Growing up and living the Islamic way of life in regular society as we know it here in the UK, we hear about The Good Life and how we can live it and there are plenty of role model’s society is offering but I wonder if you find that your Islamic life style fits into the good life?

The question you hear from youth is, how do you live the Good Life the Islamic way? Islam promotes everything that will bring you lasting success and the key ingredients to the happiest life. If you understand Islam through the Quran and Sunnah, through the lenses of those people of knowledge who live in your environment and understand the nature of your society then you will find no conflict. Islam will help you to live the Best Life by showing you how to create harmony and balance in your life.

It’s important to be open to knowledge but even more important that you practice what you know. But lets talk about how you can live The Good life without compromising your Islam and better yet in this article I will mention a couple of ways to ensure you find success in your life insha’Allah.

How to live the Islamic way of life for Lasting Success

First of all lets talk about the fundamental cause of your happiness, your relationship, your connection with Allah the Almighty.

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Create a daily life of intentional connection to your creator because you will find that He the Most Gracious will guide you to whatever will benefit you and create your actual happiness and meaning. By intentional connection I mean that you have to be focused and present in your connection, whether that is you five daily Prayers or Dua, or general remembrance of Allah. Be present and be intentional.

Once you have that connection sorted, your life will fall into place. You’ll never feel alone, and even when you are unsure about something in your life you will know that if you  relay on Allah, that you will find your way to the right decisions, places and people. Allah the All Wise will guide you, so relax and don’t be too hard on yourself.

Intentional Living based on Intentional Actions

Hadith on Success in Life: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) the greatest role model for humanity lived an intentional life. In one of his most famous statements he said as was narrated to by Umor (RA) that he said :

“Indeed Actions are determined by that which you intend,so for every person is that which they intended, So whoever intends Migration for the sake of his Allah and  His Messenger, then he migrated for Allah and His Messenger ”

Actions are the building blocks of your life, nothing is more beneficial to you or more harmful to you than the actions you take in your day to day life. If you want to the Good life, then whatever that means for you, you have to decide. Decide on what a Good life looks like for you.

What must you have in your life to make it a good life? Make sure it will bring you happiness and success in the long run, not just short term. Decide and be intentional because if you’re serious, the actions that build your life will follow.

The Messenger of Allah ( peace and blessings be upon) is clear that you will get whatever you intended, and that’s a really powerful thing. The dunya and akhira is your oyster, you can have it all if you REALY want.

Good Enough Reasons Bring your Success

You must have great reasons for wanting what you want. If you don’t have good enough reasons to go out and make your dream life happen, you won’t have the motivation and drive to actually take the actions necessary to make your dreams a reality.

In this statement of the Prophet ( peace and blessings be upon him) we see clearly that your reasons are the power behind your intentions. If your reason is Allah and his Messenger that that will power your intentions. But what if your reasons just a temporary pleasure, then will it really power you to create out of your dreams a reality you can live?

Take Small steps to actualise your dreams

If you sit on your dreams, they will remain dreams and you will end up blaming life, circumstances and people for why you haven’t achieved what you want. That won’t help you, it will make it worse. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If your dreams are big, your want a lot of great things in your life, then you have to start by planning. It might take a while to put your plans together, but it will be worth it insha’Allah.

Once you have you plan take small steps, not huge ones. Break it down into manageable actions steps to achieving some of what you want. Remember the greater your dreams the more time and effort it requires. 

If you make your action steps too big, it will demotivate you and you may end up procrastinating. So best way to move forward is make it so small that it is achievable, and you will actually do it.  Don’t worry about it not being enough, see it as one brick at a time to build a wall. In the end the wall will be complete and built to last like your dream insha’Allah.

Islam is a Complete way of Life

You have to distinguish the difference between your short term indulgences, satisfying your base desires AND creating a real lasting success that will give you an amazing life and Jannah in the hereafter.

Islam offers short term and long term happiness and success. Don’t chose short term temporary pleasures over long term permanent pleasures. The long term doesn’t always seem as attractive because it’s not instant, not right in front of you and you can’t feel the benefit quick enough.

If you make the right choices right from the beginning when you are making your choices about life you will see that your intentions & actions will lead you towards real success. Don’t be side tracked and distracted by the short term glitz and glamour of the world.

As you live you will see the shallowness in it. I’m saying you won’t enjoy it, but you’ll find it disappears quick and then you’re out looking for the next pleasure. If you spend enough time from one to the next you will soon realise there is no true success in the short term. It must be long term and tied to your purpose of life and hereafter.

It’s all a choice in the end, but whether you actively think about it or not, your choices will reflect your intentions and your outcomes in life will be in direct relation to that. Be intentional and you will find that your intentions will build your life insha’Allah.

So what is a happy life in Islam? Well I’d say that it is one where your intentions and actions align to serving both your worldly desires but more important align to your purpose in life. That purpose is of course worship and being connected to your creator on a conscious level.

I’m trying to be philosophical, I’m saying you have to be intentional with your connection to Allah. Do you live for Allah by following his guidance? Or do you just follow that guidance when as a last resort?

Ask yourself do you try to make your life purposely connected to Allah so you feel like your life is being guided by the Almighty where you feel sure of yourself? Or do you only think about Allah when you have problems, you’ve exhausted every avenue, got no solution, and as a last resort you turn to Allah. Is that you?

Look if the second scenario sounds familiar don’t be too hard on yourself, this is meant to help you become aware of your situation not punish yourself. However, what you need to do is start asking yourself empowering questions like, How can I have a great life and do it in accordance to Allah’s guidance? How can I connect to Allah daily in a way that helps me draw closer to Him?

The best way to begin is start thinking about your intentions, what does a great life look like? What is success to you? And then begin to plan out how you will live an intentional life the Islamic way, according to the guidance you will find when you look, study and understand the Quran and sunnah.

You were born for greatness, don’t forget it.

“You are the best of Nations, bought forth for mankind”

Quran, Surat Aal-Imran 110