Arabic:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ

*Translation (Sahih International):*

O you who have believed, eat from the good (lawful) things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is Him that you worship.

*Command from Allah:*

Eat from the lawful and pure provisions Allah has given you, and be grateful to Him.

*Truth Allah establishes:*

Allah alone is your Provider. Your rizq comes from Him—not from people.

*Condition set by Allah:*

If you truly worship Allah, then you must show gratitude to Him.

*Reflection:*

Allah reminds the believers that their provision comes directly from Him. This corrects a major fear that exists in the human heart—the fear of people regarding rizq. People may be means, but they are not the source. Your employer, your business, or any person cannot give or stop your rizq unless Allah wills it.

This ayah frees the believer from dependence on people and attaches their heart to Allah alone. When you truly believe Allah is the Provider, you stop compromising your faith out of fear of losing provision. You do not disobey Allah to please people, and you do not panic about your future.

Gratitude then becomes natural. You recognize that Allah has personally taken responsibility for your provision. This brings dignity, peace, and trust in Him.

*Application:*

Never compromise halal and haram out of fear of losing provision. Do not seek provision through disobedience or to please people. Choose halal, trust Allah fully, and thank Him daily for every blessing. Remind yourself: My rizq is written and guaranteed by Allah.

Before eating or using any blessing, pause and remember Allah. Say Alhamdulillah sincerely. Make sure your income and food are halal. Use Allah’s blessings in ways that please Him, not in disobedience.

*Self-Check:*

Do I trust Allah as my Provider, or do I fear people when it comes to my rizq?

Do I truly see Allah as the source of my provision, and do I thank Him with my heart, words, and actions?

*Reminder:*

No person controls your rizq. Allah is the Provider. What is written for you will reach you, and what is not written for you can never reach you.

Gratitude is proof of true worship. The more grateful you are, the closer you become to Allah.

*Life Formula from this Ayah:*

Allah provides → Do not fear people for rizq → Choose halal → Be grateful → Trust Allah → Allah strengthens and increases your provision → Your heart finds peace

Surah: Al-Baqarah | Ayah: 153

Arabic:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ

*Translation:*

O you who believe, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.

*Command from Allah:*

Seek strength and support through patience and Salah.

*Promise from Allah:*

Allah is with those who are patient — guiding them, supporting them, and never abandoning them.

*Reflection:*

Allah is teaching us where true strength lies. When we face hardship, our natural response may be fear, frustration, or sadness. But Allah directs us to something greater: patience and prayer. Patience protects the heart from despair, and Salah reconnects us with the One who controls every outcome.

This ayah reminds us that patience is not passive waiting—it is trusting Allah while remaining firm. And the greatest comfort is knowing that when you are patient, Allah Himself is with you.

*Application:*

When you face worry, pain, or uncertainty, pause and turn to Salah instead of reacting emotionally. Pray with sincerity, ask Allah for help, and make a conscious effort to remain patient. Let patience and prayer become your first response, not your last resort.

*Self-Check:*

In moments of difficulty, do I turn to Allah first, or do I rely only on my own strength?

*Reminder:*

When you choose patience and prayer, you are never alone—Allah is with you.

This ayah teaches a powerful life formula:

When life becomes hard → Do not panic → Be patient → Pray → Allah will help you.

After the tiredsome journey of pregnancy and postpartum, there were some times, when I would like to get up and move back to my old self, where my day would start with adhkar and recitation of Qur'an. The chain some how would just break, sometimes due to health , the laziness, the home chores, responsibilities that come along being a wife,  newly discovered responsibilities of being a mother, responsibilities of being a married daughter and responsibilities of being among the Ummah.

If I recall, the most haunting part would be the baby brain. Now, when I just sit, and think of that baby brain phase, I would say zero decision making skills, zero self awareness, just a grave of responsibilities. I was not even able to judge myself, was I hanging among the clouds, the sky, the earth or somewhere in between.

Felt like my words would not even echoed. One think that remained constant in these approximately 3 years was: asking Allah to help me and guide me.

When my body would demand rest and  my baby demanded me, so I choosed what Allah ordered. I would say, Allah help me as I am not able to help myself, help me so that I can be fair with responsibilities you have bestowed upon me.

The next second miraculously, I would get up and the work was done by the help of Allah ( Alhamdulillah) I would say, whatever I did it was only possible by the will of Allah I only had a sincere wish for it. Whatever good and bad happened all these years, I survived  and still surviving by the name of Allah alone. 

When something would hurt my wondering heart, I would cry out His name, I still do.

Result, instant relief.

A phase where I released, everything except Allah is a deception. Except for the love of Allah, every other form of love, comes along with a price tag. You were send on earth for test but how to actually survive these test I was about to get answers.

Months back I had decided to join some islamic course, after hours of research, I came through a platform, where courses have been uploaded. Cheery picking where to start, thinking should not be too long so I would leave in the middle, should be something I know atleast a bit about, easy to hold on, should I start with Aqeedah courses, fiqh courses, hadith courses or Qur'anic Studies. After much analysis I clicked on Aqeedah courses and under that headline I clicked on enroll for - ' Purifying the heart from Disbelief and Polytheism'. Not because I didn't knew about it, it was because I wished to learn Islam the way I never have learned never invested time and soul in.

I would fix a time, made sure I listen and note down things I have never known. After the first session by Imam Muhammad Ibn Isma’il As Sana’ani, little did I knew, how badly reality would hit me. That whole day, I kept crying and hitting my silly brain with my fingers" what have I done to my life, I have clearly wasted my years on this planet, ask me of knowledge, uh please! The physics, the biology, the management and all that, nothing was worth to travel for as I have read in hadith.

The actual knowledge for which one is supposed to travel was this right in front of me. In the coming months I decided to read and understand Qur'an the way it should be read and understood. I would check the background of each surah i have covered so far, started with chapter 114 Juz 30 and today Allahumdullihah reached Chapter 90 Surah Al- Balad. I make sure I read and write word to word with translation.

Each chapter so far has enlightened me from all the corners of this life.

What was different? No doubt I had already recited Qur'an completely several times before with its translation but this time I went little beyond, sorted the sources and penned down the easy version of Qur'an, just like we used to make notes for all our worldly subjects trying to grab best pieces with the help of good reference books known to us.

Then comes the Adhkar. The routine was badly affected, so I made sure I have a habit not to sleep unless and untill I don't do Astagfaar, Takbir and Salah upon the Prophet (SAW), In'sha'Allah the rest will follow in coming days.

The Islamic studies I started from ground zero, as a new student of knowledge. This step was mainly because I wish our son, to have a correct and beneficial knowledge which would benefit him in this world and in the hereafter,  In'sha'Allah.

In order for him to teach, I first need to learn myself.

Deciding to read a section from the book-The Biography of Ali ibn Abi Talib by Ali Muhammed As- Sallabi. The choice was easy as I already like reading book and wish to live among book, now which books was the difference.

Now if you ask me what I have gained so far?

Here, with a grain of salt.

In’sha'Allah, I will continue the path I have chosen in more depth of understanding with the intention of applying what I understand and learn in this remaining life. May Allah grant me life full of meaning and aim to please Him. May Allah not allow my soul to leave my body unless and untill, I don't have enough deeds to present infront of Allah. May Allah take my soul away, before I lose my path. May Allah prevent me from losing my path, the path of truth because my soul can't afford that, I personally too can't afford that.

Ya Allah help me, I alone call you for help!

Keep me and guide me on the straight path. Ameen.

As far as marrying from an  Islamic perspective is concerned, there is not that much that you have to do. If you know what you are looking for, it's going to be very easy, at the same time it's going to be very difficult because of the things that culture has played a role in and so on so.

Long story short, you have to look for four things from an Islamic perspective.

1. Beauty ( it's very subjective because what you consider beauty and what I consider beauty, may be  completely different. He/she has to be in a position, where you find each other attractive.

2. Wealth of a person.

3. Lineage ( where they were born, how they were raised, their  caste and so on depending on their family status.

4. Piety of the  person (a paramount thing to look for, piety means God consciousness or you can say religious commitment which is the first and foremost aim.

More importantly Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has specifically said,  if you compromise on the first three, but  do not compromise on the fourth. The problem is nobody marries for the fourth.Now if you already have these things in mind, how do you approach a person or how does a man approach you.  He has to be as honest as that. He can just ask you. What is your perspective of life or where do your drive your morality from? Because you need that framework which is a common ground which applies to both of you. and when you belive in that framework for example, even though mathematics is something which is logic based on actions and it's highest form of logic, we can derive from in this world. Yet, if the person does not belive in the logic of mathematics, he or she is not in a position to agree with you with anything, whether you make a simple term like say, adding 5+5. Everybody knows it's 10, but if a person does not belive in that framework,  10 will make no sense to them.

As far as getting to know the person, it's not difficult to be quite honest, it doesn't take more then two or four minutes, what a person is really about. This is to do with their ideology which is the most important part their nuances, their culture differences, their mannarisms, what they like and what they dislike, this is subjective and you don't have to necessarily care about those.

What is paramount and what you have to actually care about is finding the framework in which things make sense for him, in a negative way or in positive way. Point being, you ask the person, where do they derive their objective morality from?  You don't necessarily care about their name, education background and so on because that is at the end of the day very subjective as they would have gone anywhere, they could have been named anything.

Now the important part is, that framework needs to apply to both, and if you set that criteria before marriage it's going to be exceptionally easy for you to carry that marriage forward. If you do not have that framework, then it's always going to be, why should I listen to you? and he will say the same, why should I listen to you.? If you have a framework any one of you make any mistake, you know you have a framework, that judges your mistakes and then gives you a proper solution, that you have to abide by. Ego goes out of the equation, and life becomes easier, it's as simple as that. 

But you will realise and understand, you yourself will not be in a position to answer this question, let alone the men of today. So if a person is capable of explaining this and answering this question in an objective manner, where he can atleast try to present his argument or argumentation in a way which holds true, then you are in luck and if not, they fumble and mumble they say, I don't know, I am from here, my school , my college, my family and so on than you should think twice,  because thats not really someone who is aware of what the actual purpose of their lives are.

Religious commitment is the first and foremost aim, and other characteristics such as beauty, wealth, high position and good lineage and so on are secondary matters. They are not blameworthy in and of themselves, but they are not the basic aims, rather they are complementary qualities. If they are present, then that is ideal, otherwise religious commitment is the basis of all goodness.

P.s: Anything of value was from Allah and the mistakes(if any) are from me and shaytaan.

Especially for a woman, who doesn't care about the materialistic things, who has somehow, in a number of ways seen it all, what the world has to offer. Yet! This one Man who changes a perspective of a women, not all men are same, just like not all women are same.

In today's day and era, the probability of the presence of such a man, in my perspective could be 0.09%.

I do exclude the men, who follow the Qur'an and Sunnah and then, dare to apply those in their daily lives, because while doing so, it spontaneously puts them in the frame of man according to Islam.

How rare, how deamy!

This is what we should aim to read out loud for the girls, who are forced to read and belive the so called stories of Cinderella and the likes. A disclaimer is a must, let them learn Only Allah has the ultimate power to do anything. He is the sole King and this universe is his Kingdom, we are all just in the process of being His obedient slaves.

The more you are inclined towards the fictional characters the more likely, reality would hit harder in the future.