Abu Bakr Zoud – How to Stop Overthinking
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of preserving health and life, avoiding overthinking, belief in the divine decree, and following guidance of Allah Azza wa Jal. They stress the importance of not overlecting and over grandmothering, following guidance of Allah Azza wa Jal, and following his commands, but avoiding overthinking. They also stress the importance of following guidance of Allah Azza wa Jal and following his commands, but to avoid overthinking.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolillah.
Brothers and sisters in Islam, how do we
stop overthinking?
How do we overcome overthinking?
First and foremost, what is overthinking?
They mention that overthinking is a process of
excessively analysing, worrying, dwelling on thoughts, problems or
situations.
And it often leads to stress, anxiety, mental
exhaustion and so on.
This is what overthinking is in brief.
And it is very debilitating for a person's
mental health, even physical health.
It's no good and a person is always
supposed to look for solutions on how to
stop overthinking in his life.
I share with you a couple of solutions.
Number one, we need to understand that time
is divided into three parts.
There is the past, there is the present
and there is the future.
The past is no longer in our control.
And the future is not in our control
at all.
There remains one time and that is the
present.
This is what we have control over.
Ibn al-Qayyim said, لِيَكُنِ الْإِنسَانُ إِبْنَ يَوْمِهِ
That a person should be the sun of
his day.
Meaning, focus on your day and focus on
the current, present moment.
This is one of the strategies in how
to overcome thinking.
There is no point in dwelling on the
past.
Things that have already finished and are out
of your control.
If they are matters related to sin and
transgression, you regret that and you seek Allah's
forgiveness and you move on.
And there is no point in dwelling on
the future and worrying about the future.
The only healthy worry of the future is
to worry for your afterlife.
And the meeting with Allah and standing before
Allah and being questioned for all that which
you did in this worldly life.
That's a healthy type of worry and that
is something that is required from the believer.
Otherwise, focus on the present and work on
that.
Be mindful on the present moment.
That's number one.
Number two, in order to avoid excessive thinking
or overthinking matters, be grateful.
Be grateful for what Allah has given you
in the present moment.
And there is plenty to be grateful for.
Alhamdulillah that you are a Muslim.
Alhamdulillah that you follow the sunnah of Rasulullah
ﷺ.
Wallahi, brothers and sisters in Islam, this is
the only thing that we want to maintain
in this worldly life.
Our money comes and goes.
Our health, it comes and it goes.
Our status comes and goes.
People respect us, then people don't respect us.
This comes and goes.
But the main thing you want to preserve
and protect is your deen.
And this is why it is the greatest
of all blessings.
So if you woke up today having La
ilaha illallah in your heart, recited some Qur
'an, said La ilaha illallah a hundred times,
then this is a huge blessing for you
to be grateful for.
And this, if you are mindful of it
and grateful of this matter, it would help
you overcome the overthinking that you may have
in your life.
So this is something important for us to
reflect over.
And the Prophet ﷺ has already told us
that the one who wakes up and he
is healthy in his body, he has the
functions of his body restored, and he has
his daily food, and he wakes up safe
and secure, his environment is safe and secure.
فَكَأَنَّمَا حِيزَتْ لَهُ الدُّنْيَا It's as though all
the blessings of this worldly life have been
gathered for such a person.
Allah Akbar.
O Allah, brothers and sisters in Islam, most
of us are living like kings.
Yet the Shaytan and this worldly life that
we live in has convinced us otherwise.
Why?
Because there is a standard that has been
put in society that if you do not
reach it, you are not successful.
People speak about six-digit figures.
Are you making that much or you are
not?
People speak about if you have graduated from
such and such university, then you are on
the way to success.
People mention that if you have this and
this type of job position and title, then
you are successful in this life.
People begin to believe that if you have
a social media account and you have hundreds
of thousands of followers, a million followers, a
million views, your videos go viral, then you
are successful.
Leave all of this out.
These matters are irrelevant to us.
Wallah, Nabi ﷺ has told us that if
you have your daily food and you have
woken up and your environment is safe and
secure, and also you are healthy in your
body, then you are like a king.
You have all the blessings in life.
You have all the abilities in life.
Now focus, focus on your Islam, focus on
your deen, focus on being grateful to Allah
ﷻ, and this will help overcome this overthinking
that you may be experiencing.
And finally, brothers and sisters in Islam, this
is a huge worship that we are supposed
to be engaged in.
Have tawakkul, have trust in Allah ﷻ.
We trust in Allah ﷻ that He manages
our affairs and He takes good care of
us, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He is our Rabb, our Lord, our Master.
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى When Allah ﷻ
was speaking to Nabi ﷺ in Surat al
-Duha, He said to him, مَا وَدَّعَكَ Your
Lord has never failed you.
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ He used the word Rabbuka.
He used His name Rabb because this is
the name that instills within us this love
for Allah ﷻ, this attachment to Allah ﷻ.
So have tawakkul on your Rabb, subhanahu wa
ta'ala, the one who takes care of
you and nurtures you and looks after you
and guides you.
Maybe you're overthinking and you're stressed because of
future related matters.
لَكِنَّ الرَّبُّ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى He will guide you
through them.
He will guide you through them, بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
تَعَالَى until we reach safety, until we reach
Him ﷻ and He is pleased with you.
And something unique about our deen and our
belief is that we have something called الإيمان
بالقضاء والقدر We believe in the divine decree,
the good and the bad.
Every other religion and belief system out there
doesn't have this.
They don't have it in the way we
have it.
And this is why one of the unique
matters of our religion is that we believe
in القضاء والقدر, in divine decree.
And Wallah, by Allah, the one who truly
believes in the قدر will rest assured.
He will not have this problem of overthinking
and over worrying about things.
He will not.
It will be eliminated from his life.
Because belief in القدر teaches us contentment and
contentment is opposite to overthinking and worrying.
So, this is a very important matter to
hold on to.
What does it mean to believe in القدر?
You know, al-'Ulama, rahimahumullah, this is one of
the sahaba, he mentions to his son that
you will not believe, you will never become
a true believer until you believe in القدر,
the divine decree.
And you will never believe in القدر until
you believe, and pay attention with me because
this is what it means to believe in
القدر.
Until you believe that what missed you was
not meant for you.
And what was meant for you will never
miss you.
مَا أَصَابَكَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُخْطِأَكَ وَمَا أَخْطَأَكَ لَمْ
يَكُنْ لِيُصِيبَكَ This is at the core of
what it means to believe in القدر.
If you believe in this, you will meet
Allah عز و جل, a believer.
And if you believe in this, then, subhanAllah,
you will be content and you will overcome
your overthinking.
You'll overcome it.
When Nabi ﷺ has taught us that if
anything was to happen in your life, whether
it was related to your relationships, or your
finances, or your health, or whatever the case
may be, Nabi ﷺ said, and he taught
us to say, that we say قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ
وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلْ Anything, any calamity that happens,
don't overthink and overanalyze and get caught up
in that.
Rather, right then and there, say قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ
وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلْ which means قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ Allah
has decreed what has happened.
وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلْ And whatever He wants, He
will do.
Allahu Akbar.
Say these words instead of analyzing and stressing
yourself out.
Stop and say قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلْ
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ And then Nabi
ﷺ says, and this is unique, it's only
in our deen, no one else.
He says, وَلَا تَقُلْ لِشَيْءٍ لَوْ أَنِّي فَعَلْتُ
كَذَى لَكَانَ كَذَى وَكَذَى وَلَكِمْ قُلْ قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ
وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلْ And don't ever say to
anything, if only I had done this, if
only I had done that.
You see how our deen prevents us from
overthinking?
Our deen is telling us, do not overthink.
Don't say, if I had done this, if
only I had done this, if I invested
here, and if I studied there, I would
have got this, and I would have got
that.
Right?
Don't say these matters.
When Nabi ﷺ says, فَإِنَّ لَوْ تَفْتَحُ عَمَلَ
الشَّيْطَانِ This word لَوْ which is if, if
you continuously repeat this to yourself, and you
overanalyze a situation, if I did this, if
I did that, if I did this, it
opens up the door of a shayṭān.
What does that mean?
Meaning the ifs are going to be endless.
You can think of a million ifs, but
if I did this, and if I did
that, if I spoke to him, if I
got in earlier, if I studied that, it's
endless.
And so a person will end drowning into
this ocean of ifs.
And what does he benefit from this?
You stress yourself, you exhaust yourself mentally, and
there is no achievement whatsoever.
And it kills the iman in al-qadr.
Your iman in al-qadr begins to weaken
if you continuously overanalyze things with the word
if, if, if.
So we cut all this out by saying
قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ وَمَا شَاءَ أَفْعَلُ What Allah decreed,
He wills, and He does what He wants.
So these are a few strategies, a few
points to overcome the overthinking that SubhanAllah is
a worldly issue today.
Many people fall into this problem of overthinking.
And just on a final note here, I
mentioned to you, I give you a small
example so that you can understand this matter.
Let's say you were going cave exploring, and
there was a guide, a guide of many
years, a guide of 25 years.
He's been taking people inside caves.
And of course, when you enter the cave,
naturally you are worried, but you have trust
in the guide that he knows what he's
doing.
So let's say you walk into this cave
with the guide, and all of a sudden,
a rock falls from above, and a bat
flies next to you.
And you're worried, and you're scared, and you're
stressed.
And then the guide says to you, don't
worry, this is all normal.
I've done this for 20 years.
This is nothing to be afraid of.
And let's keep walking.
SubhanAllah, you're naturally still worried and afraid, but
you have trust in this guide that he
will take you inside of this cave safely
and bring you out safely.
Of course, to Allah Azza wa Jal belongs
the highest of examples.
But in this worldly life, Allah Azza wa
Jal is the one who is guiding us.
And naturally, yes, we may be worried and
may be stressed about certain matters.
But Allah Azza wa Jal is the one
who's guiding us.
So if you want to feel safe, if
you want to come out of this worldly
life safe, then follow the guide Al-Hadi.
Follow Allah Azza wa Jal, Subhanahu wa Ta
'ala.
Follow his commands, his instructions.
Otherwise, if you don't, you'll be like a
person in a cave who decided not to
follow the tour guide.
And what would happen to a person in
a cave if he decided to turn away
from the tour guide?
You're all on your own now.
How worried, how terrified, how afraid would you
be?
And if anything happens, who's going to help
you then?
So to Allah Azza wa Jal belongs the
highest of examples in this worldly life.
Follow Allah Azza wa Jal, follow Al-Hadi,
obey his commands, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.
Anything that troubles you, anything that worries you,
raise your hand, ask him Subhanahu wa Ta
'ala to grant you relief, to grant you
mercy, to guide you out of these situations.
There's no need to overthink a matter.
There is absolutely no need to overthink matters,
right?
Because we have Allah Azza wa Jal, we
have our trust in Allah Azza wa Jal.
Instead of spending hours on overthinking, but if
I did this, if I did that, and
worrying and stressing yourself out, spend those hours
and those minutes in a du'a, you
could have spent it in something much better.
Make du'a to Allah, thank Allah Azza
wa Jal that he has got you to
a point where you are in life, and
that would be far greater for your mental
health, for your psychological state, and it would
put your mind at ease and your heart
at ease.
Wallahu a'lam, we ask Allah Azza wa
Jal to grant us goodness in this life,
in the afterlife.
Jazakumullahu khaira.
Wa sallallahu wa sallam wa baraka ala nabiyyina
Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.