بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
Five Ways to Get Closer to Allah SWT
You’re not here by chance.
You’ve taken the step to achieve something great –that is, “getting closer to Allah SWT,” and the Greatest has guided you to this point. Why? Because Allah wants you to see this. He wants you to turn to Him, SubhanAllah.
This brings to mind the beautiful hadith wherein Allah promises his Guidance and Help for those who seek it.
Abu Dharr reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah Almighty says: Whoever comes with a good deed will have the reward of ten like it and even more. Whoever comes with an evil deed will be recompensed for one evil deed like it or he will be forgiven. Whoever draws close to Me by the length of a hand, I will draw close to him by the length of an arm. Whoever draws close to Me the by length of an arm, I will draw close to him by the length of a fathom. Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running. Whoever meets Me with enough sins to fill the earth, not associating any partners with Me, I will meet him with as much forgiveness.” [Sahih Muslim]
This hadith leaves you breathless and your heart full of encouragement. As humans, we yearn to be closer to the Greatest.
How can we get closer to Allah SWT?
A frequently asked question. One way to address this is to understand that the relationship with the Almighty is the only purest form of love.
Picture this, you are in a relationship. It could be romantic, friendly, or bound by family ties. The other person involved in this relationship does something that offends you. However, they ask you for forgiveness and promise that they will do better. You forgive them.
But then, this repeats. Again and again.
As a human being, there is only so much you can take, and eventually, you get tired of the false promises and excuses. You’ve now reached the point of either breaking off ties or keeping them at a distance for your own sanity. (May Allah SWT protect us)
When it comes to Allah, there is no “being fed up”. Allah is waiting for us any day, every day, and at any point in our lives.
Allah is waiting for YOU to take that step forward in building a connection with Allah.
But before we dive into how we can get closer to Allah, we have to truly understand who Allah is.
Who is Allah?
To break it down simply, we’ll look at a few words and sentences taken from the Quran.
He is رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِين,”The Lord of the entire universe and beyond.“
This alone sends shivers down my spine, what about you?
ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم “The Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.”
Allah’s vast Mercy is mentioned in numerous ahadith. Such as in the following,
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Allah has divided mercy into one hundred parts, and He retained with Him ninety-nine parts, and sent down to earth one part. Through this one part, creatures deal with one another with compassion, so much so that an animal lifts its hoof over its young lest it should hurt it”. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا “He is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Allah loves that you keep coming back to Him over and over again. Allah never gets tired of our asking and insisting from Him. You can call unto Him at any hour of the day or night. He is the truest form of love. No one can match Allah in His love for you.
All of this is just the tip of the iceberg of who Allah, the Greatest is. SubhanAllah.
As you learn more about your Creator, it is impossible not to fall in love with Him.
Five Ways to Get Closer to Allah
- Introspect your current relationship with Allah and make a list of where and how you want to improve.
During any situation in life when one takes the steps to change their lifestyle, they first assess where they are and diagnose what improvements they would want to make to reach their ultimate goal.
This is exactly how we will begin this journey. Jot down the changes you want to see, the areas in your life and personality traits you want to improve. And remember, this is the only journey that has an amazing reward at the end of it. A reward that is eternal and beyond imagination.
- Be ready to receive His guidance
Now that you have decided to embark on this journey, don’t dive into it half-heartedly. Try your best to give it your all from the very first step. Be willing and receptive to His guidance.
If there are things in life that you need to give up for His Sake, then start working towards it. Take it a step at a time.
Through this journey of returning back to Allah, we need to remember that everything around us is temporary except Him and His promises to you.
At the end of the day, we need Allah, Allah doesn’t need us.
- Have patience
Every journey requires patience and endurance.
As they say, “Great things take time”. If you take the step to connect to Allah then Allah will ease the way for you.
As mentioned before, it cannot get any more beautiful and pure than our Creator saying, “If you come to me walking, I’ll come to you running,”
- Do more voluntary deeds
When you love someone, or there is someone that you really look up to, you go out of your way to appear your best in front of them. As well as do things that you know would please them.
That is just how human nature works right?
Imagine channeling such energy towards the Almighty! SubhanAllah.
One such way to do that is by doing voluntary deeds, whether it’s an extra 2 rakah of prayer, zikr in solitude, charity or just raising your hands in duaa. Imagine the closeness you will attain through such acts.
Not only will that help you strengthen your relationship with Allah SWT, but every second of it is being rewarded!
If you’re struggling with the obligatory acts of worship, work on them first! More about that in another post, inshaAllah.
- Continuously make dua
As we mentioned earlier, Allah never gets tired of hearing your voice. Make duaa to Him for any obstacles you may encounter in your journey. Ask him to open your heart. Ask Him for guidance. Ask Him for literally anything, even during good times ask for His barakah.
Allah says, “Ask me for anything even if it’s as insignificant as a shoe-lace.”
May Allah SWT assist us in our journey and allow us to taste the sweetness of His Faith.
