#AskAnAsatizah: Anything

#AskAnAsatizah series, conducted by Haiqal Risqandar from ELEVEN

An interview with Ustaz Syakur

1) How do I attain khusyuk in ibadah (worship) when I’m always stressed out from thinking about school, even in prayers?

Stress is good. It shows that our minds are constantly thinking about a particular subject. In our life, everything requires thinking, right?

And that's what differentiates the prayer of an Aalim and an Aabid. The prayer of an Aalim is full of understanding. Understanding the purpose of the prayer, the recitation, the movements and so on. Whereas the prayer of an Aabid is merely about the movements and recitation without understanding.

So if you are stressed out thinking about school, even in your prayers, what you can do is to train your mind to compartmentalize your thoughts and start learning about

prayer. The purpose, the movement, the recitation, etc.

2) Why do people enforce a separation between duniawi (worldly) and ukhrawi (eschatological) matters?

Lack of understanding the presence of both the dunia and akhirah (hereafter). From here it leads to fear. So, people enforce a separation between duniawi and ukhrawi matters out of fear. They try to keep themselves away from one another so that they are not consumed by the fitnah of the dunia. But by understanding the presence of both worlds, one will not separate the dunia and akhirah. Instead, they will take the dunia as a place for them to sow their seeds and reap the benefits in akhirah. So there is no separation between duniawi and ukhrawi matters.

3) How can our day to day life be filled with good deeds?

By having a good role model, we can fill our life with good deeds. For an example, if your role model is a Korean actor or actress, you will try to be more like them by embracing their culture. Same goes if our role model is the Prophet Muhammad SAW: we will try to be more like him and emulate him. As we all know, Prophet Muhammad SAW had always spread goodness around him.

4) If I keep making the same mistakes, will Allah SWT stop accepting my repentance?

Abu Huraira RA reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said: I live in the thought of My servant and I am with him as he remembers Me. (The Holy Prophet) further said: By Allah, Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than what one of you would do on finding the lost camel in the waterless desert. When he draws near Me by the span of his hand, I draw near him by the length of a cubit and when he draws near Me by the length of a cubit, I draw near him by the length of a fathom and when he draws near Me walking I draw close to him hurriedly. (Sahih Muslim, Book 50, Hadith Number 1)

I hope that by reading this hadith, we will never stop repenting as Allah will always open the door of forgiveness for everyone.