A Cherished Muslimah balances her life so that she gives each role she performs and each area of her life it’s due right. She sees her life as more than just a mother, homemaker, career-woman. She gives her extended family their rights, she cares for her friends and neighbours. She spends a part of her day filling up her spiritual cup so that she can share some of her spiritual states with others. She also routinely takes time out for herself to relax and rejuvenate so she can share some of her positive energy with others.
This April, cultivate your leadership trait by balancing your life through submitting to Allah’s names of balance, perfection and proportioning. Here are 12 divine names to help you to achieve balance in all of your roles that you perform and areas of your life, such as going to work, being a mother, doing self-care, meeting friends, etc.
Balance
A Cherished Muslimah creates this equilibrium by connecting to Allah through His names of balance, always being consciously aware that He is balanced in all of His attributes and submitting to His balance.
Al-Qābid (21) & Al-Bāsit (22)
It is He who takes away and He who spreads out. As a leader you can have a share of this balance, by ensuring that you give time to the areas that need your just attention, and you firmly avoid the areas that are not beneficial, returning to them once again when the time is right. Achieving this balance over your life is true mastery. A Cherished Muslimah knows that all guidance and ability come from Allah, and so when she feels capable in her roles, she thanks Allah, and when she feels inadequate, she turns to Him for help.
Al-Khāfid (23) & Ar-Rāfi (24)
He is the one who brings down and raises up. A Cherished Muslimah brings her priorities to the forefront of her focus and attention, sending the lesser important roles and actions far from her concentration. At times she sees her body as more important to any other area of her life, yet at other times she focuses on her husband. She also knows that at times her baby/teenager/spouse may be the most important person in the family yet at other times others, perhaps even herself, take priority.
Al-Mubdi (59) & Al-Muī’d (60)
He is the one who starts things and also who restores things to the way they used to be. Submit to these divine attributes when you go through the seasons of life. Just as Allah starts the season of spring and brings it back to us each year, so can you bring back the seasons in your life. In fact, you can even go through the four seasons during the course of 24-hours! Start off with spring in the morning, manifest the plans of the day in the afternoon, take out time to reflect in the early evening, and switch off at night!
Al-Muqaddim (71) & Al-Mu’akhir (72)
It is He who makes things happen, promoting them, and also He who delays things, pushing them away. The Cherished Muslimah knows that when certain roles require her undivided attention, it is only because Allah has promoted those areas in her life, and she submits to whatever situation her Lord places her in. So if He causes her to become ill, she promotes her self-care, pushing back her other roles. If He will for her to go through financial difficulties, she promotes frugality and thrift and pushes back any extra spending.
Perfection
A Cherished Muslimah strives to balance her life by purposefully honouring her intuition, checking and adjusting all her roles and areas. She is gentle on herself. She knows that she will not always get it right and instead she submits to Allah’s perfection and sovereignty, and in this submission, she strives to maintain her own sense of balance and personal sovereignty, knowing that He is perfect and she is not and that she can rule over the kingdom of her own body.
The kingdom of each man is his own body. For if what he wills is accomplished in the qualities of his heart and in his limbs, then he is king of the kingdom of himself according to the measure of power given to him.
Al Ghazali – The Ninety Nine Beauitful Names of God.
Al-Qudūs (5)
He is flawless and transcends every attribute of perfection, and she basks in His perfection and submits to her own shortcomings and imperfections. She doesn’t beat herself up over her imperfections but continues to do her best.
As-Salām (6)
It is He who is perfect, flawless, free from any insufficiency – not her. And so when she is deficient, or something is missing from her life, she accepts this in purposeful submission to her Master. She strives to her best… and leaves it at that.
Just Proportioning
A Cherished Muslimah also submits to Allah’s perfect proportion and timing. She knows that he is just in His distribution of wealth, states, qualities and characteristics. It is He who decides which seasons she goes through, and who proportions how much difficulties and ease she has, and in doing that He just. And she puts these names into practice in her life by ensuring she proportions her life according to what He has given her. If she is busy with her children, she cuts backs on her career. If she is busy with her career, she cuts back on her housework, lovingly and wisely delegating as and where needed.
Al-Adl (30)
He who is just in rulings and proportions ensures that everything that she encounters in her life is exactly what she needs. She submits to Him whenever duty calls, knowing that this is best and most just for her.
As-Sabūr (99)
It is He who does everything at the right time. She puts this into practice by being patient through the seasons of her life and when prioritising her life. Even though she may be itching to get back to doing something her heart is set on, if she knows that certain responsibilities require her immediate attention, she forsakes the lesser important ones as an act of worship, calling upon As-Sabur for help and patience.
To conclude:
When we balance our lives through Allah’s names of balance, perfection and proportioning, we submit to the seasons He chooses for us, and ensure we prioritise, check and adjust all the different areas of our lives.
Happy balancing, oh cherished ones!