No matter how much you whinge about leaving the country, only a few eventually leaves ergo, the onus is on us to change ourselves (do a Jihad on our souls) regarding how we have contributed to the mess bedevilling our country.
A lot of people who need to clean the Augean stables in their various abodes bloviate about how unfair our leaders are; makes you wonder whether our leaders are Martians.
Whether we like it or not, most of us will never leave Nigeria until our deaths.
Rather than curse every time, do your bit while saying a prayer for our leaders (yes, a lot of people are sceptical about the power of prayers but it doesn't hurt to say them).
As Muslims, we all know the Prophet's mandate on how to foster a healthy society.
Y'all can't keep engaging in perfidy yet, expect the country to be in pristine condition.
You can't give what we don't have and this applies to every Nigerian.
I don't have the solution but little and consistent acts would make a marked difference.
1/ To my sisters chasing dreams—whether on social media, in coaching, building a brand, or climbing the corporate ladder—this is from the heart:
If your growth in the world is coming at the cost of your iman, pause and pay attention.
2/ Compromise doesn’t happen overnight. It’s gradual, a step here, a step there.
It starts small:
\- Delayed salah for “just one more post.”
\- A hijab shrinking, earrings showing, or strands of hair slipping out.
\- A “networking” happy hour you attend but don’t drink.
3/ You invest hours and dollars into personal development, but Islamic classes? Too hard to fit in.
You consume books and podcasts about “enlightenment,” yet neglect the profound wisdom of your own faith.
And your connection to the Muslim community? Slowly disappearing.
People often go through a phase of religiosity and piety, which is then followed by a burn out period. For example, for a couple of weeks - you found it incredibly easy to get up at night and pray Qiyam, but now you feel lazy to get out of bed.
Don’t worry, this is natural & very common.
For the Prophet ﷺ said: “Verily, the iman of one of you will wear out within him, just as a shirt becomes worn out, so ask Allah to renew iman in your hearts.”, and someone asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how do we renew our iman?”
and he ﷺ responded: “Increase in saying La ilaha ila Allah.” [musnad ahmad]
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There is a couple of things you can do to improve this:
• (1) As mentioned, you should repeat “La ilaha ila Allah” whenever you feel this way, and you should do so sincerely from your heart.
I've found that as I've gotten older that most virtues or wise principles are paradoxes. "When you give, don't expect anything return," I think is 100% a wise, virtuous principle, and yet another wise, virtuous principle is "good relationships are restoring, not draining."
If your relationships are draining you, i.e., you're giving more to them than you're getting back, then they aren't good relationships to you. At best, those people are kind of unaware and self-centered. At worst, they are exploiting you.
Some people are too self-centered and need to learn to take others into account. Other people are too agreeable - also known as being a doormat - and need to learn to look out for their own interests and be a little selfish.
‘The goal of having a good ending is not that you die whilst you are in the masjid, or while you are upon a prayer mat, or you die with a Qur’aan in your hands.
Indeed the best of all creation died while he was on his bed.
His friend as-Siddiq Abu Bakr died while on his bed, and he was the best of the Companions.
Khalid bin Waleed died while he was on his bed, and he was given the title the unsheathed sword of Allaah,
who plunged into a hundred battles and did not lose in any of them.
However, a good ending is:
• that you die and are far away from Shirk.
• that you die and are far away from Nifaq (hypocrisy).
How do you need to be spoken to? What do you need to take from people? What are you putting up with, or pretending to like, from duty or obligation? Consult your resentment. It’s a revelatory emotion, for all its pathology.
It’s part of an evil triad: arrogance, deceit, and resentment. Nothing causes more harm than this underworld Trinity. But resentment always means one of two things. Either the resentful person is immature, in which case he or she should shut up, quit whining, and get on with it,
or there is tyranny afoot—in which case the person subjugated has a moral obligation to speak up. Why? Because the consequence of remaining silent is worse. Of course, it’s easier in the moment to stay silent and avoid conflict. But in the long term, that’s deadly.
There is this one sin that we keep falling in again and again…and again. We keep on repenting and seeking forgiveness, but we fall into it again and again. You give up. You submit to doing more sins. You think you’re hopeless.
You fill your heart and mind with dark/desperate/hopeless thoughts. You think you’re worthless. You drown in negativity and desperation. In the end, those with no or weak eemaan commit suicide. AstaghfirulLah.
If you fall in these categories of Muslims, then Stop This Now!
Never buy into these satanic influences! Never. The battle is not over. You didn’t lose. You have the power to come back stronger and more triumphant than you ever were. ALLAH’s Mercy and Forgiveness are there for you! Yes, for you!