Guide for teenage Muslimahs - Part 4

By Aasiya Maryam

Bismillah

Making a difference – to yourself and people around:

Life of a teenager revolves around studies, school and friends. A good amount of time is also spend on some big time wasters like talking on phone for long hours, unnecessary chats through messages or on messengers, updating your life and updating yourself with the life of others on Facebook and tweet tweeting on twitter to name a few.

Prophet Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said:

                                      “Take benefit of five before five: 

Your youth before your old age,

Your health before your sickness,

Your wealth before your poverty,

Your free-time before your pre-occupation,

and Your life before your death” 

There are 3 things that a muslimah in her teens can take lessons from this hadith…

“Your youth before your old age”: You are the generation next of our Ummah. You are the future youth. Your today determines your tomorrow, the things you do in these years of your life have a lasting impact on your future.

So, making primary use of this stage is important. You are blessed with enthusiasm and energy; Why not direct this blessing into something beneficial? Do things that will make a difference to yourself, the society and the people around you.

Join an NGO/Stand up for a cause: To start with join a local NGO – help the homeless, teach a child, volunteer for a few hours a week to help at the old-age home or orphanage, build houses for those in need etc.. This is also the best time to involve yourself in activism and stand up for a cause like saving our green earth, against animal cruelty, child labour and abuse etc..

Charity: Yes, you may not have money to give charity but you do have the energy to collect charity and give it to the needy. May be you are good in painting, so you can sell them for the sake of charity or if you are good in baking, you can use that talent of yours to make a difference to someone in need. If you are amongst the ones who are yet to discover their talent then don’t be sad, you don’t have to be talented to give charity, even something as simple as organizing a toy drive for the orphans can make a big difference.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 

"Charity is prescribed for each descendant of Adam every day the sun rises." He was then asked: "From what do we give charity every day?" The Prophet answered: "The doors of goodness are many...enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, listening to the deaf, leading the blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one's legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the feeble with the strength of one's arms--all of these are charity prescribed for you." He also said: "Your smile for your brother is charity." [1] 

See, how easy Islam has made it for us, Alhamdulillah. Charity does not always have to be about money, a simple smile on your part and a civic-sensitive mind can do the trick.

Reading Quran/doing dhikr/Offering Nafl salah:  Prophet Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said:  "Seven are the people that will be sheltered on the Day of Judgment, the day in which there is no shade except the shade of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala.” [2]

One of the seven people, he sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned was a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'aala. So, what would be better than spending time for the sake of Allah and in His worship! This is some difference you will make to your book of deeds.

Gain Knowledge: Of ‘course, age is no barrier for gaining knowledge. But what could be the best time to do it than in these years. We spend sufficient part of our time in gaining knowledge that will give us worldly benefit but we should also use our time gaining knowledge with respect to Islam. As a fact it’s the duty of every muslim to gain knowledge. [3]

Since, you are still young, you are blessed with a mind which can grasp and learn things faster, why not learn arabic to understand the book of Allah then? You will be able to grasp it faster and even understand the command of Allah better, inshaAllah.

Learn about the life of our dear Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, read about Islamic history, life of other prophets etc. There are also a lot of online website that offer courses on various Islamic topics.[4]

“Your time before being pre-occupied”: Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: "There are two things that people are not aware of how important they are: health and time." [5]

Next time you are free or bored and decide to waste time fb-ing or to pick up your phone to call your BFF to talk about what not for long hours… think again and instead use your time in doing something beneficial.

Moreover, as you grow up you will have many more responsibilities and less time for things that you can do now. You may not find free time to indulge in things you can do or enjoy doing the way you can do it now! So don’t waste your time muslimahs, make best use of your teenage years by making a difference to YOURSELF and using your time effectively!

The ideas above can also be used to make effective use of your time. Here are a few other things that you can add to the list:

Listening to lectures online/reading articles on Islamic website: If you have to have to surf net then instead of logging into fb, listen to the amazing lectures by Usthad Nouman Ali Khan, Sheikh Yasir Qadi to name a few, not to forget the wonderful series on names of Allah by Br.Majed Mahmoud [6], they are such eeman boosters. This way you can learn something new AND implement it or if you think you already knew it all, it will still be a good reminder, inshaAllah.

We also have many beautiful Islamic websites from where we can read good articles. A lot of knowledge also can be achieved just by those few minutes we spend on them.

Helping your mom with the house chore or cleaning your room: Remember how I said we can bridge the gap between our parents and us, one of the tips was to help your mom in the house chores. Needless to say, this way you will not only be gaining reward by helping her but also be gaining double the reward by using your time doing good, inshaAllah!

Attend Islamic Halaqas: A lot of cities have halaqas happening occasionally. So, next time you have a free weekend and decide to spend it hanging out with friends spending long hours doing nothing important, why not instead attend one of these halaqas? If you have muslim friends you can take them along too, may be stop over before it for lunch too at some restaurant. Now that will be some weekend well spent!

We also have halaqas that happen online too. Your friends and you can enrol for it. You can gather at a friend’s house and watch it together too. This way you can spend time with friends plus gain knowledge and sawab (rewards) together!

If you don’t have any muslim friend who would be ready to company you to the halaqas, then that should in fact give you another reason to attend one because that way you will have the opportunity to meet other muslimahs from your city and make new friends, inshaAllah!

Join study groups: You could also join an Islamic study circle in your area or if there’s not one then take the initiate to start one. That would make a difference not only to you but others as well.

Cultivate a productive hobby: I love the “21 productive muslim hobbies” on ProductiveMuslim.com. I suggest you read the article, list down the hobbies that interest you and try to work on building them.

So, next time you are free and bored, get up and do something productive. Remember an “Idle mind is the devils workshop.” Use your time doing the things that benefit you and not ones that makes you “devil-friendly.”

“Your life before your death”: My best friend and I had this favourite quote when we were in 5th grade “Life is like an ice-cream enjoy before it melts.” We loved it so much that every week at least one day, we wrote it on the class black board as the thought for the day!

A teenager’s life is more than often linked to having fun. It’s important we have halal fun and enjoy this blessing called life but it’s also important we fulfil our purpose of life because this is what makes a difference to our future – to our akhira. Have fun yet be conscious of Allah. The trick is to make a productive and positive difference and yet enjoy while doing so.

Dear Sisters, make best and effective use of your time doing things that will make you happy when you look at your book of good deeds in the hereafter. Not only that but when you grow up and look back at your teenage years, make sure you feel satisfied knowing that you spent your time and energy doing things that mattered and made a difference!

May Allah make us of those who spend our time wisely and indulge ourselves in things that make a positive difference.

Do you have any more ideas on using teenage years effectively and making a difference? Then do share them with us in the comments section :)

REFERENCE:
[1] Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 9
[2] Al-Bukhari
[3]The Prophet (SAW) said: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.” [Ibn Majah, classed as Hasan]
[4]Some websites I recommend for Islamic courses- Seekers Guidance / Learn Islam
[5]Sahih Muslim
[6]Br. Majed Mahmoud’s Youtube Channel

SUGGESTIVE READING:
100 ways to make a difference – NOTE: #12 and #88 are not halal.
How to make a difference

Posted in: Aasiya Maryam,guide,make a difference,Muslimah,Muslimah Power,productive,teenage