Inner Peace in Islam
Try to be in a constant state of remembering Allah, mentioning His name, praising Him, glorifying Him, thanking Him, and asking for forgiveness. Some people, simply by filling their waiting times throughout the day, say istighfar 500 times a day.
مَّن يُطِعِ ٱلرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ ٱللَّهَ ۖ وَمَن تَوَلَّىٰ فَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًۭا ٨٠
"Whoso obeyeth the messenger hath obeyed Allah, and whoso turneth away: We have not sent thee as a warder over them.
— M. Pickthall"
(Quran 4:80)
The most pleasing human emotion is love and the most beautiful form of love is to love Allah. We stay away from sin because we fear Allah and we fear the punishment of Hellfire, but we worship Allah and do good deeds and draw nearer to Allah because we love Allah and we hope for Paradise.
Love between the worshiper and the Creator feels so satisfying and it fills your heart, especially when you know that Allah loves you. Among the names and attributes of Allah is Al-Wadud, meaning The Most Loving, The Most Affectionate, The Beloved, The Loving-Kindness.
To love Allah is more than simply pronouncing your love of Allah; it is acting upon this love by obeying Him, worshiping Him, liking what He likes, and disliking what He dislikes.
Love must be nurtured in order for it to grow and for you to experience the fruits of this love.
It is a normal part of our human condition to experience highs and lows when it comes to the level of our worship. There are times when we feel the love of Allah is alive and ever present in our hearts and we take delight in our rituals of worship and calling upon Allah.
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ٣١
"Say, if you love Allah, obey me (Muhammad), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (Quran
— M. Pickthall
(Quran :3 : 31)
There are other times when we feel the love of Allah is there but is more subtle, and we may feel distanced from Allah and less motivated.
Even the scholars recognize that we need ways to help us intensify our love of Allah and to help us stay motivated, and they have listed effective steps of keeping the love of Allah alive in our hearts. If you are currently going through a slump, and you feel that you need a boost in your love of Allah, read on.
1. Reading the Holy Qur’an with understanding. The Holy Qur’an is a book of guidance, so we must not only read its verses, but comprehend what we read, contemplate on the meanings, and implement what we read. When reading the Qur’an, we can try to read the meanings or watch videos of respectable scholars who explain the meanings of the verses.
2. Performing voluntary prayers. The prayer no doubt strengthens our connection with Allah, and more so the voluntary prayer because we stand for this prayer purely for the sake of Allah, even though it is not obligatory. It is a two-way love because Allah returns this love to the one who performs the voluntary prayers. It was narrated by Abu Hurayrah that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said in a longer Hadith, “Allah the Mighty and Sublime said, ‘My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him.’” To increase our love for Allah and to be loved by Allah, we should start performing the sunnah prayers. As a quick review, the sunnah prayers are two rak’at before fajr, four before dhuhr and two after it, two after maghrib, and two after isha.
3. Remembrance of Allah. Try to be in a constant state of remembering Allah, mentioning His name, praising Him, glorifying Him, thanking Him, and asking for forgiveness. Some people, simply by filling their waiting times throughout the day, say istighfar 500 times a day.
4. Remain humble. Humility is equivalent to submission to Allah. We should abandon selfishness and pride in our human power, and stand humbled, meek, and submissive as servants of Allah.
5. Give in charity from things that are dear to you. This really challenges your heart. When a clothes drive or toy drive comes around for the poor, do not give the worn-out clothes you do not want, but give your new, clean, and beautiful clothes. Have you heard how Aisha, Prophet Muhammad’s wife, used to give out the coins in charity to the poor? Aisha used to perfume the coins in musk before giving them in charity. When asked why she did this, she explained that the charity reaches Allah before it touches the hand of the person in need.
6. Remembering Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes. Learning the Names and Attributes of Allah will increase our love and awe towards Allah.
7. Performing the night prayers, qiyam ul layl. What truly sets apart the ordinary Muslim from a devout believer, who is close to Allah, is the ability to wake up before fajr and pray the qiyam prayers. This is a time full of blessings and rewards from Allah.
8. Keeping good company. The people you choose to surround yourself with influence your relationship with Allah because some people draw you closer to Allah while others take you further away from Him.
9. Going against worldly desires. Preventing yourself from overindulging in worldly desires helps you live a healthy, balanced life, and keeps you in constant awareness of the transient nature of this world. For example, saving up money is good but greed and miserliness are frowned upon. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying a delicious meal, gluttony and overeating is discouraged in Islam.
10. Gratitude towards Allah. We are immersed in countless blessings and gifts from Allah and we often neglect to thank Allah and express our gratefulness for what we have. The more we thank Allah and acknowledge His blessings, the more we feel the love of Allah, and the more Allah will give us. The verse in the Holy Qur’an says, {And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you (in favor); but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’}
