Peace be upon you, respected teacher. Whenever I come across a course—online or in person—that seems useful to me, I enroll, pay the fee, and complete it with care and diligence. I even receive a certificate. But when it comes to applying what I have learned and making practical use of it, I don’t succeed. I don’t know why. I put all my effort and energy into completing the course, but when it’s time to use what I learned, I fall short. It’s as though completing the course itself was my real task, when in fact the main goal is to get started and succeed in the work. Now I’m considering spending a considerable amount of money to get started in a particular line of work, but after my past lack of success, I’m hesitant. Please advise me. Thank you.
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ
چگونه پس از گذراندن دوره آموزشی در عمل موفق شوم؟
The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)
To make good use of a course in practice, first consider whether it is genuinely necessary and permissible. Then, while remaining consistent in your obligatory and recommended acts of worship and asking God to guide you toward what is best, see whether you feel drawn to the course with genuine interest and enthusiasm. If you do, go ahead; if not, let it go. It is also recommended to seek God’s forgiveness and recite Supplication 33 from al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya.
Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)
Teacher and researcher in the intellectual tradition of wisdom and the Ahl al-Bayt | Soroush Bamdadān Cultural CenterAfter assessing the legitimacy and necessity of the course you wish to undertake, and if it is approved, begin only after carefully and consistently fulfilling your obligatory duties and taking up supererogatory acts, and after seeking what is best from God Almighty. If you feel a sweetness toward the course, proceed with it; otherwise, withdraw from it.
My suggestion:
The seventy-part prayer for forgiveness of our master, Amīr al-Muʾminīn, peace be upon him.
Recite Supplication 33 from al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya after the prayers, seven times a day for seven days!
I ask the faithful to pray for me.
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By fulfilling obligatory duties, I mean performing them in the best possible way; by taking up supererogatory acts, I mean remaining steadfast in recommended devotions, including the night prayer.