👀 What You Missed This Week

A journey through sincerity, balance, repentance, and the remedies of the heart.

September 21, 2025

DAILYREFLECTIONS

This week we confronted hidden riyā, humbled the nafs, and walked the middle path with small, opposite remedies. We turned to istighfār, salawāt, and urgent duʿā, sealing the leaks by honoring obligations before extras and returning the heart to sincerity

Sincerity in a World of Applause

Riyā’ is the subtle shift from sincerity to show, a form of shirk the Prophet ﷺ feared for us most. Anchor intention with tawakkul and muraqabah, and train the heart through small, regular, unseen acts.

When the Nafs Defends Itself

The gravest illness is thinking we are well. Trade self-approval for watchfulness, choose hidden hard deeds over ease, and seek Allah’s help until humility softens the heart and discipline replaces defense.

How Opposites Heal the Heart

To walk the straight path is to watch our vices, apply their opposites, and adjust with presence, so Shari‘ah and mercy join and worship becomes beautiful.

A Daily Current: Return, Send Blessings, Ask

Forgiveness cleanses, salawāt refines desire, and urgent duʿā opens the heart to divine aid, three acts that turn nearness to Allah into lived change.

Why “Minor” Sins Are Not Minor

Purification is daily, like wudu for the soul, small, consistent acts of obedience soften the heart, while neglect and misplaced love harden it.

Stop Dodging Duty, Start Rising

Sincere tawbah begins by sealing the leak: stop the recurring sin or fix the neglected fard, then let small, steady obedience raise the level of your worship.

WATERMELONWATCH

Israeli soldiers drive on their armored personnel carrier inside the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025.

  • Israel presses on with its assault on Gaza City and surrounding areas, with at least 60 Palestinians killed as military operations destroy high-rise buildings and underground tunnels. Over 500,000 people have reportedly fled the city.

  • Israeli airstrikes overnight killed 34 people, including children and a nurse from Shifa Hospital, just ahead of a UN General Assembly where several countries plan to recognise Palestinian statehood.

  • Gaza City demolitions of major residential towers are increasing fears among Palestinians and the UN that displacement may be becoming more permanent, especially in neighbourhoods like Zeitoun, Tuffah, Shejaia, and Sheikh al-Radwan.

  • UK signals it will formally recognise Palestine, though Deputy PM says statehood “would not happen overnight,” emphasising this step is aimed at preserving the possibility of a two-state solution.

  • Aid situation in Gaza is deteriorating: shortages of food, water, shelter, and medical supplies continue, with reports of trucks carrying therapeutic food being robbed and widespread damage to UN shelters.

QURANCORNER

Each day, you’ll be introduced to one of the 300 most common Qur’anic words. The Qur’an has about 77,430 words in total, all built on just 2,000 root words. By learning these frequently recurring ones, you’ll recognize 70–80% of the Qur’an’s vocabulary and begin connecting more deeply as you read.

كثير (Kathīr) — Many / Much

From the root ك–ث–ر (k-th-r), meaning to be numerous, abundant, or plentiful, kathīr describes something in great quantity. In the Qur’an, it can refer to large numbers of people, blessings, or even sins—reminding us that abundance can be a gift or a test.

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