How do we build a foundation of Islam in our lives?

We must perform our compulsory duties without any kind of resistance. We have to make full time commitment for them and do what Allah commanded us to.  Once we establish that, we can proceed to the path of approaching Allah, coming closer to Him and becoming one among His beloved. We do that by voluntary acts. We do things for the sake of Allah and give up certain things by limiting ourselves. These things are particularly beneficial to us in the next life, so we take things in this life which are only necessary for our basic survival.

In this way, we can earn the love of Allah, and come closer to Him. We should make use of our health and spare time.  We should not take vacations from Allah, as there is no vacation from the remembrance of Allah and from serving Him. A woman has forty days of vacation after childbirth. [1]  This does not mean she has vacation from Allah.  She still has to remember Allah in other things, when she wakes up in the morning and at night, by saying ‘bismillah’ before doing things, and remembering Allah throughout the day.

So, we don’t have spare time to waste, rather we utilize our spare time to serve Allah voluntarily. We utilize our health to do as many voluntary acts as we can before we reach a time we can’t do the things which we want to whether due to death, or becoming too old or weak.

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

In closing, we have to remember whether we consider ourselves to be strangers in this life or not, because Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) advised us to be strangers. [2]

The period of our time spent here is short.  When we die, we cannot take the majority of the things which were accumulated with us.  Sometimes, you are given a notice to leave the country, and there are things you can’t take with you.  In the same way, when the angel of death comes to take your soul, the only thing you can take with you is your deeds.

So, you are a 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 be beloved to Allah. You can attain Paradise in the next life and be blessed in whatever you do in this life.

Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said the “How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” [3]

References:

[1] Sheikh Uthaymeen, Natural Blood of  Women, pp 32-33

[2] Narrated by Munajid: `Abdullah bin `Umar said, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) took hold of my shoulder and said, “Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler." The sub-narrator added: Ibn `Umar used to say, "If you survive till the evening, do not expect to be alive in the morning, and if you survive till the morning, do not expect to be alive in the evening, and take from your health for your sickness, and (take) from your life for your death." Sahih Bukhari, Book 81, Hadith 5

[3] Narrated by Muslim, 2999