Life in this era has become very busy for the majority of us. So much so, that people are having a hard time trying to live their daily lives and still devote time to worshiping Allah as much as they would like. Therefore, very often people find themselves looking for ways in which we can do both of these actions at the same time. People search and search, but manytimes find themselves at a loss as to how to acomplish this goal on a regular basis.
When they ask about this, I try to inform them that there really is not a need for us to separate the two in reality. Islam is all encompassing in terms of our everyday lifestyles. As a matter of fact, there are many aspects of our lives that, they themselves are worship. Those things that are not, many times can become acts of worship by simply having the intention to do these things to get rewarded by the Lord of everything that exists.
For instance, a brother wanted to know about how he can continue to live his life as a father and provider for a pretty large family. The suggestion was that he increases in the daily du’aa (supplications) and adhkaar (remembrances) which will allow him to obtain an incredible amount of reward with very little effort. He said that he is not good with memorizing things, so this would be difficult. As you all know though, this is not a good excuse as to why this can not be done. This is especially true with all of the applications on the phones, small pocket sized du’aa books, etc that we have these days that are portable and can be read from. Once this was explained, you could see the look of happiness and hope on his face. Al hamdulillah.
There were several hadeeth that were pointed out, but the one that I think may have brought the most emotion from him was the one about the immense reward for the supplication made with you enter into the marketplace. I will mention it below in case you are unsure about the narration and supplication mentioned. The point is, that it was finally understood that here are many ways for us to gain an enormous amount of reward and work toward pleasing Allah, while still living our daily lives and doing our regular family chores.
Take a second to read the hadeeth, and ponder over the meaning and reward. The English Phonetics are included for those of you that can not read the Arabic directly, yet want to pronounce it correctly in Arabic. Please remember to not only pass this on, but memorize this du’aa and use it regularly. A easy reward this big, is not one that you come across this often and easily. So take full advantage of it every chance you can in sha Allah. Are there any of us that can honestly say that we are not in need of this reward?
The aforementioned narration;
The messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Whoever enters the market and says:
“None has the right to be worshiped except Allah, alone, without partner, to Him belongs all sovereignty and praise. He gives life and causes death, and He is living and does not die. In His hand is all good and He Omnipotent over all things.”
..Allah will wipe a million bad deeds from his record and grant him a million good deeds, and will elevate him a million degree (of virtue)- ([and will build him a house in paradise] in another narration).
Reported by Al Imaam At Tirmidhi
Sheikh Al Albani graded it Hassan
For those that would like to memorize it using the Englibic (English Arabic Phonetics)
laa ilaaha ill-allaahu waḥdahu laa shareeka lah, lah-ul-mulku wa lahul-ḥamdu, yuḥyee wa yumeetu wa huwa ḥayun laa yamootu, bi yadi-hil-khayru, wa huwa ‛alaa kulli shay’in qadeer
May Allah bless us all for adhering to this Sunnah, accept from us our worship and make us all of those that get the reward of those that act on it as well as spreading to throughout the corners of the earth. Allahuma ameen.
