On manifesting, the universe and the Creator of the universe
how to take part in the best transformation this year
Salam! Happy 2025.
Like many others, I’ve been in deep reflection over how I spent my 2024 and who I hope to be and what I hope to do in the next twelve months. When looking at the last entry of my 2023 journal, I was surprised to find three goals/dreams/intentions that I was able to cross off as my 2024 ended. I wish I can tell you I remember writing it down, but I do not.
Usually, I have measurable goals. Like read x amount per day, work out x amount per week, eat out less, etc. But at the end of 2023, I was no longer working full-time and I was lost when it came to my career, as well as a bit anxious.
The idea for starting this Substack came to me right after Ramadan last year. I picked up the call and accepted the opportunity to attend grad school (loan-free!) right after Ramadan last year. For Umrah, we tried so many times and gave up around September, only for a trip to be posted at the end of that month for the last week of the year — which we immediately signed up for.
You can say I manifested these goals, and I wrote them into existence. You can say I attracted the right energy and was laser-focused. But I don’t think that’s accurate to me in the slightest. I planned, and I put in the work and the effort and I saved money, but Allah is truly the best of Planners. In no way, could I have presented a better 2024.
All credit and all of my success is by my God’s will.
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةًۭ وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ حَسَنَةًۭ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
Our Lord! Grant us the good of this world and the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.
Why I’m sharing this is because I don’t think I truly understood the concept of tawakkul (trust and reliance on Allah) until October 2023 to May 2024. Those months were some of the hardest for me when it came to my purpose on this earth and in my career, but they were also the closest I have become to my purpose for the Afterlife and to my Creator. Spirituality is a key component to our success in this life and in the next, and without that deeper connection and self-reflection, I would have been completely lost.
My patience was tested last year. Conversations with colleagues and friends stalled when asked, “What are you up to?” The places I frequented outside of my home were at Miftaah Institute immersed in Islamic texts and at Qamaria Allen Park in front of my laptop. My bank account was draining, with little income coming in.
The lessons I took away from that experience was allowing myself to release control and belief that I have control over my life. I was lucky to have navigated college, my major, my jobs so easily. I was lucky to have had an amazing spouse approach me at the right time, and was blessed to have been able to accept his proposal so easily and with trust in Allah.
This was the first time in my life where I was heading into uncharted territory with no vision for what I wanted to happen in my life. I took a back seat, and asked Allah to help guide me. At a time when my skillset felt useless as Gaza burned (and is still suffering), I turned to Allah to try to figure out where I should be. What I should be doing. How I can be of best help and of best use for our Ummah and this world. I remember telling Allah to show me the way so clearly. To reject me from everything and allow me to be accepted to a single opportunity.
When I tell you that was exactly what happened, I mean it. I was waitlisted, rejected, in between interviews, and received no response from dozens of applications in several different industries. And it was the one call that I picked up from a city I did not know existed (Davis, lol).
I’m sharing this, because I know this wasn’t the universe, and this wasn’t me. It was Allah (swt). I’m sharing this because as I head into this next year, I’m relying just as much on Him, even as I make my own plans and I write out more intentions. I’m sharing this as a reminder to myself to show more gratitude to the One who gives, and to spend more time worshipping the One who created Time.
At a time when there are more trends and videos of people trusting their own selves and abilities too much, and trying to “attract” the right energy (whatever that means), it’s important to remember that as Muslims, we have the blueprint of how to live spelled out for us. Step by step. We even have a person who modeled it for us — the Prophet Muhammad (saw) — and his actions are all documented and preserved for us to follow.
He showed us the perfect schedule to be productive. We don’t need a 5am club or a self-help book to convince us that rising before dawn is the best time to start our day. The best movement to begin our morning is in prostration to Him; the best manifestation is by raising our hands in duaa; the best affirmations is to moisten our lips with dhikr (remembrance) and shukr (gratitude).
We track and reflect on our goals through muhassabah (self-evaluation and self-correction). We invest in not only our own growth, but in our community’s and in others through giving charity.
I’ve seen the trend of “disappearing to level up” and I smile as I think of the Prophet Muhammad’s escape to Cave Hira constantly throughout the year. He (saw) would walk from Makkah to Jabal Al-Nur, a mountain that is about 5 miles away, then hike up more than 2,000 feet to settle in solitude into the cave. I did this hike last week where the temperature was in the 70s. We took the 20 min bus ride to the mountain then hiked the 2.5 miles roundtrip, and it took a while longer than I thought (and I’m someone who loves a good incline hike).
I admire our Prophet’s physical ability, but also his spiritual ability to be in such a state with Our Lord. We live in a time where even when we are physically alone, we are still so hyperconnected to the world through our phones. To truly disconnect takes a lot of effort, and is necessary in order to transform into better versions of ourselves.
As I circled the Kaabah in tawaf, I felt some of that detachment from this world. It’s easy to zone out everyone around you when you are so focused on a conversation between you and your Lord.
Although I loved being in the blessed cities of Makkah and Madinah, and it was so easy to become that person, and servant of Allah, I so desperately wanted to be, I was shown that it is possible to still hold on to that connection from thousands of miles away. We have the ability to be in direct contact with God from wherever we are at whatever time of day it is.
And so, as we approach Ramadan and the rest of this year, I hope to find more time in solitude with Him, and to continue relying on Him every morning and passing night.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ فِى سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍۢ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى ٱلْعَرْشِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنزِلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَا ۖ وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌۭ
He is the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then established Himself on the Throne. He knows whatever goes into the earth and whatever comes out of it, and whatever descends from the sky and whatever ascends into it. And He is with you wherever you are. For Allah is All-Seeing of what you do. (57:4)
These were such beautiful reflections, especially your reflections Jabal Nour and the lengths the prophet pbuh went to seek solitude and reflection and the importance of it, and how you can find it anywhere if you seek it
Thank you for this Malak. These are words that I try to repeat to myself constantly and they found me at a time when I needed to be reminded of them again. It's not so hard to find tawakkul when your heart is inclined towards sabr, but it's in those moments when you feel lost and consumed that we have to put in the extra work to redirect our energy to seeking guidance. In these moments, I pray that we're all blessed with strong tawakkul, taqwa, and sabr.