Finding your way back
Alhamdulillah, it has been a while since we delivered courses or talks in the north. By the way, “Finding Your Way Back” was one of our very early courses. We delivered a course with this same title in 2001. This time, we have some different content, suitable for a different time, a different place and different people, but the main topic is still the same. When we are lost, we want to find our way back. This is where the title came from.
In this very busy life, with the pressure of finances, politics, responsibilities and everything else you can name, you can feel yourself running out of steam. You feel tired. You feel lost and confused. You may feel distracted or empty, which is a common thing, by the way. However, allowing this to control your life is a different story. This is why we have revived the old title, “Finding Your Way Back”, with a reminder to be mindful of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ reminded us of this through a piece of advice he gave to his cousin, Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him). It is a very famous hadith, which you are probably familiar with. The Prophet ﷺ was riding on his mount, and Abdullah ibn Abbas, who was a young boy at the time, was riding behind him on the same mount.
Imagine this young boy sitting behind the Prophet ﷺ, who takes the opportunity to teach him some words through which Allah will benefit him. Abdullah ibn Abbas was ready to listen, all ears for what the Prophet ﷺ would teach him.
Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ: كُنْتُ خَلْفَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَوْمًا، فَقَالَ: «يَا غُلَامُ، إِنِّي أُعَلِّمُكَ كَلِمَاتٍ: احْفَظِ اللَّهَ يَحْفَظْكَ، احْفَظِ اللَّهَ تَجِدْهُ تُجَاهَكَ، إِذَا سَأَلْتَ فَاسْأَلِ اللَّهَ، وَإِذَا اسْتَعَنْتَ فَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ، وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْأُمَّةَ لَوِ اجْتَمَعَتْ عَلَى أَنْ يَنْفَعُوكَ بِشَيْءٍ، لَمْ يَنْفَعُوكَ إِلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَكَ، وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى أَنْ يَضُرُّوكَ بِشَيْءٍ، لَمْ يَضُرُّوكَ إِلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ، رُفِعَتِ الْأَقْلَامُ وَجَفَّتِ الصُّحُفُ».
“One day I was behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he said: ‘Young boy, I shall teach you some words: be mindful of Allah and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him before you. When you ask, ask Allah, and when you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that if the whole community gathered to benefit you in any way, they could only benefit you with something Allah had already written for you. And if they gathered to harm you in any way, they could only harm you with something Allah had already written against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.’” (Tirmidhi, 2516) (sunnah.com)
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Be mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him before you.” This means that you will find His support in what you are doing to please Him. If you ask, ask Allah. If you seek help, seek help from Allah.
Then he explained that if all people came together to harm you with something that was not destined for you, they would not be able to do so. Equally, if all people came together to benefit you with something that was not destined for you, they would not be able to do so. Neither their numbers nor their combined efforts can bring about something outside what Allah has decreed.
“The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” This means that everything has been written. Our destiny has been written, but we do not know what has been written for us. This is why we have to do our best: seek what is required, do what is required and do the right thing.
Being mindful of Allah is important, especially in this day and age, when anything can change. With social media, this, that and the other, AI and whatever else comes along — you name it — we have plenty of distractions. There is so much interference in our lives, coming from the left, the right and the centre.
So what do we do in this situation? I believe we are all experiencing something similar: distraction, emptiness, pressure and all these kinds of things. What can we do?
There is a very beautiful reminder in a hadith qudsi, which, by the way, is one of my favourite hadiths. The Prophet ﷺ narrated that Allah said:
يَا عِبَادِي كُلُّكُمْ ضَالٌّ إِلَّا مَنْ هَدَيْتُهُ فَاسْتَهْدُونِي أَهْدِكُمْ
“O My servants, all of you are lost except those whom I have guided, so ask Me for guidance and I will guide you.” (Muslim, 2577) (sunnah.com)
“Ya ibadi” — “O My servants.” Allah is calling upon us, and this call is very beautiful. Let me give you a quick example. Imagine yourself in a huge crowd, among millions of people. Then the person on the stage calls your name out of all those millions. How would you feel?
Allah is calling upon us: “O My servants.” It is an honour, but at the same time it carries a huge responsibility, because He has called us His servants.
For instance, when your daughter or your son does something good, you say, “This is my daughter! This is my son!” You feel proud of them. However, if they have done something wrong, although they are still your children, you feel embarrassed. Of course, we are not comparing Allah to His creation. This is just to give you a flavour of what it means to be acknowledged in this way. When someone calls upon you, even someone who is not particularly important, you may feel honoured. What, then, when Allah is calling upon us and saying, “My servants”?
Allah is describing our reality. These words were conveyed more than fourteen hundred years ago, yet they still describe the reality of people today. This is a timeless reminder from Allah to all of us: “All of you are lost.”
You will probably find many translations using the word “astray” rather than “lost”: “All of you are astray except those whom I have guided.” I prefer “lost” here because the Arabic word dall has a broader linguistic meaning. It has a religious dimension, of course, but it can also describe someone who has lost their way or does not know what to do. It does not necessarily mean, every time we use the word, that someone has abandoned the right path religiously.
Feeling lost is a common condition. Many of us are distracted. We do not know what to do, yet we often pretend that we do. “Yes, I know my goals. I know my direction.” Sometimes we are pretending!
It is like when your wife asks, “Are you taking the wrong route?” You say, “No,” although you may well be taking the wrong route. Then you tell her, “This is the shortcut!”
We can easily become distracted, go off track and lose our direction. We need Allah’s guidance.
In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ showed his companions how this happens. This was one of his ways of teaching: he used different means to convey knowledge. He did not teach only through words; he also used drawings.
The Prophet ﷺ drew something? Yes. In the narration, he drew a straight line on the ground while the companions watched him.
By the way, drawing on the sand was something people could use when planning a battle: “We will come from here. They will come from there. We will put the troops here, then move them to a different position.” Do not imagine that using a drawing to explain something was an entirely new idea. The Prophet ﷺ used different means to convey his knowledge.
He drew a long, straight line, then smaller lines to its right and left. Imagine the shape: it is like a worm with many little legs on either side. He then explained what he had drawn.
Abdullah ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ drew a line and said:
هَذَا سَبِيلُ اللَّهِ
“This is the path of Allah.”
He then drew lines to its right and left and said:
هَذِهِ سُبُلٌ، عَلَى كُلِّ سَبِيلٍ مِنْهَا شَيْطَانٌ يَدْعُو إِلَيْهِ
“These are paths, and on each of them is a devil calling people to it.” (Ahmad, 4142) (dorar.net)
The straight line represents the straight path that leads to Allah. The smaller lines on the right and left represent the calls of Shaytan: his distractions, temptations and traps.
It is like the junctions on a motorway. Each junction takes you away from the motorway: junction one, junction two, junction eleven, junction twenty, and so on. From the beginning of the motorway to its end, there are junctions where you can leave it. Of course, not every motorway is straight, but you understand the example.
The Prophet ﷺ was showing us that the straight line is the path of Allah. These smaller lines to the right and left are the distractions of Shaytan. If you listen to one of those calls and follow it, it takes you away from the path.
But can you come back? Yes, you can. On a motorway, you may have to wait until the next junction before you can turn around and return. However, the beauty of dealing with Allah is that you do not need to wait for the next junction. It is as though you have an emergency button: you press it and you are back on the motorway. You turn back to Allah.
This is much quicker than having to drive another five or ten miles before you can return to where you wanted to go.
The Prophet ﷺ was showing us that we can lose our way. This is part and parcel of our test. We will face distractions, we will make mistakes and we may go off track. As he ﷺ said in another hadith:
كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ وَخَيْرُ الْخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ
“All the children of Adam are prone to sin, and the best of those who sin are those who repent.” (Ibn Majah, 4251) (sunnah.com)
All the children of Adam are liable to make mistakes and commit sins. The best among them are those who repent to Allah. The best among those who make mistakes are those who keep coming back and repenting.
So Allah is reminding us in this hadith qudsi that all of us are liable to lose our direction and be tempted by Shaytan. Shaytan made a promise that he would lead the children of Adam astray. Allah tells us of his words:
وَلَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
“I will surely mislead them all.” (Surah al-Hijr, 15:39) (quran.com)
And in another verse:
وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ
“I will surely lead them astray.” (Surah an-Nisa, 4:119) (quran.com)
When Shaytan was cast out of Jannah, he made this promise: he would distract the children of Adam, lead them astray and make them lose their direction. He made this promise, and he is keen to fulfil it.
However, Allah says:
إِنَّ عِبَادِي لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَانٌ إِلَّا مَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ
“Indeed, you will have no authority over My servants, except those who follow you from among the misguided.” (Surah al-Hijr, 15:42) (quran.com)
“My servants” — notice this again. They might become distracted. They might lose their direction and feel lost, but they come back to Allah. His true servants keep returning to Him. Remember the example we mentioned earlier, when someone says, “This is my son.” Here, Allah calls them “My servants”. The true servants of Allah are those who keep coming back to Him.
It is not the end of the world if we make mistakes. Even if it was a deliberate sin, we can come back to Allah and seek His forgiveness. Of course, I am not underestimating the gravity of sinning. Do not misunderstand me. However, do not allow your sins to prevent you from coming back to Allah.
I came across some people the other day who were telling me, “I have so many sins. I have committed all the sins in the book.” You know how we say, “I have tried all the tricks in the book”? They were saying, “I have committed all the sins. I do not think Allah will forgive me.”
Do not say this. Do not.
In another hadith qudsi, the Prophet ﷺ narrated that Allah says:
يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوبُكَ عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ وَلَا أُبَالِي
“O son of Adam, if your sins reached the clouds of the sky and then you asked Me for forgiveness, I would forgive you, and I would not mind.” (Tirmidhi, 3540) (sunnah.com)
Imagine that you could bring your sins as physical objects and place them on top of one another. One sin, then another, then another. There are so many that the pile reaches all the way up to the sky. Imagine the size of it.
Allah is saying that even if your sins reached that height, and then you came to Him and asked for forgiveness, He would forgive you. Their number would not prevent Him from forgiving you.
In the same hadith, Allah says:
يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ لَوْ أَتَيْتَنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتَنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُكَ بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً
“O son of Adam, if you came to Me with sins nearly filling the earth, then met Me without associating anything with Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly filling it.” (Tirmidhi, 3540) (sunnah.com)
To that extent? Yes, to that extent. But this is not an encouragement to commit sins. Again, do not misunderstand. This is an encouragement to have hope and not to despair.
We need to understand these two different positions. Someone may have committed many sins and then fall into despair, saying, “Allah will not forgive me. I am such a big sinner.” No. Come back to Allah, have hope in Him and seek His forgiveness.
At the same time, do not underestimate your sins and say casually, “Allah will forgive me. Come on!” Having hope in Allah’s mercy while sincerely returning to Him is different from treating sins lightly and using His forgiveness as an excuse to continue.
These are two different positions. We must not confuse them.
Allah is teaching us that, whatever we have done, we can return to Him in sincere repentance and receive His forgiveness. Look at His mercy. He says:
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
“My mercy encompasses everything.” (Surah al-A‘raf, 7:156) (quran.com)
His mercy encompasses everything. It is beyond our comprehension. In another hadith qudsi, the Prophet ﷺ narrated that Allah says:
إِنَّ رَحْمَتِي غَلَبَتْ غَضَبِي
“Indeed, My mercy prevails over My anger.” (Bukhari, 3194) (sunnah.com)
Allah says:
كُلُّكُمْ ضَالٌّ إِلَّا مَنْ هَدَيْتُهُ
“All of you are lost except those whom I have guided.” (Muslim, 2577) (sunnah.com)
All of you, without exception. Do not think that guidance is something you have achieved entirely through your own effort. Of course, you have to make an effort, but your effort alone is not enough. We need guidance from Allah. This is why He says:
فَاسْتَهْدُونِي أَهْدِكُمْ
“So ask Me for guidance and I will guide you.” (Muslim, 2577) (sunnah.com)
This is the first thing Allah is teaching us here: seek guidance from Him. This is why, in the seventeen rakahs of our daily obligatory prayers, we keep repeating:
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
“Guide us to the straight path.” (Surah al-Fatihah, 1:6) (quran.com)
We are asking Allah to guide us to the straight path, keep us on it and strengthen our steadiness upon it. There are winds and gales that can push us away from where we should be. We are asking Him to keep us firm despite everything that might move us off course.
Remember those distractions along the motorway: Shaytan calling from the right and the left, all along the way. Even within ourselves, we experience his whispers. We need to keep asking Allah for guidance.
This is why the Prophet ﷺ taught us to ask:
فَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ
“Do not leave me to myself, even for the blink of an eye.” (Abu Dawud, 5090) (sunnah.com)
In other words, do not leave me relying entirely on myself. Enable me always to rely on You.
Keep asking Allah in the small things as well as the big things. I know some of you might say, “But I do not ask Allah for small things. I only ask Him for the big things.” Ask Him for the small things too. Even the small things.
This reflects the state of the heart. When you keep asking Allah about everything in your life, it means that your heart is present rather than absent. Your awareness of Allah runs through everything you do. You do not remember Him only when you are in trouble. He is always in your heart, and you are always turning to Him and asking Him.
This is a state of remembrance. Allah praises:
وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ
“The men and women who remember Allah often.” (Surah al-Ahzab, 33:35) (quran.com)
Allah praises them because they keep remembering Him. This remembrance helps us stay on the path. Even if we become distracted, it makes it much easier to return.
Again, Allah says, “My servants.” This is a call from Him. When someone important calls you, what do you do? The etiquette is to respond. If Allah is calling us, we certainly need to respond. What should our response be?
When the Prophet ﷺ called one of his companions, how would they answer? They would say, “Labbayka ya Rasulullah” — “At your service, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” We see this, for example, in the response of Muadh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) when the Prophet ﷺ called him. (Bukhari, 128) (sunnah.com)
By the way, we do not use the word “labbayk” only during Hajj and Umrah. This gives you a flavour of its meaning in Arabic. It means, “At your service.” It was a familiar way of responding to someone who called you.
So we respond to Allah with this readiness: “At Your service. Here we are, ready. You are calling upon us, and we are ready to receive Your command.”
He wants us to listen to Him because He is giving us a lifeline. He is teaching us how to protect ourselves from Shaytan, from distractions and from losing our way. He is showing us how to return to the motorway, how to find our way back to Him.
But sometimes, because of all the distractions and noise around us, we do not hear the call. We have noise pollution in our lives. There is so much noise surrounding us that we fail to pay attention.
Allah is calling us, but the problem is that we are often not listening.
Imagine that your mother is calling you while you are playing loud music or doing something else with the volume turned up. You cannot hear her. She may need you, and her call may be important, but you miss it because of the noise around you. You lose the opportunity to respond and be good to your parent.
Of course, Allah does not need us. This is simply an example to help us understand how distractions can prevent us from responding to an important call.
Allah is calling us, “Ya ibadi” — “O My servants.” He is warning us that without His guidance, we are lost. Without Allah, we are certainly lost. Sometimes we need to be reminded of something that should be obvious. You and I need that reminder.
كُلُّكُمْ ضَالٌّ إِلَّا مَنْ هَدَيْتُهُ
“All of you are lost except those whom I have guided.”
So what is the way out, Ya Rabb? He has already given us the answer:
فَاسْتَهْدُونِي أَهْدِكُمْ
“Ask Me for guidance and I will guide you.”
He calls us to seek His guidance, and we answer by asking Him:
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
“Guide us to the straight path.”
This is our call to Allah. But how attentive will we be in calling upon Him if we have not paid attention to His call to us? We need to listen. This is a call of love from Allah, reminding us that we need Him.
Without His guidance, Shaytan can lead us away. The dunya can consume us, and greed can creep into every part of our lives. Allah gives us the way out: ask Him for guidance, and He will guide us.
There is no uncertainty in His promise. He says, “I will guide you.” We need to be sincere, listen to His call and ask Him. He promises guidance, and Allah never breaks His promises.
This is the formula He has given us. We need to follow it and hold on to His guidance, because this is where our protection lies.
Do you remember when Allah instructed Musa and his brother Harun (peace be upon them) to go to Firawn? They expressed a very understandable fear:
قَالَا رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا نَخَافُ أَنْ يَفْرُطَ عَلَيْنَا أَوْ أَنْ يَطْغَىٰ
“They said, ‘Our Lord, we fear that he may hasten to harm us or exceed all bounds.’” (Surah Taha, 20:45) (quran.com)
Firawn was a tyrant. They were being sent to confront him, and they feared what he might do. He might attack them or kill them. This was a natural concern.
What did Allah say to Musa and Harun (peace be upon them)?
قَالَ لَا تَخَافَا إِنَّنِي مَعَكُمَا أَسْمَعُ وَأَرَىٰ
“He said, ‘Do not be afraid. I am with you both, hearing and seeing.’” (Surah Taha, 20:46) (quran.com)
“I am with you.” Hearing and seeing.
Allah’s hearing and seeing are not exclusive to Musa and Harun (peace be upon them). He heard and saw what the Prophet ﷺ faced, and He hears and sees what the believers face. We are not beyond His knowledge or His care.
When Allah tells us to seek guidance from Him and promises to guide us, we should have confidence in that promise. Turn to Him, ask Him and rely on His support.
Then Allah says:
يَا عِبَادِي كُلُّكُمْ جَائِعٌ إِلَّا مَنْ أَطْعَمْتُهُ فَاسْتَطْعِمُونِي أُطْعِمْكُمْ
“O My servants, all of you are hungry except those whom I have fed, so ask Me for food and I will feed you.” (Muslim, 2577) (sunnah.com)
Of course, the first meaning that comes to mind is physical food. We have hungry people and homeless people all around us, and, unfortunately, the need keeps growing. We have food banks across the country, and the need for them is growing too. That is before we even mention our brothers and sisters in Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan and elsewhere. I have lost count. There is so much hunger.
This is probably the first meaning that comes to mind when we hear, “All of you are hungry.” Allah is the Provider. He provides for us. Yet human greed has left people and entire communities hungry. Human viciousness and evil have deprived people of food. Those committing genocide have made people hungry.
Allah is reminding us that without His provision, we cannot survive. We cannot sustain ourselves independently of Him. He is the One who provides for us.
Just as we are lost without His guidance, we are hungry without His provision. Think about the other planets and the conditions we would face there. We cannot simply go and live on them as we live here, with the food, water and conditions we need to survive. Who made this earth suitable for our lives? Allah. Without what He has provided and made possible for us, we could not live.
“All of you are hungry except those whom I have fed.” He then tells us what to do: “Ask Me for food and I will feed you.”
Ask Him for sustenance. Ask Him for the basic things in your life that allow you to survive. Ask Him for whatever provision you need. Again, ask Allah for anything: the major things and the minor things. Ask Allah.
Then He says:
يَا عِبَادِي كُلُّكُمْ عَارٍ إِلَّا مَنْ كَسَوْتُهُ فَاسْتَكْسُونِي أَكْسُكُمْ
“O My servants, all of you are unclothed except those whom I have clothed, so ask Me for clothing and I will clothe you.” (Muslim, 2577) (sunnah.com)
Allah now draws our attention to another need. We need food and drink to survive, and we need clothing to cover our bodies. These are basic needs, yet even in these everyday matters, we depend on Him.
This covering also reminds us of another dimension: the concealment of our faults and mistakes. We need Allah to cover our sins and flaws so that they are not exposed to people. Without His concealment, we would be exposed.
Ask Him for clothing, and ask Him to shield you. Ask Him to cover your body and to conceal your faults.
The name As-Sittir refers to Allah as the One who conceals. The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَيِيٌّ سِتِّيرٌ يُحِبُّ الْحَيَاءَ وَالسَّتْرَ
“Indeed, Allah is Modest and Concealing, and He loves modesty and concealment.” (Abu Dawud, 4012) (sunnah.com)
He conceals our secrets. He does not expose every fault and mistake we make to the people around us. Think how much we depend on this concealment.
Through these words, Allah is introducing Himself to us. He is teaching us what we need to do to remain on the straight path. He begins with guidance, then draws our attention to our basic needs and our rizq — our provision.
Rizq is one of the main concerns of people everywhere, whether we are living through austerity or not. So much of our daily thinking revolves around our livelihood: what we need, how we will earn it and how we will provide for ourselves and our families. Whether we like it or not, this occupies our minds.
Then there are our secrets. These can be another major concern, something that gives a person sleepless nights. “What if this secret were exposed? What if people found out?” The thought itself can be painful.
Allah is reminding us how much we need His protection. We need Him for guidance, for food, for clothing and for concealment. He calls us to turn to Him with all these needs: to seek His protection, His provision, His guidance and His covering.
Then Allah says:
يَا عِبَادِي إِنَّكُمْ تُخْطِئُونَ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَأَنَا أَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا فَاسْتَغْفِرُونِي أَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ
“O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so ask Me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.” (Muslim, 2577) (sunnah.com)
As I mentioned, Allah is describing our condition as human beings, wherever we are and whatever time we live in. Whether you look two thousand years into the past or imagine two thousand years into the future, our human needs remain the same. We lose our direction, become distracted and need support from Allah.
We sin. This is part of our human weakness. We are not angels. The angels do not sin, but we are human beings, and we make mistakes.
When we sin, it affects our hearts and our relationship with Allah. Remember the straight line and the smaller lines branching away from it. When we sin, we follow one of those distractions and move away from the straight path.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
لَا يَزْنِي الزَّانِي حِينَ يَزْنِي وَهْوَ مُؤْمِنٌ، وَلَا يَشْرَبُ الْخَمْرَ حِينَ يَشْرَبُ وَهْوَ مُؤْمِنٌ، وَلَا يَسْرِقُ حِينَ يَسْرِقُ وَهْوَ مُؤْمِنٌ
“The person who commits adultery is not a believer while committing it; the person who drinks alcohol is not a believer while drinking it; and the person who steals is not a believer while stealing.” (Bukhari, 2475) (sunnah.com)
This describes a serious deficiency in faith at the time of the sin; it does not mean that committing such a sin automatically takes a Muslim out of Islam. (seekersguidance.org) The person has allowed temptation to override the restraint that their iman should provide. Shaytan has tempted them, and they have followed that temptation.
Can someone commit adultery while their faith is fully present and restraining them? The Prophet ﷺ tells us how seriously such an act affects faith. Likewise, when someone steals, they have allowed themselves to be drawn away from what their faith requires of them.
You can see how these distractions take us off the straight path. The best response is to come back to Allah and repent. He Himself is asking us to do this: “Ask Me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.”
He has promised. He is telling us to return to Him, whatever we have done. Come back to Him; do not run away from Him.
Usually, when you are afraid of something, you run away from it. But when you fear Allah, you run towards Him. As He says in the Quran:
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ
“So flee to Allah.” (Surah adh-Dhariyat, 51:50) (quran.com)
Run towards Allah. You seek refuge from His punishment in His mercy. You turn to Him, seek His forgiveness and ask Him to accept your repentance.
So what do we need to do in practical terms?
First, we need to stop the sin. We need to recognise that what we are doing is wrong, repent sincerely and ask Allah for forgiveness. That repentance includes regretting what we have done and sincerely resolving not to return to it.
Then follow the bad deed with a good deed. The Prophet ﷺ said:
وَأَتْبِعِ السَّيِّئَةَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُهَا
“Follow a bad deed with a good deed, and it will erase it.” (Tirmidhi, 1987) (sunnah.com)
If the sin concerns your relationship with Allah, turn to Him in sincere repentance. However, if you have wronged another person, you must also address their rights. Seek their forgiveness and restore what you owe them. Repentance cannot be an excuse to leave someone else carrying the harm you have caused. (hadeethenc.com)
Even if you have committed the gravest sin, Allah can forgive you when you sincerely repent. Even shirk? Yes, even shirk. If someone turns away from associating partners with Allah, sincerely declares the shahada and embraces tawheed — worshipping Allah alone — Allah forgives what came before. Even the gravest sin can be forgiven through sincere repentance.
Allah tells us:
لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا
“Do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.” (Surah az-Zumar, 39:53) (quran.com)
Do not despair. He says “all sins”. Whatever a person has done, the door of sincere repentance is open to them. Do not convince yourself that your sins are beyond His forgiveness.
Allah calls upon us in many verses of the Quran to return to Him. In the very next verse, He says:
وَأَنِيبُوا إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ وَأَسْلِمُوا لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمُ الْعَذَابُ ثُمَّ لَا تُنْصَرُونَ
“Turn to your Lord in repentance and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you, when you will no longer be helped.” (Surah az-Zumar, 39:54) (quran.com)
He is warning us and reminding us that we have the opportunity now. We can turn back, ask for forgiveness and change our direction. You have the chance now. Do not waste it.
This call to repentance is addressed to the believers too. Do not think it is only for people who are far away from Allah. Allah says:
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“Turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, so that you may succeed.” (Surah an-Nur, 24:31) (quran.com)
All of you. Allah is calling upon the believers to repent so that they may achieve success in the dunya and the akhirah. In another verse, He says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا
“O you who believe, turn to Allah in sincere repentance.” (Surah at-Tahrim, 66:8) (quran.com)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَإِنِّي أَتُوبُ فِي الْيَوْمِ إِلَيْهِ مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ
“O people, turn to Allah in repentance, for I turn to Him in repentance a hundred times a day.” (Muslim, 2702) (sunnah.com)
This is the Prophet ﷺ. He turned to Allah in repentance a hundred times every day. We need to seek forgiveness and keep repenting too. And Allah is pleased with our return to Him.
The Prophet ﷺ gave us a beautiful example of this. Imagine a man travelling through the desert with his camel. His food and drink are on it. Everything he needs to survive is with that camel. Then the camel disappears.
He is alone in the desert, without his food, without his water and without his means of transport. He loses hope of finding it. Eventually, he lies down in the shade of a tree, having given up.
Then, while he is lying there, he finds his camel standing beside him. Imagine his joy. What he thought he had lost has come back. His food, his drink and his means of survival are there in front of him. He is over the moon.
The Prophet ﷺ explained that Allah is even more pleased with the repentance of His servant than this man is with the return of his camel. (Muslim, 2747) (sunnah.com)
So the way back is not as difficult as we sometimes imagine. It begins with sincere repentance, a sincere call to Allah and a sincere resolve that you will not return to the sin. Keep making istighfar. Keep seeking His forgiveness, polishing your heart and keeping good company. These are things that help you stay on track.
Remember those small lines branching away from the straight path: the distractions and traps of Shaytan. Good companions help you recognise them and avoid following them. When you begin to move in the wrong direction, they say, “No, no. Where are you going? That is a distraction. Do not go there. Come back.”
And you say, “Yes, you are right,” and return. This is the importance of having good companions and good friends around you. They notice when you are drifting and help you find your way back.
Do not despair. Return to Allah. He loves those who return to Him. In Surah al-Baqarah, He says:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ
“Indeed, Allah loves those who repeatedly turn to Him in repentance.” (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:222) (quran.com)
If you want Allah’s love, keep making tawbah. Keep coming back to Him and asking for His forgiveness. He loves your return to Him, so keep calling upon Him.
When you sincerely repent, Allah can even replace your bad deeds with good deeds. He says:
إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَٰئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا
“Except those who repent, believe and do righteous deeds. For them, Allah will replace their bad deeds with good deeds. Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.” (Surah al-Furqan, 25:70) (quran.com)
Look at this generosity. Through sincere repentance, faith and righteous action, even the bad deeds can be replaced with good deeds.
Do not delay repentance. We need it every day. This is what the Prophet ﷺ himself used to practise, so we should make it part of our daily lives too.
The door of tawbah remains open throughout our lives, until the final throes of death. The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَقْبَلُ تَوْبَةَ الْعَبْدِ مَا لَمْ يُغَرْغِرْ
“Allah accepts His servant’s repentance as long as the soul has not reached the throat.” (Tirmidhi, 3537) (sunnah.com)
Let us seize the opportunity while we have it. Let us ask Allah for His forgiveness and do our best to improve ourselves, inshaAllah.
Then we can begin to see the difference: a lighter heart, a lighter burden and fewer distractions. We become more attentive and more able to hear and respond to Allah’s call. We draw closer to Him, and our lives change for the better, inshaAllah.
“Jazakallahu khayran, Shaykh, for another beautiful and much-needed reminder. We ask Allah to protect us from distractions and keep us on the straight path. Amin.”
1. Our children are often distracted by the dunya. They may not necessarily be committing sins, but they give worldly things greater importance than their deen. How can we help them get their priorities right?
Our children get distracted — as though we do not get distracted ourselves! Of course, we do too.
My first tip is that they may not listen to you. This is something many parents experience. Someone else might tell them exactly the same thing, and they will listen, even though they have heard it from you many times.
Find someone you trust for their knowledge and wisdom, someone your children can relate to and hear this advice from. Such a person can help guide them towards the right path.
They also need to understand their priorities. The dunya is a bridge. We need to cross that bridge in the best possible way, but it is not our final destination. It is a stage in our journey. We make a very serious mistake when we treat this life as though it were our final destination.
As I mentioned earlier, our environment, companions and the atmosphere around us affect us greatly. Different friends can shape the way we think, what we consider important and the priorities we set for ourselves. This applies to our children too.
We need to help create a good atmosphere, with good companions, good friends and a good environment. Sometimes, once that is in place, you hardly need to say anything. They can see it being lived around them, rather than only hearing you talk about it.
2. What do you think is our biggest distraction in this day and age?
Social media and AI can be very big distractions.
Of course, AI has different uses. It can be used for something good and beneficial, in which case that use is good. It can also be used for things that are unhelpful or harmful. It depends on how we use it.
We need to look at what we are doing with these tools and what they are doing to our time and attention.
3. What is your best advice for remaining continuously mindful of Allah?
Follow in the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ.
From the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, he remembered Allah. There are particular words of remembrance for waking up and for the morning. We have articles about these on our website, and you can read and learn them.
After salah, there are particular adhkar — words of remembrance — that the Prophet ﷺ taught us. There are also the evening adhkar. These remembrances accompany us through the day.
Then we have the five daily prayers. The Prophet ﷺ compared them to washing ourselves five times a day. He asked his companions:
أَرَأَيْتُمْ لَوْ أَنَّ نَهَرًا بِبَابِ أَحَدِكُمْ يَغْتَسِلُ فِيهِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ خَمْسًا، مَا تَقُولُ ذَلِكَ يُبْقِي مِنْ دَرَنِهِ؟
“Imagine a river outside someone’s door in which they washed five times every day. How much dirt would remain on them?”
The companions replied that none would remain. He ﷺ then said:
فَذَلِكَ مِثْلُ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ، يَمْحُو اللَّهُ بِهَا الْخَطَايَا
“That is the example of the five prayers: Allah wipes away sins through them.” (Bukhari, 528) (sunnah.com)
Imagine washing yourself five times a day. The dirt does not remain. This is the example the Prophet ﷺ gave us for our prayers.
The prayers, together with the remembrances surrounding them and the morning and evening adhkar, help us remain connected to Allah. They are like a shield, protecting us from Shaytan and the distractions that draw us away from Him.
4. How can we support someone who repeatedly commits the same sin and struggles to stop?
This is a common question. To answer properly, we need to understand the details of the person’s situation. They may already recognise what keeps leading them back to the same sin.
If you remain in the same environment, with the same friends and the same influences, you are likely to face the same temptation again and again. You need to address the reasons that keep leading you towards the sin.
Let us take smoking as a simple example. All your friends smoke, and you spend your time with them while they are smoking. You tell them, “No, I have quit.”
Then, two weeks later, someone says, “Come on, just try one.” You are still surrounded by the same habit and the same encouragement, and you find yourself going back to it.
Or take someone who is struggling with alcohol. Their friends drink, alcohol is always available and everything around them makes drinking easy. It becomes much harder to stop when the whole environment encourages the very thing they are trying to leave.
Sometimes the main influence is a particular friend. Sometimes it is the wider environment. Sometimes it is something else happening in the person’s life. We need to assess the situation and identify what is feeding the behaviour.
Once you understand the reasons, you can begin to change them. Removing a trigger can make it much easier to stop. You also need to repent and sincerely ask Allah to keep you on the right path and make a good environment available to you.
Ask Him to facilitate company and circumstances that help you move away from these sins, whether the issue is alcohol or something else.
This can help you turn over a new page, inshaAllah. However, if you remain surrounded by the same harmful influences, returning to the same sin becomes much more likely. Give yourself the opportunity to make a fresh start in an environment that supports your repentance.
5. Should we pray the prayer of repentance every day as well as making istighfar?
You can pray the prayer of repentance, but remember that repentance begins in the heart. This inward state is essential.
There needs to be a firm resolve in the heart: “I will not do this again. O Allah, help me.” It is like tying a knot in your heart, making a sincere commitment to change.
You must also feel remorse for what you have done. This is part and parcel of sincere repentance. We have an article on the conditions of repentance, and one of those conditions is regretting the sin.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
النَّدَمُ تَوْبَةٌ
“Remorse is repentance.” (Ibn Majah, 4252) (sunnah.com)
Do we need to regret what we have done? Yes, of course.
Imagine that you have wronged someone and then say casually, “Yes, sorry.” The person can hear from your voice and see from your behaviour that you do not really mean it. Saying the words does not necessarily show sincere remorse.
We need to regret what we have done and turn to Allah sincerely.
Praying two rakahs is a beautiful way to accompany that repentance. The Prophet ﷺ taught that when someone sins, performs wudu well, prays two rakahs and asks Allah for forgiveness, Allah forgives them. (Abu Dawud, 1521) (sunnah.com)
Keep making istighfar, fulfil your obligatory prayers and pray these two rakahs when repenting. However, the prayer must be accompanied by the right state of heart. It is not a substitute for remorse and a sincere determination to change. Without that inward sincerity, the change may not last.
6. What practical steps can help us begin to change?
There are several practical steps we can follow.
First, have hope in Allah’s mercy. Do not say, “I have too many sins. Allah will never forgive me. I have committed every kind of wrongdoing.”
Acknowledge your sins, yes. Recognise what you have done. But do not conclude that Allah will not forgive you. Do not despair.
Then return to Allah with humility. Beg Him to accept you and accept your repentance. Begin replacing bad deeds with good deeds. If you have done many bad things, start doing good things now.
Give charity. Spread goodness. Feed people who are in need. Help someone who is struggling. Help your parents with the things they need to do. Replace bad habits with good practices and good deeds. This helps you move towards becoming a better person.
Keep making istighfar. Seeking Allah’s forgiveness is like a cleansing agent for the heart. The more you sincerely seek forgiveness, the more your heart is polished. It becomes like a clean mirror, able to receive and reflect the light of guidance from Allah.
You also need a sense of urgency. “I will do it later. Later, I will pray. Later, I will make istighfar. Later, I will repent.” Do not keep putting it off. Later may never come. We may die before the time we imagined we would change.
Begin as soon as possible. Ask Allah for help. We have heard His invitation in the hadith: ask Him for forgiveness, provision and guidance. Keep turning to Him with your needs.
Make particular use of sujood. The Prophet ﷺ said:
أَقْرَبُ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَهُوَ سَاجِدٌ، فَأَكْثِرُوا الدُّعَاءَ
“A servant is closest to their Lord while prostrating, so make abundant supplication.” (Muslim, 482) (sunnah.com)
Increase your supplications in sujood. Ask Allah for what you need. He hears you.
If you can pray qiyam al-layl, make time for it before Fajr. You might get up an hour before Fajr or half an hour before it. The last third of the night is a particularly blessed time for supplication and seeking forgiveness. (Bukhari, 1145) (sunnah.com)
Take the opportunity to make dua around the prayer times, particularly between the adhan and the iqamah. The Prophet ﷺ said:
لَا يُرَدُّ الدُّعَاءُ بَيْنَ الْأَذَانِ وَالْإِقَامَةِ
“Supplication between the adhan and the iqamah is not rejected.” (Abu Dawud, 521) (sunnah.com)
There is also a special time for the acceptance of dua on Friday. One narration directs us to seek it in the final period after Asr, before sunset. (Abu Dawud, 1048) (sunnah.com)
By taking these steps and following in the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ, we can become better people, inshaAllah. The more we learn and put his guidance into practice, the more it should help us become better parents, better spouses, better siblings and better children.
7. What advice would you give neurodivergent people who experience a lot of mental noise and find it difficult to focus? They have good intentions but feel guilty about their difficulty concentrating.
First, seek appropriate specialist advice and support. Make use of the help available to you and the approaches recommended for your particular needs.
If you are doing this and still find it difficult to quieten your mind or concentrate, continue doing your best with the ability you have. That struggle can be part of your test, and there is great reward in patience and sincere effort.
The Prophet ﷺ taught us that even the smallest suffering is not overlooked:
مَا يُصِيبُ الْمُسْلِمَ مِنْ نَصَبٍ وَلَا وَصَبٍ وَلَا هَمٍّ وَلَا حُزْنٍ وَلَا أَذًى وَلَا غَمٍّ، حَتَّى الشَّوْكَةِ يُشَاكُهَا، إِلَّا كَفَّرَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ خَطَايَاهُ
“No tiredness, illness, worry, sorrow, hurt or distress afflicts a Muslim, even the prick of a thorn, without Allah removing some of their sins through it.” (Bukhari, 5641–5642) (sunnah.com)
Yes, the difficulty may be frustrating and burdensome, but your struggle is not wasted. Remember the reward you can hope for from Allah through your patience.
When you feel distracted and do not know what to do, try also to remember: “Allah knows the effort I am making. I can seek His reward for being patient with this.”
Reward is not limited to the extra prayers we manage to perform. Patience with a difficulty is itself an opportunity for reward. Of course, we continue fulfilling our obligations according to our ability. I am not saying that we should stop praying. I am reminding you that your patience and perseverance also matter.
At the same time, ask Allah for relief. We do not ask Him to keep us in difficulty simply because we hope to receive more reward. Ask Him for relief, wellbeing and ease, as well as reward for what you are experiencing.
We ask Allah to make our lives better in a way that pleases Him.
8. What advice would you give someone who struggles to fulfil obligations such as prayer or hijab?
As I have mentioned several times, we need to pay attention to the heart. It is at the centre of our worship.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
أَلَا وَإِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مُضْغَةً إِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ، وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ، أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ
“Indeed, there is a piece of flesh in the body which, when sound, makes the whole body sound, and when corrupt, makes the whole body corrupt. It is the heart.” (Bukhari, 52) (sunnah.com)
The condition of the heart affects the rest of us. When the heart is healthy, that goodness influences our actions. When it becomes hardened or closed to reminders, acts of worship can feel heavy. Prayer feels difficult, remembrance feels difficult and fasting feels difficult.
So we need to polish the heart with istighfar and tawbah. Then soften it through dhikr and reciting the Quran. It is like giving the heart a gentle massage, helping it become receptive again.
Allah says:
أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
“Surely, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find tranquillity.” (Surah ar-Rad, 13:28) (quran.com)
We live in a world where tranquillity can seem like a rare commodity, almost something unfamiliar. Yet Allah has made it clear where the heart can find this peace.
When you draw close to Him, call upon Him and recite His words, you seek that tranquillity from Him. As the heart becomes more settled and connected to Allah, fulfilling your obligations can become easier.
Instead of always needing someone to remind you, you begin to want to respond yourself. You feel lighter and more willing to act.
Work on the heart while continuing to take practical steps towards your obligations. Strengthening that inward connection helps the rest of your actions follow.
9. What advice would you give about hostility towards hijab and niqab in the media and wider society?
This is part of the test we face.
The prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) faced persecution. They were insulted, called liars and subjected to abuse. Many were physically harmed. Righteous people throughout history have also faced hostility.
I am not saying that we should simply accept abuse. Do not misunderstand me. I am saying that facing opposition because of our faith is part of the test, and we need to strengthen ourselves for it.
First, be strong inwardly through your connection with Allah. Ask Him for protection, support and help.
I would also recommend that our sisters consider learning self-defence. Unfortunately, some people may become physically aggressive. The purpose is to be able to protect yourself and get to safety. We are not encouraging anyone to go out and fight.
We also need to report incidents. Too many incidents of abuse go unreported because people think, “Nothing will change.” Report them. It is important that what has happened is recorded and taken seriously.
We should also make our brothers and sisters aware of incidents in their area so that they can take sensible precautions and support one another. Do not simply turn your face away and move on as though nothing happened.
Be vocal. Raise awareness. Organise a campaign where appropriate and help the wider community understand what is happening. Make a clear statement that this treatment is unacceptable.
Through these efforts, things can change, inshaAllah. First and foremost, we ask Allah for His protection and support, and we also do our part.
Webinar delivered to Utrujj North on 1st October 2026 by Shaykh Haytham Tamim.