Navigating Life’s Priorities as a Muslim

Are you consumed by your daily life tasks, and do you feel like you never have enough time to accomplish what you want? Do you set priorities but feel they aren’t serving you as a Muslim, or haven’t consciously set priorities in life at all?

This powerful Ayah reminds us of how important resetting the right priorities is and how they should determine your day-to-day goals:

O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may become righteous. [Qur’an, 2:21]

This Ayah is a call to all of mankind; it’s often used as an argument for the existence of Allah, the Creator, and it’s your ultimate motivator to prioritize. Let’s learn why and how to set priorities to improve your life with your final destination in mind: the Gardens of Allah!

The difference between priorities and goals

There’s something every human being has in common: there are only 24 hours in a day. This forces us to decide how we spend this time, and by setting clear priorities, we ensure we’re spending our time and efforts on things that matter the most. But daily, we are focused on worldly goals and consumerism and often don’t even know our main priorities.

A priority is “a thing that is regarded as more important than another.” It’s what you care about and value above other things, and you can only have a few of them, unlike goals; you can have a limitless number of goals. A goal is defined as “the object of someone’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.”

Instead of being ‘lived’ by life itself, you can identify a few things that should have your intention above all matters; this will make it easier to make important decisions and stay focused on your main priority: to worship Allah (alone). A major consequence of prioritizing wisely is that you’ll live your life more intentionally. And intentions are the golden secret to turning even the simplest mundane actions into worship.

What are your priorities?

Do you know what your top priority is? It seems like an easy question, but the answer might be harder to find than you thought. If you don’t know your priorities, setting priorities should be your main priority! Have you been spending your time on things that don’t even really matter to you, and you feel bad about them every day? Be honest with yourself and ask Allah, the Most High, to enable you to commit to change.

One of Allah’s beautiful names is Al-Muta’aali, the One who is Most High and Exalted. Living by this name has everything to do with being able to make Him a priority in our daily dealings.

Turning to people without supplicating for help, delaying or not praying because of certain commitments—they all mean we are not prioritizing the Creator over His creation. Ask Al-Muta’aali to help you prioritize your relationship with Him throughout the day.

Match your behaviors with your goals

Even though priorities and goals aren’t the same concepts, it’s important you learn to align them. For example, if your goal is to read the Qur’an half an hour a day before bed, but you’re spending your time on social media until you fall asleep, then your behavior isn’t aligned with your priorities. You’ll be more productive if you rethink your priorities and take action that moves you towards your goals.

When you realize your actions and behaviors are not working towards the goals you might have, it’s time to think about the things you do want. Ask yourself:

What do you want your life to look like in ten years?Which past regrets do you want to let go of?Which worries about the future do you not want to carry?

If you could spend your time on anything, what would you do? What activities make you happy? When you’ve thought about this, you can begin moving forward.

Make an action plan

It doesn’t have to be complex, but you’ll need a simple plan of action, or else you’ll easily lose focus and spend time on things that don’t match your priorities, leading to stress and feeling low. Here are some tips to work towards a plan:Make a vision board and place it where you see it every day. Select some images and visualize your goals. For example, if you want to be a Hafidh of the Qur’an, use a picture of the Qur’an, a palace representing a palace in Paradise, etc. You can do this with a collage app on your phone and set it as the home screen. Every time you look at it, make Dua’ for these things.

Make a ‘What makes me feel good’ list, and each day, do at least one of those activities, even for five minutes.

Get rid of distractions. Make a list of things you are distracted by daily and spend a chunk of your day on that do not bring you closer to your goals. Ask Allah, the Most High, to help you identify and eliminate these distractions as much as possible. Once you prioritize your relationship with Allah, He will surely guide you.Block time to focus on specific tasks. Set times when you really focus on your priorities and have a no-excuse policy for yourself. Talking aloud to yourself might help; literally say to yourself, “I’m going to spend 30 minutes reading the Qur’an now, and inshaAllah won’t let anything stop me.”

Remind yourself

Hang up a beautiful Ayah or quote that reminds you of Allah, which will be the first thing you see when you wake up. Learn and use the supplications when waking up, which the Prophet Muhammad (pbum) said, so they’ll be your first words of the day. Before you sleep, let the supplications for sleep be your last words of the day. You can set alarms on your phone a few times daily, simply reminding you to think of your Creator. All these little prompts will remind you of who you are.

People power

The key to prioritizing as a Muslim is prioritizing the people who matter most to us. Who are they? They should be those relationships we will be asked about on the Day of Judgement—those we are mentioned to be shepherds for. Parents, children, and even neighbors—looking at the narrations of the Prophet (pbum) should be our guide. The quality of a person’s social network is more important than exercising frequently. Social relationships are as crucial as health-impacting factors on the same scale as smoking, a lack of exercise, and a poor diet. Even though we should take care of all these, spending more time with those who matter is critical for your mental and physical health. Ask Allah, Al Wadood, the Most Loving, to bless your relationships and help. You prioritize people for his sake.

Finally, a beautiful motivation to set your priorities: Yahya bin Mu’adh, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “The Dunya [world] is worthless to its Lord [Allah], and yet it belongs to Him. Therefore, your high regard for it is unjust, given that it is not even yours!”

O Allah, help us to set our priorities right in this world, aid us in making Your book a priority in our daily lives, and help us prioritize seeking Your pleasure over anything else, Ameen!