Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said:

“If Allāh (سبحانه وتعالى) did not want to accept your du’ā, He would not have guided you to make it (in the first place)”

[عدة الصابرين]

"The most harmful of people are those who overpower you until you disobey Allah. Such people only help you to harm yourself and weaken your morality".

[al-Fawāid: A Collection of Wise Sayings by Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله, pg. 318]

“If the servant of Allāh begins the day and the evening, without having any other concern except Allāh, the Almighty, He will fulfill all his needs and relieve all his worries. He will empty the servant's heart for the sake of His Love, his tongue will constantly remember Him and he will have the strength to perform religious duties for His Sake.”

[الفوائد، — Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله ١٢٩]

"Sadness, grief, pain, suffering, calamities, and trials are expiations for sins. Nothing afflicts a servant, not even a thorn prick, without it being an expiation for their sins.

If someone complains of a toothache or insomnia at night, these too are means of expiating sins.

If something afflicts you : do not say, 'If only I had done this or that.'

Instead, say,
قدر الله وما شاء فعل
'This is the decree of Allah, and what He wills will happen.'"

- الشيخ عبد الرزاق البدر

The Religiosity and Righteousness of the Spouse Has an Affect on the Other

Hasan al-Basri (rahimahullah) narrated:

"I went to a cloth merchant in Madinah to buy a thoub.

He started praising his products and making (false) oaths.

And so I left him and said to myself: "I shouldn't buy from such a person." And I bought it from someone else.

Two years later I made Hajj and went to that merchant, but this time I did not hear him praising his products or making oaths.

I said to him: "Aren't you the man to whom I came to two years ago?"

He said: "Yes."

I said: "And what made you leave doing what I saw you doing back then? Now I don't see you praising your products or making oaths!"

He said: "I had a wife, and whenever I came to her with less, she would look down on me and whenever I came to her with much, she considered it to be little. Then Allah looked at me (meaning: He had mercy on me) and she passed away and I married again.

Whenever I wanted to go to the market (to earn my livelihood), she used to grab me by the collar of my garment and say: "O So-and-so! Fear Allah and do not feed us except with the pure (halal earnings). If you come to us with less, we will add to it. And if we receive nothing, we will support you in our home (by making handicrafts and selling them, wa Allahu a'lam)"

[al-Mujalasah wal Jawahir al-'Ilm, Ahmad Ibn Marwan Ibn Muhammad al-Daynuri (rahimahullah)]

Q: I fulfill my obligations yet I feel sinful?

Shaykh Bin Bāz (رحمه الله ): "This is an indication of strong fear (Taqwā) & Eemān."

‎[مجموع الفتاوى ٥\٢٨٢]

? How to protect ourselves from religious burnout!

Due to constant pressure in life, and what seems like: "never ending trials", the exposure to Haraam (prohibited things), the competition to amass worldly luxuries and comfort, many people get tired, burned-out, and they take their frustration out on Allaah and His religion. This leads them to become careless or totally abandon their religion.

The religious burnout begins when a person starts thinking as, "I" and "me". "Why am I suffering?", "Why does he have it and I don’t?", "When will this end?" etc.

? To avoid this one has to contemplate:

1️⃣ First and foremost, stop thinking that the world revolves around you. Your creation is for a purpose, and your living and your death should be for a purpose, and that is, “the worship of Allaah عز وجل”:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
{And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.}
?[Surah al-Dhaariyaat (51): 56]

قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
{Say (O Muhammad ﷺ): “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allaah, Lord of the worlds.}
?[Surah al-Anaam (6): 162]

2️⃣ Allaah تعالى did not promise a permanent comfortable life to anyone on this earth, not even to His Prophets and Messengers عليهم السلام:

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born an orphan, his mother passed away while he was still young, months would pass by and all he would have is dates to eat and water to drink. Except for Faatimah رضي الله عنها, all his other children passed away in his lifetime. He would sleep on bedding made of palm fiber which would leave traces on his body.

Nooh, Ibraaheem, Yaqoob, Yusuf, Ayyoob عليهم السلام and others went through sever trials.

3️⃣ You will tested to the vey core:

حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ
{Or do you think that you will enter Paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with severe poverty and ailments and were so shaken that even the Messenger and those who believed along with him said, "When (will come) the Help of Allaah?" Yes! Certainly, the Help of Allaah is near!}
?[Surah al-Baqarah (2): 214]

So, be in this world like a traveler, who stopped under a shade for taking rest and then he moves on, and don't attach yourself to the world too much. As the Prophet ﷺ had said.
?[Saheehain]

4️⃣ Do not be of those, who when something of the treasures and comfort of this world is given to them, they become pleased, but when it is taken away from them, they become displeased:

فَأَمَّا الْإِنسَانُ إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكْرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ ‎ وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ
{As for man, when his Lord tries him by giving him honour and gifts, then he says (puffed up): "My Lord has honoured me."But when He tries him, by straitening his means of life, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me!"}
?*[Surah al-Fajr (89): 15-16]

Allaah تعالى also mentioned:

فَإِنْ أُعْطُوا مِنْهَا رَضُوا وَإِن لَّمْ يُعْطَوْا مِنْهَا إِذَا هُمْ يَسْخَطُونَ

{If they are given part thereof, they are pleased, but if they are not given thereof, behold! They are enraged!}
?[Surah Tawbah (9): 58]

Narrated Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه: The Prophet ﷺ said: ❝Perish the slave of Dinaar, Dirham, Qateefah (thick soft cloth), and Khameesah (a garment), for if he is given, he is pleased; otherwise he is dissatisfied.❞
?[Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (2886, 2887, 6435)]

5️⃣ Be grateful if you receive and be patient if you don’t

1. The one who competes (with the Imaam) is threatened with transformation (of his head) to that of the donkey because there is a similarity between him and the donkey in their foolishness and stupidity. The one who competes, when he knows that he can not complete the Salaah before the Imaam (and leave), so all this hurrying up is of no benefit. This only proves his foolishness and weak understanding.

2. Competing with the Imaam is evidence that the person is in a hurry to finish the prayer, and this is a sickness. The one who does this should be reminded (and corrected).

3. The threat of changing the head, of the one who raises his head before the Imaam, to that of the donkey is a matter which is possible (like how the Banee Israa'eel were transformed into monkeys and pigs), but its occurrence has not been reported. There is a possibility that the changing of face can also mean the changing of nature, so that a person becomes unintelligent like a donkey.

?[Tayseer al-Alaam Sharh Umdatul Ahkaam (1/133-134)]

O Parents! Be Righteous!

Tafseer al-Baghawi رحمه الله:

Abdullah ibn Mas’ood  رضي الله عنه used to pray at night (the night prayers) and (when he) would see his small child sleeping then he would say, “this is for your bright future” and whilst crying would recite:

وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا

“And their father was righteous” Surat al-Kahf, 82

lbn Abbas  رضي الله عنه said (commenting on this verse):

“They (the two orphans mentioned in Surah al-Kahf) were protected by the righteousness of their father.”

Saeed lbn Musayyib (  رضي الله عنه)said: “I worship, and then when I remember my child(ren), I increase in my worship"

[Tafseer al-Baghawee رحمه الله vol. 5, pg. 196]

The great Tabi’ee, Sa’eed Ibn Jubayr  رضي الله عنه said:

I will increase my prayers for (the sake of) this son of mine.

Meaning: I will increase in my acts of worship of Allah so that He sets my children aright for me.

[al-Hilyah, 4/279]

-

Being Righteous is a Reason for Your Children to be Protected by Allah

Imam as-Sa'dee رحمه الله:

“Allah will protect the righteous servant himself and will safeguard his children.”

[Tayseer Al-Kareem Ar-Rahmaan fee Tafseer Kalaam Al-Mannan, 3/979, Imam as-Sa'dee رحمه الله Dar Ibn al-Jawzee print]