Allah Subhannallah, tells us in the Quran:

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّـهِ أُسْوَةٌ

حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّـهَ وَ

وَذَكَرَ اللَّـهَ كَثِيرًا

Translation:

There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.[Surah Al-Ahzab, verses 21]

The oxford dictionary defines the word ‘role model‘ as “A person looked to by others as an example to be imitated.” Indeed, our beloved prophet, has left us with the best examples, to be emulated. Take any part of your life, be it be eating, drinking, walking, sleeping, and you will find the best example in the life of our Prophet. He remembered Allah all the time.

It is by practicing and applying these sunnahs in our lives, that we can be successful in this life and the next. Amazingly, scientific research is now showing us the benefit and wisdom behind some of the acts of the prophet. For example, this article and this one discuss various scientific benefits of Prophet’s sleeping habits.  This article, benefits of sunnah way of drinking water in the light of medical science.

Inshallah, we would be starting the blog series, where we will gradually learn and implement the sunnah of our beloved Prophet (SAW).

Here are the few tips that will help us in this journey:

  1. Practice, Practice, Practice.  Practice and apply these things daily so that they become part of our nature and habit. Like anything in life, for first few times, you have to consciously work hard on carrying out the exact steps, but after a while it all becomes automatic. I still remember my first few driving lessons. In the beginning, I had to think about when to apply brakes, check blind spot, mirrors etc, but then with practice, all of this became automatic.

  2. Take small steps at a time, instead of trying to do it all. As our beloved prophet informed us that the the acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done continuously, even if they are small.

  3. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. We need to have a plan on how will we practice each sunnah: which part of the day, how many times a day, which time etc. For instance, “I will practice the sunnah of eating everyday at dinner”

Inshallah, in this series, we will cover the following things from Sunnah (total 20! ):

Waking up, entering washroom, after entering the washroom, exiting from the washroom, while making whudoo, during the adhaan, after the prayers, while making dua, during breakfast, wearing clothes, leaving for work, walking, entering the market place, entering home, eating, drinking, before sleeping, during sleep, giving salutation, in hardship and sickness, dealing with important matters.

Are you excited? I am! As you can see from the list above, our beloved Prophet (May Allahs peace and blessing be upon him) left us with guidance in all aspects of our life.

Inshallah, each week we will focus on 2 – 3 categories, so that within few months, we will be able to truly bring sunnah into our lives.

Here is the first one for this week:

On Waking Up:

  • Wipe your face and eyes with hands
  • Make dua
  • Blow your nose thrice
  • Do a good Miswaak

Action Item:

  1. Make a plan on how will you implement and work on this week sunnah item.

References:

Booklet: Sunnah Checklist – published by Alhuda International

Series Articles Links: