Note to Self: Be Consistent and Persistent!

One of the many weaknesses I face is the hardship in maintaining consistency in my work for the sake of Allah. Especially, works which involved working for Islam. Hence, one day, during one session of tazkirah by Akhi Rosdi, a senior (or, pakcik, perhaps) who had done so much work to spread the deen, I asked him how to maintain consistency. Particularly if one is kept busy throughout the weekdays with study and other things.

Pakcik Rosdi shared a few tips which I'd like to share with all of you here.

1. Take good care of our heart. Be cautious of how our relationship is with Allah.
   

   We are going out there to face Jahiliyyah, and to uphold Islam back in a society which alienates Islam as a way of life. This is not something one should take lightly, so be serious! This is a matter which can lead us to Jannah, insyaAllah, if we focus on doing the best we can, consistently. Yet, all this requires all of us, to firstly hold firm to Islam and what Allah had thought us. Be firm believers ourselves. Ensure that we remember Allah, at every second of the day. Relate everything we do to Allah. And hence, almost everything we do, insyaAllah, will not just be for ourselves but also for Islam.
   

   On another note, another important way to strengthen our relationship with Allah is to never let a day go by without reciting the Quran. Be disciplined in reciting them, and if possible, try to contemplate and ponder upon the meanings. This is because Quran is the loveletters from Allah. What better way to communicate and maintain a good relationship to one's Lord other than listening to all that He says, as a guide to mankind?
   

   
   

2. Do not compartmentalize our life, one portion as an Islamic worker, another portion as a student, another as a daughter, and etc. Set our whole life as an Islamic worker. Thus our whole life is set to be as a worker. We study, because a Muslim worker requires us to gain good results and obtain good professions in order to help the society. We maintain good relationship with those around us, because a good worker needs to be able to win the hearts of all those around us, so that it will be easier to tell everyone about Islam, and also because Allah requires us to. Seems like hard work?
   

   Verily, Allâh has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties for (the price) that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allâh's Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurât (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Qur'ân. And who is truer to his covenant than Allâh? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success. (at-Taubah: 111)
   

   Hard work, yes. But this is a business which Allah had offered, and the return? It is to be rewarded with Jannah, insyaAllah...
   

   
   

3. Some of the reasons why the momentum for working for Islam slows down are because of the maksiat, or bad deeds we make, even small ones. For small, yet constant bad deeds contribute slowly but steadily to the hardening of the heart, and thus light (hidayah) will have difficulty in penetrating it. Another reason is due to the lack of food for the heart, such as zikr, qiamullail, etc. In short, we must remember to take good care of our heart, and ensure that tarbiyyah dzatiyyah (improvement of the self, which comes from our own will, monitored by ourself) is consistent
   

   
   

4. Continuously read books in order to improve ourselves and our understanding of Islam, and what being a worker means.
   

I hope I can implement all these, in the process of developing myself to become a better me... to become a person Allah is pleased with. And may it benefit all of the readers too...

You [true believers in Islâmic Monotheism, and real followers of Prophet Muhammad SAW and his Sunnah] are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islâm has forbidden), and you believe in Allâh[]. (Ali Imran: 110)