Tension - the modern Killer - Virus

Helplessness :

Regarding the feeling  of weakness and helpnessness, Islam works two ways to fight them. One, thru the faith that it imbibes in its believers and second thru  its social system. As for the faith as the tool to fight  the attacks of  feelings of weakness, we have been given the example of Musa. When he started with Israelites from Egypyt, they were pursued by Pharoah  and his army . The Israelites  were in great fear. They cried in distress "we will be taken". But Moses was calm. He said , 'Never! My Lord is with me. He will lead me." So, the thought of the companionship of God kept Moses calm.

It is this faith in the companionship of Allah that kept our Prophet Muhammad [sallal lahu alaihi wasallam} on whom be peace, calm in the cave while Abu Bakr was greatly anxious. Said he , 'Worry not! Our Lord is with us" It is when a believer has such faith that the rule of , 'And then Allah sent down peace on him' is applicable to a muslim.

And then, we have been taught how to seek God's help in difficult situations. It is thru prayers and persevarance. Says the Quran ," O Believers ! Seek Allah 's help with persevarance and prayers. Indeed Allah is with the persevering. "

This aspect of faith in Allah is called 'Tawakkul" or trust in God. He who has this does not experience anxieties.

Another verse says , 'Allah is sufficient for him who has trust in Him. Indeed God is bound to carry out His willl.

"He has fixed an apppointed term for everything."

Trust in God is nothing but to believe that God will direct all our affairs to a happy end. It is with this faith that a believer fights anxieties. His  philosophy is , "Tell them! Nothing will happen to us but that which has been  ordained by our Lord, He is our trust. And in Him, shud the believers put their trust"

And the Prophet has taught us that when we see something disagreeable happening to us, we must say : "O Allah ! No one cause a good  thing to happen, but You. No one can cause an evil thing to happen but You. There is no Power , no force but Yours [Abu Da'ud}

We stated earlier that Islam treats the sense of weakness rising in a man thru two meand :One faith, and the other : its social system. We all very well know how much stress Islam lays upon communal living. We have famous hadith which says that Muslims are like one body in which if one undergoes pain, all its other part  react.

As against this, in a non-islamic society, each man is left to himself to bear his own burden. This keeps everyone under stress and on the guard. Says a hadith , "A muslim is a brother unto another muslim. He neither oppresses  him nor does he hand him over an oppressor. He who is in the process of helping his brother has Allah in the process of helping him. He who removes a suffering from a muslim will have Allah remove a suffering from him, from the sufferings of the day of  Judgement. And he who shielded  a Muslim's faults will have Allah shield a Muslim's faults will have Allah shield his fault on the Day of Judgement"

This then is the way in which Islam proposes solutions to human problems and this then is the manner in which a Muslim society can safe guard its members from anxieties and tensions

Animosity :

The second most common reason for anxieties and worries is the feeling of animosity by others .

Islam proposes cure for this also in two ways. One, to make efforts to win people. This can be done thru good acts  to others. Says the Quran , " Goodness and evil are not equal . Therefore repel with what is better - and lo! he between him and you is animosity ,  is unto thee a bosom friend "

But then , if responding with what is good does not work  or situation  does not allow  it then Islam has a solution  to the problem again. It is to take no notice of people's animosity or hatred to become as they become about whom the Quran said : " Those, who when they were told by the people that armies are gathering for you so you ought to fear them. But this only increased their faith and they said , " In God is our trust and how good a Trust is He".

However  this attitude  and that of non-chalance is to be adopted only after all efforts to win people can be won. Hadith also suggests ways which love can be spread. Says a hadith : "You will never enter paradise until you have faith. And you will not have faith until you love each other. And may i not suggest a way to you, which if you adopt will create love between you ; spread salam"

Wa'Antum khairan katheer

The remaining part of the thread shall be posted soon, insha-Allah

Wa'anthum khairan katheer sisters. This article helped me a lot to revive myselves.

"FearAllah', your book is in Arabic !!, Why don't you share its summary with us by translating it in English. Don't bother of the mistakes. Don't you find such mistakes in my posts. Well they are translated  from urdu. Hahahaa It was a very top secret of mine. Not all articles, but those which i liked ,i translated and shared.

Anyways, i shall continue the rest of this article, insha-Allah

Though of course, love between members of a society also depends on the unity of faith. And the faith on which  people can be united is belief in One God. Said Allah swt to the Prophet, on whom be peace : " If  you spent all the riches of the earth O prophet, you could not have united their hearts."

But the question is : if faith itself is missing , or if present , is there  only in infinetly  small quatities  how can then love be created among  a people?

Loneliness :

The third reason of anxieties and worries can be the feeling of loneliness. But this can only be in a non-Islamic society. An Islamic society does not cause such a fear among the its members. Islam insists that each individual live and work  and pray along with all else. In prayers it has made congregation can be 27 times worthier than those done singly . In faith, Islam disapproves of an individual  living in solititude or travelling alone. A hadith says that satan is with a single man. So is he with two men. But from three he runs away. Another hadith says that the wolf snatches away the straying sheep

Apart from these, Islam also encourages the believers to visit each other so that they know of each other's conditions, and so that they may not feel lonely.

Anxiety :

There are some practical ways to , thru which anxieties can be got rid of. For instance, of a student works all over the year, he will not face anxiety at the end of the year before examinations.

A man who is facing tensions in his job can avoid a great part of it by working hard and honestly. In the same way a woman can avoid her vexations on the score of her husband by being faithful to him and serving him as best as she can.

However , once under tension , one may  apply methods stated earlier.  They are the most  successful pills for psychological disorders. And of especial usage  is to have faith and trust in Allah. To believe that He is with you, and to accept with grace what He deems fit for you : there is no tool better  than this.

As for anxieties caused by imaginary fears, such do not befit a Muslim. Why shud we wait for evil events to unfold ? Says a hadith , " To take evil omen is akin to assigning patrners to Allah. Of course all of us are struck by delusions.

"But Allah cures them with trust we have in Him. "

This  of course has  something to do with faith in the Dinive Decree cares not for what comes and what goes. A believer's faith is that which has been stated in this hadith : " No one is a believer until he believes in the Divine Decree : in its good as well as its evil, and until he knows that what befell him could not have misssed him and what missed him could not have befallen him'

Finally, do not forget that you are not in an ideal world. Rather you are in a world which consists of realities and is filled with misfortunes. There is no rest and peace here - of the sort you will experience in Paradise., You must  not take the affairs of this world too serious. Accept with grace what comes to you and pine not for what you have missed. You have the example of your Prophet - on whom be peace who did not care if the mattress left marks on his body. When someone pointed out, his answer was :- "What do i have to do with this world. My example is that of a traveller who sought  the shelter  of a tree for a while. Then he abandoned it and went away."

Therefore we have to pray as the Prophet used to : "O Lord ! We seek Your shelter from all kinds of worries and vexations, from weaknesses and indolence, from cowardice and miserliness and from the oppression of debts and terror of men. "

Just have complete trust in Allah swt, my dear friends,and ONLY in Allah.