DAILYREFLECTION
And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Shayṭān, then seek refuge in Allah.
Cursing Shayṭān can feel righteous, but it still places him at the center of the moment. Seeking refuge in Allah is different. It pulls you back into the reality that Allah is the Protector, and that Shayṭān’s power is limited to whispers and invitations. His strength grows when we treat every stumble as proof that he is overwhelming. His influence shrinks when we treat remembrance as the default response.
This is why small consistent acts of dhikr matter so much. Saying “Bismillah” before starting, guarding ṣalāh on time, returning to protection when a thought becomes intrusive, choosing obedience in ordinary moments, this is what blocks openings. It is not always dramatic. It is steady. And it is what frustrates him.
The practical takeaway is bigger than Shayṭān alone. Do not speak about any enemy, spiritual or human, as if they control your life. Some people will try to distract you from your work, your family, your goals. If they can keep you reactive, you become easier to steer. Often what they want is not even your downfall. They want your attention.
The cure is agency. We take what Allah has given us and keep building. We keep doing the thing that benefits people. We keep moving forward without letting every provocation rewrite our identity.
There is a difference between acknowledging harm and living as a victim. Islam gives us a clear-eyed view of evil, but it does not allow us to outsource our responsibility. If we blame enemies for everything, we stop examining our choices, we stop correcting our habits, and we stop making tawbah for our own mistakes. Shayṭān loves that posture because it keeps us stuck.
So we return to what the Prophet ﷺ taught. When things go wrong, we don’t feed the enemy with attention. We return to Allah with remembrance. We move with purpose. Over time, the enemy becomes smaller in our inner world, not because the world is easy, but because Allah becomes central.
And that is the meaning of it: where our attention goes, our energy flows.
Reflect On This
Where does our attention go first when something goes wrong: blame, anger, or remembrance?
Share your reflections in the poll at the end of the email.
WATERMELONWATCH
A general view of tent shelters housing displaced Palestinians who lost their homes during the war, amid worsening humanitarian conditions, in Gaza City.
Aid access tightened as Israel barred some foreign humanitarian and medical workers unless NGOs meet new registration rules, risking gaps in specialised care. Even so, groups are leaning on local teams to keep clinics and essential services running where they can.
Strikes continued after Israel said it hit a launch site following a failed rocket, with Gaza medics reporting new deaths and injuries, underscoring how fragile the current lull remains. In parallel, medical evacuations have continued for some patients, offering a thin but real lifeline for urgent cases.
Relief efforts reported a milestone, full monthly food rations were able to resume for the first time since October 2023, reaching about 100,000 people, and more health points and temporary learning spaces have been brought back online. Small acts of ingenuity are showing up too, including recycling wooden pallets into classroom furniture so more children can keep learning.
QURANCORNER
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
“And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes”
Wa ra’ayta-n-nāsa yadkhulūna fī dīnillāhi afwājā
"Afwājā": Groups upon groups—refers to the mass conversion of Arabs to Islam after Makkah’s conquest.
Islam spread without war or force at this stage, proving the power of truth and character.
The mission’s peak is not domination, but people accepting the truth willingly in large numbers.