﷽
The slave who knows Allah The knowledge of Allah’s attributes changes one’s mindset when looking at despair.
He directed his complaints to Allah. And this is not the complaints where he is disattisfied, but a complaint where the servant knows that no one but Allah can solve his problem.Sahih al-Bukhari 7405 - Oneness, Uniqueness of Allah (Tawheed) - كتاب التوحيد - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)
حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، سَمِعْتُ أَبَا صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ” يَقُولُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي، وَأَنَا مَعَهُ إِذَا ذَكَرَنِي، فَإِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي نَفْسِهِ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي نَفْسِي، وَإِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي مَلأٍ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي مَلأٍ خَيْرٍ مِنْهُمْ، وَإِنْ تَقَرَّبَ إِلَىَّ بِشِبْرٍ تَقَرَّبْتُ إِلَيْهِ ذِرَاعًا، وَإِنْ تَقَرَّبَ إِلَىَّ ذِرَاعًا تَقَرَّبْتُ إِلَيْهِ بَاعًا، وَإِنْ أَتَانِي يَمْشِي أَتَيْتُهُ هَرْوَلَةً ”.
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Allah says: ‘I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.’ ”
Sahih al-Bukhari 7405 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7405
Link to original
Transclude of 12-87
- Allah connects despair with kufr. How can a person who believe in Allah says Allah will never help them?
Tafseer
Despairing of Allah’s mercy & relief is a description of disbelief (kafir)
It shows that the person doesn’t believe in Allah’s Ruboobiyah. It contrast with the state of a believer who always have hope in Allah. This is where the balance between hope & fear is needed. The believer, whenever is given any difficulty, he has hope in Allah’s relief along with the patience to endure that difficulty. Ibn Qayyim said the major sins like riya, pride, despairing of the mercy of Allah, despairing the relief of Allah, and being happy to see the muslims suffer, loving immorality that spreads among the believers, hasad, hoping people will lose the blessings Allah has given them, these are worse than zina & alcohol.
Nobody despairs from the mercy of Allah unless a person believes that Allah is not perfect in His ability, or that He doesn’t have knowledge of everything, or that He is not generous. Every one of these three things is kufr.
So if despair comes because one of them, it is only because the one who feels it doesn’t believe that Allah is capable of giving him relief.
You have to ask yourself
- Do you believe Allah knows what you’re feeling?
- Do you believe Allah is capable of relieving your distress?
- Do you believe that Allah is generous and will answer your dua? If you say yes, then there is no reason for you to feel despair of His mercy and relief.
Allah’s description of the Munafiqin
Transclude of 48-12Have confidence in the help of Allah. When the negative is mentioned you can always ask yourself the opposite what you should be doing.
Allah speaks of the people who don’t believe Allah will give victory
Transclude of 22-15
Connect your hearts to the Qur’an & Seerah, this will make the negative feelings go away. For example, Allah tells the stories of the people achieving victory & given defeat. Because Allah wants to test the believers. These stories brings us relief. This dunya is not Jannah. One of the things that leads to Al-Ya’s & Al-Qunoot is the belief that this dunya is like Jannah. You need to remember that this dunya is a place of test for the believer, it is like a prison.
Examples: the duas of prophet Ayyub, Zakariyya, and Yunus.
One of the things a person can do in the face of calamity is to attach his heart to Allah.