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Aligning with Success as it’s Defined by Allah
Discover what it really means to be successful in the sight of Allah because success only matters when it means something to the One who grants it.
Khalisa
October 24, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
She’s Your Fitrah Series Recap:
Week 1 — We asked big duas, determined where our starting point is, and where we truly want to be.
Week 2 — We talked about who we need to be to step into our “impossible” duas.
Week 3 — We chose to commit to ihsan, feeding our higher selves, and emotional regulation.
Week 4 — We focused on aligning with Allah’s promises with yaqeen, radical tawakkul, and a privileged mindset.
Remember to stay in order and continue to apply the lessons from the previous weeks.
This week, we’re focusing on defining success as Allah ﷻ defines it so we can go into next week’s topic on habits with the right frame of mind, in sha Allah.
﷽
We live in a time when “success” is everywhere. It’s in your face constantly online.
Everyone’s teaching someone else how to “succeed.”
It’s framed in numbers, titles, influence, and freedom.
But when we pause long enough to ask, what does Allah ﷻ call success? The answer is drastically different.
Every day, five times a day, we are called to falah.
Hayya ‘ala al-falāḥ — come to success.
Come to salah.
So right away, we know that success is tied to worship, to the very reason for our creation.
“And I did not create jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”
Success, in the sight of Allah ﷻ, begins when we respond to His call.
Subhanallah, the Qur’an answers this very question: what is success? over and over again.
1. The Foundation of Success: Taqwa
“And take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is taqwa.”
“O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the garment of taqwa — that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember.”
Taqwa is the foundation of every form of success in the Qur’an.
It’s not just the fear of Allah ﷻ. It’s the awareness, mindfulness, and restraint that drive the heart towards what pleases Him.
The Benefits of Taqwa
Accountability.
Taqwa keeps us accountable even when no one is watching because we know we’re never actually alone.
Allah ﷻ sees what others cannot: every true intention, every raw emotion, every hidden thought.
It holds us to a higher standard of sincerity.Refinement in character.
Taqwa refines how we treat others and even ourselves.
It reminds us that spreading salam isn’t about being liked. It’s being a source of comfort for those around us and creating a source of peace within ourselves.
It calls us to think about the experience others have of us, not for their approval, but for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ.Self-accountability.
Taqwa awakens the nafs al-lawwāmah (the self-reproaching soul) that feels guilt when we slip, driving us to istighfār and sincere tawbah.
Ways to Increase Your Taqwa
Talk to Allah ﷻ frequently.
I’ve been talking to Allah ﷻ in regular conversation as well as for sorting through emotions for nearly two years now.
I stopped journaling for emotional venting so that I could take those emotions straight to Him and that has changed my life.
I haven’t journaled since.
(Here’s the post I did on that here)Remember more duas.
Say dua for everything. You likely already do before eating and drinking, entering or exiting the home, before sleeping, etc.
So keep adding to your list so that you call upon Him in as many day-to-day activities as possible.Find signs of His activity around you.
This is muraqabah, a watchfulness of Allah.
Just because He is “out of sight” doesn’t mean He has to be out of mind.
Allah ﷻ tells us:
“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth.”
Look around you and see how He interacts with His creation with such delicacy and complexity.
Go for a walk and notice His signs, or watch a nature documentary and see how every species plays its role in an ecosystem all sustained by Him alone. Watch how He moves things around for you.
Read the Qur’an and apply it.
Allah ﷻ responds to those who call upon Him, but He also tells us to listen for His response.
His response comes through our life experiences and through His words.Keep Yourself Busy with Adhkar
Dhikr is so light in effort but so heavy on the scale.
2. Zuhud: Detaching from False Measures of Success
“They love them as they should love Allah, but those who believe are stronger in love for Allah.”
“Say, in the bounty of Allah and in His mercy — in that let them rejoice; it is better than whatever they accumulate.”
Zuhud is often misunderstood as deprivation; as if it means rejecting comfort or wealth.
But zuhud isn’t about owning nothing; it’s about nothing owning you.
The true zahid is the one whose love is detached from possessions, positions, praise, and people.
Yes, you can love people but not to the extent where you fear them more than you fear Allah ﷻ or you aim to please them or serve them like you should for Allah ﷻ. Simply, the love of anything or anyone should never exceed your love for Him.
When the heart no longer craves what the world offers, it finally tastes something purer. The sweetness of loving the Giver Himself.
When you detach from the dunya’s illusion of success, you can align with the true success.
You no longer serve the world’s definition of achievement because you know that all worldly achievement comes through Him anyway. Anything worthy of having in this life comes from Him anyhow. So to ask the dunya for it is backwards.
Once you no longer feel like you need it. No longer want it except as a means and a tool to get closer to Him, the dunya success comes to you effortlessly, by the mercy and provision of Al-Wahhub.
That detachment is spiritual freedom and it is the soil where purification begins.
Reflect:
In your notebook, define what you’ve always thought success looked like. Even the definition you heard from family, friends, and society when growing up.
What life do you envision when you think of “making it”?
Then compare that to what success is as defined by Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ.
You can use the search feature on Quran.com to search “successful” and see all the ayat that mention those who are successful and those who are not.
Then, ask Allah ﷻ to help you expand your understanding of what success truly is and how you can live by it.
3. Tazkiyah: Purifying the Soul for True Success
“Successful indeed is the one who purifies it, and failed is the one who corrupts it.”
“Allah would not leave the believers as you are until He separates the wicked from the good.”
Tazkiyah, the purification of the soul, is where real success is revealed.
It’s not a single act of cleansing but a lifelong process of refinement.
Allah ﷻ is the One who purifies; we only intend to purify and act upon that intention with alignment, taqwa, and obedience.
Our role is to show up with sincerity through prayer, remembrance, repentance, reformation, and patience and trust Him with the healing.
Tests and discomforts are purifiers.
They expose what’s attached and buried within our heart to us.
“...that Allah may test what is in your breasts and purify what is in your hearts. And Allah is Knowing of that within the breasts.”
Through tazkiyah, we move closer to the higher version of ourselves that Allah ﷻ created us to be: content, surrendered, and in awe of Him. Closer to our fitrah.
4. Obedience: The Proof of Success
“We hear and we obey. [Grant us] Your forgiveness, our Lord. To You is the final destination.”
Many people today encourage self-change without submission.
“Work on yourself.” “Invest in yourself.” “Lock in”. “Become unrecognizable”.
But often, it’s with the intention of gaining something worldly while negating Allah ﷻ from the equation. Often using methods like manifestation, law of detachment, or attraction. Which have their merits to an extent but it’s not enough to “change within” if that change doesn’t benefit our akhirah.
And it’s not enough to claim transformation if we don’t transform our response to Allah’s commands.
Obedience is the proof that the heart has really surrendered.
It’s love in action.
It’s choosing His pleasure over people’s approval, His guidance over trends, and His promises over your fears.
When you obey Allah ﷻ even when it costs you comfort, visibility, money, or people… that’s not loss. That’s purification. That is success.
That’s how the heart detaches from what doesn’t benefit it. How it detaches from the dunya and anchors in tawakkul.
That’s the fruit of taqwa, the essence of zuhd, and the purpose of tazkiyah: to love Allah enough to let go of everything else that doesn’t help you serve Him better.
It’s saying:
“My life is Yours to do with as You will, ya Rabb. I have no problem with how You manage my affairs, Al-Wakeel.”
If you’re aligning with Allah’s definition of success, then you are indeed successful, and you will be rewarded accordingly.
Reflect:
What’s a command you can implement in your life despite any justifications or obstacles?
5. Success: The Promise of Allah
“Is the reward for good anything but good?”
Falah isn’t something we chase.
It’s not even something we create or achieve.
It’s a gift. A provision. A call we must choose to answer.
When the adhan calls “Come to success,” it’s calling us to presence. To meet Allah ﷻ where He has asked to be met.
To return, purify, detach, and obey.
That is success as defined by Allah ﷻ:
Rooted in taqwa
Freed by zuhd
Refined by tazkiyah
Proven through obedience
When these four meet in the heart, you no longer need the world to call you successful because you already are.
Worldly success is built on hustle, control, conformity, and performance.
But divine success is built with sincere, steady effort that transcends this life.
It’s built to last for the long-term gain of the Akhirah above that of this world.
It lives in the heart that remembers Allah ﷻ, obeys Him in love, is purified through every trial, and is detached from delusions.
Alhamdulillah, these four aren’t the only ways to achieve success as defined by Allah ﷻ. Others include tawakkul, sabr, and zakat. There are many characteristics that Allah ﷻ loves to see within His servants so take your pick!
Next week, in sha Allah, we’ll talk about the habits that help us bring all that we’ve worked on these past five weeks together.
“Our Lord, grant us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”
And those who were mindful of their Lord will be led to Paradise in ˹successive˺ groups. When they arrive at its ˹already˺ open gates, its keepers will say, “Peace be upon you! You have done well, so come in, to stay forever.”
The righteous will say, “Praise be to Allah Who has fulfilled His promise to us, and made us inherit the ˹everlasting˺ land1 to settle in Paradise wherever we please.” How excellent is the reward of those who work ˹righteousness˺!
With love and dua,
—Khalisa
Your dream self isn’t a fairytale. She’s your fitrah.
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