When everyone tires of receiving your calls, your Lord does not.

When they look at your name pop up on their phone and then look away, know that He is in the closest heaven asking: “who is calling out to me that I may answer?”

When the people tire of hearing your complaints, your Lord waits to listen to the description of your heartbreak. Every single detail, never turning away or losing interest.

When the people you expect to comfort you, protect you, and respond to you do not meet those expectations, He will. “I am as My servant expects Me to be.”

When the people will not forgive you for your mistakes, He says to you, “My mercy prevails over my wrath.”

He is everything that no one else is.

There is no barrier between you and Him. No distance. No time difference. No borders that need to be crossed. No lines to wait in.

Just Him, waiting to listen and relieve your pain, waiting to receive your requests and fill your hands.

Your words to people may one day run out, but your words to Him will keep coming.

- Asmaa Hussain

When you sit down to make Dua, when you ask Allah for something...

Don't ask Him for something mediocre, or even something that would just be "pretty cool" - ask Him for the absolute best.

He's Al-Kabeer - nothing is too big for Him. No problem is too big for Him to resolve. No desire is too big for Him to fulfill.

According to a Hadith Qudsi, Allah SWT says: "O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all to stand together in one place and ask of Me, and I were to give everyone what he requested, then that would not decrease what I Possess, except what is decreased of the ocean when a needle is dipped into it."

I don’t always get what I love.

“He is the one who has set free the two kinds of water, one sweet and palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made between them a barrier and a forbidding partition.” (25:53)

I struggle to understand why there are sometimes barriers between me and my wishes. I come close to those barriers, running my hands over them and trying to see if there’s a gap somewhere—a secret way to get across.

The path forward may seem so clear. I can almost taste that salty sea air and feel its waves rhythmically moving my heart. Maybe that’s where I want to be.

But when Allah (swt) decides there is a barrier between me and something I want, that barrier will never dissolve.

I am not a scientist so I don’t know what exactly would happen if the salty seas mixed in with the rivers and lakes of fresh water. But I assume many living things would die, and many creatures on this earth would suffer.

Maybe if I leapt over that barrier and got what I wanted, I would also suffer. Maybe He is protecting me from something so painful that it would destroy my heart, my faith.

Such is the Mercy of the All-Knowing. He brings me what will empower me to be better—whether that is a difficulty or a blessing. And He prevents me from what will be truly harmful.

I must turn around and look at everything I have, and He will increase me for my gratitude. But if I turn towards the barrier, obsessively angry over what I can’t reach, then I lose both this world and the next.

“And whoever is grateful, he is only grateful for the benefit of his own self.” (31:12)

- By Asmaa Hussain

Sometimes His blessings are not obvious!

When Allah loves you he won’t necessarily bless you in ways that are obvious or material like a new high-powered job or prestigious degrees. Instead, He will favor you in ways that make you more grounded internally and make you a better human being.

He will give you a better sense of self. He will give you a better sense of self-worth. He will give you clarity in knowledge. He will give you clarity in knowing Him. He will give you more opportunities to help others. And ultimately, He will give you peace of mind and a sound heart. Sometimes His blessings are not obvious.

Keep putting out good. It will come back to you tenfold in unexpected ways.

Our faith is all about kindness and mercy towards others. When you are kind and you spread this beauty, this affects everyone and everything around you. So keep shining as you never know when a good deed on your part may be returned many times.

May Allah heal the broken heart. The ones who are silent, who cannot express their pain. The ones who are always tired of everything. The ones who need a break. May Allah put an end to your sadness, and May He put a smile on your face.
Ameen.

When you're going through a challenging time, there is a way to make it harder.

And there is a way to make it easier. Choose your focus. If you chose to focus on everything that's broken, the weight only becomes heavier. But if you shift your lens to focus on the blessings in the situation, the weight becomes lightened. There is always ease in every hardship. This is a Divine principle.

The people Allah sends to support you, the courage you find inside. The care of the people who love you. The wisdom that is born. The ability to get down on your knees and ask Him for help. To cry. To beg Him. These gifts are hidden in every difficulty.

Find it and celebrate it.
And it will grow.

5 Things to Do If You're Feeling the Post-Ramadan Blues:

1. Start fasting your 6 days of Shawwal sooner rather than later. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that whoever fasts the 6 days of this month after Ramadan would be credited as fasting the entire year.

2. Make it a point to go to Isha every night even though Taraweeh is complete.

3. Start your next recitation of Quran from now and set a goal to finish a certain amount in the month of Shawwal. Try to do half of what you did in Ramadan.

4. Visit the sick, participate in a service project, and give a small amount of charity. The Prophet's generosity continued beyond this month.

5. Invite some of your Ramadan buddies to break fast with you one night this week. These could be the people you most frequently spent time with in the Masjid or something else. But reminiscing together over Ramadan while having Iftar in Shawwal is a great feeling

- Omar Suleiman

Instead of being sad that Ramadan is over, do the things that revived you during the month throughout the year.

A litmus test to see if your worship this past month was accepted is continuing your good deeds after Ramadan.

Make sure you don’t lose your connection with the Quran now that Ramadan is finished. You don’t need to read a juz (chapter) a day- simply read a page a day.

Do small, consistent deeds to continue your spiritual ascension. Who wants to read a page of Quran a day with me? It will be best if you can read it with translation to get the full reward and gain the correct understanding!

The end of Ramadan fast is not and should not mark the end of a virtuous life for a true believer.

Ramadan is expected to inspire believing men and women to sustain all the good acts of devotion (ibadah) they undertook in the last one month. They include steadfastness in prayers; constant recitation of the Holy Qur’an; seeking much forgiveness and mercy from Allah (SWT); feeding indigent persons and giving alms to the needy. Now that Ramadan is over, we must as sincere Muslims resolve not to go back to the sins we deserted in the month-long period of Ramadan fast. The life of a true believer during Ramadan should not be different from that which he lives after the holy month.