Dont pray with khushoo (solemnity) ? No barakah in your time? Don't feel any roohaniyah?

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

Whatever a person eats affects his not just his body's system but also his internal self; his soul and heart.

In today's time we have adapted to eating in restaurants so much, we dont think twice, but what we dont realize is how much this food which we eat for pleasure affects us, and how much we lose because of this 10 minute pleasure. many of our shuyookh today avoid eating outside, and why is that? Because, about 99% of the people who cook the food dont do zikr while cooking, and forget zikr, most of them don't even pray! So how can we complain about not being able to pray properly, too much "wasawis" (satanic thoughts; or any world related thought), can't concentrate, dont know why I cant pray with khushoo3 (submissiveness), when 3/4 of the food that is going into our body is empty from the zikr of ALLAH t3ala or made by a person who doesnt even pray?? Will that food ever have any barakah? This is why we complain about not having enough time, and our hearts are so hard...

Our ustad (daamat barakatuhum) told us abut this shaikh who never ate the food made by a person who didnt pray, so one time while he was visiting my ustads city, My ustad asked his wife to make some rotis for the shaikh, and while his wife was making the rotis, another lady joined her, and this lady did not pray, so every roti this lady made, his wife made a (tiny invisible) mark on them so that they can be recognized. Once the rotis were done, My ustaad served these rotis (and he mixed the marked ones with the ones his wife made properly) to the shaikh, after the shaikh sat down to eat, he started seperating the pile in two, and pointed at one pile and said: "I will only eat these rotis, nothing from the other pile", Later when my ustaad looked at the pile that as left, he realized that all of them had the mark on them. This shaikh has reached such a status that now he can tell which food is made by someone who prays, and which food is not just by looking at it, because of he noor and roohaniyah. سبحان الله  تعالى !

may ALLAH t3ala help us in reaching such a status (بالعافيه)! Aameen.

Want to feel this roohaniyah, and pray with khushoo3?

This is how:

Avoid eating any food made outside.

Cook your on food at home by following this way:

Make ablution (wudhu), pray 2 rakah, and make dua, then knead the dough while doing zikr, and dont talk to anyone (unless necessary or dont talk about anything world related), then roll the dough and cook it while doing zikr too. 

Also prepare the food the same way

Just try it out, inshaALLAH t3ala you will definitely see benefits. 

I myself have tried this, and did see a very big benefit, maybe if some of you try this out, and share your experience with me, I'll share too, inshaALLAH t3ala.

The Power of Istighfar! *Real life incident*

،السلام عليكم  ورحمة الله   تعالى  وبركاته 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 

Our ustaadh told us a very inspirational story about istighfaar, so thought I'd post it here, for all to benefit inshaALLAH t3ala!

There was a couple who yearned to have children, but the woman wasnt conceiving. They went to the doctor and got a full check up,

and when the reports came, the doctor told them that it's not possible for them to have children, and there is no cure. 

The Man talked to a shaikh about it, who told him to do lots and lots of istighfar, and upon doing lots of istighfar, the woman became

pregnant, so they both went to the same doctor as before for a check up. Once the doctor was told that she is pregnant, and he took a

test, he became sooo surprised and asked what did they do?? The man told him that they just did a lot of istighfar and ALLAH t3ala

blessed them with this miracle as the doctor told him, that a part in his body was missing before, and now when he checked it was miraculously 

there, so due to the barakat of istighfar ALLAH t3ala gave them a miracle, and made an impossible thing possible. 

Even ALLAH t3ala says: 

"Saying, ´Ask forgiveness from your Lord; for He is Oft-Forgiving;

"´He will send rain to you in abundance;

"´Give you increase in wealth and sons; and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers (of flowing water).

Also, this is a story about Hadhrat Ahmed ubnu Hambal: 

During his old age, while Imam Ahmed was travelling he stopped by a town. After the prayers, he wanted to stay for the night in the masjid yard because he didn’t know anyone in the town. Owing to his humility, he hadn’t introduced himself to anyone thinking that if he did, he would be welcomed by many people.

Failing to recognize Ahmed bin Hanbal, the caretaker of the mosque refused to let him stay in the mosque. As Imam Ahmed was quite old, the caretaker had to drag him out of the mosque. On seeing this, a baker from a nearby place felt pity for this man (Imam Ahmed) and offered to be the host to him for the night. During his stay with the baker, Imam Ahmed observed that the baker would constantly recite Istighfar (seek forgiveness from Allah). Imam Ahmed asked the baker if the constant practice of saying Istighfar had any effect on him. The baker responded by telling Imam Ahmed that Allah had accepted all of his duas (supplications), except one. When he asked him what dua was it that hadn’t been accepted, the baker replied that he had been asking Allah to provide him the privilege to meet the famous scholar Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal.

On this, Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal said that Allah had not only listened to his dua but had dragged him onto his (the baker’s) doorsteps. 

Tafseer Al-Qurtubi states:

A man complained to Al-Hasan about a drought, and he said to him: “Pray to Allah for forgiveness.”

Another man complained to him of poverty and he said to him: “Pray to Allah to forgive you.”

Another man said to him: “Pray to Allah to bless me with a child.” He said: “Pray to Allah for forgiveness.”

Another complained to him that his garden was dry. He said to him: “Pray to Allah for forgiveness.”

He was asked about it and he said: “This is not my personal opinion, for Allah says in Surah Nooh (interpretation of the meaning): ‘Ask forgiveness from your Lord, verily, He is Oft Forgiving; He will send rain to you in abundance. And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.” Tafseer Al-Qurtubi (18/301-302)

Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam used to seek forgiveness of Allah swt many many times throughout the day, some say 70 times a day, though he is beloved of Allah swt. How much tawbah and astaghfar are we doing though we all are well aware of what kind of things we have done and said in the past and what kind of things we are capable of doing.