When Something Stays Stuck Despite Your Effort

Today is the last day of the series. Thirty days, thirty topics.

I will end exactly where everything should begin.

When Something Stays Stuck Despite Your Effort

Doesn't this happen? You are doing everything — studying by the rules, following a routine, applying techniques. Yet somewhere there seems to be a heavy veil.

You sit down to study and sleep takes over. Your focus won't hold. You can't remember what you have read. Strange obstacles keep appearing on the path of knowledge.

There are of course medical and methodological sides to these — we talked about those for twenty-nine days.

But there is also a Shariah side to this. And that is today's topic.

The Dua That Starts It All

وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًۭا

"And say — My Lord, increase me in knowledge." (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:114)

Notice — in the whole Qur'an, the instruction to ask "increase me" has come only in the matter of knowledge. What greater hint could there be than this?

Self-Ruqyah Guideline

The second part of the book gives the ruqyah guideline for knowledge and memory in detail. Here I present the main framework.

First Step — Make a List

Note down the problems you want to get out of in order, numbering them 1, 2, 3.

Then, for the problem at number one, perform ruqyah on yourself for 30 minutes one day. On the second day, for number two. On the third day, for number three. Continue in this order.

Second Step — 30-Minute Ruqyah

15 minutes — Recite this dua in your own language:

"O Allah, destroy all the evil eye, hasad, sihr, jinn, and the Shaytan jinn inside and outside the body, and all their effects, that are connected with my weak memory, lack of focus in studying, weak intellect, and the problems of obstacles in acquiring knowledge."

The remaining 15 minutes — Recite Surah Al-Fatihah, Surah Al-Falaq and Surah An-Nas, and the verses mentioned in the book.

Third Step — Preparing Supplements

After finishing the 30 minutes, add a light spit to water, honey, rose water, olive oil and jujube leaves, mix them, and blow on them.

In this way your own ruqyah is done, and at the same time all the supplements — recited-over water, recited-over honey, recited-over oil — are ready for use.

Begin — even if only with water. Do not sit waiting to gather everything at once; collect the rest gradually.

Rules for Using the Supplements

Take half a litre of the recited-over water, mix in lemon juice, honey and sidr leaves in amount and taste as you like, make a drink, and finish all of it.

Ruqyah Bath — 1 Days a Week

Into a bucket of bath water, mix 1 litres of recited-over water, 10-15 spoons of rose water, 1-3 spoons of olive oil and seven jujube leaves ground into a paste. (If you cannot find jujube leaves, use rose leaves.) Pour that water slowly from the head, massage your body, then bathe with normal water.

Recited-over olive oil — Apply it over your whole body after the bath and before sleeping at night.

Amal — Surah Qaf 3 times at night, Surah Yasin in the morning, Surah Al-Waqi'ah in the evening. And the morning and evening duas from Hisn al-Muslim.

Sadaqah — Alongside your regular masnun amal, give sadaqah according to your means with the intention of following the Sunnah.

Thirty Days Complete

What we saw in these thirty days — the difference between reading and learning, encoding, PACER, Memory Ladder, GRIND, notes, focus, procrastination, systems, rest, exam strategies, AI, routine, dua, ruqyah.

In each post I gave one topic — as completely as possible, so that you could put it to use today.

But the truth is, these were only parts of the book's many chapters. The whole framework — examples, detailed explanations, the step-by-step application of each method — is all arranged in "The Art of Learning".

📗 Part 1 — Study: The modern science of learning. The five dimensions of learning, the science of encoding, the six levels of thinking, PACER and Memory Ladder, the GRIND mind map, 16 rules of note-taking, the way to bring back focus, freedom from procrastination, systems and reverse goal setting, the three pillars of productivity, rest and recovery, a large syllabus in little time, and learning with AI — without losing your own intellect.

📙 Part 2 — Knowledge, Dua and Ruqyah: Verses (ayahs) related to knowledge and wisdom, 21 selected amals for increasing intelligence and memory, amals and duas for success in exams, the etiquette of the exam hall, ruqyah guidelines for knowledge and memory (including self-ruqyah), and a complete daily study and ruqyah routine from Fajr until sleep.

A student's worldly preparation and spiritual protection — in one cover. This is exactly what I searched for myself, and did not find.

Heartfelt thanks for staying with us for thirty days. If even a single post has benefited one person, the effort was worthwhile.

If you think the series will be useful to someone, share it — with the intention of sadaqah jariyah.

May Allah grant all of us beneficial knowledge, and give us the tawfiq to put into amal (practice) what we learn. Ameen.

This piece is drawn from a part of the book "The Art of Learning". The full structure, the remaining chapters, and the Knowledge, Dua and Ruqyah part are in the book — See the book