One of the most wonderful things I have discovered on becoming a Muslim and beginning a new life, is the need to learn good habits in order to practise Islam. Allah Ta’ala does not intend for Islam to be a burden on us; a very well known little du’a is: “May Allah make it easy for you.” Throughout each book on Islam which I read, I come across something like: “Islam is a simple and easy way of life…” or “when two alternative ways present themselves and they are both lawful, take the easiest path.” It is a religion of moderation, not dualistic and calling for extreme austerities. It is based on balance and reason, the Deen-ul-Fitrah (Natural Religion of Man). Why, then, is it so difficult when adjusting to this Way of Life?
It is a well-known saying that “old habits die hard”, and old ways of thinking and beliefs take a while to completely fall away. It is like a rebirth, complete with growing pains. Each revert becomes a child again as they find themselves starting over from scratch (even born Muslims attest to the fact that they never stop learning more about Islam). What also makes it difficult is when one’s heart desires to please Allah Ta’ala and do the right thing, but one has not yet enough knowledge to apply to the situation, eg. the laws of purity or various situations encountered in salaah not yet learned. Then, overwhelmed with confusion about what to do, one hunts to find answers. On top of that, one has to explain to non-Muslim loved ones why one does these things in the first place! It goes on, and on… And when one tends to scrupulosity like I do, it can sometimes be really difficult to not be hard on oneself. It is so extremely crucial to have a teacher guiding one at this time, so one doesn’t get into extremes. Knowledge is indeed power – and it is so comforting!
As one progresses on this path, experience also increases one’s imaan (faith). In my life, the more I learned about Islam and its benefits to us, the more I became stronger in conviction of its truth. And, indeed, I have been so amazed at how it has started to turn me around, that I cannot help but share about it so as to praise our wonderful Creator and Guide to the Path of Rectitude! …
I noticed that in order to implement Islam in my life, I would have to get rid of my bad habits if it was to be an easy and simple way of life! This was because any bad habits I had made it difficult to practise Islam.
The first bad habit that had to go, concerned my eating habits. Before my reversion, I had a unbalanced diet heavily consisting of carbohydrates in the form of (mostly white) bread and pasta. I hardly ever made myself rice or other forms of staple foods, nor did I consistently eat much vegetables except when my mom made them for supper. I ate a lot of cheese and dairy, despite its tendency to make my sinuses and ears thick and congested. I didn’t care much about how bloated (or even constipated) I felt sometimes when eating too much white pasta and bread, nor how much palpitations and energy spikes and crashes I had from too much starch or sugar.
But soon after reversion, I quickly learned that this diet caused a great inconvenience to me. Why? Because it caused too much wind which broke my wudhu! I realised I must either struggle to keep wudhu – or change my diet! So I started reading up about the diet and eating habits of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and began to eat more rice instead of pasta, which caused me less digestive problems. I also ate more vegetables and began to use soya milk which made me feel wonderful. When I had less problems, I found Islam a joy to practise, and my desire to eat better increased, alhamdulillah! The hardest eating habit to kick, though, was eating less in meals and not eating so much heavy snacks outside of meals. This is an ongoing process, which I hope will benefit me for the rest of my life.
On a light note a little off the topic, it has been quite amusing to learn to eat with my right hand! As a Muslim, it is sunnah (the better practice) to eat with the right hand, as the left is used for cleaning oneself (istinja). So here I am, a left-handed person. Istinja came natural, but eating… quite an adjustment! Try holding a spoon or fork with the opposite hand to your usual handedness! (I suppose it works either way – right-handed reverts may have had the challenge with learning istinja!)
Other good habits I began to aqcuire included washing my own dishes (this was out of necessity due to the necessity of purity). I also became more aware of the amount of water I used, because of the frequent ablutions, so I began to care about saving water and respecting it. Then I began to be more careful to groom myself and keep myself and my surroundings clean, which helped me to respect myself and others more. I have never been so conscious of my body and surroundings before! I became more grateful for everyday blessings like clean – and hot! – running water, sanitation and hygiene, health, food, clothes, shelter, transport to class, etc. I also began to think before I acted, due to learning about the Islamic sunnah practices of using left and right hands for various tasks. Apart from cleaning oneself with the left hand and eating with the right, I also learned the habit of removing my clothes or shoes beginning with the left arm/leg/foot and putting them on with the right side first. This is an adjustment, and one may think it is of trivial importance, but it truly helps one to remember that clothing and shoes are blessings from Allah (SWT) – that is why the right side is used first in putting them on.
Because of the dog in the house, I have felt a great need to help keep my room clean, and so I had to give up this bad habit I had of walking on socks. I dislike wearing shoes at home, so in winter I walked in socks at home. This caused them to wear thin and get holes, but worst of all they got dog hairs all over them which I tracked into my room! Because of this, I bought a pair of simple washable house slippers and wear them instead. Problem solved!
I also have been more a “night-owl” type of person who struggled to wake up early in the morning, which I yearned to do, as I love the silence and freshness of the dawn. With needing to rise and pray fajr, I solved this problem, and despite feeling a little sleepy, it has become my favourite salaah of the day, after which I love to read the Qur’an (or its English translation!). Salaah has taught me self-discipline and patience as well. Then with the importance placed on respect and love for one’s parents, especially one’s mother, I have begun to take more care to be a good daughter to my parents. This also helped to make it easy for them, because I wanted to help them adjust to my being Muslim and console them if they still felt sad that I left their religion. I began to want to be more responsible in my life, so that I could be a good ambassador for Islam in my family, setting a background for da’wah work.
There may be more habits that I am not yet aware of, and I wait to discover more of what this beautiful Deen has to offer me. All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds! He has indeed given us an easy Way of Life to follow – easy on one condition… are we prepared to give up our bad habits?
Salaam
Saadiqah
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