Prophet Muhammad ﷺsaid: “None of you should die except
while assuming the best about Allah.”
Feeling down in the dumps, depressed,
having the blues… These are just some of the terms used to describe a feeling
of hopelessness and despair that can hit even the most positive of us at some
point in our lives. However when sadness, gloom and unhappiness becomes a
permanent mark of our lives, when it creates a feeling of hopelessness,
helplessness and worthlessness, when it interferes with our ability to work,
study, eat, sleep, and mix with people we may be suffering from abnormal levels
of despair otherwise called depression.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺsaid
taught us a du’a against despondency which, in amazing brevity, also reveals
the consequences of acute depression. The du’a reads as follow:
“O’ Allah I seek your protection
from anxiety, sorrow, inability, laziness, cowardice, stinginess, overpowering
debt and subjugation by fellow man”
This du’aa speaks about the eight
emotional traits of a person overcome by severe dejection:
1. Anxiety:An unexplained cloud of
constant worry, fear, a boding that something bad is going to take place. You feel
agitated, restless, and are on the edge all the time.
2. Sorrow: A sense of
dejection that crushes both your body and mind. You almost believe that it is
not possible to be happy. Feeling of not being cherished and respected by
anyone
3. A feeling of uselessness:A
Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. A bleak outlook—nothing will ever
get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation. You are
locked into victim mode. This drops your tolerance levels. Everything and
everyone gets on your nerves.
4. Laziness/fatigue:Neither interest
nor any willingness to pick yourself up. Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and
physically drained. Your whole body may feel heavy, and even small tasks are
exhausting or take longer to complete.
5. Cowardice:Lack of
self-confidence. Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. A bleak
outlook—nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve
your situation.
6. Stinginess:No interested in the
welfare of others. You are too preoccupied in your own gloom to even think of
the happiness of other people.
7. Overpowering debt:Trouble
focusing, making decisions, you become financially reckless in the hope of
buying yourself out of misery. You engage in escapist behavior
8. Subjugation by fellow man:Under
the control of other people. You feel pressured by those around you. You no
longer believe in yourself and feel compelled to toe the line.
A Muslim should always assume the
best about Allah. He should strive to do his best and expect the best outcome:
that Allah will accept his good deeds; that Allah from His grace will forgive
him; and that Allah will bless him to live out his life, until its conclusion,
upon faith. Prophet Muhammad ﷺsaid “None of you should die except while assuming the
best about Allah.” (Muslim)
Our challenge under all
circumstances is to act as best as we can with the firm conviction that
whatever afflicts us was never meant to miss us and whatever misses us was never
meant for us. We believe that our life ultimately unfolds in accordance to the
will of Allah!
“No calamity befalls the earth and
neither your own selves unless it be laid down in our decree long before we
bring it into being – verily that is easy for Allah. So that you may not
despair over whatever good escapes you nor become arrogant over whatever good
has come your way”[Quran 57:
22]
May Allah grant us the ability to
turn each anxiety, each fear and each concern into an opportunity for making
du’a and turning to Him with repentance.
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