I don’t know about you, but whenever the exam season is over, I take a deep, fat sigh of relief.
Until I remember that this whole life is an exam, and the Result Day isn’t as far as we like to think it is.
What is Muhasabah?
One of the best ways I know of preparing for an exam is *drumrolls* mock test!
It helps me feel okay with the sense of taking a test, gives me an idea of where I stand and prepares me for the result day.
No, really, WHAT is Muhasabah?
Muhasabah is the mock test to use in practical life, as the Holy Prophet says:
“Take account of (your deeds) yourself before you are taken account of (by Allah).
– Bihar al Anwar
Best of all? It’s only five steps long!
Requirements for doing Muhasabah
- Time (five to fifteen minutes daily)
- Attention
- Optional: a journal
Step One: Preconditioning (Mushatarah)
Just like we make intention for any right deed, we make intention for Muhasabah too.
After Fajr prayers, focus on the fact that dude, your life isn’t guaranteed. Perhaps today is the only day you have left!
So make the intention to spend it wisely. And then stick to it.
Step Two: Guarding Against Evil (Muraqabah)
This is where most of your time will be spent.
Before each action, ask yourself why are you doing it. The benefit? The disadvantage? Think well and through before committing any deed, whether good or bad. Learn to make the right intentions for bonus thawaab. *winks*
Step Three: Examination (Muhasabah)
This is where the trend gets its name.
Here, after your day has been spent, you have to go strict on yourself.
Evaluate your prayers. Were you attentive? Did you pronounce the verses correctly?
Write down the major actions of your day and ponder over the intentions behind them. With just a little tweaking of your mind, you could have gained extra thawaab. Did you take your chance or not?
What about your good deeds? How many did you commit today? Do they outnumber your bad deeds? *dramatic gasps* Are they erased because of your bad deeds?
Think through everything.
Yes, it can be exhausting.
Which is why I recommend you to start from one day a week and lengthen the time as you get more and more practiced.
Step Four: Rebuking Passions (Mu’atabah)
After you have determined your mistakes and understood the depth of them, reprimand yourself. Think about how something so little can tip the balance for a comfortable afterlife.
Believe it or not, reprimanding works wonders for the next times.
Step Five: Punishment (Mu’aqabah)
Think reprimanding ain’t enough to work wonders for your next times? Try punishing yourself.
And before you go dramatic about whiplashes – by punishing, I mean doing something out of ordinary and not necessarily likeable so that the next time you want to do something wrong, you remember it and refrain.
Examples include cutting your TV hours for the day, or not checking your social media, or pick up that dusty old book from the shelf and read for two hours straight.
It’s your punishment – go creative with it!
Results of Muhasabah
“The fruit of self-appraisal is reformation of the soul,”
– Imam Ali, Exalted Aphorisms and Pearls of Speech
Continuously doing this practice will get you in the habit of thinking before leaping or speaking, and trust me, people envy this trait.
