Question: My problem is that
I feel hopeless all the time not just because I think too much but because
whatever happens to me is against my will. It is okay if it happens once
or twice but it seems to happen chronically. My second problem is that
I am not good in communication also. I want to become assertive but I think
my fate doesn’t help me with this as well? Please advise.
Answer: As long as the wheel
of life is destined to move on, problems and difficulties will keep popping
up. The Almighty has sent us in this world in order to test and try us.
The nature of the trial of life varies from person to person. Some people
are placed in difficult times and some in prosperity according to the just
and wise scheme of the Almighty. The underlying objective, however, remains
to test which one of them is good in deeds. A study of human life reveals
that the first form of trial is rather common because it demarcates an
evident line between the good and the bad. Whenever Allah alludes to the
trial of life, He places more importance on this form of trial. Thus, He
has explicated:
And surely we shall try you with something of
fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad
tidings to the steadfast. (2:155)
So, the befitting attitude is to submit
to the scheme of Allah because it will lead us to Paradise. The benefit
we shall reap in this world because of this submission, is to be contented
and satisfied. Try as hard as we may, we cannot undo whatever Allah has
willed for us. However, if we learn to see our happiness in the failures
that He has willed for us, it will not only earn us entitlement to Paradise
but also give us a contented heart.
The second question must also be understood
in the perspective of the explanation delineated above. Allah has created
people of varying skills and capabilities. Some people are awarded the
ability of articulation as good as to become immortal orators and some
are deprived of the very ability of speaking. While the former person is
supposed to prostrate himself in gratitude, the latter is required to prostrate
in submission to God’s will. I think it is rather difficult to be a good
Muslim when you are blessed by God-gifted talents and skills. Our misery
and deprivation remind us of Allah and help us to draw closer to Him. So
the deficiency that you have related to me is not to be feared. Moses (sws),
the great Prophet of Allah, had problems with communicating the message
of Allah to the people. What he did was that he prayed very sincerely to
the Lord to compensate it. I have quoted below the prayer for you to recite
in order to invoke the mercy of Allah to help you be assertive.
O Lord, relieve my mind, and ease my task for
me and loose the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech.
(20:25-8)
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