The Beautiful Face of Life
Man struggles morning and night in this life, which is full of hopes and pains. He experiences many problems and difficulties that are obstacles to happiness and a peaceful life.
🌿 The world is full of sad events, and these are times of obscurity and alienation for believers. For these reasons, we should remind each other to be optimistic and remember things that help us to be patient and persevere in righteousness.
Allah mentions in the Quran:
{يَاأَيُّهَا الْإِنْسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ} [الانشقاق: 6]
O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward Your Lord with exertion and will meet Him. (84:6)
Understanding the Nature of Life
🌿 The person who is aware that struggle is the nature of life can live happily, appreciate its beauty and behave according to Allah’s will. He will be thankful for his victories, patient with his losses, continue to submit to Allah’s decrees, and be peaceful and hopeful in all cases.
🕯️ The Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, said:
“This life is sweet and nice – Allah has let you enjoy it for a while, and He will see how you behave [in it]”. (Muslim 4952)
Two Different Approaches to Life
⚫ Generally, people have two different approaches to life; some of them are affected negatively by it and complain about everything; they see nothing but evil and darkness.
Regarding people like these, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
“If a man says that people are destroyed, then he is the most destroyed’’. (Muslim 4755)
🤲 The second type of people are aware of the negative aspects of life while maintaining their belief in destiny. They strive to improve themselves and are satisfied with Allah’s decisions. They completely submit to Allah because they know that the Creator is Merciful, All-Knowing and the best disposer of life’s affairs.
🍒 The believer is urged to be positive in life, to spread light, and to help others so that his life becomes a beautiful experience, even if hardships are included in it.
Finding Hope Amid Hardships
🌱 The political, social, and economic deterioration of some societies is not devoid of hope, as poverty, illness, loss of parents and other life catastrophes are not necessarily sources of complete despair. Great people were, many times, born in the middle of these catastrophes and pains.
🌴 It is better for a person to make an effort to do good in this life instead of focusing on evil, as the English proverb says:
🕯️“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”.
The Happiness of Helping Others
💖 The Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, said:
Among the things that Allah likes most is happiness brought to a Muslim’s heart, and the dearest people to Allah are the most helpful [to others]”. (Sahih Al-Jamie Al-Saghir 176)
🤝 You may feel the happiest when you sympathize with other people and do charitable actions, such as helping a person in need, paying someone’s debt, teaching something good, assisting hopeless people to become productive and helpful to others or even placing your hand on an orphan’s head in sympathy.
Islam urges its followers seek true happiness by doing everything that they can to improve life for themselves and others, both for now and the hereafter.
Allah, the Most High, says in the Glorious Quran:
{لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ وَلَدَارُ الْآخِرَةِ خَيْرٌ وَلَنِعْمَ دَارُ الْمُتَّقِينَ} [النحل: 30]
For those who do good in this world is good, and the home of the Hereafter is better, and how excellent is the home of the righteous’’ (16:30)
Never Give Up on Doing Good
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
“If the Hour comes, and one of you is planting a tree, if he can plant it before he dies, let him do it”. (Al-Bukhari 479)
This means that all of our actions in this life, no matter how small they may seem, have significance, so we should never give up on doing good until the end.
The nature of this life is that it treats us as we treat it. If we make it (our physical experience) our only purpose and goal, we would feel very sorry for all of the good that we missed. However, if we make it a means for success in the Hereafter, our sorrows in it are minor compared to the joy that we will experience forever.
Overcoming the Obstacles to Success
Fear of failure, worrying about what others may think of them, hopelessness and impatience are some of the things which make people depressed. If a person can overcome these obstacles, he or she can be successful and productive.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
“Strange is the case of the believer; all his matters are good, and that is for nobody but the believer. If a good thing happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him; and if something disagreeable happens to him, he is patient, and that is good for him”. (Muslim 5318)
Spreading Positivity and Encouraging Others
Successful people give benefit when you deal with them; they encourage and assist others to the way of excellence and success.
In order to be more positive, one should teach people how to be positive, live well, and overcome life’s problems smoothly and peacefully.
Allah says in the Quran:
{ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا عَبْدًا مَمْلُوكًا لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ وَمَنْ رَزَقْنَاهُ مِنَّا رِزْقًا حَسَنًا فَهُوَ يُنْفِقُ مِنْهُ سِرًّا وَجَهْرًا هَلْ يَسْتَوُونَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ (75) وَضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا رَجُلَيْنِ أَحَدُهُمَا أَبْكَمُ لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ كَلٌّ عَلَى مَوْلَاهُ أَيْنَمَا يُوَجِّهْهُ لَا يَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي هُوَ وَمَنْ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَهُوَ عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ} [النحل: 75، 76]
Allah presents an example: a slave [who is] owned and unable to do a thing and he to whom We have provided from Us good provision, so he spends from it secretly and publicly. Can they be equal? Praise to Allah! But most of them do not know. And Allah presents an example of two men, one of them dumb and unable to do a thing, while he is a burden to his guardian. Wherever he directs him, he brings no good. Is he equal to one who commands justice, while he is on a straight path? (16:75-76)