In the Noble Qur`an...

In the Noble Qur`an, we read the following verse: وَ مَــا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَداً وَ مَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ “And no soul knows what it shall earn tomorrow and no soul knows in which land it shall die.”[^3] It has been narrated that the Prophet of Islam (S) - with all of the greatness and nobility that he possessed - would ask forgiveness seventy times every day!

We claim to be followers of this great personality, so then how many times a day do we ask forgiveness and turn back to Allah (SwT)? At night, before we go to sleep, how many acts do we bring to memory that we performed during the day? If a person was to sit, examine and meditate upon his actions everyday and ask for forgiveness (for his evil deeds), then the spiritual darkness would be lifted from one's heart, and the soul would become illuminated with the Divine Light.

It is for this reason that the best of actions that one can do before the break of down is to ask for forgiveness.[^4] Thus, a person should wake up in the middle of the night and in the calm of the night, pray and ask for one's needs from Allah (SwT) and pour out his heart to Him - and in the words of the Qur`an one sould be: مُسْتَغْفِرِينَ بِالأََسْحَارِ ”Those who seek forgiveness in the early hours.”[^5] Almost all of our major scholars who have written treatises on the spiritual travel towards Allah (SwT) have stated that the first stage in this journey is Tawbah - just as the Prophet of Allah (S) has said: ** ** تُوبُوا إِلـى اللٌّهِِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَمُوتُوا.

Performing Good Deeds A person does not always think about his free time, ease and comfort and naturally feels that he will stay young for his entire life. One's thoughts are not always free and thus many obstacles can often be placed in one's path. If you pay close attention to those around you, then you will notice that there are some people who have everything (materialistically).

These people are not lacking anything in their material life however they say, “The yearning to learn and study has been taken away from me.” If one would like to increase knowledge, then one must develop Taqwa within oneself and must work towards self building and purification of the soul since whatever one has is through Taqwa (Allah consciousness). We must also perform good deeds before we get to a stage in our life where we are overcome by difficulties.

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