My Favourite Duas

Ramadan is only a few days away and I wanted to share some of my favourite duas to read in my prayers. These supplications have helped me in my most difficult times and I hope they are of benefit to you too.

Dua to read on laylatul qadr:

Allahumma innaka afuw-wun tuhibul afwa fa-fu-annee

O Allah you are the forgiving you love to forgive so forgive me

Ibn Majah

Dua for when something is difficult:

Allahumma la sahla illa ma ja’altu sahlan wa anta taj-alul hazna iza shi’ta sahlan

O Allah! There is nothing made easy except what you make easy and you make difficult easy if it be your will.

Ibn Hibban

Dua for beneficial knowledge:

Allahumma innee asaluka ilman naa-fi-an

O Allah! I ask you for knowledge that is of benefit

Ibn Majah

Dua for anxiety:

Allahumma inne a’uzu bika minal-hammi wal-hazani wal-ajzi wal-kasali wal-bukhli wal-jubni wa zala id’daini wa ghalabatir-rijaali

O Allah! I take refuge in you from anxiety and sorrow, from weakness and laziness, from miserliness and cowardice, from the burden of debts and from being overpowered by men

Al Bukhari

Dua for steadfastness in faith:

Ya muqallibal-qulub thabbit qalbi ‘ala deenak

O Controller of hearts make firm my heart in your religion

Tirmmidhi

Dua for when in difficulty:

La ilaha illah anta subhaanaka innee kuntu minazzalimeen

There is no deity except you, glory be to you, indeed I have been of the wrongdoers

Quran (21:87)

Dua for good in this world and the next:

Rabbana aatina fi’d-dunya hasana wa fil aakhirati hasana wa qia azaban-naar

Our lord grant us good in this world and in the hereafter and protect us from the torment of hell

Quran (2:201)

Dua to ask Allah to accept our worship:

Rabbana taqqabbal minnaa innaka antas-samee’ul aleem

Our Lord accept (this) from us indeed you are the hearing the knowing

Quran (2:127)

Dua for a house in paradise:

Rabbibnee lee a’indaka baytan fil jannati

My Lord build for me near you a house in paradise

Quran (66:11)

Dua for confidence:

Rabbish rahli sadri wa yassirli amri wahlul ‘uqdatum-mil-lisani yaf-qa-hu qawli

My Lord expand my breast for me and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech

Quran (20:25-28)

Dua for repentance:

Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa il-lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lana ku-nanna minal-khasireen

Our Lord we have wronged ourselves and if you don’t forgive us and have mercy upon us we will surely be among the losers

Quran (7:23)

Dua to be steadfast in prayer:

Rabbij’alni muqeemas-salaati wa min dhurriyaati rabbana wa taqabbal dua

My Lord make me an establisher of prayer and (many) from my descendants our Lord accept my supplication.

Quran (14:40)

There are so many more incredible duas and I recommend using the Fortress of a Muslim and also the app myduaa for more duas.

Allah Loves by Omar Suleiman – Book Review

Thank you to Kube Publishing for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a spiritually uplifting book which I read during Ramadan.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis:

In Allah Loves Omar Suleiman explores who and what Allah loves so that we may become one of those who are beloved to Him. The Prophet Muhammad said that one of the supplications of Prophet Dawud was, “O Allah I ask You for Your love and the love of those that love You and all of those actions that would bring me closer to being loved by you.” Looking at our actions, characteristics and beliefs, this book will help us become better people, citizens and believers that are deserving of Allah’s endless, infinite and ever-lasting love. Made up of 30 short and spiritually enriching chapters, this book is a reminder that throughout our lives, the Creator’s love is always there, increasing through everyday actions such as showing generosity or remaining consistent with unnoticeable good deeds.

This book was adapted from his Ramadan series and honestly I am so happy to have it in a book form. I love watching his online classes and talks and having it in a book is so great to be able to refer back to. If you enjoy his classes then I highly recommend picking up his books.

This is the type of book you can come back to again and again and continue to benefit from it. It’s a short book but full of important lessons and reminders that Allah’s love is infinite and that small everyday deeds can bring us close to him. We often think we need to be perfect but that isn’t the case. 

Each chapter begins with a specific quality that Allah loves; piety, justice, patience, gentleness and so much more. Then we learn about why Allah loves this quality with Quran and hadith. I loved how each quality was spoken about and we learnt that it isn’t big grand gestures but the small everyday acts that Allah loves most. To incorporate these qualities in our lives and be consistent in them.

This is such a heartfelt book and I loved reading through it. It is written in such a easy to read way and understand. I know I will come back to this book time and time again. It is full of beautiful gems and words of wisdom. It will help us to re-evaluate our lives and work to improve ourselves and build good habits.

I highly recommend this book for everyone to read and I also recommend reading his first book, Prayers of the Pious.

Books To Give You A Spiritual Boost in Ramadan

Growing up I didn’t have much access to attending classes for Islamic studies past learning to read the Quran as a kid so the main way I learnt about Islam was through reading and over the years I have read a lot of books that helped me to learn about Islam.

While I have been attending Islamic classes for about 10 years now I still love reading these books and learn so much and they have helped me get through some really difficult times. So I thought I would share these books and I hope you all benefit from them too!

Spiritual Boosting Books

Prayers of the Pious by Omar Suleiman
Allah Loves by Omar Suleiman
Patience and Gratitude by Ibn al-Qayyim
The Eternal Challenge: A Journey Through the Miraculous Quran by Abu Zakariya
Love and Happiness byYasmin Mogahed
Reclaim Your Heart by Yasmin Mogahed
Signs of the Day of Judgement by Ibn Kathir
Diseases of the Heart and their Cures by Ibn Taymiyyah
The Heart of the Quran by Asim Khan
Al-Ubudiyyah: Being a True Slave of Allah Ibn Taymiyyah
Weakness of Iman – It’s Signs of Weakness, Causes and Cures by Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid
Revive Your Heart by Nouman Ali Khan
Morals and Manners in Islam: A Guide to Islamic Adab by Marwan Ibrahim al-Kaysi
The Abandoned Prayers by Adanan Aali Uroor
Light Upon Light by Nur Fadhilah Wahid
The Relief From Distress by Ibn Taymiyyah
Dua: The Weapon of the Believer by Yasir Qadhi
Lesson from Surah Kahf by Yasir Qadhi
Muhammad: How He Can Make You Extraordinary by Hesham al-Awadi
Children Around the Prophet by Hesham al-Awadi

History Books

Lost Islamic History by Firas Al-Khateeb
Muhammad The Last Prophet by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi
Misquoting Muhammad by Jonathan A.C. Brown
Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary
Stories of the Prophets by Ibn Kathir
Muslim Girls Rise by Saira Mir
Ibn Battuta: The Journey of a Medieval Muslim by Eduardo Albert
Child Companions Around the Prophet by Sameh Strauch
Sala ad-din and the crusades by Qaiser M. Talib
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf
When the Moon Split by Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri

Books About Women

The Forgotten Queens of Islam by Fatima Mernissi
Al-Muhaddithaat: Women Scholars in Islam by Akram Nadwi
Beyond the Veil by Fatima Mernissi
Women in Islam: Challenging Narratives by Ismail Adam Patel
Islam: The Empowering of Women by Aisha Bewley
Muslim Women: A Biographical Dictionary by Aisha Bewley
It’s Noy About the Burqa edited by Mariam Khan
Women in the Quran by Asma Lamrabet
The Veil and the Male Elite by Fatima Mernissi
Golden Stories of Sayyida Khadijah by Abdul Malik Mujahid
A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly
Believing Women in Islam by Asma Barlas
Gendered Morality by Zahra Ayubi

Other

Secrets to a Successful Marriage by Afshan Khan
Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet by Abdul-Matin
The Unchallengeable Miracles of the Quran by Yusuf Al-hajj Ahmad
Slavery and Islam by Jonathan A.C. Brown
Hadith: The Foundations of Islam by Jonathan A.C. Brown
Islamic Medicine: Key to a Better Life by Yusuf Al-Hajj Ahmad
Worship During Menses by Muhammad al-Jibaly
The Quest for Love and Mercy by Muhammad al-Jibaly
Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet by Ibn Qayyim
The Productive Muslim by Mohammad Faris
Scents and Flavors by Charles Perry

I hope you’re able to find something you want to read and I am always happy to answer any questions or give you other book recommendations if you’re looking for something specific!

This isn’t all the books I own but ones I definitely recommend!

Prayers Of The Pious by Omar Suleiman – Book Review

Thank you to Kube Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love listening to Imam Omar Suleiman’s lectures and have attended some of his courses when he has come to London so I was really excited when I heard that Kube Publishing were releasing a book written by him! This book is developed from his Ramadan lecture series and I absolutely loved it!

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis from Goodreads:

This inspirational collection of prayers and reminders is the perfect companion for anyone who wishes to connect to the Divine. Shaykh Omar Suleiman provides us with thirty short prayers taken from the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and the early generations, each with a short reminder to deepen the impact of the prayer in our lives.

Prayers of the Pious provides spiritual gems that serve as valuable wisdom and practical advice for the soul. By reading this short work with an attentive heart, the reader can cultivate love for God and His Messenger and live life with gratitude and contentment.

This book has thirty duas from both well known companions and those early generations of Muslims and some that I have never heard of before, I really loved the variety. It was so amazing to read about these people who had such a beautiful connection with Allah and how their duas have been forever remembered by so many people for over a thousand years.

The duas are written in Arabic, there is also the transliteration and the translation in English. I found this really helpful as although I can read Arabic I can’t understand what it says and the transliteration means I can make sure I read the duas correctly. This really helped me to engage with the duas and be able to even memorise them to be able to read them myself.

There are so many beautiful duas in this book that it’s hard to choose which is my favourite. Every single dua included is one to gain closeness to Allah and was perfect to read in Ramadan. Each dua is touching and thought provoking and you can tell it comes from a place of humility and sincerity, which makes the duas even more beautiful.

Omar Suleiman gives the context of each dua, when it was said and why each person made that dua. He then he explains the dua and how we can implement them in our lives. How we can benefit from them so he makes it really relatable to us. I love that he made it relatable as we often hear about these amazing Muslims and feel as though we can never achieve their greatness and it can make people feel as though they aren’t good enough and he shows us that we can be just like them.

Another thing I loved about this book is at the end there is a section where you can write your own duas and there are even prompts to help you write them.

This book is full of inspiring and uplifting gems. It’s a book that you can benefit from time and time again and I know that I will be coming back to these and reading them again. Just reading them gave me a sense of closeness to Allah and I highly recommend you all read this book.

May Monthly Wrap Up

Another month has gone by and honestly I cannot believe it’s the end of May already!

This month is Ramadan so my timetable has changed quite a bit (even though I cannot fast) but I have loved every second of it! It will be Eid in a few days and I am simultaneously sad to see Ramadan go but also excited for Eid! Honestly Ramadan is my favourite month in the whole year and every single year it always comes and goes so quickly. I’ve also written a couple posts about it which I will share at the end.

I also got to meet Ashley Poston and Susan Denard this month! I absolutely adore the Geekerella books and I am so glad I got to meet Ashley! They were both so lovely and the event was so much fun!

I also took part in the Ramadan Readathon again this year which I love! Nadia is an amazing host and it was also so great to take part in the twitter chat with Yasmin Rahman who is the author of All the Things we Never Said (out in July). We spoke about representation in books and having Muslim characters and own voices stories and mental health as Yasmin’s book deals with mental health issues.

So what books did I read this month, you ask? Well I had a pretty decent reading month and read some really great books!

So the books I read this month are:

1 Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – this was a reread as an audiobook and I still absolutely adore this book!

2 Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly – I really loved this retelling and I ended up really rooting for the “ugly” sister. You can read my full review here

3 The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala – I really enjoyed this book and I’m really looking forward to reading the next book. You can find my review here

4 The Chosen by Taran Matharu – I love the Summoner books, so I was excited to read this, and I really loved it! You can read my review here

5 The Sharp Edge of a Snowflake by Sif Sigmarsdottir – I have mixed opinions about this book, I did like it but I was disappointed by the ending

6 The Weight of our Sky by Hanna Alkaf – This book deals some very heavy issues and does so really well. Highly recommend reading this!

7 Light Upon Light by Nur Fadhilah Wahid – I really loved the short inspiring letters and they really resonated with me

8 Prayers of the Pious by Omar Suleiman – I absolutely loved this book! Full of inspiring and uplifting gems and a book that I will come back to time and time again

9 I Will Not Be Erased: Our Stories About Growing up as People of Colour – I related to the stories in this book so much! Some of the stories are written by Muslim women and one of the stories brought me to tears.

10 Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford – This book is really funny and sarcastic and made me want to tear down the patriarchy!

11 All The Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman – I read this book in one sitting, basically stayed up until 5am to read and I have no regrets! The mental health rep in this book is so relatable, and I was a sobbing mess just by reading the first chapter.

So these are the books I read this month. Have you read any of these books? What were your favourite books you read this month?

I also wrote reviews for these books:

My So Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma
Nocturna by Maya Motayne

You can also read my posts about Ramadan here:

It’s Ramadan but I can’t fast
What you can do if you can’t fast
Favourite books by Muslim authors

These are my Ramadan Readathon posts:

Non-Fiction books
Non-Western setting

So that’s everything for this month!