Warding off Anxiety

A person’s life is like an outstretched rope and they do not know when it will be cut. And this rope is divided into past, present and future. So one may look back to the past regretting it and despairing, or grieving over it and as a result becoming despondent. And perhaps one is worried with knowing something in the future before its time. And the reality is that one does not have but the present that one lives in. Because yesterday is the past and one does not sense it nor does one feel its severity. And the future is unseen and uncertain. So one only has the present time in which they live. For one is not able to return to yesterday or hasten tomorrow. And as long as one lives in this world, their matters are destined and they are not free from calamities. Just as the breeze does not perpetually blow fresh air on one’s life without rain. And in people’s lives there are ups and downs. And from these dangers and hazards, hearts become worried and people become frightened. Indeed this is anxiety.

Yes, anxiety is a feeling that one experiences. It places sadness, turmoil and despair within them. And it crowds out sociability, stability and optimism. As a result, one does not sleep well and does not enjoy the taste of food. Yes, it is the anxiety that makes one feel that the day will not catch up to the night. And that night will not be followed by day. Anxiety makes a minute seem like long hours. And how long the night is for someone not able to sleep.

Anxiety makes the overweight thin, and grays the hair of youth. Anxiety distracts the mind, and occupies thoughts, and closes in on someone in spite of vastness. Even if one lives in a luxurious palace or fortified tower, one’s chest feels tight as if they were climbing into the sky. To the point that they lose their health or perish.

And none of us lives their entire lives without anxiety, or being afflicted with the smoke or dust of anxiety except for those whom Allāh wills. The one holding position and honor is obsessed with losing it at every moment and has anxiety. And parents have many worries over their children’s future and present. They are worried about buying clothes for one, raising another one, finding a spouse for another one, and another one finding a job.

Yes, people in this world will necessarily have some kind of worry, sadness and displeasure. However, the proportion of happiness and sadness in the heart is linked with the amount of imān (faith) and guidance in the heart. So when one’s imān (faith) in Allāh and their certainty increases, and they become righteous and guided, then their soul becomes stable and calm, their heart is at peace and they feel comfortable and happy. Even if it appears to people that one is miserable or deprived. Or that the calamities and afflictions are hitting them left and right. Allāh Almighty said:
An Nahl (16) 97: Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.

And when the people of Paradise settle in it, their first supplication is what Allāh Almighty mentioned in the Quran. Allāh Almighty said:
Fatir (35) 34: And they will say, Praise to Allāh, who has removed from us [all] sorrow. Indeed, our Lord is Forgiving and Appreciative

And this indicates that grief, or a portion of it, must befall a person in their life. And that this worldly life is not the place of complete happiness. And a person will not find complete comfort in it.

The one thinking that anxiety is restricted to the needy, poor and impoverished is gravely mistaken. The reality is that the esteemed and affluent have worries just as there are needy people who are content and stable. Although some poor are afflicted with worry because of an empty stomach, some of the affluent are afflicted with worry due to an overfilled stomach.

Indeed, anxiety is one of the soldiers of Allāh that He afflicts upon people to see what they do. Although it is a feeling and not physical, it has a stronger effect than the physical harms. And this is confirmed by what Ali bin Abi Taleb, may Allāh be pleased with him, said when he was asked, “what is the strongest soldier of Allāh?”, then Ali responded, “ the mountains and the mountains are cut by iron, so iron is stronger, and fire melts iron, so the fire is stronger, and water extinguishes fire, so water is stronger, and the clouds carry the water, so the clouds are stronger, and the wind transports the clouds, so the wind is stronger, and the person evades the wind by his hand or clothes, so the person is stronger, and sleep overpowers a person, so sleep is stronger, and anxiety overpowers sleep, so the strongest soldier of Allāh is anxiety that He dispatches to whoever He wills of His servants.

Allāh Almighty said:
Al Anam (6) 125: So whoever Allāh wants to guide – He expands his breast to [contain] Islām; and whoever He wants to send astray – He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky. Thus does Allāh place defilement upon those who do not believe.

Oh Muslims: There are many things that hurt the heart, including matters related to past matters and memories of things gone. The heart grieves when remembering them, and the heart is afflicted with pain when they are recalled. And there are pains related to things in the future, which afflicts one’s heart with anxiety because of something to come and a future matter. One does not know what will come of it, and one’s heart is occupied with it. And there is gloom which is what afflicts one in a matter related to their present state and reality. So there are three matters, which are grief which is related to what has passed, and anxiety which is related to the future and gloom which is related to one’s present state.

And these three matters are only cleared and removed from the heart by one sincerely returning to Allāh, and humbling oneself before His Hands and submitting to Him, and obeying Him, and surrendering to His command, and believing in His Book and reflecting upon it, and taking care to recite it and putting it into practice. So with that and nothing else, these matters will go away and one’s chest will be relaxed and they will attain happiness.

In this regard, Ibn Masood, may Allāh be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
No one is afflicted with distress or sorrow and says: O Allāh, I am Your servant, and the son of Your male servant, and the son of your female servant. My forehead is in Your Hand (i.e. you have control over me). Your Judgment upon me is assured, and Your Decree concerning me is just. I ask You by every Name that You have named Yourself with, revealed in Your Book, taught any one of Your creation, or kept unto Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen that is with You, to make the Qur’an the fountain of my heart, and the light of my chest, the banisher of my sadness, and the reliever of my distress. Except that Allāh will remove his distress and sorrow and replace it with relief. [The Authentic Series, Albani (199), Grade: Ṣaḥīḥ]

Then when the honorable Companions, may Allāh be pleased with them, heard the Prophet ﷺ guide to this blessed supplication, they said to the messenger of Allāh ﷺ, “Shall we not learn these words?”, then the Prophet replied, “yes, it is necessary for whoever hears them to learn them”.

For they are great words. It is necessary for the Muslim to learn them, and to strive in reciting them when afflicted by anxiety, grief or gloom. And one should know that these words will only be beneficial if one realizes their meaning, implements their purpose, and acts according to what they indicate. As for reciting the authenticated supplications and ordained remembrances, without understanding them, and without realizing their intent, this would be ineffective and of little benefit.

May Allah Almighty fill our hearts with Iman, contentment and joy. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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