As salaam alaikum Reader,

I pray this message finds you well. Alhamdulillah there is so much to be grateful for.

I wanted to send you a quick message about gratitude and validation. We live in a very polarized political world right now. Ideas like disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy theorist, malinformation, cancel culture and the like have clogged our minds and hearts and it can be difficult to ascertain truth from falsehood. Even if the truth seems clear and apparent, the best course of action to take can still be blurry and unclear. With time, certain political narratives fall apart, and others are validated. Whomever happens to be on the side of the current 'winner' often feels a type of pride or arrogance that 'they are (or were) right', however, I think there is something more to be gained from all of this.

Instead of focusing on who was, or is, right or wrong. Perhaps we might decide to adopt a posture of patience and submision. Patience with the divine decree and the speed at which Allah brings clarity and lets information unfold to whomsoever He wills. Submission to Allah as the owner of complete truth and reality. Submission to Allah as all knowing. Submission to our Prophet (peace be upon him) as our only perfected example. Patience with our own ignorance and inability to know all things and their causes and reasons and purpose on our own timing.

This is one of the reasons presence, and planning and living your life from a position of presence, is so important. It is more important, in my humble opinion, to submit to Allah as all knowing and be present with how He is unfolding your life, than it is to be sure of what is happening in and around you.

The famous scholar Imam Malik famously said that half of all knowledge is to say , "I don't know." There is an important place and space in your life to get comfortable with your own ignorant and dependant nature. Why else do we say 'Hasbun Allah, wa ni'ma al-Wakil' , 'Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best disposer of all affairs' ?

Allah is the best disposer of affairs. If we are 'right' or 'wrong' is not as important as if we were, or are, submitted in our ideas, hopes and desires on Allah alone. If in our submission to Allah , He blessed us to be right by way of our patience with His decree and keeping our hearts with Him then it is a beautiful validation...not of our ideas neccesarily, but of the value in submitting only to Him as al-'Aleem, al-Khabeer (the all knowing, all aware). If our ideas were, or are, 'wrong' then we are blessed with an opportunity of submitting deeper to Allah and recognizing with a clearer heart that only He 'gets it right' 100% of the time.

So my reminder to myself and you Reader, is to be patient within our submission to Allah. Don't worry, or boast, or be ashamed of being 'right or wrong', only concern ourselves with how much we are able to get our hearts, minds, and egos in check and submission to divine decree and embrace the power and humility of not knowing in the presence of the all-knowing Lord.

Wa salaam alaikum

PS- the end of the year is getting close and Hamd & Shukr planners are on sale. Additionally, I will be holding a workshop on Planning for Presence & Barakah on Sunday, November 27 @ 8am EST. If you would like to join you can sign up here. The cost is $129 and includes a Hamd & Shukr planner. Recordings will be made available to all registrants if the live time doesn't suit you.

PPS-The Muhsinah Himma Circle Membership opens fully this December insha'Allah. The year long membership expands upon the work we have been doing in our Fall program and I am really excited to get started insha'Allah. The Planning for Presence & Barakah workshop is included with the membership. To find out more visit here​