7 Daily Spiritual Productive Habits to Develop

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 Productive Muslim. 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:

Praying these Sunnah prayers we won’t leave them. Over the years I have learnt there’s only
ONE way of getting yourself to pray these Sunnah prayers constantly: Get into the habit of
praying them! They’ll soon become part and parcel of your Salah and your Salah will feel
incomplete without performing these acts.

2) Remembrance of Allah

after Salah:

Again, it’s easy to rush out after Salah due to our busy lives, though if we are honest, how long
does it take to recite the supplications after Salah?

(The Answer: 5-7 minutes!). If you’re not sure what I’m referring to, you may find the
supplications at MakeDua.com. Nowadays you’ll find pocket notebooks/or phone applications
with these supplications. Get into the habit of reciting them daily after each Salah to enrich your
Salah experience.

3) Morning/Evening

Remembrance of Allah:

Step 2 is also included in this habit. There exists a beautiful set of duas/remembrances from the
Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which he used to say before sunrise and
after sunset. They are true stress relievers and energy boosters which never fail to make my days
and evenings feel blessed. [You can find the duas at MakeDua.com]

4) Night Prayer:

Hamdulillah, during Ramadan we have the wonderful Taraweeh prayers to attend. However,
outside of Ramadan there are many opportunities to still obtain the reward of the night prayer. If
you’re new to night prayer or you don’t pray it constantly during the year, make sure you try to
attend praying Tahajjud and continuing to pray them for an entire 30 days; this will set you on
better footing to continue with the Night Prayer for the rest of the year inshaAllah.

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5) Duha Prayer:

Here’s a Productive Muslim’s top secret to a productive day: 2 rak’ahs known as the Duha
prayer which you may pray at anytime after sunrise till before the sun reaches it’s zenith (around
30 minutes before Dhuhr). The reward of this prayer is similar to giving charity on behalf of
every bone in your body, and the energy and buzz you feel during the day is amazing.

6) Supplications before you Sleep:

You’ve just had a long day and you’re super tired. You climb into bed and you want to hit the
sack… but wait! Before you do, can you give yourself just 10 more minutes to recite the
supplications before sleeping? That’s all. Try them and find yourself experiencing the most
beautiful sleep ever and waking up for Fajr easily, inshaAllah. For more information on waking
up for fajr, constantly, everyday, without fail Read How to Wake up for Fajr.

7) Reciting one hour of Quran each day:

Notice: I said here recite one hour of Quran each day and not one juz’ or one Surah. The amount
of Quran you read is not as important as the quality of your understanding. If you spend one hour
reciting one verse but understand it fully, that’s more important and beneficial then reciting lots
of Quran at break-neck speed yet not understanding a word.

I seem to recollect that ibn Qayyim said that there are 3 types of people worshipping Allah
(Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala):

1. Those who worship Allah out of fear, they do the acts of worship only to avoid His
punishment in this life and hereafter.

2. Those who worship Allah as merchants, they look at “what’s it for me?” and count their good
deeds and bad deeds and expect a return/profit for every good deed they do.

3. Those who worship Allah out of love – regardless what happens to them, they are in worship
mode. I guess the 7 Spiritual Habits which I write about, they are there to get someone into the
‘habit’ of worshipping Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) regardless of the consequences, and to
always have this consciousness of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala). They might start off as habits,
but eventually, these acts of worship become the bread and butter of a worshipper, that he/she
will feel his day is incomplete without.

didn’t them do each day, when he/she goes through a bad day, he’ll get stuck not knowing what
to do… but for a believer when he/she faces something tough and realizes that a duha prayer is
coming up, or tahajjud is there at night, it’s such a relief for him/her.

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Now regarding why you don’t feel the difference, there could be many explanations:

1. is that sometimes our sins are a block to taste the sweetness of an act of obedience… and as
the scholars say, one of the ‘hidden’ punishments of our sins is that we don’t enjoy the acts of
worship anymore (or even feel the bitterness of the sin).

2. sometimes when you’re used to doing an act of worship and it doesn’t make a difference or
you feel bored with it, Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) will want to “upgrade” your worship to
something more, so he removes the sweetness of the obedience until you increase it in
quality/quantity (e.g. doing 4 rak’ah for duha instead of just 2).. regardless of the above.. in
practical terms: just keep going!

Alhamdulillah, its a second time i really amazed with your site. Thank you. Those information is
really useful for me as a new muslim. To be honest i do all

Imagine for someone who didn’t have these habits or didn’t them do each day, when he/she goes
through a bad day, he’ll get stuck not knowing what to do… but for a believer when he/she
faces something tough and realizes that a duha prayer is coming up, or tahajjud is there at night,
it’s such a relief for him/her.

Now regarding why you don’t feel the difference, there could be many explanations: 1. is that
sometimes our sins are a block to taste the sweetness of an act of obedience… and as the
scholars say, one of the ‘hidden’ punishments of our sins is that we don’t enjoy the acts of
worship anymore (or even feel the bitterness of the sin). 2. sometimes when you’re used to
doing an act of worship and it doesn’t make a difference or you feel bored with it, Allah
(Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) will want to “upgrade” your worship to something more, so he removes
the sweetness of the obedience until you increase it in quality/quantity (e.g. doing 4 rak’ah for
duha instead of just 2).. regardless of the above.. in practical terms: just keep going!

Jaza k’Allah for your kind tips. However:

You should really talk about how it’s okay to say your fardh and required sunnah *only*. People
have busy lives. Allah is kind. Let’s please emphasize that. I’ve hired about a dozen interns in
the past year, and a few of them have been Muslims. The Muslims suffered from anxiety
attacks, guilt, and extensive worry from not being able to say “enough” sunnah along with their
fardh and wajib salat ruku’uh. While well-intentioned, you might be adding to the apprehension
of those whose hearts are still plagued by Shaitan’s wordly games of “I’m running out of time,
does that mean a regular American life and an Islamic life are incompatible? Does that mean I
have to choose?”

The point one needs to pay attention in the verse is that the emphasis on the concept of “obeying
the Messenger”. This point shows us that following the Messenger, in other words following his

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(s) commands and rules is a worship that God has brought upon us as a necessary pre-condition.
The Sunnah is in its utmost simplicity, the embodiment of the Qur’an. It’s worth dwelling upon
this point here. The Sunnah is not a concept that can be dealt with separately from the Qur’an.

Following a ‘regular american life’ and following an ‘islamic life’ are two concepts are neither
mutually exclusive nor equally important. What is important, is however, to have the ability to
prioritize and synchronize both lives with each other in their due proportion. Live your regular
American life by revolving it around the Islamic Life. Not the other way around. It is in the
following of the Sunnah and embodying the spirit of the Sunnah that will ultimately result in the:

“daily miracles” in helping those of us with serious anxiety issues realize we’re in Allah’s care,
we just need to trust Him. and keeping them with me throughout the day or by my bed but are
there any other tips? Also do all the morning/evening duas have to be recited?

I will like to encourage people to also be practising the habit of performing sunnah fasting on
Mondays and Thursdays as that is also a spiritual act that will get you closer to Allah. Al-
hamdullah, we fast during Ramadan Months but we forget about the sunnah fasting
recommended by our beloved Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W.S).

Al-hamdullah, Now i don’t feel like taking food on Mondays and Thursdays since i started
performing the sunnah fasting and will like to encourage our brothers and sisters to try and
perform the sunnah fast to have more Taqwa of Allah Subhanna Watahala.

Ahya Emerald

The time of Duha PrayerThe time for Duha prayer is from when the sun has risen to the height
of a spear, which is fifteen or twenty minutes after sunrise, until just before the sun passes its
zenith (and the zenith is when the time for Zuhr prayer begins). What is meant by just before the
sun passes its zenith is ten to fifteen minutes before it reaches the zenith, i.e. before the time
when it is forbidden to pray begins. End quote.

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him), (14/306).
(1)The reward of Duha

*Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him)reported:

The Prophet (PBUH) said, “In the morning, charity is due on every joint bone of the body of
everyone of you. Every utterance of Allah’s Glorification (i.e., saying Subhan Allah) is an act of
charity, and every utterance of His Praise (i.e., saying Al-hamdu lillah) is an act of charity and
every utterance of declaration of His Greatness (i.e., saying La ilaha illAllah) is an act of charity;
and enjoining M`aruf (good) is an act of charity, and forbidding Munkar (evil) is an act of
charity, and two Rak`ah Duha prayers which one performs in the forenoon is equal to all this (in
reward).”