Many of us at one point or another must have written diary notes. Some of you still might be writing them. A Diary entry is a good literary activity. It has its benefits.
When we write our diary, we tend to also write the lows of that day. Psychologists say penning down these negative emotions is a good vent out and it helps emotional health. But we need to check the source the psychologists get this thinking from.
A Muslim has to constantly work on strengthening his Iman and block the holes where disappointment creeps in from. Maintaining a written record that holds negative thoughts, unrestrained emotions, and harmful behaviour….how much will that help a Muslim?
Today I would like to share a different kind of diary that Muslims can start maintaining.
The time given by Allah az wajal is precious. A Muslim cannot afford to miss even part of his day without doing something beneficial for his akhirah. He should always work towards a fruitful day, one that will act in his favour on the day of Qiyamah.
How can we achieve such productive days?
Every day there are plenty of opportunities Allah swt sends our way to do something worthwhile and add goodness into our account. There are many routes to reach our destination (A day that has pleased Allah swt). One such practical way of ensuring fulfilled days is to write at the end of the day – ‘the day’s achievements. And the list of these achievements should not include any worldly activities. It should include acts done purely for Allah’s sake.
Another common practice of many people is to create a ‘TO DO’ list. The TO DO list helps people plan, focus, and work in an organized manner. Creating a TO DO list and following it through is a useful skill, but sometimes it can act as a limitation. One can get so caught up in completing the tasks on the list that he misses the other openings around him.
But the ‘THE DIFFERENT DIARY’ can help overcome such limitations. Allah swt sends our way opportunities at every second. A conscious Muslim will notice these moments and immediately act upon them. TO DO list helps us plan ahead, most of the time we succeed in accomplishing it, and a few times we fail to. But there are times when we do not plan to do any sadaqah, but Allah swt brings in front of our situations that remind us of sadaqah. Another simple example can be; giving your seat to an elderly person on the bus, or letting someone take your place in the queue. These are all opportunities sent by Allah that we hadn’t planned.
‘THE DIFFERENT DIARY ‘ should become a place where we record our purest of deeds. Over a period of time, the list will slowly become longer because the recorded deeds act as motivation to do more for the akhirah. And no matter when we read it, it will only give us a good feeling, make our hearts happy, and will push us to do more.
The natural fear every diary writer holds is – what if someone reads my diary and comes to know of my deepest thoughts and my life secrets? Well, with ‘THE DIFFERENT DIARY ‘, we need not have such fears. The intention to record the deeds is for our own improvement and if someone by chance even reads the diary, they might also be motivated to do something similar.
Another page of the diary should hold the moments when we felt genuinely grateful for Allah’s blessing. All of us have moments when we feel so fortunate, and our heart recognizes His blessings. These moments should be recorded. The blessings can be big or small but recognizing them is important.
Allah swt says “If you are grateful, I would certainly give you more; and if you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe.” (14:7).
The feeling of gratitude can be as simple as; ‘sleeping on a clean bed, sipping a homemade tea with family around, being able to walk without assistance, opening a fridge full of food, being able to call a friend or relative’. Our day is completely filled with Allah’s Rahmah. We need to train ourselves to see it more and thank Him more for it.
We all have days when we feel low. Shaitan plays his role to the fullest in making us become unmindful and ungrateful slaves of Allah. Imagine on such low-spirited days, if we open our diary and read how blessed we always have been, wouldn’t it be a weapon against shaitan? Wouldn’t it lift our Imaan and bring us back to the grateful self?
We do plenty of good deeds in a day. Maintaining ‘THE DIFFERENT DIARY ‘ will ensure we carry on being conscious and do more of such mindful deeds for our akhirah. May Allah swt help us make use of the time He has bestowed upon us and may He help us do things that please Him. Ameen.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected] for bulk diary orders. The diaries can be used as employee gifts.)
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