We think that the path of God is very difficult and hard to follow, but history has given us people who were not infallible but have shown great strength and patience in the path of Allah, and have succeeded. If we put our trust in God, we too can hope and pray for not only success but for all the blessings of God Himself.Â
We think that the path of God is very difficult and hard to follow, but history has given us people who were not infallible but have shown great strength and patience in the path of Allah, and have succeeded. If we put our trust in God, we too can hope and pray for not only success but for all the blessings of God Himself.Â
Staying encouraged and having faith can be difficult for us all – but by remembering that the solutions to all our problems lies in the beauty of the religion of Islam, we can strive towards living a more fulfilled and loving life.
1. Be Hopeful
As we know, the pandemic has shown difficult times to us, and one of the most important virtues that we need to have in these times is being hopeful. When we pray to God about our difficulties and problems, we should keep in mind that there are certain conditions for a prayer to be accepted, and being hopeful in the mercy of God is one of them.
The modern world has given us social media platforms, which is a great tool, but it’s also creating a fake and virtual world where people show off their possessions and fake beauty. The youth get hallucinated by this fake glamour and complain about their dull life – and gradually, they lose their interest in religion and feel only despair in regards to the mercy of God, which can drag them to the path of Satan. Therefore, we should avoid consuming such poisonous content and always be hopeful in the mercy of God and rely only upon Him for assistance.
“O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning] do not despair of the mercy of Allah.” [Quran, 39:53]
2. Be Patient
Patience is one of the greatest virtues to discuss. Patience means staying in the arena without complaining, and not walking away from it. Some people leave the arena while some gradually slip away. We should stay in the arena, keep resisting the oppressive, hegemonic, and bullying forces, and strive in the path of Allah. We should keep our eyes on the distant goal and keep working hard for it.
We achieve various small victories in our life, but we should not let these small achievements make us feel content, and rather keep our eyes on the distant goal and keep working hard for it without complaining. And seek the assistance of Allah always.
“Indeed Allah is with the patient.” [Quran, 8:4]
3. Accept Constructive Criticism
Criticism is what we think is bad about others. As humans, we make mistakes in our life for which people will certainly criticize us at some point. And at the same time, we will also criticize others for their mistakes.
But we should keep in mind that criticism is healthy as constructive criticism, that is, when we want to highlight the other persons’ mistakes in a clement way so that they don’t get hurt or feel ashamed and take our words as advice and work upon themselves to improve.
“A believer acts as mirror to other believers.” Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) [tohfa-al-uqul]
4. Stay Strong
The pandemic has made people mentally and emotionally weak. Of course, the pandemic was something none of us were expecting, and certainly not prepared for. People lost their jobs, students had to compromise with their studies, and the lockdown made many people feel depressed.
These weaknesses clearly show that we are attached to weak sources of happiness, hope, and power. This shows our need for a greater source of power to which we have to attach. If we connect to the infinite source of strength then we will not need anyone else. Even if the whole world is against us we need to keep our connection with God. We have to oppose the oppressive, hegemonic, and bullying forces both on a personal level and the wider level. We should always take sides because neutrality helps the oppressor never the oppressed. We have to keep ourselves strong and give hope to others.
“The root of the heart’s strength is in putting one’s trust in Allah.” Imam Ali (a.s) [Ghurur al hikam]
5. Know the Difference Between Friends and Foes
As we can see, the past decade brought about tremendous changes in the world in terms of technology. All the information of the world is at our fingertips. This becomes a huge benefit as well as a great hazard for us, because now it’s very easy for the enemy to share their destructive thoughts and ideologies to everyone. Those with weaker faith have great chances of getting distracted and following these poisonous thoughts. A lot of the time, the enemy is disguised as a friend and because of our weak faith, we cannot recognize them.
So we need to build our faith to be stronger, and always be cautious of the enemy’s vicious plans. We should always keep our eyes and ears open to differentiate between friends and foes.
“We Muslims are busy bickering over whether to fold or unfold our arms during prayer, while the enemy is devising ways to cut them off.” Ayatollah Khomeini.
6. Strengthen Your Relationship with God
To strengthen our relationship with God, we must first be grateful for the blessings and hope of God’s mercy. We should be persistent in prayer, supplication, and in the reading and understanding of the Quran.
One of the most important acts of worship is helping the servants of God. If we try to be persistent in the path of God with a pure and attentive heart, then God will surely help us. We think that the path of God is very difficult and hard to follow, but history has given us people who were not infallible but have shown great strength and patience in the path of Allah, and have succeeded. If we put our trust in God, we too can hope and pray for not only success but for all the blessings of God Himself.Â
“You Alone we worship; You Alone we ask for help.” [Quran, 1:05]
