Allah at the Center

Today , we are going to talk about how to center spirituality to peak human potential , how to keep God in the center of our intentions as we live the life of this dunya , this world . Can we make Allah the center of our attention and live a successful life ? Let's find out .

To answer that question , we have to figure out how we got to this point where we lost spirituality and replaced it with gain items and appetite of the nafs . René Descartes , a French philosopher , famous for a method he created around the 16th century the Cartesian doubt , which is a systemic process of being skeptical about the truth of one's beliefs .

This became the basis of philosophy and the scientific method . In the book Deep Work by Cal Newport , he states that , according to Descartes' point of view , individuals seeking certainty trumped God or a king , freed many from this oppression , resulting in enlightenment leading to the concept of human rights .

Meaning , many people after that movement became of the impression that only individualism can support their rights , because the religious and political leaders were notorious for suppressing them . In that era , kings and religious figures were using power to oppress people .

As is repeatedly seen in the history of humanity , anybody in the position of power is easy to misuse it . More recently , philosophers like Hubert Dreyfus from Berkeley and Sean Kelly from Harvard came together and said that , in the name of freedom , this individualism stripped the world of the order and the sacredness essential to creating meaning .

People took it upon themselves to determine what is sacred and meaningful . So people running away from oppression , from leaders misusing their power , especially in the name of religion , found strength in individualism . Value became what an individual valued . Value became what a business valued or a nation-state valued .

Today , this can be seen in every aspect Personal strifes where people are trying to protect their own point of view , all the way to world wars where nation-states are trying to promote their own agenda . This is largely a picture of a world where spirituality is lost and anyone keeping God at the center of their daily living is considered archaic .

But to no one's surprise , this notion has been turned completely on its head by research . In today's social sciences , scientists are just now coming around full circle and saying true happiness , joy and fulfillment don't come from pursuing individual values . They come from pursuing a higher purpose .

Yale scientist Santos teaches a course called Science of Well-Being , currently taught at the Coursera platform . It has 27,000 4.9 star ratings and 3.5 million people are currently enrolled in it , so you can say that this is a disproportionately popular course for a topic of this nature .

In this case , she talks about how study after study has shown that people drive life satisfaction from religiosity , from giving with no expectation of return and from living for a purpose that is greater than themselves .

Living with no expectation of return and from living for a purpose that is greater than themselves All basic premises in Islam , what we will call God or Allah-centered life , life where Allah , his religion through His book and His prophet peace be upon him are the center of our focus .

Laurie Santos also brought this topic to a podcast with Sam Harris , who , according to his Wikipedia profile , is one of the most prominent critics of religion and leading figure in the new atheist movement . Sam Harris invited Lori Santos to talk about her research findings that she had translated into the successful course On this podcast .

She was almost apologetic before she made this statement to the effect that I'm sorry , but it's true that studies show that people who identify with religion with a superior being and give without an expectation of return identified themselves to be more happy and satisfied in life .

She was apologetic in her tone , but delivered the scientific findings in their honest form . So how is all of this social research being translated into daily life ? Are people actually taking lessons from the fact that scientific research shows that humans are innately designed to strive for something greater than themselves ?

Yes , as a result of all of this modern day , companies are picking up on this trend , attempting to make people value education a priority .

There are workshops being offered to people to get in touch with their core values , which are universally something higher than the person himself , and that is regardless of religion , because companies know that in pursuit of money , career and promotions , human beings burn out , and then they blame the companies or other circumstances around them for their misfortune .

This is costing companies a lot of money , so they are taking it upon themselves to provide their employees training on how to gain insight into their own values . This process , although is just in its infancy , but it is a rising trend . Still , people avoid using religious terminology around their values with fear of social rejection .

They say that I'm going to do this because the universe has meant this for me or the nature has aligned itself for me to succeed in such and such task . They avoid using the word God altogether . But as Muslims , we identify with one God , allah SWT .

If we use words like universe or nature or my life's purpose to describe our intentions that are undoubtedly directed towards a higher calling , this is reducing the capacity of God . So we recognize that entity as Allah .

To us , allah is greater than human mind can imagine , which is forever trapped in his five senses and in a linear time and place method of reasoning . Allah is beyond these concepts of time and place . Therefore , calling it my purpose or the universe's plan , or my goal in life , or the call of nature , is reducing Allah's qualities . And even beyond that .

As Muslims , we go a step further by saying that we have blind belief in the greatness of Allah . There are signs that we are able to see in this world that show us this greatness , but we acknowledge that these are just signs and nothing more . Like the sign of the universe being larger than the human's capacity of imagination . It is just a sign .

So , finally , the world is coming back around to realizing . Putting human whims at the center of the purpose of existence only leads to destruction at an individual level or a large-scale societal or national level . Naturally then the question becomes can we lead a life of Allah as the center of our intentions and still be successful in this world ?

I will add here that if Allah is the center of our life and thoughts and intentions , then people are usually not worried about their spiritual well-being . They are mostly worried about what will happen to their worldly life . So that will be my focus here .

So the question most of us are usually contemplating is can we make Allah the center of our lives and attention and still create a successful life in this world ? And the answer is yes . Not only yes , but it is an obvious yes , especially if you know anything about this religion .

The more important question , in my opinion , is how to do that , how to make Allah the center of our lives and still gain a worldly success . The answer is simple , but not easy . The answer lies within our intentions . What are your intentions when you set out to look for a job or education ?

The obvious answer that comes to us is that we want to earn money . I want to pay the bills , I want to provide food and house for my family . If you reflect on it even a little bit , this might be a deception . You're going to earn money through your job , but this is just a means . This money that you earn is just a means to an end .

Money is just a tool , like many other blessings available to us , like the internet , cars for transportation , facebook clubhouse all are tools . It is only when we lose focus of our higher purpose is when we run into conflict about these tools .

So when you set out to go to work , yes , you earn money , but that is just a means to provide for your family with what Allah , subhanahu wa ta'ala , has intended for you . When you prepare a meal for your family , yes , it is , so they can have something to eat and there are no hungry temper tantrums .

But beyond that , it is because you are in service of Allah , fulfilling your purpose in life . So far , the examples I gave you sound very noble . But what to do when you're stuck in a dead-end job ? Or , for example , in my case , when I'm doing laundry for the 356th time and my patience is running thin ?

It is difficult in that time to keep Allah at the center of our intentions . Yes , it is difficult , but it is not impossible . First of all , that is the best time to remember Allah and , second of all , when you realize that you have slipped away from holding on to the rope of Allah tightly , forgive yourself for being frustrated and angry at the situation .

You are human . These emotions will come to you . It's not the end of the world if you lose sight of the higher purpose for that moment . It is not humanly possible to remember your higher purpose all the time . But that is what ihsan is right . It is striving for the state where we can remember Allah at all moments .

There would be no striving , no ihsan , if we could just do it automatically . That's a skill we have to develop as a practicing Muslim . So doing the mundane and the seemingly arbitrary tasks of everyday living can be translated into ibadah with the right intention . Make Allah the center of your intention .

Now here's where I'll explore the real tough question , and that is what ? If I want to make money in this world , gain political success , gain a social media following , can I make Allah the center of all of these seemingly superficial goals ?

Again , the answer is yes , and it goes back to intention and unfortunately , because of stereotypes described above , the wealthy , the politically powerful and the popular tend not to identify with the religion of Islam , because it is taught to them that earning any sort of success in this world means that you're giving up on your spirituality .

I will make a case that it is quite the opposite . Not only can you have success in this world through spirituality , you can have success in the afterlife , inshallah , and that is actually the only way to gain success . It all comes back to intentions .

Are you attempting to earn money so you can purchase more , because you're attempting to gain your happiness through the items of this world ? Again , as proven earlier , this will just lead to extreme dissatisfaction in life and a life of a constant struggle .

Or are you earning money as a side effect because you have a special intelligence that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gifted you , or you have mastered a highly sought after skill with education , training and hard work that gives you a reward in terms of money ?

You can use that hard work and rigorous training with sincere intentions to promote the name of Islam in any area of life . Don't let the stereotypes and the misconceptions around money keep you from earning money with sincere intentions . There's a very high chance that my words can be misconstrued here .

You might say I'm saying that it's okay to purchase a luxurious house when I could otherwise be donating this money to charity and living modestly . How is this God-centered ? Again , it comes down to intentions . If your intention is to keep up with the Joneses , then even a modest house will be a reason of your reckoning on the Day of Judgment .

Whatever path you choose , you have to remember to not compromise on the teachings of Islam , prayers , quran , sunnah , borders of halal and haram . You can gain the luxurious house , the political power , the successful career , the social media following or anything of the like , with the right intention .

All of these things are neutral themselves until we give it a meaning through thought or intentions . I know there might be a natural resistance from the listeners , because it is very easy to slip into ghafla and distraction from your main purpose when it comes to earning money , fame and power , but it always just boils down to intentions .

So if you are that ambitious kind of a person who is gaining momentum in their life at the price of religiosity , or if you are a kind of person that is strictly holding on to religion , afraid that any effort towards worldly success will compromise your religion . Know that there is a middle path .

While religiosity can thrive in one's heart without the worldly items , you will always have your nafs to fight and you cannot thrive in the world without religiosity in the center of your attention .

Imam Ghazali mentions even if one is to shut out the distractions and temptations provided by one's outer senses , imam Ghazali mentions this paragraph pretty much summarizes what I teach at Islamic Life Coach School Humans are designed to struggle . Even on the path of being a true ascetic , you will have struggles .

So why not make religion , spirituality and Allah the center of your intentions when you set out to aspire for your personal higher goals ? You know that is the proven path . It was told to us 1400 years ago and the science is now proving it with research .

If you are to gain money , power , political success , fame , there is only one right way to do it and that is with Allah being the center of your intentions . All other roads lead to destruction . I'm going to ask you what is the center of your intention ? When was the last time you slowed down enough to evaluate your intentions ?

I have a mission in life to educate as many people as I can on how to become aware of their intentions . Intentions are thoughts on repeat , and at Islamic Life Coach School , I teach that thoughts are of two origins . Repeat and at Islamic Life Coach School , I teach that thoughts are of two origins higher brain or the lower brain .

If , at any point , you find yourself taking shortcuts in your religion , compromising on the higher values , your Allah-centered focus , you're operating from your lower brain , the source of whispers of shaitan , and it takes constant effort to come back to the thoughts originating from the higher brain and to bring Allah back into the focus of attention .

This is not because something has gone wrong or because there is something fundamentally flawed with you or with money or the purchase you want to make . All of those things are neutral . They have the power of becoming a means of salvation or strict questioning and reckoning based on meaning we are attaching to them through our thoughts .

Therefore , always keep your intentions in check .

The best news is that the thoughts are in our control , and in my coaching , I teach you how to refine the process of gaining more authority over your thoughts , so you can then create meaning in a way that things like money , fame , talent , possessions can be reduced to the neutral objects that they are , and then you can use these tools to create a life of a

higher purpose , to center spirituality , to peak human potential in service of Allah . With that , I pray that Allah gives us the drive to realign our intentions , no matter where we are in our lives . I realize the only way to succeed in this world is to keep spirituality and Allah as the guide to all of our efforts .

O Allah , I ask that you please make this path easy for us .

O Allah , I ask that those of us who set out to bring glory to the religion of Islam in this world , we do it with the right intention , and I pray that if , as humans , we become distracted with the bedazzlement of this world , that you are quick to bring us back to the right path , the only path to success .

That is through your teachings of Islam , through keeping you , allah , as our utmost priority at all times . May Allah make this month of Ramadan a source to realign our thoughts and intentions , and that these intentions become embedded in the core of our beings so we can carry them out throughout our lives with minimal effort . Inshallah .

With that , I ask that you please keep me in your du'as and leave me a review on iTunes . If this has helped you in any way , I will talk to you guys next time .