Beware with Law of Attraction concepts when making duas

This blog post was originally written on February 6, 2018. I am bringing all of my posts back that were lost. I hope you enjoy this read and please, share this blog with others you know who may need some inspiration and hope in their duas (prayers). Thank you!

I’m sure many of you have heard of, or seen the movie called The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. She also has a book by the same name, and has several other books written around the same topic of the Law of Attraction (LOA).

Mosque silhouette at sunset, with mountains on background, Turkey, Kemer

The LOA has become extremely popular since The Secretcame out, and people still talk about it to this day. More books have been written on it by various authors, and many blogs and articles have been written about the different concepts of the LOA and such. It has become a global phenomenon.

I remember there was a time, about 7 years ago when I was really into the LOA and wanted to learn more about this “law”. Someone mentioned The Secret to me, so I bought the movie, watched it, and read the book too. I thought about the message of both the book and the movie (which was essentially the same) quite a bit. The concept of the LOA did have an impact on me regarding positive thinking. That was for sure, since I used to be a somewhat cynical person in the past. The other LOA concepts the movie and the book discussed….well, I wasn’t quite sure about those.

Since I was unsure, I started studying books written by authors who were (and still are) considered experts in the LOA, such as the very well-known Abraham Hicks of Esther and Jerry Hicks, Joe Vitale, Michael J. Losier, Deepak Chopra, and Wayne Dyer among many others. All of their books discuss different concepts of LOA in various ways.

I always found it hard to believe in the way the authors talked about the universe (with a capital U). It was strange to me that one would ask the “Universe” for what they wanted but at the same time, make it seem that the “Universe” didn’t know what we needed until we put it out there in the form of thought. The LOA says our own negative and positive thoughts are what brings us the negative or positive experiences, more than anything else, and whatever we think about, will end up happening.

I always questioned how the “Universe” according to the LOA experts, wouldn’t know what we wanted unless we thought about it and asked?

I also questioned how “like attracts like” when there were many things I wasn’t attracting that I thought about constantly.

In Islam, we are taught from the beginning that Allah SWT knows what we need and want, as well as what is best for us BEFORE we even know about it ourselves. Hence, that is why I believe that Allah SWT has written down our duas and their answers to those duas before we make them, in our taqdeer. This makes sense, since Allah SWT guides us at times to make dua for certain things, and we don’t understand where those thoughts came from. But we make dua, and those duas are accepted and fulfilled for us.

Anyhow, going back to the LOA, I tried the concepts I studied just to see if they would work for me. After all, what do I have to lose, right? All I had to do was think positively every day. I would have to imagine and visualize getting the perfect job, checks coming into the mail from places I couldn’t imagine, finding and marrying the love of my life, and owning a house by the beach. All I would need to do is to is create vision boards for the “universe” to know what I wanted, and never to think negative thoughts. Positive thoughts and inspired action would help me manifest what I wanted….

Because, how dare you think negative thoughts? Those could come true since the “Universe” brings you what you think about because like attracts like. Right?

Wrong.

As I said earlier, the concept of LOA is that “like attracts like.” This means what we think about, is what we will receive whether it is from our good thoughts or undesirable thoughts.

For example, if you believe strongly that you will get the car of your dreams, and you think about it daily, picture it, speak positive affirmations (which also doesn’t work in this concept – more on this later) about how you’re always receiving what you wish for, and so forth, you will attract the car of your dreams in the time you hope to obtain it.

Don’t you think that if we were THAT powerful, EVERY thought of ours would have manifested in the exact time we wanted it to be?

If we were that powerful, then wouldn’t our every wish we had, come true upon our whims?

If that were the case, the world would be in chaos. Honestly, I am so glad that we don’t have every thought or wish of ours manifested. There are so many thoughts we have daily, we know we absolutely don’t want coming true. They are thoughts, after all.

This is why Allah SWT says when we talk about dua, that either it’s a “yes,” a “yes but give it time,” or “I have something better for you in mind.” Our duas are answered but not in the way we ask, or think about. There are so many duas that in hindsight, I am glad never actually came to me the way I asked. Instead, I was protected from calamities, and I was given better than what I asked in unexpected, and yet, beautiful ways.

I remember one day, I was reading this book by Esther and Abraham Hicks called The Law of Attraction – The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham. If you’re wondering who Abraham Hicks is, it is the collective name Esther Hicks gave some cosmic channeled spirits (100 otherworldly beings) who continuously come to visit her and teach her about the concept of the LOA (and she talks as if she is Abraham in the third party during her seminars). In the book, there was a chapter where Esther was addressing questions, and there was one answer I read on one of the questions that really concerned me:

“What causes worldwide waves of unwanted events?”

To which the answer in the book was (and I’m doing a quick paraphrase of it), all worldly events occur due to our collective thoughts. Earthquakes, fires, and these other natural events happen due to our vibrational thoughts that are then received by the “Universe.” If we are thinking about something like this on a shared basis, it will happen because the universe answers from our vibrational feelings and emotions that come from our thoughts.

Umm, that’s not true. Not in the least.

Sure, we can think about the possibility of quakes happening where we live, or fires that can destroy homes, and ruin the lives of those who worked hard to build their homes. But do our collective, vibrational thoughts really cause all of these issues?

It’s like saying that someone asked for something bad to happen due to simply their thoughts (mixed with emotions and feelings, because that is what the Abraham Hicks book talks about the majority of the time), and then something bad happened to them. Or you think something good, and then you end up manifesting that. Basically, they say, the LOA helps you to attract and manifest what you want through your feelings and thoughts, whether they are negative or positive.

I highly doubt that my friends  and the people who were caught in the devastating wildfires here in Southern California, and the mudslides that occurred after from the rain we received were due to collective vibrational thoughts. I doubt that they thought about their houses being destroyed the way were either by the fires, or the mudslides that killed 13 people.

Another concept in the LOA, which is a major flaw and completely unaligned with Islamic concepts, is the idea of us as being co-creators with God. This means WE have the power to change the course of our destinies and can create our future however way we want. What is written is fluid, it is not set in stone, according to this New Age thought.

We can manifest our destiny the way we want, so long as we believe we can because we are powerful. We have God consciousness within us because we are infinite souls, so we are part God. This is the belief of those who practice the LOA.

I do believe that our souls are infinite – our souls were made when Allah SWT breathed life to Prophet Adam (A.S) and to all of us, respectively through him and Hawwa (A.S.). Therefore, our souls will not die. Only our physical selves will. However, we are not co-creators with Allah SWT, and we are not Godly. Astaghfarullah, we could never be. We are human beings. That’s it. Whatever is meant to be is already written in our taqdeer, and nothing can change it. Dua changes taqdeer ONLY if Allah SWT wills, and even then, He has already written down those changes before we make dua for them to happen.

The proponents of the LOA also talk about, in some cases, reincarnation. That we are all souls who live many lives and have past lives (this is found in the Abraham Hicks books, as well as other books, such as Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss).

In all of these teachings, it is apparent they have forgotten about Allah SWT, and have created shirk. Shirk in the sense that we should believe in something other than Allah SWT, that we have a piece of God inside of us and we can completely do whatever we want to fulfill our desires.

Something always felt off anytime I read these concepts; I am sure many people who are believers of the LOA would tell me that it was because I wasn’t certain enough that what I wanted would happen, or that I wasn’t clear enough with the “Universe” so that is why what I wanted did not manifest. Or I was holding on too much with thoughts on what and how I wanted, that it delayed the timing, or things changed because of my thoughts changing, etc.

Oh and this is another concept of the LOA that if we think too much about something and we stay too attached, we actually delay the timing of what we want to happen. We have to let go in order for the time to come faster (I do believe in letting go part and not being attached to any outcome and have talked about this before, but not this silly stuff about timing).

How can our thoughts delay timing? I would think about things I wanted to fulfill obsessively sometimes and they happened in their timing, such as getting into my Master’s program. All in Allah SWT’s timing. Not mine, and not due to my thoughts.

There is no delay in timing. Allah SWT creates the perfect timing for everything to occur. Our duas have a time for their answer. Nothing can happen to alter that timing either, and we cannot get in the way of that time.

As you can see from just the basics I studied about the LOA (and there is a LOT more deeper information on the LOA concepts), much of this does not align with Islam.

This is why I say, be careful with the LOA – when people talk about it, don’t try to do it and believe in it. We are creating shirk with Allah SWT if we follow the guidance of the LOA.

These concepts and teachings are misaligned with Allah SWT’s guidance written for us in the Qur’an and in the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). I have read blogs written by other Muslims about how the LOA is aligned with Islamic teachings and dua, and I have to disagree with them.

The teachings of the LOA are not found anywhere in Islam – or really, in any religion. It is a way to take us away from Allah SWT. Studying the concepts of LOA never aligned to my soul because I innately knew the truth about the Oneness of Allah SWT, taqdeer, timing, and that like does not always attract like no matter what one thinks.

The LOA is just a collection of things coming from various religions, both monotheistic and polytheistic. From there, it was put together without Allah SWT in the picture. Instead, they call divine, Source. They believe the universe provides for us, and at the same time they believe the universe doesn’t even know what we want and only gives us what our vibrational thoughts are – basically saying that there is no such thing as taqdeer/qadr because we can control and change our destiny.

And it makes it seem as if humans are all co-creators with “Source” and that we are endowed with God consciousness.

Astaghfarullah, there is no God except Allah SWT – la ilaha illallah. That is the first concept of Islam. Our shahada reminds us of the Oneness of Allah. Allah SWT is the one who made this entire universe. So how can the universe be the one providing for us? How come we are supposed to ask the universe for things when we should be asking the Lord of the Worlds?

When some of my friends say, “oh the universe is listening and you will get it, just allow the universe to give it to you” I think, “who is the One who made the universe?”

Was it not Allah SWT? He is the One who made us, the entire universe, this earth, the milky way, and all things in between that we are not aware of.

This is the truth.

Allah SWT created us. We are not co-creators with Him. If we were co-creators, then wouldn’t we have had the hand in writing out our own destinies, and changing it as we pleased?

If we were co-creators with Allah SWT, then He would have given us the Pen to write out how we wanted to live our lives while being on this earth. Undoubtedly, I am sure if that were the case, we would have written for our abode to be in Jannah, and for our lives here on earth to be one full of ease, without any problems. Then if that were the case, we would not have the ability to worry about sins, and do good deeds to attain Jannah because we already had written that down for ourselves. I mean, think about this. How does this sound to you?

How is it possible for us to change our destinies and be co-creators when Allah SWT created us, and has already written our taqdeer for us that cannot change because Allah SWT has ALL knowledge of His creation, and of all the secrets of His universe that even we do not know? It isn’t possible. Allah SWT has said in the Qur’an that He has knowledge of the Unseen, and everything that has happened, is happening and will happen in the future is written in the Al-Lawh-al-Mahfooz.

Some of the concepts of LOA talk about how we chose our parents, we chose where and when to be born, what our soul lessons will be in this lifetime, etc. There are people who say they have access to what is called the “Akashic Records” and can read about the events that will happen in our lives, and that of the universe.

This Akashic Records is known as the energetic records of all souls who will be born on this earth – those who have already passed on before us, and those who will come in the future. It is also a record of all the happenings of the universe. Every soul has their own Akashic Record.

Does this sound familiar to you?

The Akashic Records seems to be the Al-Lawh-al-Mahfooz – the Mother of the Book that is with Allah SWT only. And the fact that everyone has their own Akashic Record seems to be the same concept that we have about Allah SWT having our individual taqdeers (destinies) written in our own books for us that comes from the Al-Lawh-al-Mahfooz. No one in this world has access to their own records or that of the Al-Lawh-al-Mahfooz, and no one knows what will happen in this world, or to us except for what Allah SWT has already told us, and what has already been decreed. Therefore, do not believe the person who says they have access to these Akashic Records, because it is not true.

Even we do not know what is in our taqdeer. Our day starts off with us planning out what we will be doing, and then things don’t go as planned. I’m not sure about you, but that’s usually how my days end up being. I plan to go someplace, or do some tasks, and instead, other things come up that I have no control over because perhaps, it wasn’t written for me to go where I wanted to go, or to do the tasks as I had planned.

It doesn’t mean I won’t try and keep planning my days in my planner. I always do. But I also keep the thought in the back of my head to be flexible with my day because I don’t know what will end up happening as the day moves forward.

While I studied the LOA, the concepts that I did like and that aligned with what Islam teaches us (because it does come from Islamic concepts) are the following:

  • Always having strong certainty (yaqeen) and belief that our duas will come true
  • Staying unattached to the outcome because we have to trust Allah SWT through tawakkul (although LOA doesn’t talk about it that way, it is the background of what they mean when they talked about being detached).
  • Having positive thoughts, and staying positive as much as possible because negativity comes from Shaitaan. However, negative thoughts are not always bad. It helps us to know what we do want, and we can deal with what is called “contrast.”
  • Feelings and emotions are important – having a good feeling or positive emotion about our duas helps us to stay positive to know our prayers will come true in the best way possible.
  • Taking inspired action steps that help us with fulfilling our goals, and duas (with the guidance of Allah SWT in each step).
  • Always make dua for what you want, but also ask for khair if what you want may not be the best for you in the eyes of Allah SWT (this is a concept in the LOA that when you ask, you say, “This, or something better” which makes sense).

Again, be careful with the concepts of the Law of Attraction. Take the good from it that I’ve listed, and leave the rest of it alone. The good that I listed is founded in Islam (way before the New Age people came in and took those concepts to add to the LOA), so that’s the only reason why I listed things.

Stay positive about your duas, have yaqeen (certainty/belief) and tawakkul (complete trust) in Allah SWT, while staying unattached to the outcome, taking action wherever and whenever possible, and asking for the best to happen for you.

Don’t ask anyone other than Allah SWT for all your needs. He will fulfill what your needs are for you.

-Dr. Aasiyah N. Ghazi

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