Sayf

*If This Isn't Nice, What Is?*

In 1998, a man named Kurt Vonnegut gave the commencement speech at Rice University.

When he was about to round up his speech, he told a story.

He said, (paraphrased) "My Uncle Alex, a Harvard graduate, was locally useful in Indianapolis as an honest insurance agent. He was also well-read and wise. One thing that Uncle Alex found objectionable about human beings was that they rarely took time out to notice when they were happy.

"He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime, and he would interrupt the conversation to say, "If this isn't nice, what is?"

Muslims should embody this trait more than anyone because Allah says, "As for the blessings of your Lord, proclaim."

When one thing is going sweetly and peacefully - even if in the midst of a thousand calamities - pause a moment to say out loud, "If this isn't beautiful, what is?"

There are a lot of tiny beauties in life that are easy to miss if you’re moving too fast to appreciate them, and these little things end up summarizing us either as happy or sad people.

When we lean into gratitude to Allah for these moments, feelings, and people, we find new joy and happiness in our lives and even in the people around us.

Do not be that person who always downplays the beauty of his marriage, the peace his children bring and every other beautiful blessing Allah has planted in his life, but then, immediately an undesired incident strikes, he voices out and everyone knows.

Be that person who just sits, stares at his wife, and randomly says, "If this isn't happiness and the peak of blessings, what is?"

Happiness is contagious, and we must strive to be that jug that dispenses happiness to others.

*Sayf Network*

We have written an earlier article to talk about the need to slow down and dwell on our happy moments for longer, rather than just moving on to other things is one of the keys to a happy and peaceful life.

Read the mentioned article here: https://t.me/SayfProductiveMuslims/643

*Do Not Use The Day Of Arafah To Prepare For Eid. Do That Now*

Whatever preparation you want to make for eid, make it now.

The clothes, the shoes, the knives, the food ingredients, get everything ready now.

Tuesday is the day of Arafah. It is not a day for deep-cleaning the house. It is a day you seclude yourself and worship Allah and make supplications.

In Sahih Muslim it was narrated from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of ‘Arafah. He comes close and expresses His pride to the angels, saying, ‘What do these people want?’”

Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on the Day of ‘Arafah . He said, “It expiates for the sins of the previous year and of the coming year.” Narrated by Muslim.

*Sayf Network*

*4 Ways to Accrue Massive Rewards in The Rest of These Days as a Mother*

Many mothers are sad at the passing of the first days of Dhul-hijjah.

They planned to fill Dhul-hijjah with more time with the Qur’an, nawaafil and many other acts of ‘Ibaadah but as the days pass, they realise how hard it's to combine those with the constant demands of motherhood.

So they start to see motherhood as an obstacle between them and ‘Ibaadaat.

As a mother, the right way to overcome this sadness is to start thinking of motherhood itself as an act of worship and one of the best you can do in these days.

Your children are not interruptions to worship. With the right intention, they are among your biggest doors to Allah.

Here are 4 practical ways to do this:

*1. Renew your intention*

Do not feed, clean, cook, wash, settle fights, or care for your children only because “it has to be done.”

Take time to intend Allah’s pleasure with those routine actions and turn them into worship. The Prophet ﷺ taught us that actions are judged by intentions.

*2. Be patient through the tantrums*

Being around children is one of the fastest ways to frustration.

Your children will cry, spill things, ask repeated questions, and stretch your nerves. They will interrupt your well-planned day.

When we think about the 'ibaadah of being patient with people's imperfections, we often think only of adults and strangers and forget our own children.

During these ten days, make a conscious decision to be exceptionally patient with your kids. Avoid transferring your stress onto them, using harsh words, or shutting them out.

If they require discipline, correct them calmly and patiently, rather than reacting out of anger.

*3. Keep them neat and presentable*

Take care of how your children look in these days.

Bathe them. Dress them neatly. Keep them clean and presentable within the limits of the Sharīʿah. Remember Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Do not see this as “just dressing children.”

*4. Teach them something about Allah*

Even if you don't homeschool, you can still actively teach your children about their deen.

You can choose from names of Allaah and teach them one name each of the remaining days - explain the meaning and show them how to embody that attribute.

Alternatively, you could teach them about the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and how to follow his footsteps, or guide them through performing salah perfectly.

If your child learns one good deed from you, every time they act on it, you have a share in the reward, in shaa Allah. And if they teach it to someone else, it continues even after you have left this world.

The important thing is to not look at motherhood as an obstacle between you and Allah.

Remember that even in these days, the “normal” obligatory acts of worship are more beloved to Allah than anything supererogatory you can do.

*Sayf Network*

*7/7: Two Hidden Enemies of Productivity*

Over the past six days we have laid out the full framework. One clear goal. A daily schedule. Protected nights and mornings. Your most important work done before the world wakes up. Your phone under control. Real accountability with something on the line.

But there are two underlying problems that will silently kill all of it - and no productivity technique in the world will fix them. If either of these is unresolved, you will keep hitting a ceiling no matter how good your system is.

The first is: giving up on everything once it becomes hard.
The second is: blaming external factors for your lack of progress.

These two dangerous mindset problems do not co-exist with productivity, progress and consistency. You have to conquer them by embracing:

1. The Hardship Mindset
To embrace the hardship mindset is to embrace the fact that whatever you’re trying to work towards will be difficult. Whether it’s memorizing the Quran, raising children well, building a business, even working on your marriage.

Understand this clearly: if it is genuinely good, it will come with a significant amount of difficulty and stress.

You have to be prepared to embrace this. You will lose sleep, you will do things when you don’t want to. You will give things you like up.

Remember that if it were easy, everyone would do it. And if everyone did it, it would carry no honour. And also remember that you can never really escape difficulties, you can only postpone them.

Either you face the difficulty of waking up at night, while there is power outage, with the heat is almost unbearable (If that’s the circumstance you find yourself daily), or postpone it and face the difficulty of having no progress.

With this mindset, you’ll understand why, “I know xyz works but I just find it difficult” is not a reasonable excuse.

2. The No-Blame Mindset
It may genuinely be someone else’s fault that your life is not moving forward - the teaching may be poor.

The power situation may be bad. The neighbours may be loud. The country may be difficult. But at the end of the day, it’s your life. You face the consequences alone.

Blaming external factors gives you temporary relief - but time erases excuses. When the year ends, you will not remember the specific reasons you stopped. You will only be left with the life you built, or the one you failed to. The excuses will be gone. The consequences will remain.

Those who succeed did not succeed because their circumstances were easier. They succeeded because they showed up despite the same excuses you have.

So when next you want to blame external factors for your lack of progress - remind yourself, “it’s my life and I’ll face the consequences alone.”

So get up and fix what you can with what you have and stop waiting for the situations to magically improve.

NB: This is the final part This is day 6 of our 7-day series breaking down the framework behind our most successful program.

You can read from day 1 here:
open.substack.com/pub/sayfnetwork/p/17-drop-everything-else-and-fix-this?

*You May Be Punished for Not Exercising*

If you see your health declining - gaining excessive weight, becoming weaker - and still neglect your body by not exercising and managing what you eat, you may face accountability for that in the hereafter.

Exercising and watching your health may be more than just a lifestyle or personal growth choice; it can be part of a responsibility placed upon you.

As the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
“Your body has a right over you.”

The matter becomes even more serious when poor health begins to affect your ability to perform acts of worship, yet you still fail to address it.

We often think, “I can't kill myseld. It’s my body, I can do what I want, after all I'll bear the outcome myself.” But that can't be farther from the truth.

In Islam, we are stewards, not owners. We are accountable for how we treat our bodies. Neglecting your physical health is neglecting a trust from Allah.

And the beautiful thing if you start to be conscious of your health, is that it will have a ripple effect on your productivity and self discipline in general.

Start slow today: choose one healthy habits to nurture daily as a new week begins.

NB: One of the biggest factors that affect your ability to stick to a routine in taking care of your health is social media.

*Sayf Network*

*How a Mother is Getting Her Hifdh Done Consistently (After a long period of struggle)*

A few weeks ago, I convinced three clients to make one small change, and the results have been massive.

A mother with several children, juggling a lot of work, has been getting her hifdh done consistently. A research student has been able to stick to reading a Juz daily despite the busy schedule. A university student has been consistent with her studies and tahajjud.

The change was simply: sleep immediately after Isha and wake up around 3am.

When we first spoke, each of them doubted they could do it. Someone said they had to respond to messages at night. Another person said the kids wouldn’t let them sleep early.

I told them they only had to "do it tomorrow". I told them not to burden themselves with the idea of doing it forever - that could be terrifying. Just find a way to make it work tomorrow.

Since they experienced the results, all of them have been bent on sticking with it.

The reality is that waking up early and getting your most important tasks done before 9am is criminally underrated, as ir can completely turn your life around.

On the other hand, fixing any task for after Isha rarely works because your brain is already tired from the day.

What is more likely to work is simple: sleep early, wake up early, and get the most important tasks done early.

Personally, I sometimes wake up as early as 1am and work straight till Fajr (I sleep back during the day). By 8am, my most important tasks are done, and no matter what unplanned interruptions come later in the day, it never feels like a wasted day.

Abdurrahman Adedokun
Sayf Network

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*Seize The Time You Have*

Just yesterday, I was with someone in the middle of an asthma attack. They couldn’t breathe properly. Couldn’t speak in full sentences. Couldn’t sleep for most of the night.

This was someone who had plans for Ramadhan. Clear plans. Intentions. Goals.

In a single night, everything was disrupted.

If your Ramadhan so far has been smooth: you’ve been able to pray, fast, stand, read, function - do not take that for granted.

Don’t assume it’s guaranteed for the rest of the month, so seize the "normalcy" you have now and use it aggressively.

It is insane to waste time in Ramadhan. Insane. How do you go on TikTok in Ramadhan to watch half-naked people? How do you follow gossip mills in Ramadhan? How do you watch comedy skits? How???

Do you have a promise somewhere you're relying on? Perhaps you do.

This is just a reminder that you may not have as much time as you think you do. And even if you do have time, you don’t know how long your strength, focus, and ability will remain intact.

A sudden illness. Exhaustion. Family emergency. Emotional distress. So many things can happen that quietly remove your ability to worship Allah the way you intended.

And then you'd call upon Allah for ease and no ease will be granted, because when you had ease, you took it for granted.

So move now, seize the time you have.

*Sayf Network*

*4 Changes for Ramadhan*

If you're genuinely pleased with how you've spent your Ramadhan over the past few years, this is not for you.

But if, year after year, you've planned to “do better,” “go deeper,” “finish the Qur’an,” “wake for Tahajjud” and somehow ended up in the same place…

Then I have one question for you:
What exact change are you making to the system that failed you last year?

You cannot follow the same process and expect different results. Ever. No one has ever improved that way.

In fact, if you change nothing, there’s a high chance this Ramadhan would be worse than the last. Every squandered opportunity tells your brain something about you. It weakens your internal credibility and reduces your energy to go against your self the next time.

So, if you haven’t clearly identified what you’ll do differently this year and you're “just excited” and “feel” this time will be different here are changes that often produce real results:

*1. Change Your Environment*
If there’s a group of people serious about ‘ibādah, stay around them.

Environment shapes behaviour faster than anything.

*2. Block Social Media*
If you must, keep WhatsApp or Telegram for necessary communication.

But the others? Remove them.

The effect of social media in watering down consciousness is crazy. Scrolling through endless lives, jokes, arguments, and distractions slowly disconnects you from the weight and greatness of the month in front of you.

You cannot feel Ramadhan deeply while absorbing reels.

*3. Block WhatsApp Statuses*
I believe 90% of the people who need to do this won’t have the courage to do it.
Be bold. Be different.

Use Stay Focused to block your WhatsApp status and make it irreversible for one month.

*4. No internet from Iftar to Fajr*
That’s when everyone comes online to decompress, share memes, narrate their fasting day, and react to trends.

But remember: the times when people are most negligent are some of the best times to remember Allah.

If you want to prove you're ready for change, set a profile on Stay Focused that leaves only essential apps out between Maghrib and Fajr.

NB: Many will read this, know that these things will help them, yet they will not take the steps.

That voice telling you you can make zero changes and attain a different result this time? that's your Shayṭān.

*How to Speed Up the Process of Returning to Allah.*

Whenever you experience distance and disconnection from Allah, the instinctive reaction is to increase acts of worship - read more Qur’an, listen to more reminders, attend more lectures.

But often, that does not immediately restore the connection.

There is a faster route: It is the route of ʿubūdiyyah - true servitude to Allah.

And it can be summarized as one thing:
Learning to say no to yourself.

When you feel distant from Allah, the issue is rarely a total absence of worship.

More often, it is the dominance of desire.

You delay ṣalāh because you are busy.
You continue scrolling when the adhān is called. You rush out of the masjid because something else feels urgent. You don't lower your gaze when you see the opposite gender.

None of these actions feel major in isolation. But collectively, they reinforce a subtle reality: “My desire comes first.”

Spiritual distance grows when the nafs consistently wins.

ʿUboodiyyah means living with the consciousness that Allah deserves priority over your impulse.

At any moment, there are usually two options before you: What you feel like doing, and what Allah would love you to do.

Returning to Allah quickly requires repeatedly choosing the second.

Consider a simple example.
The Maghrib adhān is called while you are occupied with your phone. You intend to finish what you are doing first. That feels reasonable.

But then you remember: Allah loves that His servant responds quickly to ṣalāh, so you drop the phone and go.

After ṣalāh, you have important work waiting. You want to leave immediately.

But you remember: Allah loves that His servant remains for adhkār. You stay.

You feel too tired to observe Nafilah, you supress your desire.

It will feel heavy at first. It may even feel forced.

But in those moments, you have subdued your desire twice.

And something begins to change because the heart is deeply affected by obedience that goes against impulse.

When you deny yourself something permissible for the sake of something better you weaken the nafs.

When you immediately abandon something displeasing, for the sake of Allah, you purify the heart.

Practically,

If you feel distant from Allah, try this for a few days:

1. When the time for ṣalāh enters, respond immediately.
2. When you are about to delay an obligation, stop yourself.
3. When you are engaging in something doubtful or wasteful, drop it instantly.
4. When you can choose between comfort and what Allah prefers, choose what He prefers

*Sayf Network*

*Be Patient When Returning to Allah From A Place of Distance.*

Sometimes, after a long period of negligence, you wake up and feel the weight of how far you’ve drifted. Your ṣalāh feels empty of khushūʿ. Your heart feels dry. The Qur’an feels heavy. Duʿā’ doesn’t come naturally.

And now that you want to return, nothing seems to work.

You read Qur’an but feel no connection.
You listen to reminders and feel tired.
You increase in istighfār, yet the emptiness remains.

But think about it: Allah did not punish you the moment you began drifting:
the first time you delayed a prayer, the first time you skipped your adhkār,
the first time you spent an entire day scrolling and barely remembering Him.

It did not happen overnight.

You used months, maybe even years, to reach this distance.

So why do you expect to return in three days?

It is unrealistic to think that after abandoning the Qur’an for so long, you can open it and immediately feel the sweetness like those who never left it.

Spiritual damage is gradual.
Spiritual repair is gradual too.

The heart is like a mirror. When a mirror rusts, it cannot reflect clearly. Sins and distance from Allah place rust upon the heart. When that rust builds, the heart no longer derives joy from what once nourished it.

So it takes time to slowly scrub away all the rust that has gathered on the heart, depending on how much the rust is.

This too is from Allah’s mercy.

When you realize how much labour it takes to regain closeness - how much striving it takes to feel sweetness in ṣalāh again - you start to understand that a few minutes of careless pleasure is never worth the price you'll pay - and it reshapes you into a completely different person.

You see, Shayṭān has two traps.

When you sin, he whispers:
“It’s small. Relax.” until rust quietly gathers on your heart.

And when you repent, he whispers:
“It’s useless. You’re still the same.”

Both are lies.

If Allah allowed you to feel regret, that itself is a sign of His love for you.
If He allowed you to want to return, that itself is a door opened for you.

So do not rush the process.

Be consistent even if the sweetness has not returned.
Pray even if your khushūʿ is weak.
Read Qur’an even if you feel nothing.
Make duʿā’ even if it feels forced.

You must act before you feel the sweetness.

Your Lord will bring you back, gently, gradually, completely, if you persist.

And sometimes, all Allah wants to see is this resolve: “If it takes me twenty years of striving without sweetness, then I am ready to die striving.”

That is what shows you truly value returning to Him.

*Sayf Network*