Saif Morad – How a Muslim stays POSITIVE During Hard Times
AI: Summary ©
The negative impact of negativity on people is discussed, including negative thoughts and actions. Speakers emphasize the importance of positive outlook and patient actions in achieving success. The importance of patient deeds and positive outlook is emphasized, along with the importance of practicing positive things while taking the means and putting trust in Allah. The speaker also talks about the importance of focusing on positive things and practicing positive things while taking the means. They write down three things they are grateful for during the pandemic and focus on the good aspects of their life.
AI: Summary ©
To
whom my dear brothers and sisters, may
Allah bless us with the best in this
world and the next.
You know it's very easy to get sucked
into everything that is happening,
to feel sad, and to get overwhelmed.
In addition to that, many of the people
we speak to are gonna be very negative
towards the situation.
And not only this situation, but in life
in general, people tend to focus on the
negative aspects. They always tend to focus on
the problems,
and negativity
is toxic. It's very draining to be around
somebody who's negative.
And victims are the ones who always look
at things in a negative light. They always
complain.
They're never happy,
but that is not the attitude of a
believer.
A believer is always positive.
So how can we as believers
be positive no matter the situation?
Well, firstly, we need to reconnect with our
purpose,
to understand why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created
us in the first place. Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala tells us in the Quran.
We were created to adhere to the commandments
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. We were created
to know Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, to worship
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, and the believer understands
this.
They understand their reason for being created.
They understand that this life is temporary, that
our final destination is heaven. This life is
meant for us to do the deeds that
will take us to heaven.
And once we reconnect with this purpose,
the second thing we need to do is
we need to understand that the path to
heaven has obstacles along the way, which are
tests.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us in the
Quran.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us
that do people think that just because they
say we believe that they will not be
tested.
So when we believe in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala,
we will definitely be tested.
And most of us think that tests are
the difficult things in life, But Allah subhanahu
wa
ta'ala tells
us,
Allah is telling us that every soul shall
taste death, and we will test you with
good
and bad
as a test, as a trial,
and to us you will return.
Allah
will test us with good, with comfort, with
luxury,
and he will also test us with bad,
with difficulty, with sicknesses, with diseases.
Allah
already knows the end destination of everybody,
but the people have to do the deeds
in order to separate themselves from one another,
and the believer understands
that every situation is good for them. And
the third thing is to always have a
positive outlook no matter the situation. As the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, wonders is
the affair of the believer.
Everything,
every affair of his is good for him.
Yes, in every matter there is good for
the believer,
and this is not the case except for
a believer.
Somebody who believes, who has faith, who believes
in Allah, his books, his angels, his messengers,
the divine decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
whether good or bad, and does action and
takes action because belief needs to be backed
by action. And somebody who has reached that
level of belief and action,
every single thing that happens to them is
good. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam further
explains and he says,
that when they are blessed with good,
with happiness, with wealth, with children, they are
grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because they
understand that every blessing is from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. It's not because what they did,
but it's because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala favored
them and blessed them and they are grateful,
and this is what protects the blessings.
Being grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protects
the blessings, and not only that, but it
brings about more blessings. The prophet salallahu alaihi
wa sallam said that when they are tried
with difficulties,
they are patient, and that is good for
them. They understand
that this difficulty is from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, the one who loves them more than
their own mothers,
And they know that Allah subhanahu wa taala
wants good for them. They know that Allah
subhanahu wa taala wants to cleanse them, wants
to elevate their status.
Therefore, they are patient.
Believing and hoping in the reward from Allah
subhanahu wa taala while taking the means
and expecting that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will
turn the situation around.
So no matter the situation whether good or
bad, the believer is always in a positive
state. They are grateful during times of ease
and when they are given
and they are patient and they turn back
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala during times of
difficulty.
And patience has 3 categories.
First, that a person is patient upon the
obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's not
easy to do good deeds. It's it's not
easy to wake up for fajr, but a
person does it and is patient upon that
expecting the reward from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Secondly, they are patient upon staying away from
bad deeds. They know that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala forbade them from it. They know that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala dislikes these things
even though their own souls
are drawn towards these actions,
but they are patient and they stay away
from these kind of things. And the 3rd
category is that a believer is patient upon
the decree of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Whether good or bad, they are patient. They
don't complain. They are happy with what Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has decreed for them, and
they expect the reward from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala while they take the means to turn
the situation around, and they expect Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to
relieve them from this difficulty.
And the 4th thing that we can do
in order to remain positive is
to actually look for the positive things.
That when a difficulty
comes upon us, we focus on the positive
things. We ask ourselves the questions, what is
the opportunity here? How can I turn this
situation around? What shortcomings do I have that
I need to fix in order to turn
this thing around? And we remind ourselves that
no matter what the situation is always good.
As the prophet
told us, that no fatigue, no disease, nor
sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls
a Muslim.
Even it were the prick he receives from
a thorn,
but that Allah
expiates
some of his sins.
So whether we go through pain mentally or
physically,
everything that we go through is a means
to cleanse us. And it doesn't remove all
sins, but it removes some sins
because we all have shortcomings.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala purifies us through
these things. So we need to focus on
the good in every situation. And finally,
to call upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala while
taking the means and then putting our trust
in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We make dua
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala consistently,
to make us people who think positively all
the time, and it's not easy and nobody's
saying it's easy. Shaytan wants us to be
miserable, but after we make dua to Allah
and we're consistent in it, we have to
take the means.
When negative thoughts come in, we focus on
positive things. We focus on Allah
and we take the means. We read the
Quran. We read the hadith. We surround ourselves
with positive people, we talk about good things,
we focus on solutions, not problems.
We focus on ideas, not gossip. We try
to be in the company of people who
remind us about our purpose,
about the hereafter,
who encourage us to do good deeds.
And once we take the means, we put
our trust in Allah and
we expect the best from Allah
We expect that he's gonna turn things around.
We expect that we can change, because if
we think that we cannot change, we've already
lost the battle.
And negativity is something that we've learned.
People are not born negative, and because it
is something that we learned,
because of our environment, our friends, society,
it is something that we can unlearn, and
we have to learn to be positive. We
have to learn to focus on the good.
We need to practice.
And as we practice,
we ask Allah and
we take the means and we put our
trust in Allah
we will
be able to think good all the time.
So to recap,
number 1, we reconnect with our purpose.
We remind ourselves as to why Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala created us. We understand that life
is a test, both the good aspects and
the bad aspects. Allah
will definitely test us, and the test is
in everything, and the believer knows that everything
is good for them. So we work on
our faith where we get to that level,
where we see everything as good, because it's
not gonna come overnight. It takes practice.
And in every situation, we always focus on
the good things. And lastly, we make lots
of dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala while
taking the means and then we turn our
affair to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we
expect the best from him. Today's exercise is
to write down 3 things that we are
grateful for during this pandemic.
Even though things are difficult,
we can find 3 things that we are
grateful for, and we have to focus
because where focus goes, energy flows. So may
Allah
forgive our sins,
and may he make our affairs easy,
and may he
remove this disease from the world.
Until next time.