take care of your duties with Allah, He will take care of you.

Allah does what He wills.

Almost every single day, during 'Asr the same brother will come and make the call to prayer. I knew this brother and this brother knew me, but our conversations never went beyond 'How are you' or 'where do you live' or similar small talk. 

Until today.

Today during 'Asr, i prayed next to him. Then after prayers ended, suddenly and out-of-the-blue (out-of-lauh-mahfuz would be more appropriate, don't you think?) he talked to me about some hadeeth detailing the rewards of making zikr after prayers. He was making the point that people rush off to work, wealth and the worldly life, while forgetting the most important thing, which is our relationship with Allah.

Although she was the daughter of a prophet and the ruler of madinah, Fatimah radhiyallahu'anha was working very hard to provide for her family. She was grinding grain until her hands blistered. When she went to ask Rasulullah for a servant, he (SAW) said

"I will tell you of something that will serve you better than a domestic servant. Recite Subhaa-nallaah 33 times, Alhamdu lillaah 33 times, and Allahu Akbar 34 times after each Salaah and on retiring to bed. This will be of greater value to you than a servant."

This brother said that reciting the zikr of fatimah before sleeping will make you feel energized the whole day tomorrow.

Remember Allah, and He will make the mountains on your shoulders feel like a clump of dust which can be easily blown away. But forget Allah, and even small obstacles will feel insurmountable.

He said a lot of other things in that short span of time, but this point got to me the most. After running in the rat race for some time, this brother's advice felt like cool, fresh water pouring down upon the desert that is my heart.

rat race - everyone's running, but no one's going anywhere

I'll end with post with an advice from this brother, so we could reflect.

"People commit shirk (idolatry) while they are in front of Allah. 'O Allah, give me this project so my life could be better off.' And they're saying this in front of Kaabah! 'O Allah, give me good grades so i can get a good life.' Right in front of Allah they're associating partners with him."

Jobs and grades and (even governments?) can't guarantee our security and happiness. We need to put in effort, but in our hearts we must be certain that only Allah has power over everything. 

And that was the best 'teatime' i ever had. Drinking from the well of faith is definitely, definitely better than tea.