What are some of the tips to becoming a better Muslim?

To be a better Muslim, one must first be a good Muslim. That is to establish the foundation of Islam in our life. That is which is compulsory; we have to deal without any kind of resistance. We have to make a full time commitment. We have to do what Allah commanded us to do. When we establish that, we can now proceed the path of approaching Allah, coming closer to Allah, to become one among beloved of Allah.

We do that as a voluntary act, doing it for Allah directly - giving up certain things which we make take in this life, limiting ourselves which are particularly beneficial to us in next life and taking things in this life which are only , only necessary for our basic survival.

This way we can earn the love of Allah, we can come closer to Allah. We make use of our health, spare time. We don’t take vacations from Allah. There is no vacation from the remembrance of Allah, from serving Allah. No vacations, no matter what.

For woman after the childbirth, they have forty days of vacation. This does not mean they have vacation from Allah. They still have to remember Allah in other things they do, when they wake up in the morning and at night, remembering Allah. They still have to remember Allah throughout the day.

So we don’t have spare time to waste, we utilize our spare time to serve Allah voluntarily.

We utilize our health to do as much as voluntary acts we can before you reach the time you can’t do the things which you want to do.

Similarly, you realize that we are not free to do whatever we wish to do in this life. It is because that is the path to the hell. And we know that we can’t do everything we wish in this life. It is only what Allah allows us to do.

However, in the next life, in the Paradise, we will be able to. So we trade the right to do in whatever we wish in this life, to do completely in next life. It is according to the will of Allah. We also realize that we may find a lot of things quite difficult to do. These are the things which we need to put our utmost effort as these are the things which will carry us to the Paradise.

Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) advised us to be a stranger. We are strangers in this dunya. The period of our time spent here is short. When we die, we cannot take majority of the things which are accumulated with us. We can’t take it. Just as if you are given a notice to leave the country; there are some options you can take with you – just a few.

Same way when the angel of death arrives, the only thing you can take with you is your deeds.

So you are the stranger, whether you realize it or not. It is for you to realize it. If you do, then you can become a better Muslim, who will then be beloved to Allah. In sha’ Allah, you can attain paradise in the next life and we will be blessed in whatever we do in this life.

Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said the “life of a true believer, the one who is close to Allah, is very strange and it is a very amazing thing”. It is all good. It is the case only for the true believer. He is patient and Allah rewards him. When good comes to him, he is thankful to Allah and Allah also rewards him for that.