[A SISTER’S GUIDE TO NAVIGATING LIFE]

 

[DEAR SISTER: WISDOM FOR LIFE’S JOURNEY] ✨

🔸 Surround Yourself With Righteous Sisters

The people we surround ourselves with can greatly influence our faith and character.

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ

«الْمَرْءُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيلِهِ، فَلْيَنْظُرْ أَحَدُكُمْ مَنْ يُخَالِلُ»

“A person is upon the religion of his close friend, so let each of you look at whom he befriends.”

[Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2378]

Choose sisters who remind you of Allah ﷻ, encourage obedience, and help you remain firm upon the truth.

🔸 Guard Your Modesty

Allah ﷻ says:

وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ

“And do not display yourselves as was the display of the former times of ignorance.”

[Al-Aḥzāb 33:33]

Protect yourself from Tabarruj "unlawful display of beauty," and guard your beauty from non-maḥram men.

Allah ﷻ also says:

وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity.”

[An-Nūr 24:31]

This includes guarding your gaze both in public and online.

🔸 Be Careful With Your Speech

Allah ﷻ says:

فَلَا تَخْضَعْنَ بِالْقَوْلِ فَيَطْمَعَ الَّذِي فِي قَلْبِهِ مَرَضٌ

“Do not be soft in speech, lest one in whose heart is a disease should be tempted.”

[Al-Aḥzāb 33:32]

Keep interactions with non-maḥrams respectful and necessary. Avoid unnecessary joking, flirting, or conversations that can open doors to temptation.

🔸 Be Careful Who You Follow

Not everyone presented online as a “celebrity,” “influencer,” or “hijabi” should become an example for you.

Guard your heart and your īmān.

Instead, take inspiration from the Mothers of the Believers رضي الله عنهن, the daughters of the Prophet ﷺ, and the righteous women of Islam.

Study their lives. Learn how they worshipped Allah, maintained modesty, showed patience, and carried themselves with dignity.

🔸 Honour Your Husband & Family

Treat your husband and family with respect, kindness, and good character.

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رضي الله عنها، قَالَتْ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ

«خَيْرُكُمْ خَيْرُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ، وَأَنَا خَيْرُكُمْ لِأَهْلِي»

“The best of you are those who are best to their families, and I am the best of you to my family.”

[Sunan al-Tirmidhī 3895]

🔸 Stay Away From Backbiting

Allah ﷻ gives us a powerful warning:

وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ

“Do not backbite one another. Would any of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it.”

[Al-Ḥujurāt 49:12]

The Prophet ﷺ also warned against backbiting and searching for the faults of others.

عَنْ أَبِي بَرْزَةَ الْأَسْلَمِيِّ رضي الله عنه، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ

يَا مَعْشَرَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِلِسَانِهِ وَلَمْ يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ قَلْبَهُ، لَا تَغْتَابُوا الْمُسْلِمِينَ، وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا عَوْرَاتِهِمْ

“O those who have believed with their tongues but faith has not entered their hearts! Do not backbite the Muslims or seek out their faults…”

[Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4880]

Do not only avoid backbiting yourself—leave gatherings where backbiting is taking place.

🌿 A Final Reminder

Sisters, protect your īmān, Hayaā’, eyes, tongue, friendships, and heart.

The world constantly presents people for us to imitate. Choose your role models carefully and let the righteous women of Islam be your example.

May Allah ﷻ grant our sisters ḥayā’, sincerity, righteous companionship, strong īmān, and beautiful character. May He protect them from temptation and make them among the righteous women of Jannah.

آمِينَ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ

【BEAUTIFUL LIVES ARE OFTEN BUILD THROUGH PAIN】

【What You See as Beautiful May Have Been Shaped by Pain】

_Behind every beautiful life, there has been some kind of pain. _

_We fall, we rise, we make mistakes, we live and we learn. We are human and constantly make mistakes. _

_We’ve been hurt, but we are alive. While we can still breathe, we must shukr Allah for this precious privilege. _

_Sometimes there is sadness in our journey, but there is also lots of beauty. _

 _We must always try to put one foot in front of the other even when we hurt, for we will never know what is waiting for us just around the bend. _

_Let our dreams be bigger than our fears and our actions louder than our words. Live by choice, not by chance. Make changes, not excuses. Be motivated, not manipulated. Work to excel, not compete. Choose to listen to our inner voice, not the jumbled opinions of everyone else. _

_It’s our road, and ours alone. Others may walk it with us, but no one can walk it for us. _

✦ THE HARDEST THRUTH : We Already Knew ✦

◈We Had the Knowledge. What We Lacked Was Action.◈

 

Ibn Al Qayyim رَحِمَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ said,

 

“A girl died of the plague and her father saw her in his dream. He said, ‘my daughter, tell me about the hereafter. So she said, 'We’ve approached a serious matter. We used to know but we didn’t act. I swear by Allah, to add one tasbeehah (saying Subhan Allah) or a single Rak'ah to my book of deeds is more beloved to me than the whole world and everything in it.’

 

This girl said words of great importance. 'We used to know but we didn’t act’, but many of us don’t understand what she means.

 

We used to know, that if we say Subhan Allah wa bi Hamdihi 100 times our sins are forgiven even if they’re like the foam of the sea (yet days and nights pass and we don’t say it)

 

We used to know that two rak'ahs of Duha prayer is the equivalent of giving 360 charities (yet day after day pass and we don’t pray it)

 

We used to know that a house in the middle of Jannah is guaranteed for one who abandons lying even while joking (yet every second sentence we utter is a lie)

 

We used to know that fasting a day voluntarily for the sake of Allah puts a distance between our face and the fire the size of seven trenches and Allah distances our face from the fire the distance travelled in 70 years, (and we haven’t fasted single day this week)

 

We used to know that whoever visits a sick person is followed by 70,000 angels seeking Allah’s forgiveness on his behalf (but we haven’t visited a sick person this week)

 

We used to know that whoever prayed a funeral prayer and followed it till it was burried has two Qiraats of reward and a Qiraat is like the mountain of Uhud (yet weeks pass and we haven’t been to the graveyard.)

 

We used to know that whoever builds a mosque even if it’s like a bird’s nest Allah builds a house for them in paradise (yet we haven’t contributed to the building of a Masjid, even with 10 dinars)

 

We used to know that the one who supports the widow and her children is like the fighter in the path of Allah and the one who fasts all day and prays all night without sleeping. (Yet we haven’t contributed to sponsoring a widow and her children)

 

We used to know that whoever reads a single letter from the Quran has a good deed and every deed is multiplied by 10. Yet we haven’t made a point to read it every day.

 

We used to know that an accepted Hajj has the reward of jannah and it sends the person who completed it off like the day his mother gave birth to him. (With a clean book of deeds) yet we haven’t performed the rites of Hajj although our circumstances have made it easy for us.

 

We knew the honor of a believer is in Qiyam Al-layl, and that the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions never missed it all their lives despite being busy with making a living and fighting in the path of Allah and spreading the religion. But we have neglected this matter terribly.

 

We knew the Day of Judgment was coming without a doubt and that Allah will resurrect us from our graves but we haven’t prepared for that day.

 

We used to bury the deceased and pray over them but haven’t prepared ourselves for a day like this one, as if we have a guarantee that it won’t happen to us.

 

We know that every breath we breathe is getting us closer to death yet we’re still busy with amusement and playing. It’s time we change the way we’re living and prepare properly for the day of accounting.

 

"On the Day a man will flee from his brother. And his mother and his father; And his wife and his children, For every man, that Day, will be a matter adequate for him.” 

Quran (80:34-37)

 

Reference - Kitab Al Ruh by Ibn Al Qayyim رَحِمَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ