” He replied, “Fasting in winter.”
This beautiful season gives us a chance to get closer to Allah سبحانه و تعالى , and a chance to reflect on the seasonal changes and the power Allah سبحانه و تعالى has over the entire world. If none of these do it for us, then the reminder of the extreme cold of the hell fire is sure to make a believer want to seek refuge from it. Seeking refuge by making dua is another form of Ibaadah which will increase the good deeds of a believer.
Masnoon Dua of our Beloved Prophet (PBUH)
In order for us to succeed in our ibadah, we need to efface that feeling of lethargy. A few tips which will help do that are the following:
1. Stop believing that you are lazy
Stop calling yourself lazy! Mo’min cannot be lazy, tell yourself that you are not lazy and also BELIEVE in it. By doing so, we set a bar for ourselves which we need to live up to. Make lots of du’a to protect you from this disease. Our Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم has taught us the beautiful du’a:
“O Allah, I seek refuge in you from incapability and laziness.”
Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم taught us to make this du’a to protect us from the disease which is laziness. Laziness is actually a disease of the heart which we cannot see by our naked eye, but this disease has a very bad prognosis which can lead to other problems.
2. Plan and organize There is nothing more appealing than planning and organizing things. Plan what to do and within what time frame to do it. Make check lists. Use sticky notes. Set reminders on your phone. Make posters to hang around the house. All of these things should be used to remind you that you are fit and fine, and it should motivate you to keep thanking Allah سبحانه و تعالى and seeking forgiveness.
Meet Baba & Ali 😉
3. Exercise/Walk One of the best ways to beat lethargy and laziness is to activate your body. This can easily be done through exercise/walk. Most people stop exercising in winter due to the cold mornings. This is not a good excuse and is not a reason to stop exercising! As believers, we need to take care of our body. This does not mean that we overdo it and stress ourselves out either. It just means we need to be moderate in how much and how often we exercise.
Salah, by itself is the best exercise and prescription from Allah for better health and fitness who offers it regularly. Salah provides the ultimate satisfaction and peace to the mind thus save you from many diseases and disorders. It enhances your concentration and reduces the level of depression. SubhanAllah!
Prayer Room
4. Pay attention to the times you feel energy within you Another way to perform ibaadah perfectly is to check the times when you are most energized, and use that time to perform acts of ibaadah. We need to put this sugar rush into good use.
5. Brain storm and De-Clutter Get rid of all the clutter around you, both literally and mentally. A cluttered space is sure to set you back and make you feel lazy. Clean up and stir up the thoughts in your head which will tell you what you are best at. This is Shaitaan’s another dirty tech tick to keep you away from Tayyab, clean and healthy surroundings. Remember Cleanliness is half the faith!
Sunlight/Nature Therapy
6. Get some sunlight Vitamin D is essential for us. Alhamdulillah, the blessing of Sunlight is very beneficial due to the fact that it helps us stay energized and keeps us in the mood to do things. Spend some time in the sunlight without having negative thoughts and see the difference it can make. It will at least give a signal to your brain, that “it is morning now, time to bring khair and blessings into our lives, and we need to start working!” 🙂
7. Stop the enmity with your alarm Do we not all hate hearing our alarms go off, and love that snooze button?! If this alarm is the only thing that helps you wake up for fajr, then keep it very far away from your sleeping area, and loud enough so that it can be heard. Continuously hearing that annoying alarm will make you want to get up and shut it off. By the time you get to the alarm, you are half way up!
Best thing to do is to sleep early. This is the best way to wake up. Otherwise the matter will remain difficult in most cases. Also cooperate with your family on this matter. Above all, ask Allah سبحانه و تعالى to help you and guide you, and always do wudoo’ and recite dhikr before you go to sleep, and cleanse the house of images and other things that prevent the angels from entering. Remember Allah and recite the dua as soon as you wake up. Some people may initially wake up, then they go back to sleep again. But if a person remembers Allah straight after waking up, this will loosen one of the knots of Shaytaan, and will motivate him to get up. When he performs wudoo, his determination becomes stronger, and Shaytaan is driven further away, and when he prays, his shaytaan is defeated, his balance (of good deeds) becomes heavier, and he will feel happy and energetic. Remember don’t let Shaytan win!
Ibn al Qayyim Said: “The Morning Evening Azkaar play the role of a shield; the thicker it is the more its owner will not be affected. Rather its strength can reach to such an extent that the arrow shot at it will bounce back to affect the one who shot it”
8. Be Thankful
All Praise is for Allah SWT who continuously provides opportunities for His servants to increase their hasanat and wipe away their sayyi’at. Be thankful for this beautiful time of the year in which we get another chance to gain His Raza and to get closer to Him, Be Idhnillah. Gratitude helps increase one’s blessings and makes you more productive, Alhumdullilah.
Allah says: “And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: ‘If you give thanks (by accepting faith and worshiping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings); but if you are thankless, verily, My punishment is indeed severe’” Let’s, therefore, make thanking Allah part of morning and evening adhkars to get more of Allah’s blessings in our lives, In Sha Allah. May Allah SWT bless us this Taufeeq and accept all our efforts to please him, Ameen
These are just a few tips to help us overcome the laziness that we may feel during the winter season. These tips are to give us an idea of how we can use the winter time to increase and improve our ibadah. And to benefit from this winter season to attain the ultimate raza of our Rabb, In Sha Allah
Enjoy your Winter break with your family and spend quality time with them. May Allah swt shower His endless Blessings and Rahmah on us always. Ameen
Hope you guys are well and in the best of your health and fitness. Today I was reading an interesting book named as “the Power” well slowly slowly I’m getting into the rhythm of reading again and it really feels good. Allhamdullilah. Reading actually increases your knowledge and knowledge is power you know so I’ll highly recommend; get some time to treat yourself and a good cup of coffee/tea maybe and read your favourite book, even if its just 1 or 2 pages a day or 10 to 15 minutes a day but read.
Thought of sharing few good points with you guys from this book which I loved and I’m completely in agreement. So ill choose this as a sub heading of my blog:-
LOVE Is The Positive Force That Moves You!
I was reading this interesting book today which actually explains the positive force of Love, it says that Love is not just a feeling, love is a positive force. Love is the positive force of life. Love is the cause of everything positive and good. The evidence of its power can be seen everywhere in the world, without love there is no life.
Take a moment to think about it: what would the world be without love? First of all, you wouldn’t even exist; without love you couldn’t have been born. In fact there wouldn’t be a single human being on the planet.
If you notice people around you who have a great life they actually used the power that is the cause of everything good in life. They used love to achieve it. So what does that mean? It means that the power to have all the positive and good things in life is LOVE! So having love in your life is the greatest blessings of the universe … because when you love you are using the greatest power in the universe, a greatest positive force of life.
And I tell you this is so interesting that this force of love actually inspires you to Move, gives you the desire to Be, Do, or Have anything. Take a moment and just remind yourself of all the successful people in their fields or in specific areas of their lives …. what was their driving force and the answer would be the love, love of that particular job, profession, goal and a person etc. This is so powerful my dear readers. The positive force of love can create anything good, increase the good things and change anything negative in your life. You have the power over your health, your wealth, your career, your relationships and every area of your life. And that power – love – is INSIDE YOU.
But it totally depends on us , we have a choice whether to love and harness the positive force or not. And everyday we make this choice whether we realise it or not. Next time when you experience something good in your life just look at the root cause and you will realise that you loved and harnessed love’s positive force and if you experience something bad, its because you didn’t love and the result was negativity. Just see and feel it in your self, health, relationships, career, your wealth, infact every area of your life.
Yes, its been a long time I was away, lots of other things were happening which were important too. Today as I was free, So I thought of writing something on the topic which was in my mind for so long. As I was not blogging regularly so excuse me for my first few blogs, I know they will be amateur but they will be getting loads better I hope because all good things take time right? 😉
Before I proceed, I have a question for you?
Tell me … Are you a Positive Magnet or a Negative Magnet?
Wait, I tell you what am I talking about …
In this day and age when stress is inevitable, we all know its part and parcel of the modern-day lifestyle. But you know what, even in this busy and stressful lives of ours, everyone deserves to have everything he loves and desires. Everyone is meant to have a stress free life and feel good about himself and others. And it is possible only if you have a relaxed and positive state of mind. Yes, your mind is everything.
From my experience, I have realised that whatever you wanna do or achieve in your life (either it be your big goals in life or doing nothing … even if its a daily plan, a small household chore or a big project, even if its an act of Ibadah/doing good deeds or even ploting an evil plan for someone) it is all dependant on your mind; your every action and every word is an end product of your mind. With the power of your mind you can make it happen. A positive state of mind can bring you all the goodness in your life and vice versa. Yes, you guessed me right … I am talking about Law of Attraction. Whatever you give out in life, must return to you. It’s the Law of Universe. And If you wanna read more about this subject, I will recommend you read this book named as “The Power” by Rhonda Byrne and her worldwide best seller “The Secret”.
From my experience I have learnt that we can’t change other peoples way of thinking and way of doing things, it’s impossible but what we can do is to change ourselves and the most importing thing to change in ourselves is our way of thinking. We can change our circumstances with our thinking. This is the first and most important thing because our mind is so powerful, and we can create our life with our positive and negative thoughts. Give positive thoughts and feelings and you will change your entire life. Its a simple formula for a happy and peaceful life. For instance; If you just think and feel that “life is really good to me”, “I am really blessed”, “I have so many blessings around”, “Allah has given me so much to be thankful for” … trust me by doing so you will attract back all the people, circumstances, and events that will make life really good for you. Just by changing our way of thinking we can attract the things which are positive. You are a Magnet, if you become a positive magnet then you will start attracting all those positive things in your life and if you give out negative thoughts and feelings and you will magnetise negative circumstances, people and events. Let me give you another example; give help and support a friend who is in need of your time, talk, a hug maybe, whatever, and most surely that help and support will return to you whenever you need it. On the contrary, if you give anger to someone who let you down and that anger will also return to you or if you hurt someone that pain will also return to you, clothed in the circumstances of your life. You see most people always talk about negative situations, about the things what they don’t have and things they don’t love, in this way they attract more negativity than love. Many people who have great happy lives think and talk about what they love more than what they don’t love. By doing so, they gain unlimited access to all the good in life.
If you think negative about others, about your life and circumstances then Ask Allah to give you a positive mind, a mind that thinks positive about people, about His creation, about life and everything in the universe. Declutter your mind from all the negative thoughts and ask for a thankful heart and mind if you really wanna do something good, something productive in your life. Let’s say if you wanna achieve a particular goal, just give positive thoughts and feelings “Yes I can do it” or say “Yes, I will do it” plan and execute, work hard for it and you will get all the circumstances and people leading you towards that goal, believe you me all the powers which Allah has provided to the universe will help you all the way. Same is the case with your relationships, If you are not comfortable in somebody’s presence or you have some ill feelings towards someone then try to change your thoughts, start thinking good about that person and you will attract the positive energy or behaviour from that person. Trust me this is not a bookish knowledge that I am sharing, its an experience of my life.
Point Of Action For this MONTH:
Please start FOCUSING on all the positive things, people, circumstances you have around you and ignore all the negative feelings and thoughts. So let’s try to be a positive Magnet to have a happy, stress free and healthy life.
Try this for at least one week, you yourself will see the difference. Don’t forget to leave a comment below if you tried and share your experience. 🙂
Assalamoaliqum everyone! I hope you all are doing well? As we all know we are reaching almost to the end of this Holy month of Ramadan and I’m kinda sad but it has to end – you know all good things must come to an end, anyhow so before it leaves us I won’t miss this chance to write something which you can benefit from In’Sha’Allah (If God wills) and in return I can fill my bucket of good deeds as every act of goodness in this month is multiplied by 70. So today I am going to talk about the second most important ‘food for our souls’ and that is “Zikr” – yes – “Remembrance of Allah”!
As Muslims, we all believe that we are like a traveller in this world and have to leave this world one day but still we work so hard for this worldly life, and do so little for the life Hereafter. We should try to spend more time for worship and do something in this Duniya that can be helpful for us in the hereafter. Zikr is the best thing to do even if we are busy with our worldly affairs. We lose nothing if we remember Allah (Zikr) for a little while or whenever we get free time, even if we are cooking, doing house chores, we can make ourselves busy with zikr and it will count as an Ibadah (act of worship).
Recently I got this noble oppurtunity of meeting few sisters in Deen, they came all the way from South Africa to Perth and Allahamdullilah we had some real heart to heart conversation and I felt so great and spiritually uplifted in their company. All this for the sake of Allah – SubhanAllah – the amount of sacrifice they do for ALLAH and on the path of Allah, it can not be explained in words. May Allah reward them for their efforts. I had a beautiful experience with them and most interesting part is they gifted me this book named as “Faza’il – e – A’maal” by Maulvi Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhalwi. This is a beautiful gift I could ever have, may Allah reward them for this. So I started reading this book which is divided into different sections, as I was turning pages I reached a section on “Virtues of Zikr”, out of curiosity I started reading this section.SubhanAllah, I was amazed to see that there are multiple benefits of doing zikr and I have realised that how important it is to include Zikr in our day to day life to gain more Barakah. So, I thought of sharing it with you guys.
Hafiz Ibn Qayyim, a well known Muhaddith has written an authentic book, named, ‘al – Waabilus Sayyib’ on the virtues of Zikr. He has stated therein that the virtues of zikr are more than 100 and he has listed 79 of these. I am gonna share few of these with you not all of them …
Zikr keeps away the satan and weakens his strength
It is the cause of Almighty Allah’s pleasure
It relieves the mind of anxieties and worries
It produces joy and happiness in the heart
It brightens the face and the heart
It attracts one’s sustenance
It invests the zaakirs (person who does Zikr) with awe and sweetness so that the seeing eye is filled with awe and pleasure at his sight
It is the key to nearness to Almighty Allah; the greater the Zikr, the greater the nearness to Allah, and greater the indifference to Zikr, the greater the difference from him.
Zikr of Allah causes one’s mention in the court of Allah, as Quran says “Remember me, and I will remember you”
It gives life to the heart. Hafiz Ibn Taimiyah says that Zikr is as necessary for the heart as water for the fish. Imagine the condition of a fish out of water
It is food for the heart and the soul; depriving them of Zikr is like depriving the body of its food
The words of Zikr keep on moving round the Arsh of Almighty Allah as stated in a Hadith
If one remembers Allah in happiness, Almighty Allah remembers him in his afflictions
It causes Allah’s peace and mercy to descend, while angels surround the person engaged in Zikr
It saves the tongue from indulging in backbiting, loose talk, lies and abuses. It is a common experience that a man whose tongue remain engaged in Zikr does not commit these absurdities. On the other hand, the tongue that is not used in Zikr, falls an easy prey to all kinds of useless talk
By virtue of Zikr, the Zaakir is blessed, as also the person sitting by him.
If Zikr is shared by tears and repentance in loneliness the Zaakir (a person who does zikr) will be blessed under the shadow of Allah’s throne on the Day of Judgement, when hearts will jump to lips due to agony of intolerable heat of that day
The noor of Zikr remains with a person in his life as well as in his grave. It will go infront of him on the Siraat in the Hereafter.
There is a sort of hardness in the human heart, which is not softened by anything except Zikr
Almighty Allah grants His grace to those who do Zikr, and the angels pray for them (Imagine angels are praying for you, Isn’t it worth it.)
By Zikr one is blessed with divine help that associates in all one’s doings. That is why some time man’s achievements surpass his powers, and he attains what was seemingly beyond his reach. This is perhaps the reason why our beloved prophet (peace be upon him) advised his daughter Hazrat Fatima (Radhiyallaho anha) to recite SubhanAllah – Allhamdullilah 33 times each and Allahu Akbar 34 times before going to bed at night, when she approached him for a helper, complaining that she was over-worked by the labour of grinding wheat and doing other house-hold jobs. The prophet (peace be upon him) further said, “The recitation of these Kalimahs is better for you than a servant”
The faces of those who do Zikr remain bright in this life, and will carry a special radiance in the Hereafter
One who does Zikr at many places will find many witnesses in his favour. Our beloved prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whatever deed is done, good or bad, by any man or woman on the face of the earth, the earth will describe it all, with date, time and place”
Zikr dispels every fear of the heart. It has a special hand in inducing peace of mind and for relieving the heart of its fear. The greater, therefore, the amount of Zikr, the greater freedom from fear
Gatherings of Zikr are also the gatherings of angels
After knowing all of this who wouldn’t want to do Zikr. I specifically found these virtues so inspiring. So my last note would be: get yourself engaged with Zikr and other kinds of worship, especially in this last portion or Ashrah (ten days) of Ramadan. These days are signified by increasing devotion to worship and increased good deeds. For this reason I have taken these last days of Ramadan off from all social media because I believe it’s important to recharge our souls, connect ourselves to Allah and to get ourselves spiritually uplifted so that we can face the challenges this world has to offer with powerful souls for the whole year. And Ramadan is the best time to do that, to disconnect yourself from the social media. That’s all for now, Remember me in your prayers. See you after Eid In’sha’Allah! 🙂
Muslims are ordered to pray five times a day; to keep renewing their connection with Allah throughout the day and to keep themselves on track. Prayer is like a freedom of the soul from all worldly attachments and materialistic things. And the idea that prayer (salah) could be the coolness of our eyes is something that seems sooooo beautiful.
Prayer has tremendous benefits both physical and spiritual. It energises the souls and help us transcend to a higher level of awareness. Studies show that engaging in regular ritual activities helps us relax, which in turn adjusts our blood pressure and heart rate, and harmonises our breathing. Relaxation reduces the over-secretion of adrenaline resulting from the constant stresses of life. By reducing stress, one empowers the immune system, protects the heart and adjusts one’s blood pressure and circulation. This regular act not only harmonises the soul, but also heals our physical ailments and helps us cope with the tensions of everyday life. Many studies now show the evidence of reduced rates of depression, sorrow and pessimism among individuals who perform their prayers regularly. I actually have experienced this in my life, from the day I started getting regular with my prayers I felt more in peace, more happy and contented.
From The Life Of Our Beloved:
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent as a role model for all humanity. And we should take his life as a role model for us in every affair of life and should mould our character and day to day life according to it. After performing my first Umrah, I started learning about my deen (religion), wanted to develop a true love for our beloved Rasool Allah (peace be upon him) so I started this quest for Seerah books. When I started reading about him I got more curious and wanted to know more about him; how he used to do Ibadah (worship), what he used to eat, how he used to spend his day and all that balance of Deen and Duniya he brought into his life so I continued reading about his life and I have learnt few things (still learning) and I’d like to share it with you guys, you know just a little bit of his prayer routine mixing with our current routines.
If you study the life of our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him), you will get to know how the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned to prayer when he had any worries or problems. Allah says in Qur’an:
“And seek help in patience and prayer, and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for those who have true humility {those who obey Allah with full submission, fear His punishment, and believe in His promise(Paradise) and in His warnings (Hell)}”.
Quran 2:45
Allah also says:
“O you who believe! Seek help in patience and Prayer. Truly Allah is with the patient ones”.
Quran 2:153
Prayer Routine: Early in the morning, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to wake up, drink a cup of warm water with one teaspoonful of honey dissolved in it, and then pray. After Fajr prayer, he rested for meditation and morning Dhikar-Allah (Remembrance of Allah) till sunrise, when he prayed Duha prayer (a non obligatory prayer in the forenoon). This habit is very beneficial for increasing concentration and mood elevation throughout the whole day. Waking up early and drinking a honey tonic enable the brain to secrete enough serotonin to boost one’s mood for the rest of the day. Always try to keep this thing in mind that the 2 hours after sunrise are the peak production time of serotonin, the hormone responsible for a feeling of well being and for uplifting the mood.
After Duha prayer, It is time to start work till noon, when we take another short break to recharge our souls with an extra boost of energy while praying the midday prayer (Dhuhr). Our beloved used to take a short nap (Qailoola) before Dhuhr. You can take 5 to 10 min nap minimum and 30 to 40 min maximum, It’s a power nap and will recharge you for the rest of your day. Then after Dhuhr we resume work till Assar (afternoon prayer) time, about which we are specifically ordered by Allah to respect its timings:
“Guard strictly the (five obligatory) prayers, especially the middle prayer (the Assar prayer). And stand before Allah with obedience (and do not speak to others during the prayers)”.
Quran 2:238
The middle prayers are believed to be Fjar and Assar prayers. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
“The angels descend to you in succession by night and by day, but they all gather together with you at the dawn and afternoon prayers. Those who have passed the night with you ascend to Heaven and Allah asks them, although He is well aware: “How did you leave my servants?” The angels reply, “They were praying when we left them and when we arrived we found them praying”.
Bukhari
SubhanAllah!
In order to respect ‘Assar prayer timing‘, people should not sleep after lunch time. This is beneficial to health, as sleeping directly after eating slows down digestion and weakens the body. After Assar Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to take another few minutes for meditation and evening Dhikar-Allah. After this little rest, the body is fully reenergised for resuming work till sunset (Maghrib)prayer, after which comes dinner time, followed by some gentle physical exercises such as walking, which aids digestion, benefits the metabolism, strengthens the heart and boosts blood circulation. At the end of the day it is time for the evening prayer(Isha), then a early to bed for a good night’s sleep.
How To Improve Our Salah:
To be able to pray five times a day, to truly enjoy it and find such an intensity of happiness in it that you call it the coolness of your eyes, seems like such a blessing and something to truly aspire to. There are a number of things that we should do to improve our salah and through it our lives in’sha’Allah …
So first things first, We should learn more about salah – I will talk about myself here, I really want to review my recitation in salah and whether the movements and positions are accurate.This may seem very basic but whenever I reflected I found out every single time there has room for improvement. Sometimes I perform salah with full speed and worldly thoughts in my mind especially when I am in social gatherings, or in the market, sometimes in the middle of the daily chores. I really need to improve this.
I would also like to study a little more about the benefits of salah and also the punishments for leaving salah. I believe that these are the things that will help to inspire and motivate me in’sha’Allah.
Reflect on salah – I want to spend a little time reflecting on the words and the meanings in salah.
Dedicate more time to salah – I often miss the Nawafil part of my prayers. I really need to work on that. Ramadan is the best time to offer Nawafil and to get into the habit.
So, that’s about it. I will end my blog here but before I leave I’d like to share something which inspired me: In autumn, usually the leaves of the trees fall in large numbers, so much so that on some trees not a single leaf is left behind. The same is the effect of salah performed with sincerity and devotion. All the sins of person offering salah are wiped off. SubhanAllah, Isn’t it amazing? Of course we all want to get rid of our sins, don’t we? I can not even try to explain the marvellous effects of a true prayer. One who practices it will soon feel and learn for himself; it is enough to mention this Hadith here:
“If one prays two Rakah with full concentration, Allah forgivers that person for whatever sins were committed before”.
Bukhari & Muslim
So, just try to perform your prayer with a complete sense of humility and submissiveness to Allah. Put all worldly thoughts behind you, in prayer you are directly addressing Allah. You should try to sense the meanings of each word and verse you are reciting; contemplate these meaning as deeply and sincerely as you can to keep you away from whispering of the devil (Sheytaan). Let’s make our prayers better and full of devotion. I will try to follow it as well because all of this is a reminder for myself first and foremost.
In our religion (Islam) we believe that Allah (God) created human beings with both a body and a soul; the body was created from clay and a soul was a breath from the spirit of the Almighty. Throughout our daily life we eat, drink, work, learn and rest; while we are nourishing our physical bodies, we rarely remember the food of the soul: It’s connection with its creator – ALLAH, how it craves for Allah’s pleasure, compassion and satisfaction. The soul is a specific creation sent by Allah is also satisfied and fed through something that Allah specifically sent, like the Quran (Holy book)
In this day and age, it’s very common to see the imbalance of our spiritual bodies. We spend hours and hours to feed our physical bodies but forget to nourish our souls. The imbalance of the spiritual body actually occurs when the soul disassociates itself and disconnects from Allah; when it strays away from the straight path. We get so much busy in this material or physical world that somehow we lose this connection from our lord. Submission to Allah, connecting back to Him is the only saviour of the soul: It is the only spiritual healer. This is the fact that is well known but intentionally ignored by human beings who vainly search for their happiness and peace of mind in worldly gains and transient trivial pursuit.
To cut the story short, just like we feed our physical body with food everyday, we need to feed our souls as well. This is the food which is very essential for the survival of our souls. Now the question is what exactly is the food for our souls? I believe anything that connects you to your Lord is the food for your soul, either it be the holy book ‘QURAN’, Prayers, Zikar/Remembrance of Allah, or a spiritual lecture, spiritual gatherings or even connecting to nature and remembering Allah. Because Allah has created this world for us to ponder and praise His glory.
Keeping all this in mind I came up with the idea of starting this new series ‘Food for my soul’ in which I will try to draw your attention towards the intake of spiritual food and will try to connect myself first and then you guys with our Lord the most high, the merciful. May Allah help me and guide me in this. So be with me and keep reading this new series “Food for my Soul” to nourish and keep your soul alive. If you have any suggestions for this new series or any spiritual writings please do share with me on my Facebook page ‘My healthy Life’ and I will share it on my blog with your name, In’sha’Allah!
Cheers xx
Pics were taken at the Silver Sands Beach, Mandurah
I hope you are doing well and having a productive Ramadan. Today is the 6th day of fasting in Perth, Western Australia. And it is going really well, Allhamdullilah (praise be to God). I have so many things in my mind these days, loaded with so many ideas for my blog and my Facebook page 😉 I wish and pray that I can benefit you guys with little knowledge that I have, and of course you will get to know them soon, In’sha’Allah but for now I have something to share. The idea of sharing my suhoor and Iftar meals struck my mind today. So here I am with my suhoor meal … this morning for Suhoor I had this bowl of nutrition goodness with 3 Ajwa dates. This healthy delish light breakfast includes fresh fruits with a large dollop of organic yogurt and a sprinkle of chia seeds and cumin seeds on the top. This bowl is packed with a massive amount of nutrients and will give me a boost of energy for the day.
Chia seeds:These tiny chia seeds pack a powerful nutritional punch. They are thought to be the richest provider of omega 3 fatty acids, and soluble dietary fibre that we can add to our diets. The protein content is enough to meet the full amount of daily protein required in our diet. This tiny seed also provide us with vitamin B, C, E and calcium.
Cumin seeds:The health benefits of cumin include its ability to aid in digestion, improve immunity and treat piles, insomnia, respiratory disorders, asthma, bronchitis, common cold, lactation, anemia, give you a clear and glowing skin and what not.
Yogurt:Yogurt is full of protein plus several other nutrients found in dairy foods, like calcium, vitamin B-2, vitamin B-12, potassium, and magnesium. But one of the important thing regarding yogurt is “probiotics.” I use Jalna’s biodynamic organic yogurt which is full of probiotics.
Apple and Grapes: Who doesn’t know the benefits of fruits. We all know that they are a very good source of fiber, antioxidants and other minerals and vitamins. Obviously you can use whatever fruits you fancy – I used pink lady apple, red and green grapes. (two of my absolute favourites). You can use banana, blue berries, strawberries, mangoes or any seasonal fruit – it’s completely your choice.
I really hope that you find this blog useful and I would love to know what did you eat today in Suhoor? 🙂
Five family friendly snacks – click on the picture above
Why is that we spend a whole month of fasting, yet rather than losing weight we actually put on weight? I tell you why? It’s because we take this month as a month of food and forget the real essence of fasting and we overindulge ourselves, instead of eating less we actually overeat. Overeating has been frowned upon in our religion as it is thought to increase worldly appetites and cause sluggishness, thereby ”dulling the soul”. Ghazali said that satiety results in laziness and sluggishness of the heart; it slows down perception and awareness, while hunger clears the mind and purifies the heart. So, the whole purpose of fasting here is to have a lighter body in order to free the soul and focus on more important spiritual matters.
BENEFITS OF FASTING:
Fasting has lots of physical and spiritual benefits. I’m going to discuss some physical benefits here. Accordingg to Dhahabi in his ‘Medicine of the Prophet’, it was thought that the stomach was ”the seat of disease”. Fasting gives the digestive system a rest and makes the body feel lighter. The energy usually consumed in digestion and food metabolism will be directed towards body detoxification, tissue repair, and system healing.
Leon Chaitow recommended fasting in his book ”Natural Alternative to Antibiotics” as an effective way to ‘supercharge’ the immune system. He states that fasting boosts the activity of essential parts of the body’s natural defence mechanism. During fasting the ability of the lymphocytes and other blood cells to encounter any bacterial attack is much improved, and since the level of free radicals in the body is reduced by reducing food intake, the activity of the antioxidants is retained for better cell protection. Fasting also boosts the detoxification powers of the hepatic (liver) cells, cleans the kidneys and colon and purifies the blood. Furthermore, it helps overcome obesity, aids in ridding the body of any excess water, and clears the blood from extra fats, which in turn frees the tissues from stored fat-soluble toxins such as pesticides or drug metabolites.
In this month of Ramadan, we should aim and plan to gain the full benefits of fasting by eating healthy and controlling our portions of food. Always remember our body is a gift from Allah; He trusted our bodies to us to take care of for a fixed period of time. Taking care of it in the best way possible is our responsibility. The prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“God has a right over you; your body has a right over you …”
While we focus on our spiritual upbringing in this month, we also need to focus on our physical well being. To strike a balance between the needs of the physical body and your spiritual needs, you must consume the right type and amount of foods. Now let me share a few tips on what to eat and what not to eat during Ramadan.
WHAT’S FOR SUHOOR?
The prophet (Peace be upon him) strongly advised people not to skip suhoor (the meal before dawn). He recommended eating this light meal as close to dawn as we can, to be able to keep our full strength during the day. If you skip out on suhoor, you are putting your body in starvation mode and actually only going to cause yourself to overindulge at Iftaar time. So, eat sahoor. The prophet (Peace be upon him) said:
“There is a blessing in eating sahoor so do not skip it. Atleast drink a sip of water, for Allah and his angels give their blessings to the people who eat their meal before the break of dawn”.
Ahmed
List Of Food You Can Eat:
The best foods for suhoor are:
a light meal of bread and cheese or
A slice of bread with an omelette
Whole grain toast with all-natural peanut butter/almond butter top with berries/banana slices or
Museli/Quinoa with almond milk/full fat milk/yogurt, raisins, cinnamon, organic honey and banana/other fruits. Don’t forget the dates to spread on the top
3 or 5 dates with water melon, depending upon the size of the dates (Sunnah)
3 dates with milk
Basic rule applies here : ‘Do not overdo it’, when you eat less, you are less prone to becoming hungry quick and remember the purpose of fasting is to empty the stomach and lighten the body to free the soul.
WHAT’S FOR IFTAR?
List Of Food You Can Eat:
Dates: After a long day of fasting it is wise to break the fast with a light and healthy meal. Start with dates if possible. I personally don’t question any food that was eaten by our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon him) or recommended by him. Anas Ibn Malik RA (may God be pleased with him) narrated:
“The messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) used to break his fast before praying with some fresh dates, but if there were no fresh dates, he took some mouthfuls of water”.
Sunan Abu Dawud
Dates contain a high percentage of simple sugars that are easily and quickly absorbed by the body, giving an immediate boost of energy and restoring normal blood sugar levels (BSL) after a long fasting day. Dates also provide the energy necessary for food digestion, assimilation and absorption, thus preventing the sluggishness often felt after the Iftar. Dates are rich in vitamin A and B, in addition to magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. In addition to simple and easily absorbed sugars, they contain fibre, which relieves constipation, aids in cholesterol reduction, fights colon cancer and rapidly gives a feeling of satiety (fullness).
Fresh fruit juice/Milk: I will highly recommend that you break your fast with dates and fresh juice. This is the healthy combination and if you can’t prepare it daily then make your life easy and have plain water or even milk with dates. Milk with dates at Iftar is a tradition which is applied in many Arabs and Muslim countries. Muslims break their fast on dates pre-soaked in milk before performing their sunset prayer. Milk is rich in proteins, calcium, vitamin B2 and fat soluble vitamins. The high glycemic index of dates is counteracted by milk. The fatty nature of milk slows down the absorption of the sugars in dates, preventing a sudden rush of insulin.
Other option would be Dates and Fruit salad
Basic rule applies here: Eat three or more dates with milk/fresh juice or any other healthy drink. Take it as a snack time, offer Maghrib and then have your dinner post Maghrib.
Dinner Meal Options:
Fresh salad: Eat lots of fresh salad, it is both healthy and filling, but avoid the ready made dressings. You can prepare your own healthy dressing from olive oil, apple cider vinegar, thyme, basil and oregano.
Chicken/lentils/beans
Rice/Chapati/Bread/Pasta
I recommend you follow the plate method for dinner. If you want to know how much food should we eat from the food items mentioned above, check out my blog which I wrote about portion control. Click here for the blog on Portion Control
Basic rule applies here: Eat salad first and then the rest of your meal. Salad will fill you up. Check out your portion sizes, Don’t overeat.
Drink Plenty of Water:
Water is the most purifying drink. It cleans out toxins from your body, prevents you from getting headaches (especially when you are not drinking or eating all day). So drink plenty of water between Iftar and Sahoor.
FOODS TO AVOID:
Avoids fats and fried foods as much as you can. Please, a humble request, don’t eat those samosa, pakoras, chips and bla bla. Frying foods creates unnatural fats called trans fatty acids (trans fats) which studies have shown to be involved in many heart and circulatory disorders. So avoid it.
Skip the soda. Drinking soda with your Iftar will only make you thirstier, and dehydrate your body more than it already is.
Break your coffee and tea addiction. If possible, regulate your body to get rid of your caffeine addiction before Ramadan starts. If you are drinking 3-4 cups of coffee/tea daily, and on the first day of Ramadan you don’t drink any, you may get headaches and lack energy. So start reducing your tea/coffee now.
Don’t eat empty calorie desserts. Replace them with fresh or dried fruits.
Furthermore, do not sleep after Iftar. Be active and take a walk or 15-20 min of exercise would be good. It will help your body to digest the food. And how can we forget our voluntary prayer – ‘The Tarahweeh prayer’ is the best form of exercise guys. Be aware that if you fast properly (no overeating), you may experience some natural symptoms of detoxification as the toxins are slowly withdrawn from your body, especially in the first few days. These symptoms can be anything from fatigue to headache and may be bad breath. These are totally safe and natural symptoms which you will soon overcome (as long as you are getting enough fluids). I hope that you find this blog helpful. I assure you that making these small healthy changes in your Ramadan and even regular diet, will substantially improve your overall health and fitness.
My last note would be: Make a good intention for all of your actions. For instance, instead of praying Maghrib and rushing to eat, set your intention to eat to nourish your body so that you can stand and pray. Set your intention to eat suhoor to have energy all day so that you can worship properly. In this way, you make eating an act of worship and get rewarded for it In’sha’Allah (If God wills).
May you all have a happy and healthy Ramadan. Remember me in your dua’s. Take care and eat healthy! 🙂
Hello friends … hope you all are doing really well. “Ramadan” is coming … yaaay I’m excited 😉 It’s unbelievable how fast this blessed month flies by every year. For those of you who don’t know much about Ramadan (my non muslim readers), it’s the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. During this month, Muslims fast every single day from around just before sunrise to sunset. Most muslims offer the extra prayers called ”the Taraweeh” prayers which they pray after the night time prayers. Muslims pray five times a day. Those are the obligatory prayers that practicing muslims pray on a daily basis and in Ramadan we have some extra prayers (voluntary prayers) after the final fifth prayer at night. Fating is something that most major religions of the world part take in. For muslims its different in that sense we don’t eat anything whatsoever from pre dawn till sunset. People who are ill they are exempt from fasting. For instance women who are pregnant and in their lactation period, old people – people who are weak all of those are exempt from fasting. Apart from abstaining from food, muslims also abstain from sexual relations during fasting period and also from being bad people. Fasting teaches us patience, tolerance and how to discipline our body and souls. Ramadan is a special time where we make an extra effort to truly be fully conscious of how we are behaving and the vibes that we have not just on ourselves but also on the people around us. This month is actually a training period for us so that we can continue doing good deeds through out the year.
There are so many wisdoms behind fasting but for me it is actually to pull myself out of this material world and to put myself in touch with the spiritual dimension, the spirituality that we all have inside us but we tend to forget on day to day basis. And abstaining ourselves from food really does do that. You feel that empty stomach, you become extra sensitive towards people, you feel the pain for people who are deprived of food. Hunger reminds me that I am so blessed to have food on my table everyday whereas there are many who are dying because of hunger because they don’t have food.
With less than a few days to go to Ramadan, I am trying to take my own advice and prepare for the blessed month as well as I can. This month of 29 or 30 days is the best time to change ourselves and to make or break a habit. I believe Ramadan is the best time to discipline ourselves physically and spiritually. So, that’s why I thought of writing about Self discipline. It’s really unfortunate to see that we Muslims have forgotten the traditions and made this month a month of over indulgence, a month of food and Iftar parties and sleepless nights. Yes, lets talk about filling our stomachs, its vital to talk. Every time when I see muslims filling their stomach it reminds me of a very well known hadith:
“The prophet (PBUH) said: The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach; for the son of Adam a few mouthfuls are sufficient to keep his back straight. If you must fill it, then one-third for food, one-third for drink, and one-third for air”. Al Tirmidhi
We truly ignore this saying of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) and do the opposite. Especially in Ramadan when we can easily discipline our eating habits we simply overeat, and eat all the crap like fried stuff – samosas, pakoras, junk food and bla bla. So, in this Ramadan we should make this goal to attain discipline, to change our bad eating habits In’sha’Allah (If God wills). In Imam Al- Ghazali’s “Breaking the two desires” book 23 he explains the following four duties as a method of discipline. I am going to share these with you and will add few more useful tips for additional benefit and guidance which you can follow throughout this Ramadan and after Ramadan of course.
Eat what is lawful (halal) and pure (Tayyieb):
Make intention for the sake of Allah
Avoid packaged and processed foods
Avoid fizzy carbonated drinks
Eat organic whenever possible and seasonal food
Support local farmers, I normally use this notion “Eat Local & Think Global”
Limit the quantity you eat:
Eat when truly hungry
Discipline gradually
Let food digest before eating again
Reduce intake gradually
Stop eating before you are full
Be consistent, have balance.
Delay when you eat:
Fasting is good for self discipline (fast Mondays and Thursdays other than Ramadan)
Feel hunger (without hurting health)
Determine what is the least you can eat safely
Which varieties of food you eat:
Incorporate prophetic foods into your diet
Introduce healthy food choices
Eat nutrient dense foods
Avoid diet trends, gimmicks, and quick fixes
Limit meat consumption
We are individual (it must be convenient, accessible and available)
This is not about attaining self discipline only in Ramadan, it should be with the intention of changing one self for the whole year. Also, this is not only for our health and good nutrition but we want to follow the sunnah of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) and gain more rewards.
Before I finish my blog, I feel the need to talk about this but first I’d like to ask this question … If you knew that this would be the last Ramadan you had left, how would you spend that Ramadan? Would you be in the kitchen for 3 hours cooking? Would you? Hello sisters, I’m talking to you 😉 Answer would be ”Probably Not”. I am aware of the fact that women spend hours in the kitchen during this month. You should be spending that time for lectures, reading Quran, anything else than just wasting time in the kitchen. If you wanna cook that’s fine, but don’t overdo it, you know what I mean. Make enough, don’t overdo it. If you ask me, honestly I’d love to have cooked the night before extra, this way I get another hour and a half to get more stuff done. Eat left overs, eat less. It’s the month of sacrifice, so eat less and give more. Last thing on our mind should really be food.
Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to the real purpose and spirit of Ramadan. Ramadan is not only about omitting food, It’s not about eating and overfilling our stomachs, it’s not about indulging all night and sleeping all day and waking up an hour before sunset to prepare a meal. Rather, it’s about you and your relationship with Allah. It’s about connecting with your lord, it’s about growing spiritually, doing extra ibadah (worship). Its about sitting with your kids, teaching them the importance of Ramadan and going together as a family to the mosque to offer Taraweeh prayer. Eat healthy so you have more energy to do the right things that you need to do in this month.
That being said, I’m done with my topic today. My next blog would be about what should we eat for Iftar and Sheri, its coming up soon, so stick around. Till then take care and eat healthy! 🙂
My Healthy Life 