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When I was in college, maghrib time would often come off during an evening class. A few of us would run out to a stairwell or outside the building and quickly pray maghrib. Surah Falaq, surah Nas, salam, and sprint back to class! You know the drill.
A few students would stay behind in class. When pushed to explain why, the answer would always be an uncomfortable shrug and mention of not wanting to miss something important.
We have a way of rationalizing behavior with extreme reach conclusions. In other words, we assess a situation, jump to the worst possible outcome, and then act accordingly. In this case, it goes something like this:
Miss 5 minutes of class → Miss something important from the instructor → Get a low grade on my exam → Get a low GPA → Unable to find a good job after graduating because of low GPA → Working a miserable job → Fall behind in my career → Ruin the rest of my life → Allah 
wants me to be happy and successful → Skip maghrib today.
“Shaytan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.” [Qur’an: Chapter 2, Verse 268]
The mindset described above is what is known as a scarcity mindset. It views the world through a lens of fear and loss. If one of our friends lands a desirable internship, a scarcity mindset makes us feel jealous and angry because we feel like we deserved it instead.
This is a trick of Shaytan as the ayah highlights. When things do not go our way, he makes us feel like we are losing control and we have to now do whatever it takes to get back on track. This is one reason people will cheat on an exam, holding the short-term fear of a bad grade over the long term consequences.
An abundance mindset is the opposite. It knows that there is not only one opportunity, and someone else’s success does not have to be accompanied by our loss. It is essentially understanding that the limits in our own head do not apply to the universe around us.
The hallmark of an abundance mindset is highlighted in the ayah above as well. Allah promises us the bounty. This is a liberating concept. Unlike a scarcity mentality, we no longer feel the need to control everything happening around us. Instead, our strategy becomes an embodiment of the Prophetic advice when a Companion asked the Noble Prophet 
:
“Should I secure my camel (take my own personal means), or relegate its protection to Allah
As a student, our focus should always be on the process: What are my daily habits and routines? Are my prayers in order? Am I going to class, studying, meeting with other students?
These are the actions meant by ‘tie your camel’ – and once we do so, in sha’ Allah, Allah will bless our efforts and put barakah in them allowing us to achieve even more than we could have envisioned for ourselves.
Do you think you can apply this in your life? What challenges do you face? Share with us in the comments.
If you want to learn more techniques and reach the peak of your performance spiritually, mentally and physically, consider joining “The Barakah Effect” course at The ProductiveMuslim Academy
As salamu alaikum . I am a student & I ask duaa from you to succeed in my upcoming exam InshaAllah . I’m a regular reader of this website. MasaAllah keep up the good work👍🏻
inshah allah i’ll duaa for u,may allah make ur exam esiyer ameen, when u go to exam pray two rakath sunnath n duaa assalamualikkum warahmadullahi wabarakaduhu
Aslamoalikum
Usually i face the problem of tiredness so tht i camt perform tasks well
May Allah bless you with all good in this dunya and akhira. You have many times opened my eyes with your mails.
Great article!! I’m actually going to print it, if that’s possible; so I can always come back to it ! It changed my mindset alhamdulillah. jazakAllah khair. Please pray that I succeed in my studies and my life :)
Assalamalaikum allamduliall good work giving awareness and helping to be a productive muslim allaha will give you reward new techniques isa guide line to work on good keep itup
i have truly learn alots from your website and productivemuslim.com is part of my deflaut page and i pray that ALLAH will bless you and your team keep up the good work. jazakallahu khairayn
Mashallah this is much needed practical info in a well written article. May Allah reward you for this. I feel a lot of times we are over ambitious I. What we want to accomplish and then end up missing out on the quality of the good we are doing. I always remind myself of the Sahabi who spent several years studying just sura Albaqara.
That’s true.
But you can also have a view of the students that they be more religious only during exams. And then shaytan plays a major role after that. It’s just like they want good grades and when they’ve finally got it they tend to change themselves and follow the path of shaytan.
Alhamdulillah. I am so thankful Allah SWT who showed me the way to join the ProductiveMuslim group.
Assalamualaikum .. I from India. I recently subscribed to yur website . MASHAllah for those good words . May Allah bless yu to do more and to spread his words .
I work full time. The problem is that I’m in customer service and I can’t take breaks anytime I feel like it. By the time I use the restroom, make wudu and pray at least 20-25 minutes have gone by. That’s the fastest I can do everything. Also, the room I have to pray in may be occupied by a patient. I only get 30 minutes for lunch and I offer my Dhuhr at that time instead of eating. Now the days are getting shorter and I will soon have to offer both Dhuhr and Asr while at work. HELP!
Assalaamu Alaikum
Here are some options u’d consider maybe..
1 fast Mondays and Thursdays.. that way u can utilize ur breaks solely for prayers.
2 can combine djuhar n ‘asr.
3 can request colleagues to switch for you during prayer times.
Barakallahi fee!
Not entirely sure that’s what happens with students all the time. Mostly, we just haven’t attached Salat as a MAJOR part of our lives, so it can be delayed till the time for Isha? Then why not. Don’t want to be seen as being odd? I can say it all when I get back in. Why not. So its more a laxity on the part of saying Salat, not putting it in the right place in our lives that I think plays out more with students and a lot of us too.
Subhan Allah! What a true essence,😍
Asalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu
I face the Challenge of getting distracted all the time.. whenever I sit to begin homework I get distracted very easily what can I do?
It actually also results in me getting the homework done quite late
AssalamuAlaikum Brother,
Masha’Allah this beneficial article really helped me consider how well am I doing in classes recently. Although I still worry about missing my prayers during class and feel guilty after that and try to catch on my prayers before the next prayer.
Thanks for your generous share and may Allah grants you tawfiq in dunya and akhira.