The 5 Minute Exercise That Can Change Your Life for Years | The Muslim Talk

Too often, people are blind of the truth. The truth is that this life is a state of urgency. The Creator of this world sent us a message in the Qur’an, a message of urgency. Your life is recorded and your actions have consequences. Thus, action is necessary. This post should help remove the covering from your eyes and let you realize the reality of this world, fresh.

The fact of the matter

The fact of the matter is that we are in a state of urgency. All of our actions count, and we must work hard, now, to become those who escape Allah’s wrath ﷻ and gain His mercy.

The day of judgement is a powerful reminder of this:

يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُّحْضَرًا وَمَا عَمِلَتْ مِن سُوءٍ تَوَدُّ لَوْ أَنَّ بَيْنَهَا 

وَبَيْنَهُ أَمَدًا بَعِيدًا ۗ وَيُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ رَءُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ - 3:3

The Day every soul will find what it has done of good present [before it] and what it has done of evil, it will wish that between itself and that [evil] was a great distance. And Allah warns you of Himself, and Allah is Kind to [His] servants."

-https://quran.com/3/30 (Sahih International Translation)

وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ - 2:48

Guard yourselves against the Day on which no soul will be of help to another. No intercession will be accepted, no ransom taken, and no help will be given.

https://quran.com/2/48 (Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran Translation)

We must be aware of this frightening day, when your actions are what will stand for you. You cannot ransom God ﷻ, and nobody can help you. There is no escape from the reality of your actions. That is why it is very important that you choose your actions carefully now, while you are still living this life. 

يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ - 26:88

"The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children"

https://quran.com/26/87-89 (Sahih International Translation)

Your wealth and/or children are only things which you have now. Later, these things do not matter. The choices you made in this life matter. Did you choose to obey Allah ﷻ or disobey Him? How did you spend your wealth and power? All these are the things that will matter.

We have to be aware that our actions have consequences. We have to be aware of the reality. Sins are things that are recorded forever. That is the reality.

Your sin is recorded by the angel on your left. Done. Recorded. And you can’t fix it. Even if you repent, you have not changed the fact that you have done this sin. it will be on your record, forever. And it is something that will not benefit you. It is something bad. If you are forgiven that means you have been forgiven - but that doesn’t change the fact that you did a sin, that you disobeyed Allah ﷻ using the same blessings He gave you, like health and power. 

You may look back later and wish you hadn’t done the sin. But there’s still no escape from your past. If you do sin, you won’t be able to turn it around and remove this horrible thing from your record.

Still, you can help yourself by repenting. See below to see how.

The solution

The solution is clear: right now we have power, so we should use it to make sure that we avoid sins and do good deeds. But how exactly can you get started? Below is a simple, tangible exercise to get you started. This is an exercise that can change your life.

The exercise

1. Take a paper or other recording device and write down the sins you did before.
2. Think carefully about how you can avoid these sins in the future.
3. Regret your sins and repent from them, and begin to put into place the plan to avoid them.
4. If you fall into sin again, aim to avoid it again and start fresh.

For example:

Past sins:

-Lied

-Cheated

-Swore at someone

-Missed prayers

-Etc

How to fix:

-Talk less, especially when among friends

-Apologize to the person who I swore at directly or via text message

-Avoid cheating by making it clear to people that I do not intend to cheat, and avoid associating with people who cheat

-Make up missed prayers, avoid missing prayers and if they are missed, immediately record it on mobile phone note app and make them up

Step 1: Reflect on your past sins.

Take a piece of paper or other recording device and make a best effort to remember your past sins. You can write them down in general terms, if you don’t want to be too specific. Just try to remember, generally, the places where you made mistakes in the past. For example, this may be lying, cheating, stealing, verbally or physically mistreating others, doing sins in private or the like. It may be shameful, but try to record them to the best of your ability. This will be important for the second step.

Step 2: Think about how to stop the sins in the future.

Look at each of the sins you wrote down and think about how you can stop them. For example, for lying, you may want to resolve to speak less to certain people. Sometimes being around certain people can be inciting to sin, so you might want to avoid certain groups. Maybe consulting a friend or family member might help you avoid some sins. Ideally, you are looking for a practical way to avoid the sins that you commit often.

Step 3: Regret the sins, vow not to do them again and take action to stop them permanently

Now, look back at those sins and repent from them. Remember to regret them, stop them and vow to not return to them. Also maybe try to fix any problems you made with people physically or verbally. Once you have repented and vowed not to return to them, begin to consider your practical plans to action. Now you can change the way you do things to help you avoid sin in the future.

Step 4: Repeat.

You may find that you returned to some of these sins. In that case, you can repent again and re-consider your plan to action. Was it practical? Maybe it was not realistic? Consider these things and aim to launch yourself into a fresh attempt at avoiding sins, after a fresh repentance. 

This exercise can be extremely helpful for you. It is something that we all need, a reminder of where we are and an assertion of our aims. Hopefully this will be of benefit to you, in sha’ Allah (God willing).
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Conditions of repentance (tawba) - according to Dar al-Ifta, the conditions of repentance are:

"- Regretting having committed the sin;

- Desisting from it because it is an act of disobedience and not because it harms one’s body and property;
- Resolving not to return to it again.

It is obligatory to repent immediately from a disobedience; delaying repentance is itself a sin that requires repentance. 

If the sin is connected to the rights of another human being, it is necessary to return the rights to their owners or to clear oneself of the obligation owed to others."

*I am not a certified psychologist or religious authority, I am simply presenting data which I found from other sources and otherwise, and if something is incorrect in any manner I do not claim it to be correct.

*Disclaimer: The author does not claim to be perfect, and the advice listed in The Muslim Blog or on The Muslim Talk facebook/instagram pages is advice to the author as much as it is to anyone else :)

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