By Musart Ellaahi
Having faith in Allah in these trying times is the hardest thing to do. We live in times where life has become extremely overwhelming, whereby we are easily distracted by the environment around us, including being distracted by the TV, by Social media, by work, by family and… must I go on? Having worked with many individuals and couples alike, I have learned that life appears to be harder than it ever was for us, growing up. How?
People are easily stressed, thereby easily triggered by their emotions. People want quick solutions to all of their problems. They want their partners to understand them without verbal communication. They want money to fall from the sky. They feel like they are being punished for something that they did when their problems keep recurring. Many of us forget to understand that we are all here for a test-tawakkul or putting our full faith in Allah.
We need to remember that everything we have on dunya is temporary, including our relationships, our houses, our livelihoods, our parents and our children. Yet, we always forget because it is easy to forget and it is easy to just worry about things; as a result, we sadly lose our trust in Allah, in that everything is as it should be for the sake of this test-tawakkul.
Thus, how do we overcome these bouts of discouragement and stay on the path of or rediscover the path toward faith?
Having a healthy mindset is more important today than it ever was before the distractions and consumation of modern technology for ex. smart phones. We tend to waste so much time on them that we take them to bed with us and some of us still wonder why we feel so anxious. A healthy mindset is discovering or rediscovering yourself, caring about your well-being and only then, can you connect or reconnect with Allah.
Focus on yourself. Ask yourself, who am I? What do I want? What do I need? At this very moment! I always teach my clients to be focused on the present when they are feeling overwhelmed. That is the best and right distraction you can give yourself when you are feeling overly anxious or depressed. Just look around you, appreciate the little things that Allah has given you: the air we breathe in, the eyes we see with, the legs we walk on…must I go on? That will increase tawakkul.
However, I understand many of us can hopelessly go through some of the hardest challenges in our lives. The best way to return to Allah is to seek the lessons from that hardship and remind yourself that this life is temporary, which means that adversity is also temporary. Use that adversity to get closer to Allah.
Ask for guidance, for forgiveness and thank Allah for the good and you will realise how quickly your problems begin to dissolve. Allah says in Surah Ibrahim, Verse 7, “If you are grateful, I shall give you more.”
Therefore, having patience, gratitude and complete faith in Allah, is the key to success. Tawakkul is the key to success.
About author
Musart Ellaahi was born in Pakistan and raised in the UK. She is a mindset coach, an award-winning motivational speaker and TV host, and a published author. She most recently collected stories of inspirational Muslims worldwide and compiled them into a book titled, “Your Story with Musart.” Her debut novel is “Elaynna.”
Instagram @Musart_Ellaahi
Website www.musartellaahi.com