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Islamic Rulings -
Living Shariah Verdicts
Islamic Questions & Answers
Question:
How to obtain success and prosperity in this
world and hereafter? What kind of success or
prosperity that Islam wants the Ummah Islam gain in
this world?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah.
Peace of mind, contentment,
happiness and freedom from worries and anxiety… these
are what everyone wants, and these are the ways in
which people can have a good life and find complete
happiness and joy. There are religious means of
achieving that, and natural and practical means, but
no one can combine all of them except the believers;
although other people may achieve some of them, they
will miss out on others.
There follows a summary of the means of achieving this
aim for which everyone is striving. In some cases,
those who achieve many of them will live a joyful life
and a good life; in other cases, those who fail to
achieve all of them will live a life of misery and
hardship. And there are others which are in between,
according to what the means he is able to attain.
These means include the following:
1 – Faith and righteous deeds:
This is the greatest and most fundamental of means.
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Whoever works righteousness — whether male or
female — while he (or she) is a true believer (of
Islamic Monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good
life (in this world with respect, contentment and
lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a
reward in proportion to the best of what they used to
do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter)” (Quran, 16:97)
Allah tells us and promises us that whoever combines
faith with righteous deeds will have a good life and a
good reward in this world and in the Hereafter.
The reason for that is clear: those who believe in
Allah – with sincere faith that motivates them to do
righteous deeds that change hearts and attitudes and
guides them to the straight path in this world and the
Hereafter – follow principles and guidelines by means
of which they deal with everything that happens to
them, be it the causes of happiness and excitement or
the causes of anxiety, worry and grief.
They deal with the things that they like by accepting
them and giving thanks for them, and using them in
good ways. When they deal with them in this manner,
that creates in them a sense of excitement and the
hope that it will continue and that they will be
rewarded for their gratitude, which is more important
than the good things that happen to them. And they
deal with bad things, worries and distress by
resisting those that they can resist, alleviating
those that they can alleviate, and bearing with goodly
patience those that they cannot avoid. Thus as a
result of the bad things they gain a lot of benefits,
experience, strength, patience and hope of reward,
which are more important and which diminish the
hardships they have undergone and replace them with
happiness and hope for the bounty and reward of Allah.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
expressed this in a saheeh hadeeth in which he said:
“How wonderful is the situation of the believer, for
all his affairs are good. If something good happens to
him, he gives thanks for it and that is good for him;
if something bad happens to him, he bears it with
patience, and that is good for him. This does not
apply to anyone but the believer.” (Narrated by
Muslim, no. 2999).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
told us that the believer is always gaining and the
reward for his deeds is always multiplying, no matter
what happens to him, good or bad.
2 – Being kind to people in word and deed, and all
kinds of doing good.
This is one of the means of removing worry, distress
and anxiety. By this means Allah wards off worries and
distress from righteous and immoral like, but the
believer has the greater share of that, and is
distinguished by the fact that his kindness to others
stems from sincerity and the hope of reward, so Allah
makes it easy for him to be kind to others because of
the hope that this will bring good things and ward off
bad things, by means of his sincerity and hope of
reward. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“There is no good in most of their secret talks
save (in) him who orders Sadaqah (charity in Allah's
Cause), or Ma‘roof (Islamic Monotheism and all the
good and righteous deeds which Allah has ordained), or
conciliation between mankind; and he who does this,
seeking the good Pleasure of Allah, We shall give him
a great reward” (Quran, 4:114)
Part of that great reward is relief from worry,
distress, troubles, etc.
3 – Another of the means of warding off anxiety
that stems from nervous tension and being preoccupied
with disturbing thoughts is to occupy oneself with
good deeds or seeking beneficial knowledge, for
that will distract one from dwelling on the matters
that are causing anxiety. In this way a person may
forget about the things that are making him worried
and distressed, and he may become happy and more
energetic. This is another means that believers and
others have in common, but the believer is
distinguished by his faith, sincerity and hope of
reward when he occupies himself with that knowledge
which he is learning or teaching, or with the good
deeds that he is doing.
The work with which he occupies himself should be
something that he likes and enjoys, for that is more
likely to produce the desired results. And Allah knows
best.
4 – Another thing that may ward off worry and
anxiety is focusing all one’s thoughts of the present
day, and not worrying about the future or grieving
about the past. Hence the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) sought refuge with
Allah from worry and regret, from regret for things in
the past which one cannot put right or change, and
worry which may come because of fear for the future.
So one should focus only on the present day, and focus
one's efforts on getting things right today. For if a
person is focused on that, this means that he will do
things properly and forget about worry and regret.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) said a du’aa’ or taught a du’aa’ to his Ummah, as
well as urging them to seek the help of Allah and hope
for His bounty, he was also urging them to strive to
attain the thing they were praying for through their
own efforts and to forget about the thing which they
were praying would be warded off from them. Because
du’aa’ (supplication) must be accompanied by action.
So a person must strive to attain that which will
benefit him in worldly and spiritual terms, and ask
his Lord to make his efforts successful, and he should
seek His help in that, as the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Strive for that which will benefit you and seek the
help of Allah, and do not be helpless. If anything
(bad) happens to you, do not say, ‘If only I had done
such-and-such, then such-and-such would have
happened.’ Rather you should say, ‘Qaddara Allah wa
ma sha’a fa’ala (Allah decrees, and what He wills
He does),’ for (the words) ‘If only’ open the door to
the Shaytaan.” (Narrated by Muslim).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
connected the matter of striving to achieve good
things with the matter of seeking the help of Allah
and not giving in to feelings of helplessness which
are a harmful kind of laziness, and with the matter of
accepting things in the past which are over and done
with, and acknowledging that the will and decree of
Allah will inevitably come to pass. He described
matters as being of two types:
1 – Matters which a person may strive to achieve or to
achieve whatever he can of them, or to ward them off
or alleviate them. In such cases a person must strive
and make the effort, and also seek the help of Allah.
2 – Matters where such is not possible, so he must
have peace of mind, accept them and submit to Allah's
will.
Undoubtedly paying attention to this principle will
bring happiness and relieve worry and distress.
5 – One of the greatest means of feeling content
and relaxed and of acquiring peace of mind is to
remember Allah a great deal (dhikr). That has a
great effect in bringing contentment and peace of
mind, and relieving worry and distress. Allah says:
“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find
rest” (Quran, 13:28)
Remembering Allah (dhikr) has a great effect in
achieving this aim because it has a special influence
and because of the hope that it brings of reward.
6 – Another of the means of bringing happiness and
relieving worry and distress is striving to eliminate
the things that cause worry and to achieve the things
that bring happiness. That may be done by
forgetting about bad things in the past which cannot
be changed, and realizing that dwelling on them is a
waste of time. So a person must strive to stop himself
from thinking of that, and also strive to stop himself
from feeling anxious about the future and the things
that he may imagine of poverty, fear and other bad
things that he thinks may happen to him in the future.
He should realize that the future is something
unknown, he cannot know what good or bad things are
going to happen to him. That is in the hand of the
Almighty, the Most Wise, and all that His slaves can
do is to strive to attain the good things and to ward
off the bad things. A person should realize that if he
diverts his thoughts from worrying about his future
and puts his trust in his Lord to take care of his
situation, and puts his mind at rest concerning that,
if he does that, then his heart will be at peace and
his situation will improve and he will be relieved of
worry and anxiety.
One of the most effective ways of dealing with worries
about the future is to recite this du’aa’ which the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
used to recite:
“Allaahumma aslih li deeni alladhi huwa ‘ismatu
amri, wa aslih li dunyaaya allati fiha ma’aashi, wa
aslih li aakhirati allati ilayha ma’aadi, waj’al al-hayaata
ziyaadatan li fi kulli khayr, wa’l-mawta raahatan li
min kulli sharr (O Allah, correct my religious
commitment which is the foundation of my life, and
correct my worldly affairs in which is my livelihood,
and grant me good in the Hereafter to which is my
return. Make my life a means of accumulating good, and
make death a respite for me from all evil).” (Narrated
by Muslim, 2720)
And he said, “Allaahumma rahmataka arju fa la
takilni ila nafsi tarfata ‘aynin wa aslih li sha’ni
kullahu, laa ilaaha illa anta (O Allah, for Your
mercy I hope, so do not abandon me to myself even for
a moment. And correct all my affairs. There is no god
but You).” (Narrated by Abu Dawood with a saheeh
isnaad, no. 5090; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Kalim al-Tayyib, p. 49)
If a person utters these du’aa’s, which ask that his
spiritual and worldly affairs may be set right or
corrected, with proper presence of mind and sincerity
of intention, whilst striving to achieve that, Allah
will grant him what he has prayed for, hoped for and
striven for, and He will turn his worry into joy and
happiness.
7 – If a person experiences anxiety and distress
because of a disaster, then one of the most effective
means of relieving himself of that is to think of the
worst scenario to which that may lead, and try to
accept that. When he has done that, then he should
try to alleviate it as much as possible. By means of
this acceptance and these efforts, he will relieve
himself of his worries and distress, and instead of
worrying he will strive to bring about good things and
to deal with whatever he can of the bad things. If he
is faced with things that cause fear or the
possibility of sickness or poverty, then he should
deal with that by striving to make himself accept
that, or something even worse, with contentment,
because by making himself accept the worst-case
scenario, he lessens the impact of the thing and makes
it seem less terrible, especially if he occupies
himself with efforts to ward it off as much as he can.
Thus as well as striving to achieve something good
which will distract him from his worries about
calamity, he will also renew his strength to resist
bad things, and put his trust and reliance in Allah.
Undoubtedly these matters are of great benefit in
attaining happiness and peace of mind, as well as
bringing the hope of reward in this world and in the
Hereafter. This is something which is well known from
the experience of many who have tried it.
8 – Steadfastness of heart and not being disturbed
about the imaginary things that bad thoughts may bring
to mind. For when a person gives in to his
imagination and lets his mind be disturbed by these
thoughts, such as fear of disease and the like, or
anger and confusion stirred up by some grievous
matter, or the expectation of bad things and the loss
of good things, that will fill him with worries,
distress, mental and physical illness and nervous
breakdowns, which will have a bad effect on him and
which causes a great deal of harm, as many people have
seen. But when a person depends on Allah and puts his
trust in Him, and does not give in to his imagination
or let bad thoughts overwhelm him, and he relies on
Allah and has hope of His bounty, that wards off his
worries and distress, and relieves him of a great deal
of mental and physical sickness. It gives
indescribable strength, comfort and happiness to the
heart. How many hospitals are filled with the mentally
sick victims of illusions and harmful imagination; how
often have these things had an effect upon the hearts
of many strong people, let alone the weak ones; how
often have they led to foolishness and insanity.
It should be noted that your life will follow your
train of thought. If your thoughts are of things that
will bring you benefit in your spiritual or worldly
affairs, then your life will be good and happy.
Otherwise it will be the opposite.
The person who is safe from all of that is the one who
is protected by Allah and helped by Him to strive to
achieve that which will benefit and strengthen the
heart and ward off anxiety. Allah says (interpretation
of the meaning):
“And whosoever puts his trust in
Allah, then He will suffice him” (Quran, 65:3)
i.e., He will be sufficient for all that is worrying
him in his spiritual and worldly affairs. The one who
puts his trust in Allah will have strength in his
heart and will not be affected by anything he imagines
or be disturbed by events, because he knows that these
are the result of vulnerable human nature and of
weakness and fear that have no basis. He also knows
that Allah has guaranteed complete sufficiency to
those who put their trust in Him. So he trusts in
Allah and finds peace of mind in His promise, and thus
his worry and anxiety are dispelled; hardship is
turned to ease, sadness is turned to joy, fear is
turned to peace. We ask Allah to keep us safe and
sound, and to bless us with strength and steadfastness
of heart, and complete trust, for Allah has guaranteed
all good things to those who put their trust in Him,
and has guaranteed to ward off all bad and harmful
things from them.
If bad things happen or there is the fear of such,
then you should count the many blessings that you are
still enjoying, both spiritual and worldly, and
compare them with the bad things that have happened,
for when you compare them you will see the many
blessings that you are enjoying, and this will make
the bad things appear less serious.
See al-Wasaa’il al-Mufeedah li’l-Hayaat al-Sa’eedah
by Shatkh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Sa’di
Ibn al-Qayyim summed fifteen ways through which Allah
may dispel worries and regret. These are as follows:
1- Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (belief in the
Oneness of Divine Lordship)
2- Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah (belief in the
Oneness of the Divine nature)
3- Tawheed of knowledge and belief (i.e.,
Tawheed al-Asma’ wa’l_Sifaat, belief in the
Oneness of the Divine names and attributes)
4- Thinking of Allah as being above doing any
injustice to His slaves, and above punishing anyone
for no cause on the part of the slave that would
require such punishment.
5- The person’s acknowledging that he is the one
who has done wrong.
6- Beseeching Allah by means of the things that
are most beloved to Him, which are His names and
attributes. Two of His names that encompass the
meanings of all other names and attributes are al-Hayy
(the Ever-Living) and al-Qayyoom (the Eternal).
7- Seeking the help of Allah Alone.
8- Affirming one's hope in Him.
9- Truly putting one’s trust in Him and leaving
matters to Him, acknowledging that one's forelock is
in His hand and that He does as He wills, that His
will is forever executed and that He is just in all
that He decrees.
10-
Letting one's heart wander in the garden of the
Qur’aan, seeking consolation in it from every
calamity, seeking healing in it from all diseases of
the heart, so that it will bring comfort to his grief
and healing for his worries and distress.
11-
Seeking forgiveness.
12-
Repentance.
13-
Jihad.
14-
Salah (prayer).
15-
Declaring that he has no power and no strength, and
leaving matters to the One in Whose hand they are.
We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound from worries
and to relieve us of distress and anxiety, for He is
the All-Hearing, Ever-Responsive, and He is the
Ever-Living, Eternal.
See Alhomoom – Dealing with Worries and Stress, in the
Books section of this site.
And Allah knows best. May Allah send blessings and
peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and
companions.
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