Every one traced to a named master and a named work. In the book’s order — the order is the teaching. Full instructions are in the book and the app.
Section 0 — Seeking and Praying for Your Shaykh
Asking Allah plainly for a guide About 1 minute A short, direct request in your own words, made once a day.
The dua of the seeker Under a minute, inside prayers you already pray Two supplications from the Qur’an, said at the times when asking is strongest.
Sincerity in the asking Ten minutes once, five minutes a month after Writing down what you actually want from a teacher, including the parts you would rather not see.
What a true guide looks like A year of ordinary attendance Observable checks you run on a man over a year, not a list of qualities you admire.
The warning signs of a false one Six to twelve months, in the background Seven checks a man can actually run, and what to do when one of them fails.
Seeking without impatience One evening a week One bounded evening a week for the search, and no searching outside it.
Trusting the timing Five minutes when needed; two minutes weekly Istikhara before real steps, and a weekly two minutes of naming what you did not arrange.
Preparing the character before the meeting One to two minutes nightly, for forty days One fault, named by someone who lives with you, worked on for forty days.
Keeping the intention alive through the wait Two minutes every Friday A written renewal, two minutes every Friday, kept for years.
Never mistaking preparation for arrival No time — a standing rule Concealment: doing all of this without becoming a man who has a path.
Section 1 — Prayer
Arriving before the adhan 8 minutes, once a day Being in the place of prayer before the call comes, so the prayer does not start cold.
The two minutes of stillness before takbir 2 minutes Standing on the mat without moving, until the noise in you settles, before you say Allahu akbar.
Praying it as your last 3 seconds before one prayer Standing in each prayer as though there will be no other.
Fixing the gaze at the place of sujood No extra time at all Keeping the eyes on one spot on the floor for the whole prayer.
Slowing the recitation Adds under 2 minutes Deliberately halving your speed, so the words have room to be words.
One ayah of al-Fatiha per week 5 minutes once a week Living with a single ayah for seven days, until you have crossed the whole surah in seven weeks.
Praying in a bare room 15 minutes once, then 30 seconds a day Removing everything from your line of sight before you stand.
Hearing your own voice No extra time Reciting quietly aloud so your own ear catches the words.
The sunnah rakats as the doorway 3–4 minutes per pair Using the sunnah before the fard as a warm-up, so the fard is not the first thing.
The pause nobody takes Adds about 1 minute Restoring the two silences the prayer is built around: after the takbir, and between the ayat.
Section 2 — Dhikr
The hundred istighfar About 4 minutes, in pieces Seeking forgiveness a hundred times a day, in three words, spread across the day.
Morning and evening adhkar as a fixed frame 4 min morning + 4 min evening A short, unchanging set of words at each end of the day.
Salawat, the dhikr that needs no permission 2–3 min across the day Blessings on the Prophet — the one remembrance no one has ever required authorisation for.
Dhikr while walking 3–6 min, hidden in walking One phrase, on a stretch of ground you already cross every day.
Dhikr in the hands during work No extra time — inside a shift A phrase running underneath work your hands already know how to do.
Counting on the fingers No extra time The sunnah’s counting method, which costs nothing and cannot be seen.
Tongue first, heart later 5 deliberate min a day Move the mouth. The heart is not where you are able to start.
When the tongue moves and nothing follows Exactly as long as before What to do in the months when the dhikr is completely dry.
Dhikr in the ten minutes before sleep 7–10 minutes The last words of the day, in a fixed order, with the phone out of reach.
The dhikr of the drive 10 min of a commute Turning the emptiest reliable time in a working man’s week.
Returning to it after you have forgotten it for a month 2 min, tonight How to start again, without shame and without a ceremony.
Section 3 — The Diseases of the Heart
Give to the one you envy Five minutes a day, for seven days Break envy by acting generously toward the exact person it targets.
The five steps out of anger Ninety seconds A fixed physical sequence to run when anger rises, before you speak.
Turn the compliment away Ten seconds each time, plus one minute at night A fixed reply for praise, so it does not settle in you.
Continue the deed, correct the intention Two words in the moment; ten minutes a day What to do when you notice showing off in the middle of worship.
The day you buy nothing One day a week, ongoing One fixed day a week of taking nothing new, to loosen the grip of the world.
Give while the hand is still closing Thirty seconds, whenever the pinch comes Give at the exact moment the reluctance is sharpest, not after it passes.
Carry your own things Ten minutes a day Break arrogance with physical acts of lowering, done daily.
The return, twice an hour Under five minutes a day, in seconds A short fixed action that pulls you back from living on autopilot.
Two actions against a hard heart An hour across a week, plus five minutes daily Feed someone and touch a child’s head — the classical prescription for numbness.
Find him seventy excuses Under a minute, at the moment it happens A fixed procedure for the moment you assume the worst about someone.
The deed that cannot be traced to you One hidden act a week, plus a seven-day silence Do good under conditions where you can never be credited.
One day, held in the hand Five minutes at night, one minute at dawn Live inside a single day, on the assumption there may not be another.
Section 4 — The Nafs
The three named stations and how to locate yourself Fifteen minutes, once The Qur'an names three conditions of the self. Knowing which one you are in stops a great deal of wasted panic.
The sin ledger Ninety seconds per entry A written, dated, private record of one sin — kept for information, not for punishment.
Opposing one habit for forty days Forty days, under five minutes a day Pick one small habit of the self, go against it every day for forty days, restart if you break it.
Naming the whisper as it arrives Four seconds, many times a day Learn to say, silently, “that is waswasa” at the moment the thought enters — before it is yours.
The delayed response Twenty minutes, on the nights it is needed Put a fixed, physical gap between the wanting and the doing. Do not decide inside the gap.
The classical use of light hunger No extra time — one moment at one meal Eat to the sunnah measure, not to fullness — a discipline of the body used carefully, or not at all.
Removing the occasion, not fighting the desire One evening to set up Cut the road that leads to it. Do not stand on the road and test yourself.
The sin you have stopped calling a sin 10 minutes, once every few months Find the one you have quietly reclassified as a personality trait, and put it back on the list.
What to do in the hour after you have fallen 15 minutes, in the hour it happens Repent at once, in a fixed short form, and then put it down and do not pick it up again.
Section 5 — The Night
Sleeping in wudu 4 min Ending the day in the state you would want to be found in.
The last third 5 min, fortnightly Working out, from your own timetable, exactly when the night’s last third begins.
Waking without an alarm 2 min Training the body to rise — and using an alarm without shame until it does.
Two rakats is enough 7–12 min A complete night prayer — and why attempting eight will end your practice by week two.
Witr as the anchor 3–5 min The prayer that survives on every night you do not wake.
The dua of tahajjud 3–10 min What you actually say in the hour of descent — including nothing at all.
What to do on the nights you cannot wake 10 sec + 5 min The sunnah’s own provision for the one who intended and slept.
The night before a hard day 15 min (or 5) Keeping something of the night without wrecking tomorrow.
Section 6 — Muhasaba
The evening ledger 6–10 min A written account of one day, before you sleep.
The morning intention 90 sec Setting one condition on the day, before the day starts.
The one-question method Under 1 min One question, the same one, every night for a month.
The weekly review 15 min, weekly Reading seven days at once to find the pattern.
Counting blessings before faults 2–3 min The gratitude list that comes first, every time.
The ledger for a man who cannot face it 30 sec – 5 min What to do when opening the account is the thing you cannot do.
Muhasaba of the tongue 1 watched hour + 1 min One hour a day watched, and one line about it at night.
Section 7 — Silence and Khalwa
The hour alone One hour, once a week One hour a week, by yourself, with nothing in it to do.
The phone fast One to two hours a day A fixed block of hours each day with the device off and out of the room.
A day without unnecessary speech One day a week One day a week in which you say only what actually has to be said.
Retreat inside a working life Twenty to forty minutes a day Retreat assembled out of the gaps your job and your house already leave.
The short i’tikaf Three hours, or one night A few hours or one night inside the masjid, with the intention made.
What silence does to a talker No extra time The sequence a habitual talker goes through when the noise stops.
The drive home in silence 15–25 minutes, five days a week Twenty minutes of the commute with nothing playing, five days a week.
Solitude without withdrawal from your family No time at all — a rule, not a practice How to take time alone without becoming a cold man in your own house.
Section 8 — Dua
The three answers Five minutes once, then one minute a day What the tradition says becomes of a dua — and the part of it you are not permitted to know.
Dua in sujood 30–60 seconds, once a day Asking at the point of the prayer where the reports place you closest.
Asking by the Names Two minutes, once a day Choosing the Name that fits what you are asking for, and using it in your own dua.
Persistence One minute a day, indefinitely Continuing to ask after the years in which nothing came.
Making dua for someone else Two minutes a day Asking, out of his hearing, for the thing you would want in his place.
What a delayed answer actually means Twenty minutes, once Reading a long silence without either denial or false comfort.
Asking for the thing you actually want Two minutes tonight Naming money, health, a child, a marriage — concretely, without embarrassment.
Dua when you are angry with the outcome Ten minutes, on the nights it is needed What to do with the anger — bring it in, rather than leaving it outside.
Section 9 — Reading the Qur’an Inwardly
One page slowly 10 min daily Cut the amount to a single page and give it ten real minutes.
Reading as if addressed to you No extra time Take every command, warning and promise on the page as spoken to you by name.
Tartil as a discipline Same 10 minutes Slow, measured, unhurried pace — commanded in the Qur’an, available to you tonight.
Living with a short surah for a month 2 min/day · 30 days One short surah, read, understood, prayed and carried for thirty days.
Reading aloud at fajr 10 min after fajr Ten minutes of recitation in your own voice, before the house wakes.
Reading the translation as its own practice 10 min evening Understanding what you have just recited — a separate act, and a necessary one.
The verse that stops you Unpredictable When a verse halts you, stop the page and stay with it.
Section 10 — Adab With People
Keeping the tongue No added minutes A hard rule about backbiting, and the exact sentences that get you out of the conversation.
Assuming the good opinion 15 min once Making the charitable reading your standing default with three named people.
Serving without being seen Monthly + weekly One act of service a month that cannot be traced back to you.
Forgiving before sleep 90 sec nightly Emptying the chest of rancour every night, whether or not anyone has apologised.
The company of the sincere 1 hour a week How to find one steady man when there is no circle to join.
Never arguing about religion 10 sec each time Leaving the argument even when you are right, with the exit lines written in advance.
The man who is gentle at home 15 min at the door The measure of your religion is the room you walk into at the end of the day.
Bearing the person who irritates you Monthly + moments Staying in contact with the one man you would rather avoid, and serving him.
Apologising first 30 seconds Being the one who speaks first, within a day, without conditions.
Section 11 — Sabr and Hardship
The first strike One minute, then one hour What you do in the first sixty seconds and the first hour after bad news.
Complaining only to Allah 5–15 min, once a day Ya’qub’s rule: unlimited complaint upward, disciplined speech sideways.
Gratitude in the middle of loss 4 min a day, for a set number of weeks Naming what remains, without pretending the loss is not a loss.
What the masters did in illness As long as the illness lasts Ghazali’s own collapse, and the rules for practice when the body fails.
The dua of Yunus Fifteen seconds each time A single sentence from the belly of the whale, and what it does to the one saying it.
Refusing to build an identity out of your suffering 20 min once, then a habit of noticing The slow drift by which hardship stops being what happened to you and becomes who you are.
When it is another person’s hardship, not yours An hour to visit, a fortnight of small jobs What you actually do when your wife, your mother or your friend is suffering and you cannot fix it.
Section 12 — Remembering Death
The graveyard visit 15–20 min, once a month Going to a Muslim cemetery, alone, and standing there for a quarter of an hour.
The ten-minute contemplation 10 min, once a week A fixed, bounded ten minutes spent picturing your own death, then stopping.
Writing the will 20 min tonight; a few weeks for the document The legal document, the list of your debts, and the two nights the hadith gives you.
The practice for a man running out of time Ten minutes tonight for the first act For the reader with a diagnosis, or in his seventies, or who simply knows.
The night audit of an unfinished life 15 min, one night a week Fifteen minutes with a pen on what is unrepaired — and one action taken tomorrow.
Section 13 — When Nothing Works
Naming qabd Two minutes tonight Learning the classical name for the state you are in, and what it is not.
Why you should not increase when you are dry One month of restraint The instinct in dryness is to add. The counsel of the masters is the opposite.
Setting the minimum floor The prayers you already pray, plus ~90 seconds One absolute minimum you do not go below, for as many years as it takes.
Never judging yourself by feeling Nothing added to the day Feeling is not the measure, and it never was — in either direction.
How sweetness returns Not yours to schedule What actually happens when it comes back, and what to do in the hour after.
Staying as a station in itself Years Constancy is not the consolation prize. In this tradition it outranks the prize.
The prayer you do not want to pray 90 seconds, five times a day What to do in the ninety seconds when the adhan goes and everything in you refuses.
When the dryness has lasted years A 20-minute audit, once For the one in year six, who has stopped expecting it to end.
What to do on the day you want to stop entirely Forty minutes, once The hour in which the decision comes, and what is actually done in it.