بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

On the breathtaking adventure of our sojourn in this world, we often encounter people, who got stuck on the way, or drifted into a limbo and experience a state, ranging from frustration to desperation or even despair on account of the stagnation they don’t seem to be able to break. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala describes this condition in His Generous Book in these words:

…and if We want, We surely can blot out their eyes so that they can only grope for the way, and how could they see? And if We want, We surely can transmute their status, so that they are unable to move ahead, nor can they return. [36:66 – Ya Sin]

As long as a person is caught up, i.e. stagnant in such a situation they see nothing they could actually do to get back on the move, and so they sink into a quagmire of complaining and feeling sorry for themselves, blaming outward circumstances and their fellow men for the predicament they are in, which in turn transfixes them further. To unlock the stagnation however, is a task that can only be tackled from within. As long as you focus on your outward restraints, you will keep experiencing frustration, because outwardly you are not in a position of power so that you could enforce a change, and by fixing your thoughts on your helplessness it will eventually also eat away your inward resources of love, strength and determination.

The only relevant approach is that you work on the condition of your heart and find your inner balance and peace, because your outward situation is governed by the state of your heart. To think that your outward situation is the cause of your inward state is an illusion, by which Shaytan tries to paralyze you.

The key to fortify your heart lies in conscious and intent-based submission, i.e. the realization that it is a manifestation of Allah’s unfathomable Wisdom that you are at present in the situation in which you are for reasons that do not lie outside His Rahmah and Love. Your real dealing is with Him, not with the creation. Your dealing with them is only drama; they are your co-actors in the currently playing scene of a drama, in which you are supposed to act in the best possible manner you are capable of as an actor. Do not confuse this drama with your reality! Your reality is that you are the slave of Allah, and your only real dealing is with Him – not with your family, your husband or wife, your children or parents, not with your friends and acquaintances, your colleagues, your boss or your subordinates, all of them, along with all the emotional attachments and responsibilities are also only your co-actors in that big Drama, of which Allah is the Author and Director of.

Your only real responsibility is that you perform to the best of your ability, irrespective of what is happening on the stage; that is neither your concern, nor do you have any control over it! Just put your heart into the role you have been given to play, but don’t let the role take over your heart! Your heart is the sanctuary of Allah Most High, and nothing other than He must be allowed to take up any space there, no worries, no fears, no frustrations and no attachments pertaining to this world.

This might be difficult to implement, and if you can appreciate it, it may seem an insurmountable task to you, but don’t worry too much about accomplishing it at this stage; the aforesaid is only meant to give you an indication of the direction towards which you should be turning. If you reach the point, where you are ready make a conscious intention to follow it, you will be helped and even carried along the way.

This post was originally posted on our Facebook Group by Shaykh Muhammad Harun on October 2, 2011.