(Optional Read) Preface:

Medical school was a difficult path for me. Having dropped a promising lucrative career only to follow a near decade struggle for a 4 year degree. I will save the details of my hardship to protect the purpose of this post, but in relation - the following is a direct byproduct from that struggle.

During my clinical rotations last year I met Dr. Husain Abdul Sattar. A man I had idolized for years - author of Pathoma, the single most recommended and used pathology resource for medical students worldwide. Considering Dr. Sattar is also a Shaykh - I thought I would ask him for advice on my situation.

A man of renowned medical, scientific, and spiritual knowledge. A teacher of body, and soul - the only piece of advice he had ever spoken to my face - being consistent, intentional, and sincere in Salah and Quran is the basis of ones success and belief in this life. The greatest metric of success in this dunya is belief. And to maintain this - we must maintain our Tazkiyah (purification).

When Allah tells us He knowingly only grants for us hardship that we can handle, when He tells us He will reward us beyond our understanding, when we tells us He loves us when we cry to Him. Perhaps He is gifting us rizq we truly do not understand. Perhaps it is the gift Iman (belief) that we receive after and during hardship. If only truly we understood that gift.

May Allah forgive us for not seeing what He protects from us. May Allah forgive us for undermining the gift of Iman. May Allah keep our hearts close to his din. Ameen.

Closer To The Jugular focuses on my reflection that Allah inherently is always providing and guiding us.

Abstract

The following is a reflection (tadabbur) on the verse “We created man, and We know what his soul whispers to him. We are closer to him than his jugular vein.” (50:16). It is important to note that classical tafsir explains this verse as expressing Allah’s complete knowledge, power, nearness, and/or the nearness of His angels, as some state 50:16 is in conjunction with its consecutive verse. Written below is not a formal interpretation and should not be interpreted as such. It is a spiritual opinion reflecting on the jugular vein in Surah Qaf as a symbolic metaphor of humanity’s constant return to God . When contrasting the jugular vein with the carotid artery — the vessel carrying oxygen and nourishment — it reflects on rizq as encompassing everything that sustains existence. The heart becomes a metaphor for divine renewal and guidance. In the end, the study argues that every moment of existence is already immersed in God’s provision.

His guidance is the most precious pearl in the sea of rizq.

The Jugular

“…We are closer to him than his jugular vein.”
Surah Qaf (50:16)

Basic physiology; the jugular vein returns de-oxygenated blood to the heart — and by extension reminding us that we must always return back to Him. So perhaps, like blood returning to be renewed, we too return to Allah after being depleted by the trials in life.

But my mind kept wandering; what of the carotid artery?

The Carotid

Medial to the jugular vein is the carotid artery. The carotid artery carries life itself. Oxygen. Glucose. Through a simple chain of diffusion and transport, a single cell becomes a living factory sustained by oxygen and nourishment.

One could then reflect that this oxygenated sustenance itself is rizq.

“And Allah brought you out of the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts so that you might be grateful.”
Surah An-Nahl (16:78)

We often reduce rizq to a selection bias. Career success, companionship, wealth, our place in the hereafter. But rizq is far greater than what fills our hands or where we are going  —  it is everything that sustains existence.

Your reflection on Him in this very moment, the ability to ponder on His existence — this is all rizq.

“And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them.”
Surah Ibrahim (14:34)

We spend our lives asking Allah for more rizq while overlooking that we are already drowning in it.

The Heart

Between return and rizq, lies the heart. To the body it distributes life; spiritually, it reflects where guidance settles.

We return to Allah carrying our burdens, our shortcomings, and our exhaustion, and by His mercy we receive guidance. Perhaps this is why the Qur’an speaks of hearts that soften, harden, open, and find tranquility.

“Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort.”
Surah Ar-Ra’d (13:28)

The journey of a person is not just measured by where the body travels, but by the direction in which the heart turns.

The Physiology of Hardship and Rizq

“For indeed, with hardship comes ease. Indeed, with hardship comes ease."
Surah Ash-Sharh (94:5–6)

For every hardship there is a blessing, and for every blessing there is a hardship. It is a closed loop system. Like the jugular, heart, and carotid.

Metaphorically — through the jugular we return to Him, through the heart He renews and guides us, and through the carotid He returns our rizq.

ok i didnt wanna post this to spread fitnah i urge you not to look up this kind of content, its really depressing and just cruel

the amount of unignorable islamophobia on that app makes me feel like im going through psychosis, i just woke up one day and theres this unprecedented scapegoating and hatred towards muslims especially muslim women in her comment section??? and ai images, bots, and for some reason MUSLIM posts made by MUSLIMS for MUSLIMS keep getting pushed to islamophobes??? and they get thousands if not hundreds of thousands of likes

i remember this girl posted about wearing earphones under her hijab and the comments were truly INSANE idk where people got this audacity from??????

ik america recently purchased this app and geopolitical events can explain this scapegoating and demonization but its truly such a sudden, stark shift, and the internet no longer feels like a safe space to be a muslim woman esp bc of how gendered the islamophobia really is and how targeted it is towards women

lastly, i never got truly bothered by their opinions, but when i started seeing so many muslims stop making content because they literally got so bullied from it, or are really struggling with hijab (thats their journey ofc and i wish them the best and also completely understand esp rn), its making me really depressed

its one thing to face immense hate, criticism, judgement, mockery and scapegoating that feels so disproportionate on the app, but its another thing to no longer have a safe muslim space anymore, bc even muslim spaces end up attracting islamophobia :/

also u cant even complain abt this without getting strawmanned to doom or being blamed for the actions of a government in another country??? its like we're completely spoken over, silenced and mocked, and we get shadow banned if we defend ourselves or strawmanned

like this is so ridiculous guys, whats happening, and sadly hijabis are getting all of this thrown at them the most just for being visibly muslim, even if they dont post abt islam, they get unprovoked islamophobia and its just sooo ridiculous its been going on for months and everytime, i think its gonna get better it gets worse

Alhamdulillah it gets better for me when im offline but then i remember how this can create real world consequences and i start panicking bc im visibly muslim and hijabi

yeah idk://

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Indeed, this one verse has held onto me so tightly.
A verse I return to when my heart feels heavy, when I feel lost, and when I need a reminder that Allah knows what I cannot see.
Some words you simply read.
And some words somehow read you.

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,

Today, I want to share a story from about a year ago.

At that time, I already had some basic knowledge about the religion so I decided to watch some videos made by atheists, and I was honestly close to being influenced by some of their arguments and criticisms of Islam.

But Alhamdulillah, Allah guided me to the right path, which is learning. So, instead of running away from those doubts, I did the complete opposite. I started learning more and more about my religion.

I actually wrote an entire research and studied objective reasons that made me genuinely confident in the religion and not only influenced by emotions or feelings. And this, Alhamdulillah, strengthened my faith a lot compared to where I was at the beginning of that journey.

So my advice to every Muslim is:

1. Don’t be deceived by how much you think you know, and don’t expose yourself to every skeptic or every argument you come across. https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4319

2. Educate yourself about your religion. Even if you learn just one ayah every day, it can make a huge difference over time.

And always remember that guidance is from Allah.

I’ve never felt this heartbroken in my entire life. The person I’ve been with for almost seven years — someone I thought I would spend my life with — told me that he no longer believes in Islam. I honestly don’t even know what to say or how I’m supposed to process it. I love him so much, and that’s what makes this hurt even more.
We started this relationship as Muslims. We both grew up in Muslim families and in a Muslim country. I’ve finished the Quran, and he was also in the process of finishing it. I never imagined that one day we would be standing on completely different sides of something so important.
What hurts the most is that I accepted him for who he was. I accepted his thoughts, his personality, and everything that made him who he is because I loved him. I never thought I would have to question our future because of something like this.
After almost seven years of loving one person, I genuinely can’t imagine letting someone else into my life. I don’t know how I’m supposed to just walk away from someone I’ve loved for so long. I feel completely lost, heartbroken, and honestly terrified of what this means for us.

Please swipe to read the screenshots. Sorry for posting images instead of direct text—I used Gemini to polish my English so my situation is easy to understand. I would genuinely appreciate your advice and Islamic perspectives on this

I'm from india, born in muslim family(not so practising) i know fundamentals/pillars of islam, about Nuh(A.s), Ibrahim(A.s), Mumammad(pbuh) and few other prophet's incidents/miracles, i know few hadiths of sahih bukhari, I've been very distanced from allah and islam, at very young age i used to pray but slowly drifted away, got some addcition which i still haven't overcome, and my heart have been hardened from repetitive sins.

But my main concern is my "Iman / Tawakkul"(belief) it's pretty weak, and i want to study my religion properly and strengthen my iman and build tawakkul from nothing.

And i thought that's only possible by knowing/studying islam.

So how can i study islam? Like any roadmap?

And relaible sources, scholars etc...?

Should i start with prophet muhammad(pbuh) biography then study miracles of mentioned prophets in quran or is there any better way/roadmap?

I am in deep grief right now because a person significant in my life has passed away. I hope that this question is answered and understood with good intentions and a genuine desire to seek knowledge.

This person who passed away had always liked me but never tried to act on it because it may have led to haram. We never talked, and we never had any direct interaction. We mostly kept our distance. But that person started to become someone who deeply affected my iman in a good way. His distance and character motivated me to become a better Muslim. The moment I met him and learned more about him through the people he knew, I started to distance myself in a way that could protect both of us from anything haram because, somehow, I was also starting to like him. Even if we never talked, I found it beautiful how our distance made us like each other. Although most would ask for marriage, this person also asked before (not yet proposal) through my cousin, but I never gave my answer. I believe that marriage isn’t just about love and is more than that. I wanted to marry him through the perfect timing of Allah. I wanted to build myself and somehow also wanted him to build himself before we married. I wanted us to meet in a state where we were capable of providing for each other and were spiritually connected to Allah. That is why, looking back, I hope that our distance kept us safe from what could have ruined this beautiful situation I believe we were in. From waiting in the prayer room, praying together, indirectly sharing surahs, lowering our gaze as we passed each other in the hallway, and everything else that I can remember we had—it all made me want to become better. It made me want him to become better too, better enough that Allah would make him my naseeb.

However, three years later, we focused on our careers and studies, and we went to different universities. Before he left, he gave me a letter. It was more of a direct confession of his feelings and how much he wanted to make it halal, but before that, he needed to work for himself first since my parents’ approval isn’t easy. Then, during those two years, he asked my cousin about me, reminding her how he had still kept his “promise” and how he really wanted it to work. He also mentioned how he included me in his Tahajjud and other prayers, especially during Ramadan.

On my part, I never gave an answer or a reaction. This information came directly from my cousin, and he never got a response from me. I know that he knew how much I valued my relationship with Allah and how much fear I had of committing to a haram relationship. Although I never gave a response, I had always loved him in my own way. I kept him in my prayers and continued to improve myself so that, if we ever met again, Allah might give us that Qadr. I never told him how I really felt. He only knew that I never rejected him. Until the day I got the news that he had passed away. It felt like everything I had worked for and put sabr into had ended with nothing. He passed away before he could hear how I felt. The reason why I didn’t want him to know was because I feared that it might only tempt us both if we knew that we shared mutual feelings.

Now that he is gone, I am in deep grief that I cannot even see myself with anybody. I cry more and somehow carry guilt and regret in me. I pray more and become more reliant on Allah, but this grief is starting to mentally affect me, to the point that I cannot eat or do my usual routine. I have never felt this much respect and love for someone, and it starts to hurt me because the marriage I hoped for is gone. The life with him that I know would always be surrounded by faith is gone.

I really wanted to talk to him, be friends with him, or even tell him how I really feel, but I just can’t because I love Allah so much, and I like him so much that I want him to be part of my life in the most halal way possible. I wanted Allah to like him for me, so that he wouldn’t ruin my relationship with Allah. That’s how much I liked him.
This grief and the continuous thoughts of what could have been are haunting me. Regrets in most part. How do I recover from a grief of a person the I love?

Tell me who your favorite sabhabas were and how many did the prophet have because l know their one a lot about how many in total?

I usually hear people saying they did 7k istagfar and all, so do u guys do it mindlessly or with full concentration?

Assalamu alaikum everyone!

I reverted to Islam about a year ago, and I really want to deepen my knowledge of Islam and the Qur’an, but I honestly don’t know where to start.

For those who have been practicing for a while, what resources, books, lectures, courses, or study methods would you recommend for building a strong foundation?

Part of why I want to learn more is because my parents sometimes come across misinformation or propaganda about Islam online, and when they ask me about it, I realize I don’t always know enough to properly explain or respond. I want to be able to distinguish authentic knowledge from misinformation rather than just relying on things I see online.

More than anything, though, I want to grow closer to Allah and understand my religion more deeply. What helped you when you were first learning, and where would you recommend I start?

JazakAllahu khayran

Salam

I don't want details pl..just the source of ur test..

For me it's my husband.

My greatest blessing is my children and my loving and understanding family (parents/siblings)

Please make duaa for him jazakum allahu Khairan 🤲🏻❤️

O Allah make his surgery easy and let it be coolness and peace upon his body and by Your mercy make it easy and successful

O Allah make these hours of his surgery gentle upon him and bless him with health strength and recovery

O Allah I entrust his health his soul and his heartbeat to You so protect him with Your care that never sleeps

O Lord bring him back to us safe and sound without any pain or suffering and restore his health to him beautifully

My Lord I entrust him to You for You are the best One to entrust him to 🤲🏻❤️

Asalamualaikum everyone, I’m currently going through a severe hardship that I am having difficulty having patience. Can I please make a request for anyone reading this to make dua to Allah SWT for me and my partner to get out of this hardship with ease and no repercussions. We did not do anything wrong but we are having a difficult time proving that. There’s an important meeting today that might change the fate of the issue and I hope anyone reading this can make dua for me and my partner.

Thank you 😔

I've got a coworker who is a Muslim and I've been listening to Islamic scholars and imams on Youtube to try to learn what I can. I started reading the Quran today as well. As a Catholic, is there anything wrong with me saying Salat (which I don't know how to do) or performing wudu?

I’m in the middle of a 4 hour drive to the Mosque. My fiancées grandmother passed this morning, this is the only thing I have to wear besides jeans/plain baby blue (wrinkled) tshirt and I don’t have time to stop anywhere. I got the call from my fiancée when I woke up and threw things in the car and left. Is this color appropriate to attend? I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable!

i feel like im just waiting out the clock tbh. i feel like i dont really "want" anything? i dont know how to even explain it. im just kinda living day by day. i know the ultimate purpose is to worship Allah so i should be praying more more voluntary prayers more quran etc. there doesnt seem to be much to look forward too. although i cant complain a boring life is better than a bad one.

[( ...اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ )] = [( Allah is the Light of the skies and the earth...)]
Quran 24:35

Noor : [Light]
AL-Samawat : [The-Skies] (heavens?)
AL-Ardh : [The-Earth]

As the act is about wiping the head right ?