As young people unhappiness is certainly not a feeling that is alien to us. We are all struggling in some shape or form. Sometimes, failing to succeed in our studies tends to ruin our whole mood. Some of us are stressed about finding a job to support our living costs, others are wondering whether they picked the right degree, some of us may even be reading this and hoping to find something that may motivate them to find a goal in their life, your friend may be suffering from an illness, you may be that very person suffering from the illness or you may be someone looking for that ‘special’ person. There are many things for us to be unhappy about, this post was not written so you could be judged and looked down upon, it was written because from experience this feeling is not the best thing to live with. You may be indulging in mass sins and are too ‘scared’ to repent and return back to Allah. However I want to try and give you a different perspective on all of these matters. During my moments of hardships I read many books, attended various circles and watched many lectures and this is what I came to realise:
No matter how bad your situation is this Dunya is the lowest of places, it’s only up from here (Inshallah). This place was designed to be a complete test, some are tested with poverty, unhappiness and hardships, and others are tested with wealth, riches and goodness. It is tailored to each person and ultimately the test is how we deal with it; whether we become bitter from these hardships and fall into the trap of believing that a merciful Lord would not make us deal with these adversities or equally whether we fall into the trap of believing we are invincible and owe our wealth only to ourselves, whilst forgetting to be thankful to Allah everyday and forgetting to use our wealth in his way and for his sake. The companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them) frequently reiterated ‘When things are easy they are always followed by hard times, whereas when things are hard they are always followed by easy times.’ If we just became patient with all the tribulations that befall us we could technically be in Ibadah, you could be just sitting in your home and if you are patient with the trials Allah tests us with, you’re in Ibadah. But if you’re constantly complaining, know that Allah will give you more things to complain about.
When trying to overcome this sense of sadness, there are those of us who stumble due to the sins we commit; however we need to remember a statement made by the Prophet “I swear by Him in whose hand is my soul, if you were a people who did not commit sin, Allah would take you away and replace you with a people who would sin and then seek Allah’s forgiveness so He could forgive them.” This is who we worship. No matter what it is, Allah forgives if you go back to Him with a sincere heart. His mercy is beyond our understanding. “And seek forgiveness of Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Compassionate” (Qur’an 73:20) As Rumi said in one of his poems: “Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn’t matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.”
We know that Satan says that most of us aren’t in a state of gratitude. Allah states this very fact in the Quran “And few of my servants are grateful.” The root of Taqwa (god-consciousness) is gratitude. The Almighty is worthy of the gratitude; it’s not just about fear. We don’t want to be a people who are motivated to do things by a negative force (fear). Behind everything is Allah; therefore in being grateful to everything we are grateful to Allah. This effectively includes being grateful to people who harm us, because in reality, if we respond correctly, they are doing us a big favour in drawing us nearer to Allah.
Now that you have understood this, sit down and think all the blessings Allah has bestowed upon you. He has allowed you to use electricity to read this piece; he has allowed you to have eyes to witness the very world he allowed you to reside in. He has allowed some of us to attend universities where we enjoy the presence of great people. He has allowed us to own a stomach where we enjoy the very food he has allowed us to eat. The list is endless.
Sometimes dedicating time and pondering about all the things Allah has allowed us to enjoy shifts our whole mood. When I say this I am not saying it just for the sake of it but because this matter is true. Over the past few days I have reflected a lot and realised that in some way or another Allah has answered all of my pleas. Sitting down and pondering over the Mercy of Allah overwhelms me. This has certainly made me a happier person, this has eradicated the senses of depression and most importantly this realisation has allowed me thank Allah for any incident that occurs to me. It is important to continually be in a state of reflection, the world we live in is one that can drain our Iman and our happiness, the only way to overcome this, is to remember and thank Allah and count our blessings more than once. This thanking of Allah however is not merely saying Alhamdullilah after everything that occurs but it is also utilising the very things he has blessed us with. So if you have the gift of being creative then use that help those of us who are dull in the approaches, if you have been blessed with wealth donate to projects that would allow other human beings to smile and feel this sense of gratitude, if your divine gift is in giving advice or writing then by all means use those powerful verses to help another person. As the saying goes, the world is your oyster and it’s up to you to really show this gratitude.
A very noble man said not too long ago “If you take a child and you throw the child up, there is a point where you see this, they go into this state of complete panic and then when they come back to your arms they are laughing. That is dunya, I guarantee you, that moment, that is your life, you came from God and you are going back to God and there is just a moment when you are in a complete state of panic but just relax, you are in good hands. Just relax.”
Be happy, stay positive, ponder on your successes and constantly be happy with what you have been blessed with.
May peace be granted to all of us.
By Ali Habib (inspired mostly by my friends and the sheikhs that provided the information and life lessons)
Wonders of a Traveler 