Muslima Success

Alhamdullilah, as Muslims, we are given the gift of understanding our purpose on earth, which people will spend a lifetime searching for, in the Quran in the following verses: “I have not created mankind and jinn except to worship Me” (51:56) “When your Lord said to the angels: ‘I am placing on the earth a caliph” (2:30) These two verses would need pages and chapters written to reveal their full depth and meaning.  Very briefly though, ‘worship’ in the first verse is not limited to our prayers and fasting for example but can truly encompass everything we do in our lives when we do it with the intention of drawing nearer to Allah.  So it can include our eating, sleeping, spending time with our loved ones, studying, working, etc. As for the meaning of ‘caliph’ – this term is used to define the one who will take care of this earth, help build it, make a positive difference and fulfill the role of leadership that Allah (Swt) has placed them in – whatever that role may be – from a Hea...

How many of us dream of having the most righteous and successful family? How many of us envision ourselves making a profound difference in the world? How many of us ultimately dream of the highest level in Jannah, Al-Firdaws? Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was indeed one of the forerunners in teaching us about great ambition and doing all we can with ihsan (excellence). He (peace be upon him) was the first to encourage us to dream bigger as he says: “If you ask for jannah, then ask for al-firdaws, the highest” ( Muslim & Bukhari) .  He, peace be upon him also encouraged us to work hard to achieve these great ambitions by stating: “If one of you shall do a task, then he shall do it with ihsan (excellence)”. Yet, many of us may hold back from great ambitions and may not achieve or experience the true fulfillment we are capable of.   One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is what we may label as a lack of resources: time, money, knowledge, etc.  And yes, we may indeed lack ...

Many people have great dreams, aspirations and goals.  Yet they do not experience a lot of success.  Are any of these barriers to success holding you back? 1) Lack of Ambition Do you believe that your dreams or goals are too great to accomplish and that sometimes ambition in our community is labelled as being unrealistic or even arrogant? 2) Self Limiting Beliefs Are self-limiting beliefs such as your financial situation, time, fear of failure, or cultural interpretations that are not in line with Islamic principles of a Muslim woman’s role holding you back from pursuing your goals? 3) Lack of Motivation Do you find one of your biggest obstacles to success to be a lack of motivation and persistence to achieve your goals, especially when things don’t go as planned? If you answered “yes” to any of the options above, these are usually the top barriers to success and this is why most people will STOP and give up on achieving success.  Please know this is completely normal, and I...

I had a sister recently email me with a situation that I hear and have seen often yet don’t see very much done about.  She’s a sister who moved to a new city after being married,  became pregnant soon thereafter and was blessed to become a mother, yet she is struggling in her marriage, she feels lonely and she wants to get her life back in order. I feel many sisters will suffer in silence and subhana’Allah, although to some it may seem like there is really nothing to complain about when a sister these days has even had the opportunity of being married and was blessed again with the gift of children.  Yes, we should be thankful in times of goodness and patient in times of tribulation and always turn to Allah (SwT) first and foremost, yet we know Allah (swt) says: ““And the human being was created weak” (Surat al-Nisa, 4:28).  Although our faith in Allah (swt) should give us tremendous strength and perseverance, at the end of the day we are human beings and we will...

I came across this article and thought it was absolutely interesting.  I am personally not an introvert so I will leave it to you to guess what I am:) I wanted to post this though as a source of encouragement for any of my sisters who are categorized as ‘introverts’.   That what is sometimes labelled as shyness, fear, shame should not hold you back from going forth with your dreams and aspirations in sha Allah, and that in fact you have a unique set of talents and skills to offer. The Prophet peace be upon him also said “Whomever believes in Allah and the last day, let him say that which is good, or stay silent….” (Al Bukhari & Muslim) and we have many other proofs from the Quran and Sunnah about the importance of reflection and to be thoughtful of what we say.  So, I hope the enjoy the article:) The Secret Power Of Introverts Taken from:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/01/26/the-secret-power-of-introverts/ Jenna Goudreau , Forbes Staff ...

  Your alarm rings at 6:15am.  You have to pray, prepare breakfast and lunch, get dressed and head out quickly so you’ll arrive at work and start jumping from one meeting to the next, making phone calls, replying to emails, and dealing with your boss and co-workers all day.   Besides your fajr prayer in the morning, what else do you do during the work day to remind yourself of Allah and keep your faith high? It’s hard enough to keep your sanity at work sometimes and barely get dhuhr prayer in.   Balancing our faith and work life is certainly not an easy equation.  Here are some tips that may at least set us on the right path:   1) Renew Your Intentions and Perfect Your Work   Islam lays great emphasis on work. In many places in the Qur’an it is made clear that time should not be wasted.  The Qur’an directs a message to humanity that it should contribute positively to the earth meaning we should traverse the universe and make use of all the abundant resources that have bee...

Your Contribution to Humanity One of the questions that many of us may have been asked as children was: “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”  And maybe to a certain extent, many of us still ask that question of ourselves.   Choosing a career path is certainly not an easy matter for your career choice could impact everything in your life – your health, your family, your relationships, your financial status – and even your faith.  So many people have ended up in careers they are unsatisfied with because they never took the time to really think about it and plan for it.   As a Muslim, what should you base your career choice upon? Let us first take a step back  and remember our ultimate purpose on earth.  Allah (swt) tells us: “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me ” (Quran 51:56) and “When your Lord said to the angels: ‘I am placing on the earth a caliph…” (2:30).   So when thinking about a career path, it’s important ...

In this section we’ll cover: – Career Planning -Business Ideas -Launching a Business and Staying Afloat -Networking