When afflicted with fear or harm, a believer should compare between his fears and the favours and blessings of Allah The Almighty upon him ? whether religious or worldly.
When a person does such a comparison, he will certainly realise the blessings that he has and will see that the disadvantages seem negligible in comparison. As for one’s fears and apprehensions, he should weigh the possibility of future mishaps not even occurring, and if this seems more likely, then he should not let the smaller possibility overtake the larger one in his mind. By doing this, one’s fear and anxiety will disappear. If it seems like the evil that one fears has more of a possibility of occurring than not, then one should prepare himself for it and strive to prevent it from occurring, or reduce its effects when it does.
A believer should realise verbal attacks will not hurt him, unless he allows himself to be affected by them. As the saying goes, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Indeed, the people who attack others in this manner are only harming themselves. Unless one pays attention to such people and allows them to hurt his feelings mere words will not harm anyone except the one who uses them to attack others; the best recourse in such cases is to ignore them.
Life is an extension of one’s thoughts, so if a believer’s thoughts and ideas are those that bring benefit to him in this life and the Hereafter, then he will prosper and rejoice; otherwise, the opposite will be the case.
One of the most beneficial ways to get rid of grief is to train oneself not to seek appreciation from anyone except from Allah The Almighty.
Thus, when one is kind and generous to another person – regardless of whether that person is owed a favour or not – one should realise that he is in fact doing that particular action for the sake of Allah The Almighty (i.e., expecting reward from Him only), so one should be indifferent to receiving any appreciation in return for the favour. Allah The Almighty Says regarding His close and special slaves (what means): {(Saying): We feed you seeking Allah’s Countenance only. We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you.} [Qur’an 76:9] This applies even more when one is dealing with one’s children, wife, or anyone else with whom one has a close relationship.
Remember that performing virtuous deeds brings comfort and joy, provided one performs that which he is capable of doing without overburdening himself to the extent that he cannot fulfil the deed.
Look at the bright side of any troubling issue and seek the silver lining instead of dwelling on the gloomy clouds.
Always have beneficial matters on your list of things to do, direct your attention to them and strive to fulfil them. Stay away from harmful matters; by doing so one will keep himself from thinking about matters which will bring grief and sorrow.
Rest properly and concentrate on gathering your energies and thoughts before performing important tasks.
Finish your tasks on time and do not procrastinate or leave things to the last minute, because if tasks are not finished on time then they will keep getting added to those which need to be done in the future and accumulate to the point where they become a great burden.
However, if tasks are finished on time, one will have time to plan carefully for the future and perform all his tasks efficiently.
Choose the most beneficial deeds and list them in terms of priority; distinguish between what one is strongly inclined to do from among them and order this list in terms of this preference, otherwise, one will become bored of performing deeds that he is not inclined towards.
Consult others and then make a detailed study of what you think you ought to be doing in terms of beneficial deeds; after this if one sees that there is benefit in performing these deeds then he should rely on Allah The Almighty and make a start, because Allah The Almighty loves those who rely on Him.
Article source: http://www.islamweb/emainpage/
Words of wisdom on taking oneself to account
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Hold yourselves to account before you get held to account in the reckoning, and weigh your deeds before they get weighed for you, because reckoning tomorrow (the Day of Resurrection) becomes easier when you hold yourselves for reckoning today; get prepared for the major exhibition, on that day you will exposed and nothing will be hidden.”
He once wrote a letter to some of his officials saying, “Hold yourself in reckoning during the times of ease before you get held in reckoning at the time of difficulty (the Hereafter), because he who holds himself in reckoning during the time of ease will have a pleasant consequence and will rejoice; and he who becomes busy with life and desires (and did not hold himself in reckoning) will regret and lose.”
Here are some sayings of scholars across centuries encouraging us to take ourselves to account, before the Final Reckoning:
Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “You will find the believer always holding himself in reckoning saying, what did I want to do? What did I want to eat? What did I want to drink? But the sinful will go on without holding himself in reckoning.”
Maymoon ibn Mahraan, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “The slave will not achieve piety until he becomes harder on himself in reckoning than a stingy partner when he questions his partner; and that is why it is said that the self is like a betraying partner, if you do not hold it in reckoning your wealth would go to waste.”
Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “The believer is always holding himself in reckoning, and reckoning becomes easy on the Day of Resurrection only for those who held themselves in reckoning during their lifetime; and it becomes difficult for those who went on in life without reckoning.”
Maalik ibn Deenaar, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “May Allah have mercy upon a slave who says to himself, ‘Aren’t you the one who did so and so?’ Then he restrains it and forces it to adhere to the Qur’an and the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) and takes control over it.”
Ibn Mulaykah, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “I met thirty of the Companions of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and each one of them fears that he is a hypocrite.”
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “If one looks at the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, he would find that they worked hard yet were the most fearful of Allah, while we combine between negligence and feeling secure (from punishment).” These are the words of Ibn al-Qayyim during his period, what should we say about our time?
Al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyaadh, may Allah have mercy upon him, said to a man, “How many years have passed from your life so far? The man said, ‘Sixty years.’ Al-Fudhayl said, ‘Then you have initiated a journey towards your Lord, and you have almost arrived to your destiny.’”
Abu Ad-Dardaa’, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Your life is but days, whenever a day passes, a portion of you has finished.”
The question arises: How does one take oneself to account?
Ibn al-Qayyim said that it is done in the following sequence:
First, start with the obligatory matters and make up any shortcomings in them.
Second, check the prohibitions, and repent, seeking forgiveness for the violations committed and strive to perform good deeds to wipe out the bad deeds.
Third, hold yourself in reckoning for your heedlessness by mentioning Allah The Almighty (Thikr).
Fourth, hold yourself to account for the usage of the tongue, eyes, ears, feet and hands. What did you intend by using them? How did you use them?
Article source: http://www.islamweb/emainpage/
