Don't think being 'religious' means becoming harsh or hard. When Allah enters a heart, He softens it--He doesn't harden it.

I am always shocked to discover how many people believe that hardships are a punishment from God! When people face tests or see others facing tests, they assume Allah must be angry with them. SubhannAllah! Remember which people were tested the most: The Prophets! And they were the closest to Allah. Every hardship is good for you-if it brings you closer to Him!

If you seek Him, God can raise you up, and replace the darkness of the ocean, with the light of His Sun.

When your failures surround you, and all the open doors have closed, look up. There’s a door that never closes, a way, when all the other ways have failed you.

Sometimes the gifts of God aren't wrapped as we expect.

We will be asked, "what did you love most in this world? What did you spend life doing? What did you run after? Will it last? The things that you chased, will they last? Will they help you, or will they hurt you when the illusion of this life has passed?"

We often wonder why God gives and takes, constricts and expands. What we forget is that human beings understand things by their opposites. Without dark, we can’t understand light. Without hardship, we wouldn’t *experience* ease. Without the existence of deprivation and loss, we couldn’t grasp the need for gratitude or the virtue of patience. And without separation, we wouldn’t taste the sweetness of reunion. Glory be to the one who gives—even when He takes.