Productive Muslim #4

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

This entry will continue the previous sharing. Please refer to Productive Muslim #1, Productive Muslim #2 and Productive Muslim #3..

Today's sharing will be on HOW to develop Habit of Reading..

Owh! My ugly handwriting~!

Let's start with the question of WHY

I'm really sure that everybody understand the importance of reading and why it is needed in our life. Allah revealed the first word to our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) with the order of “Read!” which signifies the significance of reading and its relation with the religion of Islam. Indeed, reading helps to increase knowledge, leads to mentally active, shows a good example and enhances good self-development.

As far as I know, NO one says that reading is not important, but we must differentiate what should we read, and what should not..

So, WHAT you should read?

During the seminar, Abu Productive discussed that books can be categorized to Fiction and Non-Fiction. He also explained in his blog that there two types of reading:

• Islamic reading (Quran, Hadeeth, Islamic books)
• General reading

However both are similarly important even though one might clarifies that type no. 1 is much more important. Abu Productive said that: One may argue, that after reading the Quran, the Prophetic ahadeeth, and other Islamic books, there is no need to read any further. And I would agree with that; this is the Sacred Knowledge that one should know and continue to explore and if we truly and sincerely attempt to understand the Quran, we will find wisdom within it which suffices all the books in the world! Although it’s important to note that there is a case for reading extensively into numerous topics that interest you, ranging from reading widely into materials relating to your University degree or reading your industry’s journal, to biographies of men and women who achieved great missions regardless of their circumstances and self-help books that cultivate self-development or any other habits/traits in us that need to be developed.

We should read, read, read and constantly read in order to apply good knowledge to our lives. My advice is to be selective in reading. Whilst Islamic reading should be a priority over any type of reading, don’t forget to read extensively and be open minded about other topics. You will surely notice yourself develop!

HOW to read or HOW to develop the habit of reading.

Here, the question will be on how should we develop a reading habit so that we constantly read, both Islamic reading and general reading?Below are some tips to help you along the way (taken from Abu Productive's blog - HERE)

1. If you haven’t yet developed a daily habit of reading Quran and Islamic knowledge, begin by developing this habit first. I advise you to set yourself 10 minutes after Fajr in your first week into this exercise and read 5 minutes of Quran plus 5 minutes of Islamic knowledge or Hadeeth. Do this daily! The key is to do it after Fajr Salah, as it will truly set your day straight.
   After one week, add 10 minutes to your time. So now you’re reading 10 minutes of Quran and 10 minutes of Islamic knowledge plus hadeeth.In the third week, do this for half an hour and read 20 minutes of Quran and 10 minutes of Islamic knowledge plus hadeeth… and now just stick to that! 30 minutes, no more! You might say, I can do more. I’d say go ahead, but for our purposes, it’s important you develop a ‘habit’ that’s consistent rather than attempting more than you can chew and then forgetting about the whole exercise. Consistency will develop through deriving more beneficial lessons from the books you read.
2. Similarly, we should develop a reading habit for general knowledge. Again, begin with 10 minutes per day on any beneficial book you want to read. It is highly advised that you read before you sleep as it relaxes and stimulates your mind at the same time. Do this for a week and stick to it! No matter how tired you are, just read for 10 minutes. In the following week, extend your ‘bed-time’ reading to 20 minutes, then follow that by 30 minutes, and that’s it. Stick to that programme and be consistent.
After working on the above exercise for a month, you can take a step further. For Islamic knowledge, try to develop a habit of constantly reading something of Islamic knowledge after every prayer. Or between 2 Salah times, for example between Maghreb and Isha. This is where you can dig deeper into the reading and perhaps memorize or use your time to ‘study’ Islam. Similarly, for general reading, after a month of the above exercise include some reading time at work during lunch break. What you read can be related to your work (such as: FT, industry magazines, competitor work etc…) and leave your ‘bed-time’ reading to self-development books, biographies, and books which inspire and motivate.

WHERE you should read? Which place make you interested to read..

It can be ANYWHERE dear~ Sometimes, you do not need a book to read. Today's technological advance actually helps us a lot to read anywhere. Use your smart phone, Ipad, tablet and so on.

Nowadays, the publisher introduced Audio Book for those who did not have much time to read. Listening to Audio Book has quiet similar function with reading that particular books. Yo may listen during traffic jam and when you spend more time at your car.

For my personal experience, library is the best place to read. No disturbance. Because I cannot fully pay attention to my reading if there is any distraction from surrounding.

WHEN? What is suitable time for you to read?

This question is subjective for everyone. Different person may have their own interest time to read. However, Abu Productive suggested that active reading can be done during early hours in the morning, and leisure reading is suitable before sleep.

My interest will be in the morning in a condition, put away my laptop and phone! If I choose to read in the afternoon or evening, I need a cup of coffee beside me. Besides, I love to read before sleep too!

Abu Productive explains the Habits of Reading

**I need to read Quran more!