Keep Busy with the Present, Rather than the Past or Future

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

What is the point of slapping your cheeks or tearing your garment in sorrow over something you missed or some calamity that befell you?

What is the point in focusing your thoughts and feelings on some incident that has passed so as to increase your pain and make you fall apart?

If it were possible to reach into the past and change its events which we did not like, and alter them the way we like, then going back to the past would be essential.

We would all rush to go back and erase the things we regretted doing and increase our share of good fortune.

But that is impossible, so it is better for us to focus our efforts on what will help us get on with our lives, for that is our only means of compensation.

This is what the Quran drew attention to after Uhud (a battle named after a mountain in Madinah), when Allah said to those who were weeping for the slain and regretting going out in the battlefield:

Say: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to the place of their death" ..

(Surah Aale Imraan - Verse 154)

Be patient to be victorious.

Wasalaam!

La Hawla wa la Quwwata illa Billah

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

A young man was jailed and his mother had no one else but him. She could not sleep and distress took hold of her completely. She wept until she could weep no more, then Allah guided her to say, La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (There is no power and no strength except with Allah).

She repeated these great words, which are one of the treasures of Paradise, and only a few days after she had despaired of her son ever coming out of jail, he was knocking at the door and she was filled with joy. Such is the reward of one who puts her trust in Allah, calls upon Him constantly and delegates all her affairs to Him.

So you should recite this dhikr, La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, for these great words are the secret of happiness and success. Recite them a great deal, chase away the specters of grief and distress with them, and receive the glad tidings that Allah will soon grant you happiness and a way out.

Beware of losing hope or becoming frustrated, for there is no hardship but it is followed by ease. This is how it has always been, and always will be.

Think positively of Allah, the Exalted, and put your trust in Him; seek that which is with Him, and wait for a way out.

Wasalaam!

Look at the Clouds and Not the Ground

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Be ambitious, keep climbing and always have hope. Beware of falling, and remember that life is minutes and seconds.

Be like the ant in hard work, patience and perseverance. Always keep trying, and keep repenting. If you go back to sin, then repent again.

Memorize the Quran, and if you forget it, go back and memorize it again and again. 

The main thing is that you should never feel defeated or frustrated, because rationally speaking there is no such thing as the last word or the bitter end, rather there is always trial and error, and learning from your mistakes.

Life is like a building that can be renovated and rebuilt from scratch, with new decor and paint. 

Do away with all thoughts of failure, and stop thinking of calamities and problems, for Allah, the Almighty, says in Surah Maaidah, Verse 23, 

"... and put your trust in Allah if you are indeed believers".

Giving up sin is jihad (fighting in Allah's cause), but persisting in it is stubbornness.

Allah loves those who repent and turn to Him.

Wasalaam!