18 Sources of Blessing

18
sources of Blessing!
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It can be summarised in
the word "barakah" or Blessing. Being able to
achieve more with few resources, doing much in
little time, and generating a lot with little
effort is surely a blessing from Allah
(Subahanahu Wa Ta'ala). Yet Barakah has
somehow become a lost treasure these days;
everyone's looking for it, but no one seems to
find it! You always hear people complaining that
there's no barakah in their time, no barakah in
their sleep, no barakah in their money and the
rest of it.
In this article, we'll solve this mystery
inshaAllah: we'll find out what Barakah is and
where you can find it!
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What is Barakah?
A Well-known daee explains it as follows:
ﻭﺍﻟﺒﺮﻛﺔ: ﻫﻲ ﺛﺒﻮﺕ ﺍﻟﺨﻴﺮ ﺍﻹﻟﻬﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺸﻲﺀ؛ ﻓﺈﻧﻬﺎ ﺇﺫﺍ
ﺣﻠﺖ ﻓﻲ ﻗﻠﻴﻞ ﻛﺜﺮﺗﻪ، ﻭﺇﺫﺍ ﺣﻠﺖ ﻓﻲ ﻛﺜﻴﺮ ﻧﻔﻊ، ﻭﻣﻦ
ﺃﻋﻈﻢ ﺛﻤﺎﺭ ﺍﻟﺒﺮﻛﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻷﻣﻮﺭ ﻛﻠﻬﺎ ﺇﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻃﺎﻋﺔ
ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﺰ ﻭﺟﻞ .
"Barakah is the attachment of Divine goodness to a
thing, so if it occurs in something little, it increases it.
And if it occurs in something much it benefits. And
the greatest fruits of Barakah in all things is to use
that barakah in the obedience of Allah (Subahanahu
Wa Ta'ala)"
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Sources of Blessing
I'm a firm believer that Barakah is not a lost
treasure, rather, it's right in front of our eyes!
This treasure is only available and ready to be
handed over to the one who works for it. Below,
I list some of the sources of Barakah. It's not
an exhaustive list, therefore, I do hope you can
contribute to it with your comments inshaAllah
so we can all share and extend our understanding
of this great treasure at ..............

.
1. Good Intentions
If you want something to have barakah attached
to it, have good intentions for it. More
specifically, make sure that deed is intended for
the sake of Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta'ala).
Looking again at the definition of Barakah, you
may guess that without us intending what we
have or do for the Sake of Allah, the "Divine
goodness" won't be found in our deeds.
2. Piety and Belief in
Allah
Allah says in the Quran: "If the people of the towns
had but believed and feared Allah, We should indeed
have opened out to them (All kinds of) blessings from
heaven and earth…"(Surah Al-A'raf, Verse 96) . And He
says in the Quran: "And for those who fear Allah, He
(ever) prepares a way out. And He provides for him
from (sources) he never could imagine" (Surah Al-
Talaq, Verses 2-3).
3. Putting your trust
in Allah
Allah says in the Quran: "And if any one puts his
trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will
surely accomplish his purpose. Verily, for all things
has Allah appointed a due proportion" (Surah Al-Talaq,
verses 3)
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If
only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would
provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds:
They fly out in the morning empty and return in the
afternoon with full stomachs. (Ahmad, An-Nasa'I, Ibn
Majah, Al-Hakim and At-Tirmidhi)
4. Reading Quran
This is the fountain of Barakah! But
subhanaAllah, we rarely drink from it! Allah says
in the Quran: " And this is a Book which We have
sent down, bringing blessings, and confirming (the
revelations) which came before it…" (Surah Al-An'am,
Verse 92). 2 So read the Quran, and observe
the blessings and barakah of Allah enter your
life. The further we are from this Book of
Guidance, the less barakah we will have in our
lives.
5. Saying Bismillah
When you say "Bismillah" before anything you
do, you're invoking the Name of Allah on that
activity; not only will that activity be blessed
but shaytaan cannot take part in it! So always
say "Bismillah" before anything you do!
SubhanaAllah, it's easy for us to forget to say
"Bismillah". Sometimes we're so used to saying
it that we cannot remember whether we said it
or not! Try to be conscious of saying "Bismillah"
and understand what you're saying before your
action is performed.
6. Eating with People
Anyone who has had the experience of inviting
guests to his/her house will know this one. No
matter how little you think the food you're
presenting to your guest is, it's always more
than enough! (Note: this is not an excuse to be
miserly when you invite guests over; in fact we
should follow the Sunnah of our Prophet Ibrahim
(peace be upon him) whom when visited by the
angels prepared a large meal for them). What I'm
referring to here is the blessing that occurs
when eating together, confirmed in the hadeeth
of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who
said: "Eat together, for blessing is in Jamma'a
(congregation or being together)…" and in another
hadeeth: "Whoever has food enough for two persons,
should take a third one, and whoever has food enough
for four persons, should take a fifth or a sixth (or said
something similar)." (Bukhari, Volume 4. Book 56.
Number 781)
7. Honesty in Trade
This is for all of the business people out there
(include ebayers!). We shouldn't assume lying
and deceiving people will make our trade
profitable. On the contrary, it will remove the
blessing from your trade. Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) said: "The buyer and the seller
have the option of canceling or confirming the bargain
unless they separate, and if they spoke the truth and
made clear the defects of the goods, then they would
be blessed in their bargain, and if they told lies and hid
some facts, their bargain would be deprived of Allah's
blessings".( Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 34, Number 293)
Yes, it's difficult to be honest when you're
trying to sell something, but trust me it's
worth it.
8. Dua
Ask Allah for barakah! If you take note of some
of the Duas of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) you'll notice that the Prophet used to
make dua for barakah. We always say: "May
Allah bless you!" Well, guess what? That's a
source of barakah! Also, when you're invited to
someone's house, Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) advised us to make the following dua
for the host: "O Allah, bless for them, that which You
have provided them, forgive them and have mercy
upon them."
9. Halal Income/
money
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "O
people, Allah is good and He therefore, accepts only
that which is good" (Scholars say this refers to
Halal income and the importance of it). 1
A scholar also said of the one who eats Haram,
that his limbs will disobey Allah whether he likes
it or not, and that the one who eats Halal and
seeks Halal income, his limbs will also do good
and will be given the permission to seek
goodness.
This concept of your limbs being 'blessed' and
enabled to do good is truly a blessing and a
barakah we should all seek. It reminds me of a
story of an old man who jumped a large distance
that the young men were unable to jump. When
the young men asked the old man how he did it,
he replied: "These are our limbs: we protected them
from committing sins when we were young, so Allah
preserved them for us when we got old" .
10. Following the
Sunnah of Prophet
Muhammad in
everything 1
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the
most Productive Man in the history of humanity
is our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him). Therefore, by simply following his lifestyle
and the acts of Sunnah we so often hear about,
we obtain a great source of Barakah!
Some of these Sunnahs include: eating Suhoor,
eating with the right hand from the side of the
plate, going out for Eid Salah, licking your
fingers after finishing your meal, sleeping on
your right hand side, using the siwaak, and many
more. Look out for these Sunnahs and follow
them, for imitating the life of the most blessed
man on earth is surely a source of blessing!
11. Praying Istikhara
Praying istikhara in all matters and then leaving
the outcome to Allah as well as accepting His
Decree is a great source of barakah. The
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught
us this beautiful dua which helps us make
decisions and not regret the choices we make in
the following hadeeth:
On the authority of Jaabir Ibn 'Abdullah he said:
"The Prophet (peace be upon him) would instruct
us to pray for guidance in all of our concerns,
just as he would teach us a chapter from the
Qur'an. He (peace be upon him) would say: 'If
any of you intends to undertake a matter then
let him pray two supererogatory units (two
rak'ah optional nafil) of prayer and after which
he should supplicate:
'O Allah, I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge and by
Your power I seek strength and I ask You from Your
immense favour, for verily You are able while I am not
and verily You know while I do not and You are the
Knower of the unseen. O Allaah, if You know this affair
-and here he mentions his need- to be good for me in
relation to my religion, my life, and end, then decree
and facilitate it for me, and bless me with it, and if You
know this affair to be ill for me towards my religion,
my life, and end, then remove it from me and remove
me from it, and decree for me what is good wherever it
be and make me satisfied with such."
One who seeks guidance from his Creator and
consults his fellow believers and then remains
firm in his resolve does not regret for Allah has
said:
'…and consult them in the affair. Then when you have
taken a decision, put your trust in Allah…" [Quran 3:
159]
12. Giving thanks to
Allah in abundance
Allah says in the Quran: "If ye are grateful, I will add
more (favours) unto you" . 3 A scholar once told
me that if one looks into this verse, the Arabic
word that is used to confirm that Allah Wills
favours unto the person who thanks Him is
actually in the form of an Oath – "La
azidannakum". So Allah is promising the person
who thanks Him an increase in goodness and
blessings, and Allah never breaks His promises.
13. Charity
In a Hadeeth Qudsi, Allah says: "O son of Adam,
spend (in charity), and I'll spend on you!" Whenever
you are broke, or you feel barakah is zapped out
of your life and urgently need it to return, the
quickest of way of gaining barakah in your life
can be through giving charity. For example, let's
say barakah was removed from your life due to a
sin you committed; charity cleanses your sins,
adds good deeds and is a source of barakah.
I cannot describe the instantaneous
gratification of giving charity and the barakah
that follows it. Try it NOW!
14. Tying your ties of
kinship
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Allah
created His creation, and when He had finished it, the
womb, got up and caught hold of Allah whereupon Allah
said, "What is the matter?' On that, it said, "I seek
refuge with you from those who sever the ties of Kith
and kin." On that Allah said, "Will you be satisfied if I
bestow My favours on him who keeps your ties, and
withhold My favours from him who severs your ties?"
On that it said, "Yes, O my Lord!" Then Allah said,
"That is for you." Abu Huraira added: "If you wish,
you can recite: 'Would you then if you were given
the authority do mischief in the land and sever your
ties of kinship?" (Bukhari, Volume 6. Book 60. Number
354)
15. Waking up early
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
"Allah made the early hours blessed for my
Ummah."(Ahmed)
This hadeeth was what spurred me to create
ProductiveMuslim.com! Such gems of
productivity are the sources of blessings which
we should seek to make our life productive.
Waking up early is such an important step to
being blessed and feeling good throughout your
day.
Try to wake up for Tahajjud, and then work
during the hours before Fajr Salah. If you
cannot, then at least wake up for Fajr and stay
up till sunrise before you return to sleep. Those
hours are filled with Barakah. If you're able to
go to work in those hours, do so, you'll get
much more work done than the whole day put
together!
16. Marriage
Allah says in the Quran: "Marry those among you
who are single, or the virtuous ones among yourselves,
male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give
them means out of His grace: for Allah encompasseth
all, and He Knoweth all things." (Quran 24:32)
Speaking of marriage, I highly recommend the
following training course to anyone seriously
thinking of getting
married: www.Practimate.com .
17. Salah
Allah says in the Quran: "Enjoin prayer on thy
people, and be constant therein. We ask thee not to
provide sustenance: We provide it for thee. But the
(fruit of) the Hereafter is for righteousness" . To
illustrate the point of Salah further, just
imagine your life without this great act of
ibadah. Where would Barakah come from? For
those of you who are still wavering in your
Salah, please get back on track; this is your
lifeline for the final destination in the hereafter,
and the daily food for your soul.
18. Asking Allah for
forgiveness
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone
continually asks forgiveness from Allah, Allah will
appoint for him a way out of every distress, and a
relief from every anxiety, and will provide for him from
where he did not reckon."
From: productivproductive muslim
I hope this covers most of the sources of
Barakah, but as I said before, this is not an
exhaustive list. Please add your sources and
recommend more tips for us to share!