Companions of Jannah - A walkthrough!

"And they will approach one another, inquiring of each other. They will say, "Indeed, we were previously among our people fearful [of displeasing Allāh]. So Allāh conferred favor upon us and protected us from the punishment of the Scorching Fire. Indeed, we used to supplicate Him before. Indeed, it is He who is the Beneficent, the Merciful."

A true believer will inevitably face grievous challenges in this era of fantasized living standards. Amidst all the striving to protect one’s faith, in this generation that constantly pulls down a person to immorality, it is obvious to wish for a good companion that reminds us constantly of Allah. The dearest thing to the heart of a true believer is his faith. Lack of true and virtuous companionship can push a believer to a monotonous life to preserve his deen. One will tend to run away from everything that can harm this treasure of guidance. Islam began as something strange and will return to being strange. In this era of liberal grime, holding onto one's deen is similar to holding a burning charcoal. A righteous circle that reminds us of Allah, that uplifts and teaches us to live purely and plainly for the sake of Allah is a requisite.

A young Muslim man, during his college years, faced difficulties in sticking to the principles of Islam. Witnessing the morally declined men and women of the ummah caused his heart to ache. This turned out to be one of his greatest motivations to build a community of like-minded youth to support each other in following the deen of Allah. 'Companions of Jannah' was a thought that emerged as a consequence of this lack of community to complement the students who want to hold to the deen. The struggles he faced in his college days amidst the liberal ideologies made him realize the necessity of bringing up a sanctuary for such people. His vision is to unite the ummah divided by socio-geopolitical orders under the banner of Tawhid.

He wanted to make sure that the people joining this community would enjoy an Islamic value-based lifestyle, and hence IPD- an Islamic Personality Development course was built. The endeavor began in his father’s library with the conviction for it, that it was dispensed in the wise IPD, 'Wise', the Western Ghatts Institutes of Social Excellence. Later on, IPD was restarted under COJ thereby laying the foundation. COJ burgeoned in March 2022 with duas and hopes with its first-ever challenge in Ramadan 1443. With around 500 participants, the challenge was fruitful by the grace of Allah.

Who are we?

And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His face [i.e., acceptance]. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect. {Al Kahf 18:28}

Companions of Jannah aka COJ is a youth-led initiative dedicated to the advancement of a productive ummah that is proud of their religion. The essence of COJ is the people who are bound by deen, free from any sectarian politics or organizational conflicts, and love one another for the sake of Allah.

COJ 's vision is to build a family of brothers and sisters bonded by the deen and sincerely working for the akhirah with the purest intention of pleasing Allah alone. COJ focuses on building a support network for Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world to engage with one another, open up about their problems, and be involved in critical discussions on relevant topics. It is a platform for everyone from all fields to contribute towards the upliftment of the ummah with their own unique and creative ideas and skills.

Our mission is to develop a community of young minds with refined personality, character, and conduct through Islamic Personality Development programs (IPD) and to raise a generation of youth who are capable of dealing with the contemporary problems facing the Muslim ummah. We aim to provide a platform for young minds from different fields to contribute towards the development of the ummah and to raise a group of individuals with improved and advanced soft skills.

Our Mentor

Wafi Shihad, the pioneer of COJ, May Allah accept him and forgive him, is a devoted mentor who seized his place in the duas of thousands and thousands of people. He belongs to the Pulikkal region of the Malappuram district, of India’s southwestern Kerala state. He is a psychology graduate of Farook College, Kozhikode, Kerala. Wafi Shihad is a certified consultant at Faith Consulting and is an experienced counselor and mentor with internationally accredited certification in counseling. He has gained expertise in the field of pornography deaddiction and personality development. He worked as personality development trainer and life coach, mentor at Western Ghatts Institutions of Excellence, and as an English anchor in the Media One journalism channel. He is a former research analyst at Learning Radius ADJE and a former language instructor at Aston Coach, UK. He completed Arabic Linguists and Islamic Studies in Egypt and is currently pursuing ‘The Making of a Scholar’s program for advanced theology and jurisprudential studies at the Institute of The Global Madina Mahtharah, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

Born to Abdul Ahad Madani and Sajidah, Wafi Shihad is the third child of the five children. His family roots on his mother’s side can be traced back to Sir Abdul Hameed Madeeni, one of the earliest students at Madinah University from India. Sir Abdul Hameed Madeeni was a student of Sheikh bin Baz and Sheikh Abdul Muhsin Abbad. He is a former Principal at Rouzathul Uloom Arabic [RAU] College, Kozhikode Kerala. He is the president of Kerala Jamiyyath ul Ulama, a scholars’ body. His great-grandfather from his father’s side, Sir Muhammad Moulavi established the Madeenathul Uloom Arabic College [MUAC] in Pullikkal, Malappuram. His grandfather was a scholar and professor at MUAC. His father is also a former professor there.

Wafi Shihad is a mentor to many individuals around the world. With directing personality development built upon Aqeedah, he aims at holistic development of the Muslim community, with special emphasis on mental health, and to empower the Ummah to achieve success in both this life and the hereafter. He combines Islamic spiritual practices with psychological methods to bring about this spiritual transformation in people’s lives. As the founder and pioneer of COJ, Wafi Shihad has realized his dream of providing true companionship to those who are "strangers" in this world, who are singled out for sticking to Islamic principles in a liberal world of widespread immorality.

IPD- Islamic Personality Development Program

IPD is a psychologically designed holistic Islamic Personality Development program with a well-structured syllabus and mentoring plan aiming at developing a personality based on the Qur'an and sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ. It is established on the grounds of Aqeedah. The IPD program involves daily task tracking with tasks starting from obligatory acts of worship and voluntary deeds to soft skills and behavioral development oriented towards the deen. The course includes worthwhile sessions on a wide range of subjects essential for a believer’s daily life. It involves the building of a community engaging in critical discussions and also an environment that pushes one another to lead an Islamic moral life. IPD through COJ enabled its members to connect with a global community of Muslim brothers and sisters. Segregated platforms allow people to maximize their experience to the fullest and open up a space for them to fall back.

Overview

COJ is a reality to cherish an international community of Muslim brothers and sisters who can help each other get closer to Allah. All praise be to the Lord of the worlds. By the mercy of Allah, COJ is successful with the sense of one ummah, familyhood, and love among its members. With utmost glee and gratitude to the Lord of the worlds, we look back.

It has been more than a year now. By Allaah’s mercy, COJ has benefitted a lot of people. Alongside IPD, COJ was successful in bringing up the Hifdh club for the memorization of the Qur’an with consistency, a Reading club for enthusiastic readers, and a Listening club ready to listen to those who yearn to be heard. Besides this, a high-performance Islamic Personality Development challenge of three months that aims at the growth of a Muslim from Mu’min to Muhsin mode based on three levels with task tracking and journaling features, and also a pornography detox program with 10 well-designed sessions and planners for three months were executed from January 2022. This Ramadan 1444, in addition to the Ramadan challenge, witnessed a uniquely prepared pre-Ramadan course and a social media detox challenge to maximize the productiveness of the blessed month. All these by the will of Allaah turned out to be extremely beneficial. By the grace of Allaah, COJ is growing to find its presence in a wider aspect to benefit the ummah. With the help of Allaah, now we aim to work hard for His sake.

COJ is now the dream of those young souls who are privileged to bear it on their shoulders. It is part of our lives, the ecstasy to our hopes and answer to our request of purification to the Exalted Lord. So much happened in a year. COJ grew to be the part of duas of thousands. The vision of bringing the youth together to benefit the ummah found its sweetness as the volunteers stood shoulder to shoulder, sacrificing their sweat and time, only to witness the gratitude to Allaah mentioned in duas of many. COJ is a humble and hopeful initiative to bring the love for the sake of Allaah together for the growth of the ummah as one.

What to expect from this blog?

Every Muslim is proclaimed to seek knowledge. The IPD program provides a platform for its participants to discuss, share, and learn Islamically relevant topics. COJ has the objective of raising a generation with an adequate relationship with the real roots of Aqeedah internalizing the true fruits of the Qur’an and sunnah, capable of dealing with the contemporary issues the Muslim ummah faces, and raising a group of individuals with improved and advanced Islamic knowledge, qualities and lifestyle. This blog aims to bring out the jewels and gems from its core menage and the discourse of the COJ ummah, acting as a storehouse and see-through of the invaluable information to the entire ummah, In sha Allaahu Ta'aalaa.

From Our Mentor

Companionship is truly a blessing. Loneliness is truly a test. Friendship is truly a gift. It is what molds us inside out. The people who surround us determine our altitude in life. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that a man is in the way of his friends. This is a very deep statement.

Looking back on my life, one thing I quickly realized is that when you stick to the deen, there will be people who will definitely oppose you with the sharpest words. They might act like your friends but the moment they see that you choose to follow the deen, they will call you names and will insult you. You might feel hurt and in pain due to how they treat you, due to how they laugh at you and make jokes about you. Looking back to childhood, this was always a part and parcel of my life. Sticking to deen was never easy. During college life, the test just got harder. Free mixing, college programs, birthday parties, Holi celebrations, etc. where girls and boys just free mix without boundaries and dance together, it’s just a fitna factory. When you stay away from all these activities, people will start considering you an extremist. They will call you a fanatic. They will argue with you based on their baseless liberal arguments. These constant attacks can sometimes test your patience. But be patient! Stand strong! Alhamdulillah, looking back, I feel extremely happy. Alhamdulillah summa Alhamdulillah.

The most important factor that will help you stand strong in the deen is your friends. Choose your friends wisely.

For the past few years, one important vision I had based on my personal experiences was to develop an international community of people who were bonded by deen and would provide a strong support network that would motivate the person to stand strong on deen.

Alhamdulilah. Today, it has been more than a year since the COJ (Companions of Jannah) community came into existence. An amazing team of brothers and sisters was formed as the backbone of this community. An Islamic personality development course was designed to mold the individuals in this community. To see the development of the community from a small circle of a few members to thousands of people has filled my heart with happiness. To read messages from people who say how deeply COJ has affected their lives, helped them grow, and reconnected them with faith humbles me. Without Allah’s help, none of this would be ever possible. الحمدلله

As I look into the future, I feel deeply grateful and hopeful that this community will grow and develop internationally to benefit young brothers and sisters from across the globe. We are moving ahead with multiple projects at the moment such as Listening Community, Iqra Reading Club, Mentorsa Education Project, etc.

We hope that this will leave an indelible impact on the world and become a door of transformation for millions.

I know deeply that any project, initiated solely for the sake of Allah will bloom and blossom. The past one year has taught me that if we take one step towards Allah, He will take ten steps towards us. If we cherish His remembrance in our hearts, we will flourish in His blessings.

COJ is Allah’s blessing, His answer to the duas of thousands of people.

May Allah unite all of us as companions in Jannah.