How do we channel the heavy heartedness into a positive direction?

[Umm Amr]

Salaamu alaikum.

Well, I'm boarding my first flight on the long journey home in 30 minutes time in sha Allah.

I have to echo the sentiments expressed previously by the brothers and sisters.

I left ILM Summit twice: once to go to Walmart to buy gifts (SA rand is 7 x the dollar ;) )- took us exactly 45 minutes, and once we went to Masjid At-Taqwa to listen to the Seerah lecture by Shaykh Yasir.

Other than that, the grounds of the hotel were the furthest I had been.

Man, the world out here feels big. I feel strangely displaced.
And I miss the sea of Hijaabs (you know what I'm saying?).

Okay, so now I want to ask:

We are missing the knowledge, missing the Shuyookh, missing the brotherhood/sisterhood, missing the food (:P), missing the congregational salaah...

So how do we retain/sustain this feeling...or channel it into a positive direction.

The Shuyookh gave some tips...can we reproduce some of them here, and add to them?

Let me start:
1. Start a small halaqah (Shaykh Yasir)
2. Go home a different person, improved in character so that your family are like 'Wow, who is this?'
3. Maintain contact with fellow ILM Summiters. I attended a Tajweed course in Wales once, and we spent 3 weeks together. We felt sad when we left yes, but got so caught up in our lives, that today, we are not in contact at all.

What else?

[zuhair.shaath]

I think two things that can help you keep your emaan at a sustained level is:
1. Hanging out with the right crowd.
2. Start doing small deeds that you can continue to do for the rest of your life (like pray the sunnah after maghrib, or read 10 ahadeeth before you go to sleep etc...)

[safa_709]

2. Start doing small deeds that you can continue to do for the rest of your life (like pray the sunnah after maghrib, or read 10 ahadeeth before you go to sleep etc...)
Reminds me of the khutbah "Power of Little" :) by Sheikh Birjas.

But yea, small deeds can never be overlooked. Even if they are small, its persistency that is the goal, SubhanAllah.

[safa_709]

3. Memorizing and reviewing more quran.....even if its 1 ayah/day for memorization or 5 pages of review.
4. Praying Qiyamul Layl-----waking up 5, 15, 30mins before Fajr
5. Fasting more often; espeically in Shaa'ban
6. Being kinder to parents, more patient with siblings, better with the family
7. Making more duaa.......including the sheikhs, ilmsummiteers, our maghrib bros/sis, everyone.
8. Spreading the ilm, how? w/ Halaqas or circle of friends

[Bint Shahid]

The best way to keep the Ilm fresh and intact is to keep reading on the topics.
Add relevant books to what we'd studied to our library.
Start with the family. Plan a 15 min reading session on any of the topics. I'm starting with Spain.
Tahajjud + memorization of the Quran.
Definitely keep in touch with each other :)