Effective communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish. As simple as communication seems, much of what we try to communicate to others—and what others try to communicate to us—gets misunderstood, which can cause conflict and frustration in personal and professional relationships. By learning these effective communicati

Ramadan is coming up and Alhamdullillah that we are alive to begin preparing for it. Coming up is another chance to earn Allah’s  mercy, seek forgiveness for our sins and gather all the barakah that we possibly can. Alhamdullillah!Unfortunately, I missed fasting during Ramadan last year; I was too sick to even attempt to keep fasts. I was undergoing chemotherapy and my last session was a day before Eid. But the truth is that these fasts are not the only ones I have missed in my life. Th

Exams are just around the corner for many students. Many of us have a number of panic attacks around this time of year, every year. The guilt of procrastination and piles of books that have yet to be read looms over us. Memories of ploughing through hours of dreary revision sessions are often hidden away somewhere in the back of our minds. While we may lose confidence in our abilities and question if we can even go through with exams, it is important to remind ourselves of Allah’s  words in S

1) One theory is 'Triangle of life' A controversial theory which was given by Doug Copp. According to this theory objects like sofa, desk and other furniture get crushed when a roof collapses and a void (often triangular in a shape) is created around it. That's a safe place to seek cover, ideally in a foetal position. 2) When you are in a multi-storied building Lie down in a foetal position next to a bed sofa or a bulky object. 3) When on the road Pull your car to

Allah tells how His Messenger and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) will say: “O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Quran.” The full verse of Surah Furqan is as follows: ’And the Messenger will say: “O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Qur’an.”’  Surah Furqan (Verse 30) The Arabic word ‘mahjur’ is capable of several meanings. As such, the sentence may mean:” “these people did not regard the Quran as worthy of their consideration: they neither accepted it nor followed it”; or

Today’s post is about commuting ProductiveMuslim style! ;) How you can make the most of those long hours on the road so that they truly add value to your life (and afterlife) instead of subtracting from it. Now this all depends on which commuting vehicle you’re using (and trust me, I’ve used them all). Below is a breakdown of what you can do in each type of commuting vehicle. But before we get into that, a few prerequisites: 1. When you leave your house, remember the dua for leaving the hous

I hate routine. Except when it comes to morning routines :) That’s something I try and stick to! ;) There’s something about starting your day on a number of pre-planned actions that really set your day straight. Below I describe the ‘ideal’ ProductiveMuslim morning routine. (Note: I assume that Fajr Athan is at 5.00am and that work starts at 8am, feel free to ‘adjust’ the routine below to suit your timetable inshaAllah) 4.00AM – 5.00AM: 5 Essential Actions 1. Wake up! Perhaps the first and

If you want to up your protein intake, bulk up on all essential vitamins (except Vitamin C) and amino acids, then there's nothing better than eggs. So you can forget the old warning that suggests you can't eat more than three or four eggs a week because they are high on cholesterol. Innumerable studies and experts have confirmed that 'the cholesterol we eat has little or no effect on blood cholesterol levels, and that we actually need cholesterol to build cell membranes, digest fats and make hor

We communicate with people on a daily basis, and what’s better than learning some important types of etiquette that could improve our daily interactions! I personally worked as an elementary school teacher in Sharjah for a period of time. After Allah  blessed me with my third child, I couldn’t get back to work and I didn’t miss the work environment much except for a few wonderful things that used to happen. I reminisced all those small, lovely things and especially remembered the peace greetings

An old friend of mine once said to me, “There’s a myth that’s going around these days, the myth says: If you can manage your time, you can do anything!”. Four years from hearing this advice, I don’t believe it’s a myth anymore. We all hear about time management and it’s importance, and people shout at us from time to time that we should time manage properly, but rarely do we hear a concise methodology of how to time manage! In order to understand how to time manage, you firstly need to und

You should aim to develop the following 7 Spiritually Productive activities into habits so that you can hopefully continue benefitting from them throughout your life. I consider these activities as the spiritual ‘bread and butter’ of any ProductiveMuslim. To develop them as habits is the essence of embarking on your journey towards the love of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) and constantly increasing in your eman, inshaAllah: 1) Pray the Sunnah Prayers before and/or after Prayer: I know it’s easie

By Shahul Hameed The prostration in prayer symbolizes the worshipper's total and unconditional submission to God Almighty. Islam signifies the subjection of all activities in all walks of life to the Law of God Almighty, and leaving nothing to the whims and fancies of anyone else. God has commanded the believers to declare: {Truly, my prayer, my service of sacrifice, my life, and my death, are (all) for Allah (God), the Cherisher of the Worlds.} (Quran6:162) This means that

Are you usually punctual or late? Do you finish things within the time you stipulate? Do you hand in your reports/work on time? Are you able to accomplish what you want to do before deadlines? Are you a good time manager? If your answer is “no” to any of the questions above, that means you’re not managing your time as well as you want. Here are 20 tips on how to be a better time manager: Create a daily plan. Plan your day before it unfolds. Do it in the morning or even better, the night b

These two stories from the Prophet’s (S.A.W.S.) ahadith (sayings) shed light on Allah’s happiness when we ask Him for His forgiveness for our sins. The stories also show that Allah is always looking for ways to forgive his believing slaves – we just need to make that strong intention to look inward, recognize our sins, and then to repent for those sins and ask Him for His forgiveness. In a popular hadith, Ibn Mas’ud narrated that the Prophet said: “Indeed, Allah is more happy with the re

Al-Rum (The Romans) - Chapter 30: Verse 8 (partial) "Have they not reflected on their own selves?" There are plenty of signs and evidence which point to the Hereafter but people are heedless of these due to their own shortsightedness. They only see the apparent and outward aspect of this worldly life and they are unaware of what is hidden behind it. If people reflect on their own selves, apart from the external phenomena, they will realize the necessity of a second life after the present

A Dutch study has concluded that that eating a lot of fruits and vegetables with white flesh, such as apples and pears, is linked to protecting against stroke. While previous studies have linked high consumption of fruits and vegetables with lower stroke risk, the researchers' prospective work is the first to examine associations of fruits and vegetable color groups with stroke. The color of the edible portion of fruits and vegetables reflects the presence of beneficial phytochemicals such

The believers are encouraged to be thoughtful and to speak only with discretion and forethought as to the likely effects of the words they utter. For those who do so, the following Hadith promises a great spiritual reward: "When a servant of God says that which is clear and correct (i.e. having given thought to whether it is beneficial or not), through (his words) he is distanced from the Fire by a distance greater than that what is between sunrise and sunset." [Riyad As-Saleheen] When quoti

Clarifying expectations is to create shared vision and agreement about what is to be done up front. This is one of those behaviours that people rarely pay enough attention to. It is the behaviour of prevention because if you focus on this one up front, you will avoid heartaches and headaches later on. Clarifying expectations can be challenging. We each bring our own meaning to language and experience. Meaning is not in things; it's not even necessarily in words. Meaning is in people. So even if