A Day in Your Life – No. 2: What to do after you say the dhikr for waking up…

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalamu Alaikum.

Right then. After having recited the required dhikr (remembrance), you’re wide awake.

[Note: There are more adhkar that you can recite, apart from the aforementioned one.]

Is it time for the coffee now?

Of course not.

Now you head to the bathroom (or whatever you call it at your end of the world).

Now, what did  the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) do before he entered the bathroom?

كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا دخل الخلاء قال : اللهم إني أعوذ بك من الخبث والخبائث

Narrated Anas: Whenever the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) went to answer the call of nature, he used to say, “Allah-umma inni audhu bika minal khubuthi wal khabaith i.e. O Allah, I seek Refuge with You from all offensive and wicked things (evil deeds and evil spirits).” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume No.1, Hadeeth No. 144]

So, the dhikr is:

[Yes, you can say bismillah before this dua. That’s mentioned in another narration.]

[Note to those who can’t read Arabic: All the transliterations can be found in this book.]

Then, you enter with your left foot.

So, here you are. Now what?

Erm, well, now you can do whatever it is that you do in the bathroom…

After you finish doing whatever it is you were going (and I really hope that brushing your teeth was part of the agenda), you do wudhu (ablution).

Why?

Well, I’m assuming that the time is either:

a) Fajr

or

b) Before Fajr

If it’s after Fajr, then it means that you missed Fajr.

And that’s a no-no.

So, if it’s Fajr time, you need to do wudhu so that you can pray Fajr. If it’s before that, there’s time to pray some rakaahs (units) of tahajjud.

So, you do wudhu the prophetic way.

What’s the “prophetic way” of doing wudhu?

Well, that’s for part 3, insha-Allah….

A Pictorial Summary of how NOT to start a new day…

Assalamu Alaikum.

Most of us start our day in the same way.

[Yes, that rhymes.]

How do we start it?

Like this:

[Actually, the correct sequence would be “wake up, run to the bathroom (or whatever you call it) and then smell the coffee”….]

Of course, some might prefer to wake up and smell:

However, that still isn’t the right way to start the day.

So, just how are we supposed to start it?

Like this.

After we do that, then we can have the coffee / tea, insha-Allah.

Seriously Short Reminder No. 11: Make sure that you recite…

Assalamu Alaikum.

….the adhkar (remembrance) for the morning and the evening.

They have SO many benefits. In fact, each of these adhkar has some virtue (which is mentioned in the ahadeeth) e.g. protecting you from calamities.

You can find nearly all of them in Hisn ul Muslim (Fortress of the Muslim).

When do you say these adhkar?

Morning adhkar: After the Fajr prayer, before sunrise.

Evening adhkar: After the Asr prayer, before sunset.

[And yes, there is a difference of opinion on their times.]

What if you forget? Can you do them after the time has ended? Yes, according to this fatwa (read the hadeeth at the bottom of the page).

Should you recite them every day?

YES. YES. YES.

Should you recite all of the required adhkar or just some?

ALL. ALL. ALL.

Trust me, you’ll see a lot of improvement in your life if you make reciting these adkhar a daily part of your routine.