Muhammad West – Islamic Mental Health Tips
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AI: Transcript ©
A'udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem, Bismillahir Rahmanir
Raheem, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala
Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man
istana bi sunnati ila yawmid deen, thumma amma
ba'd.
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
We praise and thank Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala who has chosen us together in this
house, amongst the houses of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala during this mubarak hour of Jummah.
When we look at the life of the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, we see that
the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in his
sunnah and in the book of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala comes with solutions to everything.
And it's not merely lip service, but when
we look and ponder on the words of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the words
of Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam, we actually
see that he is true.
That once we adopt these verses and the
sunnah of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
in our lives, things run so much better.
The 10th of October was International Mental Health
Day.
And very often when people have issues, even
when it comes to marriage issues, people knock
on the door of the Imam and you
listen to the problem, you think to yourself,
this is not a sharia problem, this is
not a halal and a haram problem, this
is a personality problem, this is emotional issues
that an individual has.
The amazing thing is that the book of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions 14 times
the issue of depression and anxiety.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about
the Awliya of Allah and those who believe,
لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ They are
not overcome by fear of the future and
neither are they overly sad about things that
happened in the past.
I would like to start with a statement
and it says, it has been well said
that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of
its sorrows, but only empties today of its
strength.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, مَنْ
عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرِنَا وَأُنثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيَنَّهُ
حَيَاتًا طَيِّبًا That whoever does a good deed
with a male or female, the person is
a believer, that's the only prerequisite.
فَلَنُحْيَنَّهُ حَيَاتًا طَيِّبًا We will give this individual
a goodly life.
A goodly life does not mean that this
person won't have problems.
It doesn't mean that he won't have challenges.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives this
individual the tools to navigate around these issues.
And so the Prophet ﷺ teaches us in
the hadith found in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad,
a book compiled by Imam Al-Bukhari other
than his Sahih, speaking about daily living.
In fact the translation of the title is
called The Code of Daily Living.
The Prophet ﷺ says, صَلِ اللَّهَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِيَ
فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ صَلِ اللَّهَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِيَ فِي
الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ فَإِذَا أُعْطِيتَ الْعَافِيَ فِي الدُّنْيَا
وَالْآخِرَةِ فَقَدْ أَفْلَحْتُ Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala for pardon, for forgiveness and wellness in
this world and the year after.
And often when we think about wellness, we
think about wellness in our body.
But it is a wholesome approach to wellness.
Wellness in our soul, wellness in our mental
health, and wellness in our physical health.
And so the Prophet ﷺ says for the
second time, صَلِ اللَّهَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِيَ Ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala for forgiveness, for pardon
and for wellness.
And then the Prophet ﷺ says, فَإِذَا أُعْطِيتَ
الْعَافِيَ If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives
you that wellness فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ in this
world and the next, then you have been
successful.
And so when we think about wellness, we
think about an individual who can worship Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala better.
Is it not Rasulullah ﷺ who teaches us
in his sunnah, that when we have this
urge to go to the toilet, to answer
the call of nature, whether it's number one
or number two, Prophet ﷺ tells us, don't
enter salah in that state.
If you want to use the toilet, and
no knafjah, and you're trying to finish the
salah in time, to not take wudu for
a second time, the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ
teaches us not to do that.
Rather, use the toilet, take a fresh wudu
and then pray.
Similarly, when food is placed on the table,
and it's now the time for salah, the
Prophet ﷺ teaches us that we complete the
meal, eat the food, and then pray.
Can you imagine going into salah, and there
was now a whole spread on the table,
your favorite dish, whether it is seafood, or
whether it is braai, whatever you like, and
all you think about is that braai.
The Prophet ﷺ understands that we have our
natural inclination, we have that lassis that we
have.
So basically, we get that out of the
way, and then we focus on worship of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If that is something as simple as using
the toilet, as eating your meal, what about
an individual who has anxiety, or a person
who has depression?
And so, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala offers
us the solution to all these illnesses along
obviously with professional help.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَنُنَزِّلُ
مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ And
we reveal of the Qur'an, that which
is a healing and a mercy to the
believers.
There is this term that people use often
now, رُقِيَة شَرْعِيَة, to recite surah al-Fatihah,
مُعُوِّذَتَيْنِ كُلَّ عَوْذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَكِ كُلَّ عَوْذُ بِرَبِّ
النَّاسِ And very often this is attached to
illnesses of the unseen nature.
Person who is possessed by a jinn, and
then people recite Qur'an, and recite over
water, and give it to this individual, which
is perfectly in line with the sunnah of
the Prophet ﷺ.
But this recital of the Qur'an, is
not only for this type of issues.
We find in Sahih al-Bukhari and amazingly,
this hadith was the very reason that a
very close friend of mine accepted Islam.
The hadith where the chief of a tribe
is bitten by a scorpion, and the sahaba
they're traveling, and one of them they recite
surah al-Fatihah, gather his spittle, and then
applies the spittle to the wound of the
chief, and he is cured.
And this is a physical ailment.
So the Qur'an, and reciting Qur'an
over water, and shifa through Qur'an is
not restricted only to issues of the unseen
nature.
When Allah SWT sent down this Qur'an
to Rasulullah ﷺ, and sent it down to
us, Allah SWT says, مَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ
لِتَشْقَى We have not revealed this Qur'an
to you to cause you distress.
The Prophet ﷺ, imagine the Prophet ﷺ in
a community, where only good is known about
the Prophet ﷺ.
And then Jibreel comes to the Prophet ﷺ,
appears to him for the first time, and
can you imagine how we feel in Ramadan
when we are connected to the Qur'an?
Now imagine having this direct connection with Allah
SWT, Jibreel comes with Iqra, with that entire
surah.
And then Jibreel comes with, يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَمِّلِ
And Jibreel comes with, يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرِ And
then everything stops.
And so the Prophet ﷺ obviously went out,
spread the Qur'an that was brought him,
and then the Qur'an stops coming to
the Prophet ﷺ.
Some commentators say for up to six months,
there is no revelation coming to the Prophet
ﷺ.
And people like the wife of his uncle
comes to him, and she says to the
Prophet ﷺ, your Lord has left you, your
Lord hates you.
And when you start hearing something enough, you
start to believe it.
Now the Prophet ﷺ obviously, and once a
person came to me and said, how could
you say the Prophet ﷺ is a human?
What makes the Prophet ﷺ so great, is
that he was a human, but he reached
levels higher than the malaika.
The malaika don't deal with depression and anxiety.
The malaika don't deal with sadness.
The malaika don't deal with loss of loved
ones.
But our Prophet ﷺ dealt with all that.
He lost six children in his lifetime.
They died one after the other.
And yet the Prophet ﷺ was resilient, and
he came back and he continued his da
'wah.
This was the Prophet ﷺ.
And so the Prophet ﷺ feels sad.
And the Prophet ﷺ feels alone.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reveals to
the Prophet the surah Wadduha.
And it's a surah that when we are
sad, then we should read it and reflect
upon the meanings.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells the Prophet
ﷺ, Wadduha, by the morning sunrise.
In every language, Fajr means a new dawn,
a new beginning.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes a
qasam, and Allah is allowed to take a
qasam by anything He wishes.
Throughout the Quran, Wadduha, Wal Asr, Wal Fajr,
Wal Teen.
We are restricted to taking a qasam by
Allah.
And one of the names and attributes of
Allah.
As for Allah, He takes a qasam by
whatever He sees fit.
Amazingly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala starts the
surah by making a qasam by the morning
light and the night.
Two opposites, total darkness and this new light.
And so after sadness and anxiety, always remember
that there is always light at the end
of the tunnel.
So there is a contrast between the darkness
of the night and the light of the
new day.
Others say that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
mentions the night to the Prophet ﷺ, because
the night is something totally special to Rasulullah
ﷺ.
That before even the five daily prayers, as
we know it was gifted to the Prophet
ﷺ, he was ordered with, قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا
قَلِيلَ, stand up during the night.
And when the Prophet ﷺ had these sad
moments, he had these moments with Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And so when we do feel the sadness,
know that there is light at the end
of the tunnel.
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ Your Lord has
neither forsaken you, nor does your Lord hate
you.
Because when people tell you something enough, you
stupid, you stupid, you stupid, you start thinking.
We had a domestic and I probably shared
this story, because I shared a lot.
This girl, she speaks excellent English, she is
from Zimbabwe.
So we asked her, why don't you study
something else?
She says, no, I was very stupid in
school.
Very, very stupid in school.
And she had this constant headaches, so we
watched her movements, and she would sweep here
perfectly clean, and on the other side it
would be totally dirty.
Then I told my wife, I think we
should take her for an eye test.
Maybe there is something wrong with her eyes.
I wear spectacles my whole life.
So I am at now minus six from
grade three, so it just got weaker and
weaker.
When we took this girl for an eye
test, her one eye was minus twelve.
So she was like totally blind.
So her problem since primary school was she
couldn't see on the board.
All the people told her was, you stupid,
you stupid, and she started to believe it.
So when people tell you all on your
own, when the people told the Prophet ﷺ,
your Lord has left you, the Prophet ﷺ
never doubted.
But you hear something enough, it has that
effect.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells the
Prophet, مَا وَدَّأْكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَبْ Your Lord
has not left you, and neither does He
hate you.
And similarly any believer who has the slightest
connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, your
Lord has not left you, and your Lord
does not hate you.
وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنَ الْأُولَىٰ Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala tells the Prophet ﷺ, that which
is coming is better than that which has
passed.
And if we don't see it in this
life, then definitely the Akhirah is better for
you.
The strife and the hardship and the sadness
and the anxiety of this world is minuscule
compared to the Akhirah.
In fact when you are dipped into Jannah,
you have that first breath of fresh air
of Jannah, you will totally forget the hardships
of this dunya.
In fact the last man that leaves Jahannam,
in a lengthy hadith the Prophet ﷺ says,
the last man to leave Jahannam, of the
believers to enter Paradise, he just leaves the
walls of Jahannam.
The sparks are still hitting him on the
behind, and he's just leaving.
And he gets that first breath of fresh
air outside of Jahannam, he says, Allah has
given me what nobody else has gotten.
Jannah is already full, everybody has taken their
places in Jannah.
He is the last to enter Jannah, just
with that exiting of Jahannam.
He says to Allah, You have given me
what nobody else has gotten.
So the Akhirah is better than that which
has passed.
وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَى And verily Allah will
give you, and you will be pleased.
And what you are given is not always
what you want.
Because you might want a star, and Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to give you
the moon.
So believe in the Qadr of Allah, in
the pre-ordainment of Allah.
Umar ibn Khattab radiallahu ta'ala Anhu, used
to say, I wake up in the morning,
and I don't know what's good for me.
Whatever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has decreed
for me, that's good for me.
It could be that there was this business
venture, that you so much wanted to go
into, and it didn't work out for you.
Somebody else went into that business venture, and
it didn't last long.
It could be a restaurant, a car wash,
whatever.
Or there was a sister that you wanted
to marry, and you were prepared to give
up everything, and move the world, and drink
the ocean with a straw, for that sister.
And at dinner work out, and she married
somebody else, and the outsiders look on to
that marriage, and think, yaa, I missed the
bullet.
I dodged the bullet, walillahilhamd.
And so I have this approach of Umar
ibn Khattab, I don't know what's good for
me.
All I know is that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is in charge of my affairs.
وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرَضَهُ Then Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, reminds the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa
sallam, أَلَمْ يَجِدَكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى Have I not
found you an orphan, and gave you refuge?
At every level in the life of the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he is orphaned
by the death of his father, even before
he is born, and his mother is there.
His mother passes away, and his grandfather is
there.
His grandfather passes away, and his uncle is
there.
He gets married and his wife is his
support.
And all along, higher than that human support
is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
وَوَجَدَكَ ظَالًا فَهَدَى And we have found you
unaware of the nitty gritties of Sharia.
There was a point in the life of
the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he knew
that idol worship, this is wrong.
But he didn't know the nitty gritties of
Sharia, before he became a Nabi.
He was unaware of how to pray, and
the nitty gritties of Sharia.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Have
we not found you in that state?
And then guided you.
وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلًا فَأَغْنَى And we found you poor,
and we enriched you.
Some scholars say through Khadija radiallahu ta'ala
anha, who supported the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa
sallam, financially throughout his da'wah.
فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرُ وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرُ
وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثُ No matter what level
of anxiety, or depression you are at, always
try and help others.
You know when you spend on yourself, you
buy a nice thawb, or a nice perfume,
it helps for a while.
But when you spend on others, and you
see that this person made a change in
his life.
You know when we look at NGOs, they
speak about the recipient becoming the donor.
You don't want to generation after generation, give
out food parcels, and the same people from
the same family come, and the fitrah list
stays the same.
You hope that when you help someone, that
person can then in turn help someone else,
and the whole entire community transforms.
This is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is teaching us here, as part of this
means, and ways, and tips to help us
in our moments of depression and anxiety, that
no matter what level you are at, try
and help someone.
Because there is always someone in a worse
situation than you.
I lost my father in the end of
July, one day I was walking in the
mall, and a person that I haven't seen
since high school, a very close friend, we
were close in high school, I ran into
him, and he told me, what's wrong?
I said, no, I lost my father, it's
probably just one of those bad days now.
So he told me, yeah, I heard, I
lost my mommy and my daddy.
I said, okay.
And he said, yeah, I'm on dialysis, I
lost my job, I'm thinking.
And so I said, yeah, no, I spend
my time, I was still with my son,
I waited 17 years for him.
He says, yeah, I also have a lot,
Allah gave me a lot, he's down syndrome.
I'm thinking, yeah, and this man has a
smile on his face, and I'm feeling gloomy,
and I'm thinking, how much do we have
to be grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala for?
And so, when we do have these moments,
read Surah Al-Duha, look at the life
of the Prophet ﷺ, and look at what
the Qur'an has to offer of a
cure.