When something feels off, things aren't going to plan, or we find it difficult to get anything done, that's our cue to pause and self-reflect. That's the path of the greatest scholars who overcame similar setbacks by holding themselves accountable so barakah could re-enter their lives.

When nothing is going as planned

Have you ever had one of these days? It's 6am and your alarm is buzzing. You wake up and fall straight into routine: turn off the alarm, remember God, make wudhu, and pray. You've invited the barakah into your life and have set your priorities straight.

Yet, when you try to memorize the Qur'an immediately after, you can't focus and nothing is sticking. Later on, as you try to do some work, you can't seem to collect your thoughts. Nothing is going as planned, even after doing everything according to the book.

Unproductivity and bad deeds

Some of the greatest scholars to have existed also experienced these types of setbacks.

Imam Al-Shaafi'i, one of the founders of the four schools of law composed a poem describing his lack of productivity.

He said, "I complained to my teacher of my inability to memorize properly, so he advised me to leave off bad deeds. And he informed me that knowledge is light, and that the light of God is not granted to one who engages in bad deeds."

Pause for self-reflection

This is a powerful reality check that is still relevant today. If we're not being productive, can't focus or do what we need to get things done, it's a cue that we need to pause and engage in self-reflection.

Just like we can invite barakah into our lives by waking up early and starting our day with the remembrance of Allah, we can repel barakah from our lives by engaging in actions that are forbidden or displeasing to Allah.

In many cases the latter outweighs the former: one small bad habit can taint our entire day. So if things don't seem to be going according to plan, consider this to be your internal alarm system signaling that something might be off. Allow it to motivate you to be self-aware and reflect on the other things you're doing in your life.

Hold yourself accountable

Umar ibn Al-Khattab reminded us, "hold yourselves accountable in this life before you're held accountable by God in the next life." Being self-critical serves as an opportunity to recalibrate your compass so that if anything is threatening the barakah in your life, you can set the intention for positive change and correct re-enters your life

Download the Habits to Win Here and Hereafter Workbook as you follow along with this series!