• Fundamentals of Theory

    "Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves."

    Change the state of your heart. Change your external world.

    Your external world refers to what your life looks like. Ofcourse you want it to contain all of the beautiful things you want which may encompass wealth, abundance, and power, comfort, love, being healthy and safe, having fulfilling romantic/sexual relationships, having healthy relationships with your parents and children based on kindness and respect. Most people desire peaceful lives where you wake up feeling rested and light in your mind and body and optimistic about your day. Material 3D life goals can also include being respected and adored by your community and participating in the hobbies and adventures you find appealing.

    We do not chase those things in Dua Obsession.

    We focus on the state of our heart.

    The state of your heart refers to the feelings, emotions, thoughts, deeply rooted beliefs, scripts, unchallenged assumptions, repressed emotions, priorities that pervade you internally. It includes what you assign value to and what you devote attention and energy to in your mind, and it even includes your capacity to make plans. It includes the neural pathways you've built since you were a baby and your body's reactions to things you see or hear. All of these aspects of the state of your heart can concern yourself, others and most importantly they can concern the nature of Allah (His Mercy, His Power, His Generosity, His Greatness). Your inner self is a part of the hidden world and it reflects back to you in your life.

    A shift in all of the aspects mentioned above that constitutes the state of your heart will cause a shift in your external reality. Your 3D life.

    As Muslims we believe in predetermination, Al-Qadr and Divine Will. And we should never stray from this core belief. The Lord has created and balanced all things and has fixed their destinies and guided them (Surah 87:2-3). However, Allah in His Divine Wisdom has granted us free will, the ability to make choices, to set intentions and goals and to work hard to manifest change in our lives. Allah has even granted us the ability to regulate our thoughts and emotions and to practice mental hygiene. He has also granted us the ability to call upon Him for what we desire, to precede our call with good deeds in order to please Him, to have the best thoughts about Him:

    Allah the Almighty said: "I am as My servant thinks I am.”

    What state of heart should you aspire to have?

    Taqwa

    Always remain in a state of awareness of Allah. This is a combination of fear and hope. A genuine effort to obey Him and to expect the most beautiful things from Him. Fear does not denote tension, anxiety or paranoia. It just means you do you best as an imperfect human being out of love of Allah and you always expect mercy and forgiveness from Him.

    Tawwakul

    You put your trust in Allah. You try your best to mitigate your anxiety and fear of people, events, outcomes that you make you uncomfortable by reminding yourself of Allah's power over all things and that Allah controls how things unfold. So you just have to try and not worry about outcomes. Allah will take care of you no matter what happens.

    Yaqeen

    You will choose to be certain that Allah will respond to you. You will assume that everything will work even more beautifully than you can imagine. Every delay and every obstacle is just a sign that it will all be ever better than you expected and is a build up to something truly magical. Yes, you can choose to be certain and you can choose to not be certain. It's simply a choice you make in your mind.

    Having the Best Expectations of Allah

    If you have been wired to have a negative image of Allah as a child, as a Lord who is just waiting for you to mess up and wants to condemn and punish you or as a Lord that is distant and only helps the most devout perfect people then you need to do the work to completely overhaul that image. Allah is the Most Merciful and the Most Forgiving. Allah loves to forgive. It is arrogant of you to believe your sins are so great and so numerous and you are too fargone to benefit from Allah's mercy.

    If you believe wealth and financial ease comes from being the smartest and working yourself to the bone or that only some people can be wealthy because there is a limit to how much wealth exists in the world then you need to radically shift that belief. Allah's abundance is limitless. And we should always have hope from Allah the most Generous.

    Love Yourself and Give Yourself Permission to Express Who You Truly Are

    Get ready for this one: You get to be as wild, feral, passionate, loud, daring, powerful, angry, intense, scared, complicated, flawed, silly, illogical as you need to be. You get to overcome the image of yourself as a "good girl/boy", the polished professional, the high achiever, the superwoman mom, the one who keeps it together for everyone elses comfort, the one who suppresses their own needs and wants. You get to truly feel and acknowledge whatever grief, shame, fears you've been tucking away and suppressing.

    Allah doesn't need us to be voiceless, dull, "mature", stoic people that suppress their spirit and vitality to keep everyone happy. Through connecting to Allah and really knowing Him you will gain the clarity and insight to know yourself as a human being better too and to give yourself the permission to be yourself in the full range of emotions and behaviors.

    What You Will Abandon and Run Far Away From

    You will not cultivate fear, doubt, insecurities, lack of reliance on Allah, overanalysis, and allowing yourself to fall week. Fear begets fear. Faith in Allah begets more faith in Allah. Everything satan finds a door or windows open in your heart through which he can whisper to inject anxiety in to your mind you slam that door shut.

    At dua obsession you simply aren't allowed to speculate about other's, complain about how other people's live have turned out different, gossip and speak poorly on about others. For other people we only wish for the absolute best. We ask Allah to grant them more from His bounty.

    You are going to direct your attention to your own life. Do not backbite or even wonder about someone else's life. If you feel a pang of jealousy or envy make sure to say MashaAllah, TabarakAllah, may Allah protect this person and grant them even more.

    Allow feelings of jealousy and envy to pass. Do not hold on to them. When you see someone enjoying the blessings you want, become overjoyed that what you desire exists in the world as a sign of Allah's Generosity and ask Allah to grant you even better. Channel the energy of jealousy into worship of Allah when you feel it most acutely.

    You will run far away from worrying about the state of the world and current events like wars and inflation and instead focus in your life and Allah. To please Allah help those around you and give sadaqah. You have a finite amount of mental energy on a daily basis so you should devote it to your needs and desires and your relationship to Allah.

  • Protocol

    Initial Actions

    1. Write a list of all the things you desire. Big and small. Be honest. Write out your deepest, darkest desires. Even those you may have suppressed or forgotten about. Make this list with the knowledge that Allah is capable of doing the impossible, and the entire universe and beyond including every cell, every atom is in His control at all times. Identify one to three of your strongest desires.

    2. Hold the one to three things you desire in your heart. Don't be distracted by the chaos in the world, by the whispers of the devil that agitate you and bring restlessness to your mind. Allow your desires, and not your worries, to flourish in your heart. Remember your desires all the time. Not in a desperate/deprived state but rather in a celebratory way that your Lord is about to give you these things. This state should not exhaust you. Rather it should energize you. Even when not making dua actively you can call upon your Lord with a little whisper in your heart.

    Daily Practice

    3. Recite each of the following 100 times a day. Astoghfar, salawat and "Subhana Allahi, wal hamdu lillaahi, wa la ilaaha il-lallah, wa Allahu akbar Wa la howla wa la kuwwata illa billahil aleeyil Azim."

    4. Pair #3 with any other obligatory and voluntary forms of worship you already do or wish to do. Feel free to reduce the number of recitations in guideline #3 if you have health issues or life gets in the way. Do not feel guilt or lowered confidence if you fall off the wagon as those feelings are from the devil (who is an open enemy to you). Just get back on the wagon whenever you can. Consistency is key.

    Habit/Behavior Change

    5. You will completely eliminate idle speech, complaining about problems, backbiting, gossip, speculating about other's lives and business, arguing, fighting, and insults. (However, if other's treat you poorly, you will learn to defend yourself in a respectful but authorititative way as you are a creation of God and should never be disrespected). Flip the script. If you are about to ridicule someone, force yourself to say something positive about them or pray for blessings for them. If you are about to complain about the economy, look at your immediate environment, identify a blessing and say Alhamdulillah.

    6. You will eliminate negative thoughts about people, jealousy, envy, contempt, hatred (even towards corrupt politicians), regret about past actions, fear of inflation, fear of failure and catastrophe. Look at those feelings directly, say "I see you" and let it pass. It isn't who you are. It's just a temporary feeling that is already passing. Just because you have to fart, doesn't mean you are that fart. Let the feeling die. Take a deep breath. If you are feeling jealousy, say MashaAllah TabarakAllah (and mean it!) because that thing you are jealous of is the work of your Creator. He can do the same for you in an instance. And the blessings other people are getting are a beautiful sign of your Lord so they are a gift to you as well in that sense. Alhamdulillah.

    Heart State/Mindset Shift

    7. Observe the state of your heart. Make sure you are sending out signals of satisfaction, joy, hope, expectation, being delighted by your life circumstances, act as if you are about to get a beautiful surprise. Cherish the desires your are holding in your heart but do not behave as if you are deprived.

    8. Develop full trust in Allah and how He is unfolding your life. Simply saying "I trust in Allah. Allah is taking good care of me. I am exactly where Allah wants me to be. I am enough and my achievements are enough." despite what your parents, family, the world might be saying, will spike your trust in Allah.

    Visualize Salawat

    9. When you send salawat, visualize Allah's abundance, peace, goodness, love, protection and all the good things you can imagine traveling through the heavens to the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him). See in your minds eye as the angels hurry to send your prayer to Allah and watch the heavens light up with your voice and watch the flurry of activity as your request is immediately responded to. Remember it is believed by scholars that salawat is always guaranteed, and it is good practice to commence and conclude your personal dua with salawat as Allah in His Greatness does not fulfill one dua and leave others. So what would happen if you fill your days with sending salawat and hold your cute little duas in your heart?

    10. Imagine that same peace and abundance flowing to you (as it always has since the day you were conceived). Say to yourself "I have never been deprived by Allah. Allah has always sustained me and granted me what I need." Feel Allah's abundance and feel the peace of being Allah's slave in every cell of your body.