The Submissions Podcast

Sat in a masjid discussion circle on the subject of friendship a few weeks ago, the facilitator asked us ‘what positive influences have your friends had on you?’. As we went around we heard from a friend who had shared the practice of sending ‘I’m thinking of you’ texts, another who’d been given courage to up their modesty game, a friend who exemplified treating secrets shared with her as a closely held trust. Whether being influenced by peers doing good or trying to adopt the seven habits of the highly successful, becoming better versions of ourselves is a journey without end. Our storytellers in this episode all beautifully recount their attempts to do, and be better and the profound impacts that this striving has had on their lives.

Allah SWT mentions in Surah Luqman, Verse 27: "And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise."

Our lives are filled with stories - some short, some long. Some of them are ongoing while other smaller stories take centre-stage. But all of our stories are part of the bigger web of the story of life, which is beautifully and perfectly written for us by the Best of Authors: Allah SWT.

In this episode, we hear from 3 storytellers who share experiences where they learned about Allah SWT and His most beautiful plans. Indeed, as each story is different from the last, so too do the stories share threads of realisation and learning: that Allah SWT authors our stories in the most beautiful ways, and in submission to Him we are able to gain the most. Insha'Allah.

We experience life in the vast and yet limited ways in which we have been blessed. We see to the extent our eyes allow us to see - we imagine to the extent we are able to imagine. 

Allah SWT is beyond all of this, limitless in knowledge, mercy and power. It is sometimes within our everyday realms that we forget this, and if we look a bit harder we find that Allah’s mercy can be found in places that we didn’t think to look in the first place. Limited by our own faculties, we often need to be reminded that Allah SWT has no limits at all.

The 3 storytellers in this episode tell us about a time when they experienced Allah SWTs blessings in places that weren’t expected, hidden from plain sight, but just as magnificent and spectacular as all of The Almighty’s blessings.

Have you ever seen the Ka'abah up close? How did you feel when you first caught a glimpse? Maybe you haven’t but it’s a dream to Insha’Allah - how does thinking about journeying there make you feel? 

Engaging in the 5 pillars of Islam form the core of our practice. We pray, we fast, we give to charity, all for the sake of God. The 5th pillar: Hajj, is one that some are blessed to be invited to - and for those of us who have that opportunity, it is fulfilling and challenging in equal parts, a divine journey bringing us closer to Our Creator. For those of who have not, we find ourselves craving those moments of sweetness in the company of our Ummah, and our beloved Creator.

Join us in our fourth episode: Divine Journeys, where we explore 3 stories from Hajj and Umrah, from 3 individuals with different experiences all united in their pursuit of the divine journey to where it all began.

We often plan and plan and think of ourselves as the ones in control. It's not until our plans get disrupted that we realise that we were never the ones in control in the first place.

In our first ever episode, join us as we kick things off by bringing you a set of stories and reflections from Ramadans gone by.

We hear from Faizaan, Inayah and Ayne as they all have their Ramadan plans disrupted in ways unforeseen and are reminded of who the Best of Planners really is.