Happy Muslim Mama: Self-help applied to Faith

I’ve always been a big fan of self-help books since I was a teenager, and one of the key things I have learned (apart from they all like to state the obvious) is that if take any action towards our goal, no matter how small the step, it can really motivate us to get out of our mind-set of having doubts and being fearful.Most people apply this to their career or life-goals and I had thought about this, but then came to the conclusion that the area that really needs the most work is my faith.A long period of illness earlier in the year has meant that I had dropped the habits of reading from the Quran or of trying to read any Islamic books and have only been praying the basic fard (obligatory) prayers. I don’t think I have lost my iman (faith), in fact I feel like Allah’s (SWT) promise of ease after difficulty has been proven more than ever for me. However, I also feel that it is the nafl (non-obligatory) prayers and actions that strengthen our iman and help it to grow, perhaps because they are over and above what we have to do. I also feel like omitting these things had made a difference in other ways – forgetting to say a prayer before I leave the house or when putting the kids to bed, something I would never have done before.With this in mind, I wanted to see what changes I could make, perhaps read a little Quran in the morning, or after esha prayer, perhaps read the nafl prayer after maghrib (evening prayer), maybe start learning some new dua’s or memorising parts of the Quran my dad taught me as a child and I have forgotten since. Looking at the matter this way has made me realise that faith isn’t something that you are either blessed with or not, but something you have to ask Allah for and work hard on.

Another suggestion I found was on this post on 100 lists which basically states that you should take a topic or problem and then lists 100 answers or solutions to it. The first thirty are supposed to be easy, the next 40 is where your subconscious mind becomes engaged and some more abstract solutions start coming through and the last thirty on the list is where the gems are supposed to be and where the possibility of a shift in perspective exists. I might just give this a go with “How Can I be a Better Muslimah” as the heading.

What suggestions can sisters out there give me to increase my iman and taqwa (god-consciousnes)?

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) related from Allah Most High that He said “… And my servant continues to draw closer to me by voluntary actions until I love him…” [Bukhari]