Omar Suleiman – The Qur’an and Depression

			of the Laguna shuddered, Rahim Allah He narrates that one day I came to Salah to the Fajr and I came
very late so I was in the very back rows of the Salah. And it was during the Khilafah of Ramadan
barbital the Allah Tala Anhu. So he walks into the masjid of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
to pray behind the honorable Cotabato the Allah Tala and who, and he said I came late. So presumably
in the second record, all the way in the back row. And he said Satan Amato, the Allahu taala, and
who was reciting Surah, Yusuf that day.
		

			And he said, that he started to recite in a school bethey where his knee it Allah,
		

			that verily I complain of my grief, and of my sadness only to Allah.
		

			And he said, he started to cry so loud that I could hear him all the way from the back row.
Subhanallah no speaker system, no nothing. I could hear him weeping all the way from the back rows.
And he would try to collect himself and recite it again. And then he would cry again, while the
Allah Tala Anhu and he would try again and he'd cry again. But all the Allahu Tanauan Subhan Allah
if you prayed behind the Imam and the Imam started to weep in an unusual way, you know, it's very
possible that afterwards you'd come up to him and just put your hands up on the back and say, you
know, may Allah make it easy, I hope everything's okay. Or is everything okay? You might be
		

			concerned. But the norm of the companions was to have this type of a relationship with the Quran.
And I want you to ask yourself, what do you think on model the Allah Tada? And who was crying about?
Was he crying about? Yeah, Kobani has Salam, the pain of Jacob with his son Joseph with Yusuf alayhi
salam, and just the moments of Surah Yusuf that are so personal. Was he crying because he was
thinking about something with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was he perhaps still grieving
the death of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam. And we know that he always was grieving the
death of the profit slice on him all the way up until his own death. There's something happened to
		

			our model, the allowance is unreal to where that IO was hitting him in a particular way. Did one of
his children become sick? Was he dealing with a hardship that no one knew about? The answer is, it
could be any of them. And it could be all of them, because that was their relationship with the
Quran. Now, how many of you and I just want to see a show of hands actually want this to Shala to be
an exercise for us? How many of you have found comfort in Surah Yusuf during a hard time in your
life, so to use in particular?
		

			Very good, how many of you have found it in another Surah? In particular, can anyone tell me that
Surah any surah in particular, that that has appealed to you?
		

			So little boy, ha, very good. Anyone else wants to say another Surah? Yes.
		

			Can you recite repeat?
		

			Patella, Turabian Masha Allah, what else?
		

			Surah,
		

			Zoomer, masha Allah, so many sorrows. I can see them coming. Alright. We'll finish all the sutras in
the Quran. And that's actually a good thing. That's the point. Different sorrows will speak to you
at a different point in your life. Now, a question that I get asked and it's a it's an interesting
question, and I want to unpack it a bit in Charlotte's on. Does the Quran cure depression? You know,
right now, we live in a world where mental health has been put front and center, especially in the
wake of a pandemic, and these questions about mental health and depression and emptiness and grief.
And it forces us to really dig deep and to look for solutions. And may Allah subhanaw taala make it
		

			easy for everyone who has been struggling in whatever way they have been, Allahu Amin, and the
question will be about the Quran and specific the relationship of the Quran, to depression, to
sadness, to grief, and everything that comes under that category of sadness. And I want to unpack
this a bit from the perspective of our dean. And it's very important for us to say and to
acknowledge from the very start, that as Muslims, our solutions to these problems are going to be
unique because our belief system is so unique. We believe in something very different. And so it's
very hard for us to relate this to someone who doesn't believe like we believe we believe that
		

			everything good comes from Allah subhanho wa taala. We believe that everything that will give us
salvation in this life and in the next is found in some way grounded within this notion of Tawheed.
Within this notion of the oneness of God. We believe that in the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam is called to attune Hassan is an excellent example in every single matter.
		

			of our lives. And so the way we approach this question necessarily has to be different from the way
that someone else approaches this question. So let's start with a rule. There is a difference
between prevention and restoration, prevention and restoration, meaning something that protects one
from falling into difficulty and something that cures you once you have fallen into difficulty
prevention versus restoration, and we can say without a doubt, that the Quran is a means of
prevention, from many of the hardships that come in our lives and the things that ail us in our
lives, many of them the Quran is a prevention and to not have the Quran in your heart is a source of
		

			sadness is a source of emptiness, if you don't have the Quran in your heart, and we know this from
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and Allah the late Sufi, JioFi shaitan middle Quran, Kal
Baitul Hara the prophets lie some said, the one who doesn't have anything of the Quran in their
heart is like a destroyed house. It's like a destroyed house. And so, if you go to a destroyed
house, and you try to fix one wall or put up one stick, you're still dealing with a house that is
destroyed. The Quran is the source of our collectiveness of our togetherness in the first place.
It's the first foundation of that. And so the Quran is a source of fulfillment. The Quran is a
		

			source of meaning. And certainly, much of what can cause sadness and emptiness is a lack of clarity
and a lack of purpose and the Quran gives a strong sense of clarity and a strong sense of purpose to
us a strong sense of fulfillment. And so at that level, the Quran is a foundation for meaning and
meaning is a foundation for happiness. Let's start with that. Then you go to the question of
restoration,
		

			a cure Allah subhanaw taala describes the Quran as Shiva only math is pseudo as a door for that
which is in the tests so the Quran is a cure. Now, is the Quran a cure for a physical illness?
		

			If a person is physically sick, can the Quran part of a cure for that person? Yes.
		

			reading Quran on a person part of Rokia it's part of a cure the prophets lie Selim even allowed for
sides of an apostle the Allah Tala animal to read certain Fatiha upon a non Muslim chief and it
cured him from a physical perspective. Now, here's where it becomes a very important question as
well. Because there's a difference between saying that the Quran is the cure a cure, and being
dismissive of other ways in which we also strengthen ourselves. Is it impermissible to take medicine
while you read the Quran on yourself as you're physically curing yourself? No. So there's a
difference between saying to someone that the Quran is a cure, read Quran on yourself, drink from
		

			this water, read, you know, read little care on yourself. And just do that and don't take any
medicine don't do anything else. Don't do anything else for your physical health. And dismissing the
Quran together, the Quran is Shiva only maphis pseudo, and is a cure for what is in the test. Now we
are made up of so many different beings, right in the sense that we have a physical perspective, a
mental perspective, a spiritual perspective, an emotional perspective, a physiological perspective,
all of these things are to be taken into consideration and the prophets lie some of them said to
give everything it's right to give your body it's right and to give all of these different parts of
		

			yourself there right and so that's why they're element mentioned no claim, Rahim Allah Allah
approaches this in the same way from a physical perspective, the prophet slice and I'm saying to to
a woman who was complaining of sadness to use the Bina which is boiled barley. And he said,
sallAllahu said, I'm telling how will you rather than that it doesn't work with some of your grief.
So prophetic medicine without any of the side effects and things of that sort, meaning that it
establishes the permissibility. It establishes the permissibility of other methods. This is not an
open door, by the way, for all of the antidepressants that are out there, and the quick
		

			overdiagnosis that also exists within this field. Okay, this is to say that Islam acknowledges and
is not dismissive of the fact that there are other ways that we all keep our hearts healthy, that we
keep our moods up, that we keep ourselves emotionally engaged. So one tells you read sort of the
Doha and take a walk and talk to this person, all of that.
		

			But for the Muslim, the Quran is fundamentally part of that alleviation. You understand the Quran is
fundamentally part of that process, at the prevention level and at the restoration level, and to
neglect it is only to your own detriment. So no, you don't come you know, someone comes to you and
says that, you know, I'm
		

			I'm feeling this, and you neglect everything and say, just read sort of Wuhan, it'll go away
tomorrow. No, but you look towards the Quran as a means of that elevation as a means of that
alleviation of a person. And that's fundamental to us. And I actually want you Subhanallah think
about this papel derived from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and Ramadan is a time to
memorize your sheffey acid has been doing every day after sloth that also going over some of the
Durant's from the Sunnah, some of the supplications from the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings
be upon him. You can go to the 18th website and you'll see shift Bahadur Wyatt authored, do ask for
		

			hardship, do ask for hardship, and you'll find many of those grants that are meant to alleviate
hardship. And this particular one is a profound one that I want us to pay attention to the wording
of the prophets of Allah Azza wa sallam said, No one says this dua except that ALLAH subhanaw taala
turns their thumb turns their hardship, their distress into Fatiha into a sense of happiness. So
Eliza changes their condition as a result of this. And he taught the Sahaba to say this dua
frequently and the DUA is as follows and you can find it in multiple variations with slight wording
and that's okay slight changes Allahumma in the Duke, can you repeat after me Allahumma in the Duke
		

			ignore Abdic Ibnu ama tick.
		

			Now CR T V Eddic.
		

			Moblin fear hook Mk.
		

			I don't fear kala UK.
		

			So I'll cover the first part of this Allahumma in near abduct Oh Allah I am your slave. Hypno I'm
the son of your slave web No. ametek the son of your female slave meaning a woman, the son of a male
and a female slave of yours. Oh Allah nasiha TV avec. My forelock is in your hands Maldon via hook
muck Island vehicle buck. Your judgment concerning me will pass as it has been affirmed. And your
decree concerning me is just Marlin Thea hook MK Adlon vehicle Doc as aloo cabbie could lisman hulak
Can you repeat it after me as a Luca? B could lisman Who will UK some Mater BP nutsack O and delta
Hu
		

			fi keytab IC o alumna who are hudon men halophilic Oh is that thorough TV theory Milaca EB alright
in Duck
		

			Oh ALLAH you're saying us no Kobe could lisman who are like I asked you by every name that belongs
to you so made to be enough SEC that you named yourself with oh and delta who Vicki topic or your or
your
		

			Oh, I love to who I had the main culprit or Utah one of your creation. Oh, is that thought to be
theory Millay. Behind that or you kept with You concealed in the unseen and Jalil Khurana, Robbie
Calvi and Jalil Khurana
		

			Robbie I will be
		

			one over a Saturday
		

			wa Jalla his knee
		

			where the harbor Hammy.
		

			I asked you Oh Allah to make the Quran, the spring of my heart, the light of my chest, the reliever
of my grief and the reliever of my distress. Grief isn't means the grief that comes before him means
the stress the anxiety of what is to come. The prophets like Selim taught the Sahaba to say this
drought. And what I want you to understand is that the drought has meaning it's not just an empty
drought that you just read, no but the Prophet slice I'm specifically asking Allah to make the Quran
the greatest source of relief in a person's life, the greatest source of cure in a person's life.
And I challenge each and every single one of you. It really is a challenge and I'll challenge myself
		

			if the Quran is part of your daily life. If the Quran is part of your daily life, come to me two
months later, and tell me that your mood has not changed. Tell me that your happiness has not
increased. Tell me that you have not felt a greater connection to Allah subhanaw taala and felt more
about okay in your day. Again, we don't dismiss the physiological, the emotional, the mental and so
many other things. But we placed the Quran as part of all of that, because the Quran forms the
foundation of meaning in our hearts. And so every single day after, even if it's going to be two
pages a day, if you start your day with it, five pages, maybe 10 pages, maybe you can start doing a
		

			juice every single day Allah knows best but
		

			If you start your day with it, watch what happens to your life.
		

			And you'll find that it transforms it in a way that a house is being built inside of you to the
contrast of what the Prophet salallahu USM described as a destroyed home, and SubhanAllah. I'll also
say this in conclusion, that you'll find that when they're relevant, spoke about the Quran, and
different sources that help them through their difficult times. The Quran speaks to every
circumstance with both the voice of God as well as the actions of those that are most pleasing to
Him, meaning what you have Allah subhanaw taala has analysis of every circumstance, someone who's
lost someone who's going through difficulty, someone who's going through hardship, someone who's at
		

			the top, someone who is at the bottom, and it gives you the response of the most beloved people to
him. So none of it is going to be irrelevant to this discussion. So you might find Surah Yusuf at
one point in your life, you might find certain Ramadan is what your heart needs. In this moment, you
might find sources. You might connect with parts of the Quran that you were unfamiliar with, but now
because you're reading it regularly, then it Tada you're finding a connection and inshallah to Allah
a means by which the fog clears. Clarity. Clarity is so important to a person who needs to proceed
through this life. Clarity. The Quran gives you clarity, and it has miracles embedded within it,
		

			that no book of science is ever going to be able to capture. May Allah subhanaw taala make the Quran
the spring of our hearts, the light of our chests, the reliever of our grief and the reliever of our
distress olam I mean does Aquila Titus and I want you to go