Sayf, Lagos (2026)

12/09/2026

*How Do You Do Stack to Salat If You Don't Pray Regularly?*

When I wrote about stacking tasks to salat yesterday, I got that question. The answer is that nobody should be too worried about habit stacking if they don't pray regularly. What habits are you stacking, please, if salat is not in the stack?

I understand that there are people who are having a hard struggle with consistent salat, but for anyone in this situation, all of their attention, all of their du'a, all of their energy should be directed to correcting this. We can't talk about habit stacking yet; let's talk about salat first.

I'll be writing tomorrow - inshaa Allah - for those who struggle with their prayers. It may into a series of writings, I don't know. May Allah preserve our lives.

*Sobur Adedokun*
*Sayf Productivity Network*

11/09/2026

*On Stacking Activities to Congregational Prayers*

If you've read Atomic Habits, you should remember what habit stacking is all about. Just take this. Stack your most important tasks to your salat whenever possible.

Set your schedule so that the most important of your repeated daily tasks are fixed with a salat. Your daily studying may happen immediately after Isha everyday. That means that whenever you're going for Isha, you're going for Isha with your books, because you know that studying comes immediately after Isha.

Stack your revision of the Qur’an to Maghreb, for example. You know that that way that immediately after the Maghreb salat, you are starting your revision. Stack other things to Subh. Maybe your morning azkar, maybe your memorization of the Qur'an. Stack something to every salat. It may be a small habit, but make it an important one. You may stack tawbah to Asr. You may stack calling your parents with Zuhr. Stack the important things to your prayers whenever possible.

The reason this works is because we have salat as a cue for that task, and we do not miss salat. So we have a cue that will always be present. The effectiveness of this tip may also be related to the fact that we leave salat with a lot of spiritual energy if we do it right. This energy may be very helpful in carrying out a task we embark on not long after salat.

This tip changed a lot for me in university. One semester, I stacked napping to Maghreb and stacked studying to Ishaa. This means whenever I was going for Maghreb, I would have to take my books along. Immediately after Maghreb, I would sleep in the mosque (I liked to use my books as pillow), and wake up for Isha. Immediately after Isha, I would take the books that had just been my pillow and resume to class to study them for only two hours. The results were mind-blowing!

You should be careful of activities that break the cycle that connects your salat to the task after it. Between salat and going out to study, your phone may steal your attention and you forget the task you stacked to salat. It may mean that you never take your phone to the mosque if you have stacked a task to the salat you're going to the mosque for. People may want to steal your attention too. Don't make it happen. Finish your salat, your azkar, and match to your stacked task like the determined soldier that you are.

PS: This writing is taken from a booklet I wrote, published by an organisation, with slight alterations. And, sleeping after Maghreb is actually disliked, except for a need.

Sobur Adedokun
*Sayf Network*

10/09/2026

*Taking Responsibility Does Not Mean You Should Not Correct Your Husband*

I got a question asking if what is meant by taking responsibility is to never correct our spouses and always fault ourselves instead.

No.

Taking responsibility does not mean you must never tell others their fault.

It simply means that you ask yourself first in every situation, "Did I do something wrong? Is there something I could do differently next time?"

This does not in anyway negate correcting whoever is at fault.

In a marriage, imagine your husband forgets to pick up groceries on his way home from work, leaving you frustrated as she had planned to cook dinner using those ingredients.

Instead of immediately expressing your frustration, take a moment to reflect on her own actions, considering how you could have helped him remember, maybe by sending a text message close to when he would leave his place of work.

Recognizing your own shortcomings, you can then approache the situation with empathy and understanding.

You can calmly addresses the issue with you husband, explaining how his forgetfulness impacted your plans and suggesting ways they can improve their communication and coordination in the future.

In doing so, she takes responsibility for her reactions while still addressing the husband's oversight, fostering a constructive dialogue and strengthening their relationship.

Or, Imagine you're working on a group project, and one of your team members submits their part late, causing delays for everyone else.

Instead of immediately pointing out their mistake, you first reflect on your own contributions to the project.

You ask yourself if there was anything you could have done differently to support them or prevent the delay. After recognizing that you could have communicated more effectively or provided clearer instructions, you address the issue with your teammate, offering constructive feedback while also taking responsibility for your part in the situation.

This is being responsible! It does not mean you put the burden of others' actions on yourself, it means you ask yourself what YOU could have done/ should do to make the situation better.

*LRH*
*Sayf Network*

09/09/2026

*What It Means To Take Responsibility*

About one year ago, a friend came to me one day and asked me to es**rt him to a particular place.

I told him I had a meeting coming up but he was so adamant that we would be back before the time of my meeting.

I didn't believe we would be back before the meeting. He was certain we would be back before the meeting. I persisted. He persisted. So, reluctantly, I gave in and followed him.

We got there. 30 mins to the time of the meeting, we were not done.

15 mins to the time, we were not done.

The time of the meeting came and I was very furious. He was not seated where I was but if he was, he would have seen displeasure written all over my face. I was literally boiling.

I continued like that, sitting there waiting, feeling furious, angry, agitated - AT MY FRIEND, and not taking any responsibility for what had happened.

Then, all of a sudden something changed.

I remembered something I had read about taking responsibility and focusing on what YOU can do rather than what was done to you.

So I said to myself, "stop blaming him, take responsibility."

So instead of directing all my anger at my friend, I asked myself, "What did I do wrong? What would I do better next time?"

Eventually, I admitted my fault: I should never have gone based on his conviction. I should have stuck to my conviction that we would not be back before my meeting. It was my life, my meeting, and my conviction.

With that, I made a decision to handle any similar situation better next time.

Almost immediately, I noticed all the frustration in me was gone.

The feeling of "being used" had been replaced by a feeling of "power" and knowing exactly what to do in such situations.

I also started to feel like I had not wasted my time coming with him, rather, I had learnt a vital lesson that would shape how I deal with such circumstances in the future.

When you take responsibility for the events happening to you, you feel more powerful and in control of your life.

You learn new things everyday on how to handle yourself better.

If you focus on blaming people - even if they deserve blame - you will continue to feel sad, powerless, and frustrated, while the situation will repeat itself another day, and you will fall victim again.

Then you will start uploading quotes on your status talking about how people are dishonest and how you deserve better and and and...

My sister, they deserve you, you deserve them.

You are the one not taking responsibility for your life; not learning from each of your mistakes.

*LRH*
*Sayf Network*

06/09/2026

*How I Work Long Hours Without Getting Bored*

So the question: if I focus on just 2-3 goals, that means I have to work for long hours on each. How don't I get bored.

Yes, I used to get bored when I just started memorizing the Quran with such intensity. But, here is the trick.

1. Start Small.
I did not start by working 8 hours straight on memorization. I started with 2 hours, then added about 30 minutes after 3 days, then about another 30 minutes after 3 days, and gradually added more and more like that. Now, I find it quite easy to work on many interesting tasks for 4-5 hours without a pause.

2. Start very early in the morning.
If you want to work on a task for 4-5 hours, the best time to start is early in the morning around 3am.

While memorizing the Quran, I used to wake up by 2am, so before Subh, I'd have spent 3 hours already, then I'd take a nap and continue after Subh.

The thing with the early morning is that you will be very energetic at this time. And the Prophet specifically prayed to Allah to bless this time for his generation.

3. Use Habit Stacking
If you are finding it incredibly difficult to do 5 hours straight, then do 1hr after every solaat. Or 2 hours after Subh and 1 after every solaat except Maghrib (which is short). Personally, I think spreading out your task requires more discipline, but some find it easier.

4. Take breaks in between.
Typically, "they" suggest you should take a break after every 30 minutes of work. Personally, I often do not see a need for it. Sometimes, I work for 4 hours on a spot without standing or switching tasks.
Note: When you take a break during your long task, do not use social media during this break.

5. Don't get too comfortable
If you are too comfortable in your study environment, you are likely to get distracted, bored, or fall asleep. Avoid lying down when you need to study or work, or sitting on the bed. In fact, get out of your room and go to a nearby mosque or library if that is needed.

6. Get Rid Of Alternatives
A lot of times when we think we are bored, it is actually because we have alternatives.

I mentioned I did not have a phone when I was memorizing 10 hours a day. And when I was coding that long, I'd block my phone and make it inaccessible for the number of hours I plan to use on coding.

How won't you get bored if you keep receiving WhatsApp and Instagram notifications while you are memorizing?

How won't you get bored if you're memorizing beside your bed?

So, before any task, block your phone apps for the number of hours you want to work. (Stay Focused's Take-a-break feature can help with this), and stay away from the alternatives that you often have.

7. Find Partners
If you study or memorize or learn in a group, this will greatly increase your ability to work for long hours. I memorized the Quran along with three other brothers, and each time I got bored and went to sleep, I'd realize I could still hear their voices memorizing. Many times, I'd have no choice than to get up after some minutes.

These days, you do not even have to be there together. There are people who work together on Zoom or Google Meet.

So, you find a partner, plan to meet by 3am everyday, you put your Zoom on. You focus on your work, she focuses on hers. After every 30 minutes, you take a break. Have some chat and resume back. It helps.

8. Make Dua and Shukr
Working long hours is difficult. It is not something we can achieve with just hardwork.

You must create for yourself a constant cycle of making dua to Allah for ease before starting the tasks (maybe on the solaat before it) and do shukr when you complete the task.

Doing shukr is by saying Alhamdulillah, while consciously acknowledging that you could not have done that task without the help of Allah, and then increasing in acts of worship as a form of gratitude.

*LRH*
*Sayf Network*

27/08/2026

*After knowing what wastes your time, what should you do?*

It depends on what wastes your time.

If what wastes your time is something completely forbidden by Allah, then, the only solution is to pray to Allah, leave that thing, make sincere repentance to Allah, block all means to it and pray to Allah to aid you.

An example of this is movies: rarely would you find a movie except that it is a waste of time without benefit, contains music and staring at the opposite s*x, while we have been commanded to lower our gazes and not stare.

If you evaluate your day and find out something like this is what takes away most of your time,

The steps are:

1. Pray to Allah to aid you in leaving it, even if it seems so addictive that you feel you can never leave it, raise your hand at this moment and pray sincerely to Allah to ease it for you.

2. Make a resolve to leave off that thing and seek the forgiveness of Allah.

3. Block the means to it.

If you're in a group where your friends discuss the latest movies and thereby making you feel the urge, leave the group.

If there's a friend always talking about movied on their status, mute them.

If it's YouTube that wants to destroy your life by recommending movies, use the "do not recommend" and "not interested" filters to clean up your YouTube. (We will talk about this in more detail later).

4. Then pray to Allah to make it easy for you to stand by your new resolve. Pray on every solaat, and thank Him on every solaat for easing it for you.

5. Replace it with something beneficial.

As you attempt to drop the movies, make a resolve to also start engaging in a particular good deed you never used to do.

6. If you fall back into that thing you made a resolve not to do again, you're not a hypocrite, just be quick to repeat steps 1 - 4.

In fact, the more you repeat this loop, the more beloved you are to Allah.

We were not created to never fall into sins, the only problem is if we fall and are not quick to get up and turn again to Allah.

*Sayf Network*

08/08/2026

*The Prophet's Instruction To A Man Who Was Overwhelmed*

In a hadith reported by Abdullah Ibn Busr, a man went to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “The commandments of Islam have become so many for me. Teach me something that I can hold on to that suffices.” The Prophet told him to ﷺ to constantly moisten his tongue with the remembrance of Allah.

In his explanation of this hadith, Shaykh Abdurrazaq Al-Badr says, “And this is one of the benefits of zikr; it eases acts of worship. The more you engage in zikr, the easier it becomes to worship Allah.” He went on to explain that a lot of Muslims feel heavy when they have to worship Allah. They stand up to pray and they fast and they stay away from haram, but these are very difficult for them. These things do not feel natural or easy for them.

He notes that the Prophet’s instruction to the man in the hadith is an instruction for all those who feel the same way. Some other scholars note that the Prophet ﷺ recommended for him to say zikr because it is an action that is so easy, so simple, yet so rewarding.

Summarily, the Prophet ﷺ recommended azkaar to a man who was overwhelmed, to seek ease for himself and to stick to an act of worship that was simple, yet greatly rewarding.

For people who feel overwhelmed by activities of the Deen, other activities, or life in general, these pieces of knowledge are important. With zikr, there is a simple, easy thing that you can do with very little effort, and by it, Allah helps you find clarity and regain energy to continue living happily and productively. With zikr, there is something you can do when you feel too weak, too heavy, too distant to engage in the worship of Allah, or to engage in actions that benefit you.

To live happily and meaningfully, therefore, there is a need to create a habit out of continuous zikr. Do not go silent at any time except there are words you say in remembrance of Allah. When you work, when you walk, when you rest, when you ride on buses, keep your tongue moist, and try as much as possible to ponder on the words you say.

*Sayf Network*

07/08/2026

*The Friend You Need When You Are Overwhelmed*

Your phone is your biggest enemy when you are overwhelmed.

But not just your phone.

Friends too.

If you always need to be around your friends to be happy, it's a sign that they're not actually making you happy, they are only distracting you from the source of your sadness.

True happiness is when you are happy even if you are alone.

When you're overwhelmed, that's not the time to go about chit-chatting with friends, except if you have a friend who will ACTUALLY HELP, not distract.

And by Allah those friends are rare!

Most friends will distract you with gists and discussions and false assurance, then when you're alone the feeling sets in again.

So you have to look for the distraction again.

Then you feel more and more attached.

This kind of attachment should only be to Allah, the Ever Living, Who never dies. The All-powerful, The Irresistible.

The one who will ever be there: in the middle of the night, when you can't sleep.

In the farthest of places when you can't find your direction.

The one who gets angry when you do not call upon Him for help.

The one who so jealously guards his allies. From seen and unseen enemies, while they are awake or asleep.

You are missing the sweetest friendship ever if you do not have Him as your closest friend.

If you do not strive to please him, to know Him, to spend time with Him as you do with your friends.

He is the friend you need when you're down and overwhelmed, because He is truly able to replenish your energy, unlike the rest of His creations who only distract you.

*Sayf Network*

03/06/2026

*If This Isn't Nice, What Is?*

In 1998, a man named Kurt Vonnegut gave the commencement speech at Rice University.

When he was about to round up his speech, he told a story.

He said, (paraphrased) "My Uncle Alex, a Harvard graduate, was locally useful in Indianapolis as an honest insurance agent. He was also well-read and wise. One thing that Uncle Alex found objectionable about human beings was that they rarely took time out to notice when they were happy.

"He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime, and he would interrupt the conversation to say, "If this isn't nice, what is?"

Muslims should embody this trait more than anyone because Allah says, "As for the blessings of your Lord, proclaim."

When one thing is going sweetly and peacefully - even if in the midst of a thousand calamities - pause a moment to say out loud, "If this isn't beautiful, what is?"

There are a lot of tiny beauties in life that are easy to miss if you’re moving too fast to appreciate them, and these little things end up summarizing us either as happy or sad people.

When we lean into gratitude to Allah for these moments, feelings, and people, we find new joy and happiness in our lives and even in the people around us.

Do not be that person who always downplays the beauty of his marriage, the peace his children bring and every other beautiful blessing Allah has planted in his life, but then, immediately an undesired incident strikes, he voices out and everyone knows.

Be that person who just sits, stares at his wife, and randomly says, "If this isn't happiness and the peak of blessings, what is?"

Happiness is contagious, and we must strive to be that jug that dispenses happiness to others.

*Sayf Network*

We have written an earlier article to talk about the need to slow down and dwell on our happy moments for longer, rather than just moving on to other things is one of the keys to a happy and peaceful life.

Read the mentioned article here: https://t.me/SayfProductiveMuslims/643

25/05/2026

*Do Not Use The Day Of Arafah To Prepare For Eid. Do That Now*

Whatever preparation you want to make for eid, make it now.

The clothes, the shoes, the knives, the food ingredients, get everything ready now.

Tuesday is the day of Arafah. It is not a day for deep-cleaning the house. It is a day you seclude yourself and worship Allah and make supplications.

In Sahih Muslim it was narrated from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no day on which Allah frees more people from the Fire than the Day of ‘Arafah. He comes close and expresses His pride to the angels, saying, ‘What do these people want?’”

Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on the Day of ‘Arafah . He said, “It expiates for the sins of the previous year and of the coming year.” Narrated by Muslim.

*Sayf Network*

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