Worship is instigated in the heart due to the love of a thing. 

The word 'اله' ‘ilaah’ in its root verb form denotes the meaning of loving something. Our hearts incline towards worshiping ALLAH more when our hearts are filled with love for HIM. We want to be of service to HIM and do what pleases HIM because we love HIM.

I was reflecting on how love brings about obedience, worship and service to the thing that is loved and also how a heart that is full of the love of other things cannot be filled with the love of ALLAH. It’s like a container that can only contain one type of water in it. If you put juice (love of ALLAH) in a cup but then put the cup under running water and keep filling it with the love of other things eventually there will be no juice and only water in the cup. Also if the cup already has attachments or stones that are stuck to its inner surface then the juice will not be able to fill that space. I was thinking about how in these times this...

I was on a coaching call with a client 2 days ago.

Before we started she was in fear, panic, anxiety, and overwhelm, blurting out thoughts at 100 miles per hour,  and knew how ‘doom’ was coming in every possible way in a particular situation. I had to remind her to breathe for us to actually start the session.

So, we had the session and we changed the feelings by changing the focus.

I helped her release the negative, dig deeper into the fear that was paralyzing her, and literally transform the way she was looking at the situation and focus on a different angle.

At the end of the 1-hour session, she was a transformed woman and described herself as feeling calm, relaxed, happy, and fully empowered about her plan of action.

She even looked like a transformed woman; standing tall with a big smile, full of energy and excitement.

SO HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?

‘It’s all in the mind’. Literally!

Your mind looks for evidence to support your feelings, it answers...

Ibnul Qayyim (rahimahuLLAH) said: “The level of the slave’s (sincerity) in his intention, determination, aim, and sincere desire determines ALLAH’s Tawfeeq (i.e., ALLAH’s guidance for a slave and enabling him to act upon it) and HIS aid for him. Aid and assistance from ALLAH descend upon the slaves in accordance with the (sincerity) in their determination.”

{Al-Fawaa`id}

Many sisters approach me for advice and help, and I can always see a clear difference between the ones who are going to make a change and do something as opposed to the ones who are not.

The qualities of sisters who are ready for change are:

- they ARE SINCERE in their desire to please their Rabb by improving their life and business

- they TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY for their situation and business results and realize that the KEY to change is within themselves

- they MAKE a FULL COMMITMENT to doing what it takes to get the change they desire

- they are READY TO INVEST time,...

I know as health care professionals, we see so many people die, and sometimes we can numb ourselves to how huge the event is in the busyness of the job, and yet at other times, with certain patients, it hits us quite hard.

But let's shine a bit of light on death. Death is the end of a story, the end of life! The end of your chance to do in this world which is finite.

You see the human being at their weakest, all their strength taken away from them, their ego smashed to the floor, facing the inevitable; DEATH. Like a mother whose labor has started, there is no going back or escaping the situation.

There is ONLY ONE WAY to go. There isn't a return flight option.

At that point, the questions that used to go through my mind as a doctor were that I wondered how they lived their life. I wonder if they were happy with the way they lived their story, these short moments that were given to them by God, I wonder if now that they are at the end and leaving, they are satisfied with all they've...

Someone from our tribe asked:
You end up doing nothing when you have so much that you want to do. My mind always feels messy, and I have an obsession with writing lists after lists to organize my thoughts, goals, the things I want to do, etc., but in the end, action is always lacking.

How do you take your first step, and how do you know which direction to move in? Any advice would be fantastic.

Answer:
This sounds like overwhelm and lack of focus, so a few tips that may help:

1) Divide your list according to what you are working on now and what you are working on later, maybe even schedule it over days, months and years and then allow yourself to be flexible with that.

2) I choose at least top THREE things to focus on right now, and I recommend choosing ONE. Using this method with clients and myself, I have found that when you focus on less, you get more done and may get other tasks done anyway (but that’s a bonus and not a necessity).

The Prophet (Salla Allahu alaihi wa...

On December 19th, 2017, while still working as a doctor and halfway on my journey towards being a coach.
You see, sometimes we think incredible people or people of influence are the ones who get famous, appear in our newsfeeds, or do shows on TV or the radio. Still, in reality, other people are just as incredible as those people, if not more.

These people are unknown but are making changes on the Earth by smiling, being hospitable, being positive, being kind, and making people happy.
These are the real MR and MRS incredible.

So today, I met a lady in her 90s, and I love talking to older people. It's one of my things.
She didn't have one leg because it was amputated years ago and was in the hospital.
She forgot she was in the hospital but welcomed me most dearly and asked me to make myself comfortable.

She said, 'You're looking nice and bright, and that helps you know because on these winter days, we have to find things that cheer us up, and the sun is out today, and that helps as well.'...

‘It wasn’t your fault, it’s not your fault and it never will be.’

I’m talking to you my dear sister, the one whose sacredness was abused as a child, the one who was sexually molested and touched due to no action of your own. I’m talking to you today and I want you to know that it wasn’t your fault.

I’ve talked to too many sisters who have at some point been sexually abused, mistreated or taken advantage of in their childhood and yet they find that no one addresses it, no one talks about it, no one mentions it and so they hide it within themselves.

Well, today if you’re one of those sisters then I want to honour you, I want to honour the pain you felt and still feel and acknowledge that it’s real, it happened, and I want to declare it openly that IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT.

Today, I want to talk about how you may be feeling and how you can very slowly begin to re-frame and help yourself.

I want you to know that no matter what...

It is the blessed ten days of Dhul Hijjah and maybe some of us are feeling like we are missing out and would like to be on hajj, feeling our purpose, busy in worship, walking, striving with our wealth, our bodies, our soul and our hearts.

And maybe some of us even had Hajj booked but it got cancelled and we are feeling the sting.

AND YES, WE ARE NOT IN MAKKAH, WE ARE NOT ON HAJJ AND WE ALL WISH WE COULD BE...

BUT MAYBE...

EVEN IF....we can’t spend our wealth to go and fulfil the obligation of Hajj in ALLAH’s way,

WE CAN...spend our wealth on whatever will please ALLAH in HIS way.

EVEN IF...we can’t travel to Hajj and the house of ALLAH,

WE CAN... travel with our hearts to our Rabb and make our hearts a home for HIS remembrance.

EVEN IF... we can’t strive to travel to the places ALLAH has honoured and honour them,

WE CAN...strive to honour what ALLAH has honoured here (e.g. parents and teachers),

...

As you grow and heal, you will become more powerful, you will learn how to fly, you will learn how to soar and you will learn how to connect more powerfully with your LORD..

And as you do that, the old caterpillar shell that was your home will begin to feel constricted, tight and trapping.

It will feel like it is blocking you from your true potential and who you want to be. You will feel your butterfly wings asking you to fly. You will know that you can fly and that you can soar.

But fear will hold you back, fear of what is outside the shell, fear of leaving your safety zone, fear of going somewhere you’ve never been before and fear of falling if you fly.

However, you have to realise that the only way for you to fly is to leave that place of safety; leave the caterpillar shell...because yes, it did once have a purpose; It protected you, it kept you safe, it allowed you to grow inside it, it allowed you to become a better you that can now fly, but you have to realise that it...

 I sat there with my two plaits, one on each side with a parting in the middle, wearing a green dress with a swirling pattern on it. I sat at my grandma's feet, pressing her legs, along with my cousins and my sisters. We all wanted one thing. We wanted to hear another one of ammaji's stories. We sweetly pleaded until she complied and this is how the story went...

It was a dark night, two people were walking down a lonely cobblestone street when they saw a third bending over frantically searching the floor - it was obvious he had lost something. He anxiously moved around, kneeling with his nose almost touching the floor searching around a lamp post.

They asked him; 'What are you looking for?'

He worriedly replied: 'I dropped my needle and it’s the last one I have.'

They decided to help him and started searching as well. After a long time of looking in the dim light of the lamppost and not finding the needle, one of them questioned; 'Where did you drop the needle?'

He...