The Prophet salallaahu alayhi wa sallam said: ......Strive for that which will benefit you.

Even though it sounds quite logical, just stop for a moment and read it again. Strive for that which will benefit you. If someone would ask you now what truly benefits you, what would your answer be? The next question is: the things you filled up your daily life with are they of true benefit to you? The big question: WHY? Allah subhanahu wa taalaa says: And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.(51: 56) It starts from the moment that you are just a little child. You start wondering why things are the way they are. Little children go through a phase when it seems like the only word they know is: WHY? The child asks so many questions that even the parents are getting tired of it. However, this is part of the learning process of a child. And when we grow older another question arises: Why do we exist? Allah azza wajal gives us the answer in this ayah. Back to basics Imagine going through life without knowing what your actual purpose is. What would your life look like? It would be meaningless. Knowing why Allah subhanahu wa taalaa created us makes it easier to worship Him. Because we know what our end goal is. We all want to reach Paradise. When it comes to our daily lives, we are starting to forget the reason why we are doing things. And that is exactly why we are less productive. How can you be productive as a Muslim? The answer lies in the first sentence of this article (look above) So, what benefits you? We entered a new Islamic year recently. An excellent opportunity for muhasabah, bringing oneself to account and set new goals to strive for this new year. There are 2 questions I would like you to ask yourself:

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1. What truly benefits you? 2. How can you motivate yourself? Looking critically at your daily life, many of us will conclude we somewhere lost track in setting our priorities. Imagine you have an hour glass in front of you and someone tells you, when the sand is gone, your time in this world is up. Lets say you would have a few hours left. What would you do? What would be most important? I bet we all would rush to worship Allah subhanahu wa taalaa and turn to Him with full devotion, humility, hope and fear. The Best Generation The role of the Quran, our lifeline, our direct link to know our Creator and ourselves is indescribably important in our daily life. If you think about it, what can be more important than what Allah azzw wajal Himself has to say to you? The tafseer (explanation) of the Quran was once described: imagine you get a letter of the King but you dont have a light to read it. Inherent is that UNDERSTANDING the Quran is crucial for its effect on our actions, our character, our social life, our work and even our health. Yet, many of us read the Quran because we know we should recite it as a Muslim and not because we so badly want to know who we should be in this world. SubhanAllah, the sahabah read the ayaat of the Quran to find out what was expected from them. And that is why the Quran changed their lives. They truly benefited from the Quran. What motivates you? Coming back to the 2 questions. Lets say the answer to question number one is: Understanding the Quran truly benefits me. Then the second question is: How can I motivate myself to benefit from the Quran? What makes people do what they do? Why do some succeed while others fail? A great part of the answer is: motivation. The hasanaat (reward) system of Allah subhanahu wa taala is there to motivate us and is inherent in the Mercy of Allah towards us, workers for Paradise. We didnt have to work to get into this world, but we have to work to get into Jannah. Motivation is the force that compels us to action. It drives us to work hard and pushes us to succeed. Different types of motivation influence people in different ways. For example you have fear as a motivation, power and social recognition. We as Muslims have a beautiful overpowering motive: To seek the Pleasure of our Lord. And that pleasure means nothing less than the Everlasting Gardens. A perfect life, forever and ever.

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Understand Quran, the Easy Way Remember the hour glass? Now look at your life and your daily activities. Isnt it time to get on with it and understand the Quran in its orginial form, Arabic, so you can truly benefit from This Book? You probably felt it in Ramadhan; oh, I wish I would just understand what is being recited in taraweeh..! The time is now. Share this beautiful goal with UnderstnadQuran.com: Understanding the Quran. There are very few people that try to live up to their potential. There are a lot of people that have a lot of abilities, but they don't develop them. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam told Zayd bin Thabit radiyallahu anhu , Learn the language of the Jews, because I need to communicate with them. Zayd bin Thabit radiyallahu anhu learned the language in 15 days. Its time to strive for that which will benefit you. Understand 50% words of the Quran just in 9 hours. * From the hadeeth: Abu Hurayrah radiyallahu related that Allahs Messenger salallaahu alayhi wa sallam said, "The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer, although there is good in both. Strive to attain that which benefits you and seek help from Allah and do not lose heart. And if anything befalls you, do not say: If only I had done this and that, such and such would have happened. Instead say, It is the decree of Allah and He does whatever He wills. For (the word) if surely opens the door for Satans work." (Saheeh Muslim, Musnad Imam Ahmad)
- About the author: Khawlah bints Yahyah, revert to Islam, a busy mother involved in several Islamic projects always wanted to understand the Quran but never found the time. Then she came across The Understand Quran Academy, where she is currently Communications Manager. They offer a revolutionary course in which you can learn 50% of the Words of the Quran in just 9 hours. This course can be found at: http://understandquran.com/courses/short-course-1.html.

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