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Don't be depressed (Thinking well of Allah-episode 14)
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https://www.facebook.com/EyadQunaibi4
@EYADQUNAIBI
www.al-furqan.org
We examine our actions and see that we have sinned greatly against Allah. We then feel remorse, and this remorse is commendable as it drives us towards sincere repentance. However, this remorse should be a temporary feeling that immediately pushes us to rectify our mistakes with positivity and good thoughts about Allah—that He will help us, accept our repentance, and give us another chance to set things right.
Sometimes, however, things take a different turn with us. Instead of this positivity and good thoughts about Allah, we get stuck at the stage of remorse, dwelling on past memories, and self-flagellation, thereby corrupting ourselves and becoming bitter. We start to feel that this trial is pure punishment with no mercy in it, and that it is a "breaking of the back" from which there is no recovery; because Allah the Almighty—after giving us chances in the past which we did not utilize—has detested us, is angry with us, and will not give us another chance.
Then, the feeling of alienation from our Lord, glorified and exalted be He, creeps in. We feel that the door has been shut, that our supplications have been rejected, and that misfortune has struck us for the rest of our lives. Brother, sister, beware! This is a trick of the devil, indeed one of his most dangerous tricks.
He makes you initially believe that blaming yourself in this manner is required because it is an admission of guilt. However, the devil stops you at the stage of blame and remorse, making you exaggerate it to lead you to assume something very dangerous: that you imagine the harshness of fate and its Ordainer, glorified and exalted be He. In this moment of bad assumptions, you will feel the terrifying loss. When your trial intensifies, you complain to Allah about your grief and sorrow. But if your assumptions about Allah turn bad, where will you flee? To whom will you turn? To whom will you plead? And whom will you hope for?
You will feel the terrifying loss, and this is what the devil wants; for he is banished from Allah's mercy, so he does not want to see anyone being shown mercy or hoping for Allah's mercy, glorified and exalted be He.
Notice that the devil will not come to you directly to cast doubt on Allah's forgiveness. He will not say to you, "Allah is not Forgiving and Merciful," for this is a clearly failed attempt. Instead, he will come to you from another angle, saying:
What does the devil want from this? He wants to throw you into depression; the depression that paralyzes your will to reform your situation and return to your Lord, glorified and exalted be He. There are scientific terms that describe the symptoms of clinical depression, including: deep feelings of sadness, exaggerated feelings of guilt, lack of self-worth, and lack of motivation.
The devil freezes you at the stage of feeling guilty, makes guilt dominate your thoughts in a whispering manner, and makes you feel worthless, irredeemable, and unfit to be among Allah's close servants; thereby paralyzing your will to obey and your motivation to change and abandon sin, and causing you to lose the happiness and joy in your Lord and Master, glorified and exalted be He.
The devil does not want you to love your Lord. Brothers, the child who is punished by his father loves his father if he knows that this punishment is driven by his father's love and concern for his well-being. However, if he assumes that his father is punishing him out of hatred, the child's heart will harden towards his father, and Allah has the highest example.
So, hold firmly to the rope of good assumptions about Allah, the Oft-Returning, the Pardoning, the Forgiving. He is too Merciful to lie in wait for the sins of His believing servants, then punish them and cast them out of His mercy, and not give them another chance.
In the hadith narrated by Muslim from the Prophet peace be upon him, in which he relates from his Lord, glorified and exalted be He, He says:
"A servant commits a sin and says: 'O Allah, forgive me my sin.' So the Blessed and Exalted says: 'A servant of Mine has committed a sin and knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for them.' Then he returns and commits another sin and says: 'O my Lord, forgive me my sin.' So the Blessed and Exalted says: 'A servant of Mine has committed a sin and knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for them.' Then he returns and commits another sin and says: 'O my Lord, forgive me my sin.' So the Blessed and Exalted says: 'A servant of Mine has committed a sin and knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for them. Do whatever you wish, for I have forgiven you.'"
Of course, Allah the Almighty does not inspire a servant with "I will sin and forgive you no matter what you do" to make him reckless. The meaning of the hadith is that it has been predetermined in Allah's will that if the servant, every time he sins, repents sincerely and resolves not to commit the sin again, then Allah the Oft-Returning will keep on accepting his repentance, Allah the Forgiving will keep on forgiving him, Allah the Pardoning will keep on pardoning him, and He knows, glorified and exalted be He, that this repenting servant may sin in the future.
Brother, do not despair of Allah's mercy in helping you to draw closer to Him and enjoy His favor. If the devil comes to you and says, "You do not deserve Allah's mercy," say, "Yes, I do not deserve it by my actions, but He, glorified and exalted be He, will have mercy on me because He is too Noble to deal with His servants according to what they deserve."
If the devil says to you, "Allah will not give you another chance, for He has saved you before and you did not preserve the good," say, "Yes, He will save me and grant me another chance, for He is the Oft-Pardoning, the Forgiving." If the devil says to you, "Allah is testing you with punishment because He hates you," say to him, "Rather, He is testing me to purify me and raise me."
If the devil says to you, "You are too low to deserve Allah's mercy," remember the story of that servant who realized that he had greatly fallen short in his duty to Allah, and that Allah, glorified and exalted be He, had given him chances and tested him with lighter trials to awaken him from his heedlessness, especially regarding the arrangement of priorities in his life and the affairs of the heart. However, this weak servant returned to the same mistakes.
Then came this severer trial; so he felt remorse, pain, and fear that this punishment would prolong and intensify, and perhaps exceed his capacity and endurance. This increased his pain and remorse. Then, Allah the Almighty willed that your companion should read a great hadith, which he had read before, but this time it came as a lifeline from Allah and a balm for his wounds.
The hadith was narrated by Muslim, in which Allah the Almighty intercedes for some of His creation to bring out people from the Fire who have very little good in them, and yet Allah's mercy will encompass even those who are below them. So Allah the Almighty says:
"The angels will intercede, and the prophets will intercede, and the believers will intercede, until there remains none but the Most Merciful of the Merciful."
Glory be to Allah! Our Lord, glorified and exalted be He, brings out people after purifying them with the Fire and admits them to Paradise by His mercy, not by their deeds. This subject from the hadith shook my being, awakened me, and saved me from the depression that the devil was trying to throw me into. I said to myself, "Yes, I have sinned, but I think that Allah has placed more good in me than those whom He brought out by His pure mercy. If Allah's mercy has encompassed them, it will encompass me in this world and the Hereafter." A great surge of love for Allah and reassurance in His mercy then surged in my heart.
Brothers and sisters, Allah the Almighty is far more merciful than what the devil may prepare for us in moments of despair. He, glorified and exalted be He, says: {Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."}
Episode Summary: Do not let the devil throw you into the trap of depression and paralysis of will, but rather turn your remorse into a positive force and sincere repentance to draw closer to Allah, the Oft-Returning, the Pardoning, the Forgiving.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.