by Ayesha Zaka We are worrisome creatures by nature. We worry ourselves sick over things that we have no control over, and even over imaginary, distant possibilities that might never occur! The best way to attain peace of mind is to hand over our affairs to the One who actually Controls all affairs and Makes ALL Decisions. Tawakkul is a key ingredient for a peaceful heart – a heart that does not grieve for the past nor fears for the future, but rather relies completely on Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. Rasullullah sallalahu alaihi wasallam has taught us a beautiful, soothing morning and evening zikr, and has promised an amazing reward for it. The words taught in the Hadith, (and also found in the last ayah of Surah at-Taubah) are: “حَسْبِيَ اللهُ لَآ إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ” Allah is sufficient for me. There is none worthy of worship but Him. I have placed my trust in Him, He is the Lord of the Majestic Throne. The hadith is narrated in a mauqoof report from Abud Darda (radhiAllahu ‘anhu): “Whoever says this in the morning and in the evening, seven times, Allah, will suffice him for what concerns him.” (Sunan Abi Dawood, its isnaad is good) You feel like you are floating in the skies once you receive the glad tidings that Allah will be enough for you for whatever matters- big and small- are worrying you. We often have irrational fears and worries blown out

by Ayesha Zaka Today’s zikr is about gratitude. We are all drowning in Allah’s favours and blessings day and night. Yet, we find that the majority of us spend more time complaining than expressing gratitude. We pity ourselves for the one thing that we haven’t been given, while we ignore and take for granted the countless hidden and apparent blessings that Allah bestows upon us. Rasulullah (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam) has taught us beautiful words to be said every morning and evening: اللَّهُمَّ مَا أَصْبَحَ بِي مِنْ نِعْمَةٍ أَوْ بِأَحَدٍ مِنْ خَلْقِكَ فَمِنْكَ وَحْدَكَ لَا شَرِيكَ لَكَ، فَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ وَلَكَ الشُّكْرُ “O Allah, whatever blessing I or any of Your creation have risen upon, is from You alone, without partner, so for You is all praise and unto You all thanks.” According to the hadith, whoever says this in the morning has indeed offered his day’s thanks and whoever says this in the evening has indeed offered his night’s thanks. (Abu Dawud 4/318. Its chain of transmission is Hasan) Note: for the evening, read (amsa) instead of (asbaha). It is very beneficial to remind ourselves of these words, and acknowledge them before Allah, every morning and evening. By shifting our focus from what we don’t have to what we do have, these words put us in the right frame of mind, where we feel content and peacefully grateful. O Allah, whatever blessing I or any of Your creation have risen upon, is from You alone, without any partner Allah’s blessings

by Ayesha Zaka Over the years, I have developed the habit of reciting the morning and evening azkaar (supplications) regularly Alhamdolillah. The material and spiritual benefits and fruits of these azkaar cannot be overstated. They have been taught to us by the greatest teacher of all times, Rasulullah sallalahu alaihi wasallam. He exhorted us to stick to them by separately mentioning the virtues of many of these azkaar. My days and nights would feel so incomplete without these azkaar. However, as with all routine matters, there is always the danger that if the heart is not attentive, these azkaar would become a mere mechanical affair. They would just roll off our tongue with no focus on the meanings and no involvement of the heart and soul. Of course, our ‘ibadaat and azkaar are not supposed to be hollow like that. Ideally, they should be an ardent expression of love, reverence and humility before the Almighty. I decided to write this series of Reflections on the Morning and Evening Azkaar as a reminder to myself and the readers to synchronize our hearts with our tongues, and to develop a habit of contemplation and reflection. In our busy lives with 24/7 connectivity, it is so important to take time out to truly disconnect with everyone, and deeply connect with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. ************************************************ We will cover authentic morning and evening azkaar from the book Hisn-ul-Muslim inshaAllah. The first one that we will cover in this episode is: “رَضِيتُ باللهِ رَبَّاً،

by Ayesha Zaka We have reached Ramadan, the beautiful and blessed month of forgiveness alhamdolillah. The sins of the year have corrupted and corroded our hearts. How we yearn for a clean slate and pure hearts! The morning and evening zikr that we will cover in this episode is based on seeking forgiveness. The words of the zikr as mentioned in the hadith are: اَللّٰھُمَّ اَنْتَ رَبِّیْ، لَا اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِیْ وَ اَنَا عَبْدُکَ وَ اَنَا عَلٰی عَھْدِکَ وَ وَعْدِکَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ اَعُوْذُبِکَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ اَبُوْءُ لَکَ بِنِعْمَتِکَ عَلَیَّ وَ اَبُوْءُ بِذَنْبِیْ فَاغْفِرْلِیْ اِنَّهُ لَا یَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوْبَ اِلَّا اَنْتَ۔ ‘O Allah, You are my Lord. None has the right to be worshipped except You. You created me, and I am Your slave. And I am faithful to my covenant and my promise as far as I am able. I seek Your refuge from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge before You all the favours that You have bestowed upon me. And I confess all my sins to You. So forgive me, since none can forgive sins except You.’ The Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “The noblest and most excellent manner of seeking forgiveness is that the servant says: (Arabic words quoted above)” He also said: “Whoever says it in the day, with firm conviction in it, and dies in that day before evening – then he is from the people of Paradise. Whoever says it in the night, with firm conviction in it,

First, let us give a huge round of applause for those who participated in our first ever Instagram photo contest and helped make it a success!!! For those who don’t know how we went about it, here is a brief recap: 1- Only original photos were considered 2- Photo must have been relevant to the theme and the caption must have mentioned #LifeAsAMuslim. Descriptive captions were accepted. 3- @YouthClubPk was tagged to make sure the post isn’t missed. 4- Instagram account of the participant must have been made public for us to view the post. 5- In case the photo featured humans, appropriate Islamic dressing was to be observed. 6- Offensive, obscene or inappropriate images were disqualified. We had such heart-warming entries that it was extremely difficult task to choose the best 3! But without further a due, here we go: 1ST Place: Adnan Wahab (@addyelnino9)  He will be contacted and awarded one of our beautiful YC mugs in sha Allah! 1st Runner Up: @rizmi9 2nd Runner Up: @restless__soul                 Did you miss this contest? No worries, follow ‘youthclubpk’ on Instagram and stay tuned for our next one!

By Saadia Humayun You know there’s trouble when all of your actions are on the same low frequency.   I was attending an Islamic event the other day, where a group of people presented their welfare work-extraordinary on so many levels- and they asked the audience for donations. My mind immediately thought of the last time I made a donation (which was pretty recent), made a few calculations (cringed at the bank balance) and arrived to a conclusion that these guys would have to wait. Maybe next time… Yeah, definitely next time, brain nodded fervently, content with the recollection of the last charitable act.   Case closed. Another opportunity lost. Another failed investment. Cash rots in the pocket.   There used to be an institution where I’d regularly give a portion of my spending. And then the act of giving became robotic and my charity got limited to that single place and figure only. Every time a new opportunity to give would present itself before me, I would brush it aside thinking that I was already contributing to a cause-worthy institute, and that on its own would suffice. Obligation of giving charity fulfilled. But we all know how wrong that thought is. When I subconsciously began to accept it, I was only providing an excuse for my own stinginess.   They had become lifeless, devoid of feeling and lacking in spontaneity and spirit. . The very act of charitable giving had become monotonous. And I couldn’t help but link

By Maryam Qadeer “That scarf! I bet it will go well with ​Ma’s new coat.” (continues browsing through the shop…) “Ohh, this CD about ‘Giving’! It will make for a wonderful gift for A_, she’ll love it.” Just then, out of the corner of your eye, you glimpsed a thick translucent box made out of plastic, the size of a small carton, with lettering on it to indicate donations were accepted for the teaching of the underprivileged. Well, this could not have turned out any better; with the hard earned cash you had just madefrom tutoring some kids, you could definitely afford to give some away for a just cause! Casually making your way to the box, you slipped in 40% of those selfsame earnings. Ah, the giddy feeling of pleasure that came with charity! * He really wanted to attend the workshop, you could see the intense feeling in his eyes. But being student and broke, he laughingly conveyedto you the reasons why he could not go. “What if I could get someone to sponsor the ticket for you? Could you go then?” you made the suggestion as a brilliant idea occurred to you out of the blue. “Really? That could happen?” he looked at you disbelievingly, as if scared to have his hopes dashed once again. “Sure!” you went on hurriedly, having mentally calculated that you had enough to spare for a ticket- after all, you could go without your eating-out sessions this month. “Sometimes people buy

By Sana Taha Gondal   You know one of those days when every direction you turn in seems like a dead end, and you, in all your desperation, just keep pushing? One of those days when the help seems like not only an improbable proposition, but an impossible one? We all have those days. I did too. I was in the kitchen, doing what every Pakistani girl does at least once in her life: making tea for the guests. That’s not the only thing I was doing though, I was also pitying myself greatly for being caught up in a situation which rendered me unable to study for an exam the next day. Lunch served, tea on its way and it seemed like the guests were staying for dinner. To top it all, my parents were out of town so I couldn’t get out of kitchen duty. I was at a dead end. I felt like my life had paused because of the house chores. I desperately wanted to escape the situation and I desperately wanted my parents back because I desperately needed to study for exams! That’s what I always want when I am in a tight spot, I guess that’s what everyone wants when they’re in a tight spot. There came a point when I finally accepted that I couldn’t get any studying done. With tears about to roll down my eyes, I suddenly overheard someone in the drawing room mention I had an exam tomorrow, following

By Nadeem Ashraf Today I prayed Jumma at my local masjid after many months and years of living away. It was a cold afternoon, and after the Jumma prayer, I stayed back to meet some of my old acquaintances. I left the premises shortly, disappointed. The few conversations I had just had left me with a lot to think about- and hopefully, much to learn and take heed of.   Let me first take you back to the year 2003.   I was in Pakistan then, charged with the passion of Islam. At that time, my local area in Britain was thriving with Dawah (inviting people to Islam) and there was a thirst for authentic Islamic knowledge. Our small community of sincere practicing Muslims was continuously growing with the onset of regular lectures, events and halaqah sessions. So on this particular visit to Pakistan, being a part of the Dawah movement abroad already, I felt naturally inclined to converse with the locals of Islamabad. I spoke to my cousins, uncles, and family friends about Islam and the importance of living a purposeful life. The response to even the smallest of ‘Islamic’ gestures was remarkable! Using terms like Ma-sha’Allah (Literal meaning: what God wills) and Alhamdulillah’ (All Praise be to God) frequently in everyday conversation brought startling reactions from the people I conversed with. These were minor terms. If I quoted a hadith or a verse from the Quran, on the other hand, the reactions were even stronger. Many people