Rules Of Getting Closer To Allah

Rather than spend time in worshiping Allah, perfect one’s prayer, fulfill the rights of Allah and the creation and engage in productive activities, so many of us today are hooked on the quarrels and disputes that take place between different persons on ”social media.” Sh. NN

24+ Rules Of Getting Closer To Allah (swt)

The GCA-list^[1] - 24 items [below]

Keywords (not linked):
Nearness prayers good deeds Quran Prophet ﷺ family fasting Sunnah Zakaat good manners mosque sports

Getting closer or nearness in the meaning of knowledge, love, intimacy and yearning.

Allah says:

{ وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ }

{ And when My servants ask you, concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me (by obedience) and believe in Me that they may be (rightly) guided. } 2-1864

Some Quranic verses regarding the closeness of Allah:

2-186	{ Indeed I am near }
2-214	{ Certainly, the help of Allah is close }
7-56	{ Surely, Allah's mercy is close to those who do good }
11-61	{ My Lord is certainly (always) near, ready to answer. }
42-17	{ It may be that the Hour is nigh. }
50-16	{ We are nearer to him than his jugular vein. }
61-13	{ Help from Allah and a victory (is) near at hand }

The first step of proximity (to God) (qurb ) is the proximity to obedience to God and continuous endearment with serving Him (ˋubudiyya )…
The proximity of man (towards God - Allah) is first of all a proximity through his faith and acceptance and then proximity through good deeds and performing good actions.6

Hadith qudsī 1 - Drawing Near

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِي بِشَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ، وَمَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ

The Prophet ﷺ said, that Allah (mighty and sublime be He) had said:

”My servant draws not near to Me with anything more beloved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him (مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ), and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works until I love him.”
[related hadith]5

The GCA-list - 24 items

This GCA-list is ordered alphabetically, not by priority, except for the first 3 listed items.
Then there are a lot of other good actions which can and should be taken, although to implement the GCA-list requires already a considerable effort (jihad ). If in doubt ask those who know more.

And Allah knows best,
may He forgive us here and hereafter and grant us the intercession of His Beloved, Sayyidina Muhammad, upon him and his Family and Companions blessings and peace.

Before all else → Repent! Turn away from the everything which distracts you from Allah (may His Majesty be exalted) ! [more…]

Allah first in your life, put ~ .← the religious duties.(a)
dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and glorification of Allah
Prayers at the beginning of their times, Salat `alā waqtiha.
Invoke blessings on our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).⁹
Quran daily reading - with schedule & concentration, not just passing your eyes through the words. Understand it and act upon it.
Quran, learn 5 new verses every day, building close relationship with the Qur’an³
Do good deeds often even if small, better regularly and constant, or extra like feeding poor person, or caressing an orphan's head.
Don’t get angry, remember Allah, and remember how short and worthless life is to waste it being angry.7
Night prayers, qiyāmu-l lail.
Fasting voluntarily for the pleasure of Allah, Mondays, Thursdays.⁸
Find the righteous ways to express yourself, otherwise maintain silence.
Follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him)
Forgive others, forget and smile.
Give Zakaat and donate as much as you can to the needy.
Guard ur tongue against gossip (ghanīma ), tale-bearing (nanīma ) & your soul against (sū’u - ẓann ) bad thoughts about others.
Having good manners, character and being humble.
Help everyone in need ², even those who are shy of asking.
Make dua to your parents, kiss their hands and heads and always obey, but stop at Allah's orders.
Pray for blessing to come to those being lost, and pray to Allah to guide them to the right path.
Pray in the mosque with the jamā’a behind the imam.
Prayers nawafil (superogatory prayers), duha, witr.
Sometimes give yourself a break. Play sports, give time to your family, friends, but always remember Allah - He is watching you.
Start off each day with 'adhkār al-istiyqādh' (waking up supplications), thanking Allah for waking up in good shape.
Take care of your quality friends, who help you fulfill the purpose of your creation (i.e. live for Allah).

AlHambra

Filtered from several on-line & IRL sources. These items of advice have been collected and edited from:
muslimtents.com
missionislam.com
productivemuslim.com
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Beginning of prophetic hadith - Imam An-Nawawi:

Whosoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him one of the griefs of the Day of Judgment.
from: irisnrc.wisc.edu/programming/global-islam → Helping Others: A Core Principle of Islam,
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One letter being read equals 10 hasanāt.
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The complete verse:

{ وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ }

{ And when My servants ask you, concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me (by obedience) and believe in Me that they may be (rightly) guided. } 2-186
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Tafsir by Sahl al-Tustari: ’Affirm Me as True (saddaqanī ), for I am there whenever someone calls on Me with sincerity (mukhliṣan ), without despondency (āyis ) or despair (qanaṭ).’ TT24
Related hadith
hadith qudsī 2

وعن أبي ذر، رضي الله عنه ، قال‏:‏ قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏:‏
‏ ”‏يقول الله عز وجل‏:‏ من جاء بالحسنة، فله عشر أمثالها أو أزيد، ومن جاء بالسيئة، فجزاء سيئة سيئة مثلها أو غفر‏.‏ ومن تقرب مني شبراً ، تقربت منها ذراعا، ومن تقرب منى ذراعاً ، تقربت منه باعاً، ومن أتاني يمشي ، أتيته هرولة، ومن لقينى بقراب الأرض خطيئة لايشرك به شيئاً ، لقيته بمثلها مغفرة‏”‏ ‏(‏رواه مسلم‏)‏‏.‏

The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah, the Almighty, says:
'Whosoever does a good deed, will have (reward) ten times like it or I add more; and whosoever does an evil, will have the punishment like it or I will forgive (him); and whosoever approaches Me by one span, I will approach him by one cubit; and whosoever approaches Me by one cubit, I approach him by one fathom, and whosoever comes to Me walking, I go to him running; and whosoever meets Me with an earth-load of sins without associating anything with Me, I meet him with forgiveness like that".
Reported by Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him) [Muslim]
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Al-Qushayri also wrote, that ”proximity or closeness here is of one kind only - which is the proximity through knowledge and witnessing.” Q135/136 ↩

He also wrote on this subject of qurb: ”The closeness of man towards God is only facilitated by his distance from the creatures. And this belongs the qualities of the heart, not to the determinations of external appearances and (visible) creation.” (It has nothing to do with physical proximity or closeness.)

And: ”Someone has really the idea of closeness (to God) - then the last thing (for him) is that he has Him front of his eyes always.” (This has nothing to do with physical proximity or closeness.) Q135/136
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”Anger is a destructive emotion, as a fire which destroys our well-being, consumes our good actions, repels our friends and dear ones, frightens our children and forces the angels to report bad actions for the Heavenly Records.”
See: [Anger Management In Islam]
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Read for example Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays Voluntarily
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Allah Most High in His Book explicitly commanded the believers to invoke blessings and salutations on the Prophet ( sallAllahu `aleihi wa sallam ).
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