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Grow Out of Your Environment
How to Grow Even When You Can’t Change Your Environment
Khalisa
October 01, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes
﷽
They say your environment is everything, and that you can’t succeed without a proper one.
But where is our environment really? Is it purely external, or can it be internal?
When you’re in the midst of a personal storm, you often feel like a rose attempting to grow in concrete.
What I’m learning from trusting Allah سبحانه وتعالى with my future is that I had been listening to advice that though it was well-intentioned does not align with Islam and what Allah سبحانه وتعالى wants from us.
The “you can’t succeed if your environment doesn’t look like this” way of thought actually complicates the beautiful deen Allah سبحانه وتعالى has blessed us with.
Which is why us Muslims have to take what we learn about personal development from outside sources cautiously. Their perspectives are usually from philosophical and psychological angles, which has its merits, but it doesn’t included Allah سبحانه وتعالى at all.
The definition of environment is the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.
I’ve learned that our environment is not purely external.
Our environment also includes our minds and our hearts.
This is where we live and operate from.
Therefore our environment is everything, it just isn’t entirely about where you physically are.
To be clear, I’m not saying our physical environment isn’t important and can’t hinder our growth. I’m saying that if we work to live and operate from our hearts and minds, we can still make significant progress within our limiting environment.
We have to be scrappy, creative, and learn to adapt. We must push our current environment to the max by doing all we possibly can within it.
We know that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is The Provider (الرَّزَّاقُ).
When we actively work towards controlling our focus and developing a positive internal environment, Allah سبحانه وتعالى blesses us with an external environment to match. إن شى الله.
When you can’t change your physical environment, change your mental and spiritual one.
The people of Gaza, Yemen, and Sudan are experiencing horrific physical environments but their mental and spiritual environment is faithful and resilient; that’s what’s fueling their imaan.
Just like we spring clean our homes in order to reset and reclaim peace - we need to deep clean our hearts and minds in order to create a decluttered and positive safe place that no one can take from us because it was given to us by Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Thinking of my situation in this way has taught me that the physical environment is a test in and of itself. Allah سبحانه وتعالى will remove us from it once we’ve learned the lessons within it. Once we’ve outgrown it.
It’s like the levels in a game. You can’t progress to the next level until you’ve conquered the one that you’re on.
So, how do we level up?
1. Accept Where You Are
This part’s no fun. It feels like the opposite of a vision board but the clarity it brings actually enables you to see your vision much clearer.
So push through the difficult emotions that will arise as you do this part.
This assessment of your current reality will:
Allow you to fully see what you’re up against and how badly you need to act.
Help you spot opportunities for growth and improvement.
Help you know exactly what to prioritize and what to pray for.
In order to do a present analysis, you have to look at every aspect of your life and explain in detail what’s going on in each. Next, you’ll need to start looking for the lessons Allah سبحانه وتعالى is wanting you to learn.
What is He wanting you to purge your heart of?
There are times where we’re tested with things or people that allow our strengths to shine but most times our tests showcase our weaknesses; forcing us to grow or continue struggling.
Find your strength within your weaknesses.
Allah's object also is to purge those that are true in Faith and to deprive of blessing those that resist Faith.
Here are the different life categories for you to analyze.
Spiritual
Mental
Emotional
Health & Wellness
Educational & Learning
Personal
Parental
Marital
Family & Friends
Work & Career
Home & Environment
Financial
Fun & Recreation
2. Surround Yourself with Allah’s Promises
Meaning, you need to get really close and cozy with The Quran.
But don’t just read it and highlight it and bookmark it.
Study it. Connect it to yourself.
Read a Quran with tafsir that will help increase your understanding.
Take notes and/or do some form of Quran journaling so you can best connect with it, إن شى الله.
Connection is what we’re after.
I use Notion to organize my study notes and I use the Goodnotes app for my Quran journaling.
Do they not contemplate the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found much discrepancy therein.
3. Pray and Ask for What You Need.
Pray your fard prayers.
Pray tahajjud.
Make du'as.
Recite adkhar.
There is no way around this.
Make sure your intentions always circle back to your purpose in this life which is to worship and serve Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
"And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
This is what gets people tripped up. If your intention behind your du’a isn’t connected to Allah سبحانه وتعالى or your purpose in this life then you’ll find your du’as being rejected more often than not.
But if your intention is to serve Allah سبحانه وتعالى through the things that you’re asking for - that prayer has a higher chance of being accepted, إن شى الله.
I’ll give you two examples:
“Ya Allah, please help me get out of debt. I really need you. I’m so behind and stressed. I don’t know what to do. Guide me to what’s right. Please help me fix my credit so I can get a new car; my current one is about to die anytime now and I really need it to get back and forth to work.” | “Ya Allah, I need your help getting out of debt. I want to live a life that is free of riba and interest. I want my finances to be clean and to spend in ways that please you Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Please increase me in sustenance so that I can give in your name. I really need a new vehicle, please guide me and increase me in wealth and knowledge so I can buy a new one to provide for my family without displeasing you by inquiring riba, My Lord.” |
These prayers are similar however the second one brings it back to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and what He requires of us. Praying in this way helps increase your taqwa because you’re being conscious of Allah سبحانه وتعالى even when asking for something for yourself.
Building this connection with Allah سبحانه وتعالى is crucial because you’ll get better at understanding how He communicates with you and how He Guides you through decisions.
4. Appreciate the Bad Too
Trust me, I know gratitude is the hardest part when you’re in a physical environment that you so desperately want out of.
But here’s what I did:
I stopped complaining. And not just out loud but even to myself because those thoughts are not hidden from Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
I stopped mentioning all the things that weren’t going right.
I stopped pointing out all the things I would do if my circumstances were different.
“I can’t wait til I get out of here”
“If I had XYZ to do ABC I’d be ___”
“If only I had ___”
“Why can’t this just be ___”
“I’m so tired of such and such”
The more that I complained, the more I was able to make excuses for my limitations. But once I stopped I was able to see things more clearly and spot opportunities where I couldn't before because I then started…
Paying attention.
I started seeking the beauties and wonders of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that surrounded me.
The beauty within me.
The beauty within my situation.
The beauty of this dunya.
I started appreciating the little things.
Instead of looking for how things could’ve, should’ve, would've been I started looking at how they are and relished in the miracle of them.
I started humbling myself and accepting that my successes weren’t actually mine. The strength and courage that I’ve developed over this time comes from Allah سبحانه وتعالى and not myself.
Having gratitude during hard times is not the same as being delusional.
It’s not looking for things that aren’t there. What you’re doing is shifting your focus and attention to all the ways that life is going right instead of the ways it’s going wrong.
So in other words, changing the viewpoint from life is full of woes to life is full of whoas.
“And if you were to count the favors of Allah, you would not be able to count them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful”
5. Detox Your Mind to Detox Your Spirit
If you haven’t already, start questioning your influences and the types of media you consume.
Ask yourself “does this bring me closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى or further?”
Personally, if it’s something that does neither then it’s no big deal and I keep it as long as it doesn’t become a distraction to my deen.
Like watching Next Level Chef. An occasional episode is fine. However, if I were to start binge watching it and wasting long periods of time in which I could be studying or praying it then falls under something that is taking me further from Allah سبحانه وتعالى and would then need to be removed.
Or perhaps the content of the show is haram and I’m choosing not to watch it because it contradicts the spiritual cleansing that I’m doing to get closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Like Grey’s Anatomy. I’ve watched all 19 seasons and I’m well aware that the 20th is on air. I’ve invested so much time and energy in to the show over the years and a part of me wants to see how it’ll end but I’m choosing not to watch it because of the amount of haram things that occur in it.
It doesn’t matter that it’s fiction, it matters that it is subconsciously feeding my brain with haram things that I don’t want my eyes and ears to testify to on Judgement Day.
Till, when they reach it, their ears and their eyes and their skins testify against them as to what they used to do.
I also gave up music because I found that I was relying on it to lift my sprits and make me feel better. I was using it to escape my reality.
Listening to music with this purpose is haram because I created a rival to Allah سبحانه وتعالى by relying on music to soothe my heart instead of Him and the Quran. Which undermined my akhirah goal of reaching the highest level of Jannah, إن شى الله.
6. Put the PRO in Proactive.
Let go of all you can’t control and work diligently on the things you can.
Remove what needs to be lost.
Look at how you treat people, how you speak to them, how you think about them and adjust accordingly.
Get organized.
Declutter your mind.
Make consistent progress daily.
Be curious and fill the gaps of your knowledge.
Apply what you learn from the Quran and the Sunnah.
Keep your promises to yourself and believe fully that you deserve the good that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is guiding you towards.
I’ve noticed that when I focus on the why and pray for guidance on the what and execute on that guidance with full submission; Allah سبحانه وتعالى handles the specifics like the who, when, where, and how. And honestly, that’s the heavy lifting - though it is easy for Him. اللّٰهُ أكبَر.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
"The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, although both are good.
Strive for that which will benefit you and seek the help of Allah, and do not feel helpless. If anything befalls you, do not say, 'If only I had done such and such,' rather say, 'Allah has decreed it, and what He wills, He does."
7. Adjust Your Expectations for This Life
Detach your heart from the outcomes you’ve created in your mind otherwise you set yourself up to be disappointed. We can’t act as if our plan is The Plan.
Submit to Allah’s Will and remember that this place is not Jannah nor do we want it to be; we’re not here for an eternity.
Know in your heart that the tests of this life are to show Allah سبحانه وتعالى that we are worthy of Jannah.
Worthy of His Proximity, إن شى الله.
O my people! This life of the present is nothing but (temporary) convenience: It is the Hereafter that is the Home that will last.
Imaan builds tawakkul which builds sabr.
Find the comfort within this uncomfortable period by including these things in your life.
Doing so enables you to create an internal environment that will give you peace and clarity that you can navigate from with such an assurance of safety despite being in a contradicting physical environment.
Remember Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Seek and choose His Help over the help of this dunya.
Make du’as from the heart. If your heart feels like crying, cry. If your heart feels like begging, beg. Remove all shame and embarrassment from your worship.
Protect your relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى with every fiber of your being.
Thank You Allah for all that You are, and all that You do, for all that You give and all that You don’t give and for all that You take away, for I know that You know what’s best for me.
!ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - My name is Khalisa.
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As-salamu alaikum, until next time, in sha Allah
Khalisa.
@TheNiyyahJournal