How to be successful in life
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Question:
How to obtain success and prosperity
in this world and hereafter? What kind of success or prosperity that Islam
wants the Ummah Islam gain in this world?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah.
Peace
of mind, contentment, happiness and freedom from worries and anxiety… these are
what everyone wants, and these are the ways in which people can have a good
life and find complete happiness and joy. There are religious means of
achieving that, and natural and practical means, but no one can combine all of
them except the believers; although other people may achieve some of them, they
will miss out on others.
There
follows a summary of the means of achieving this aim for which everyone is
striving. In some cases, those who achieve many of them will live a joyful life
and a good life; in other cases, those who fail to achieve all of them will
live a life of misery and hardship. And there are others which are in between,
according to what the means he is able to attain. These means include the
following:
1 –
Faith and righteous deeds:
This is
the greatest and most fundamental of means. Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Whoever works righteousness —
whether male or female — while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic
Monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world with
respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a
reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the
Hereafter)”
(Quran, 16:97)
Allah
tells us and promises us that whoever combines faith with righteous deeds will
have a good life and a good reward in this world and in the Hereafter.
The reason
for that is clear: those who believe in Allah – with sincere faith that
motivates them to do righteous deeds that change hearts and attitudes and
guides them to the straight path in this world and the Hereafter – follow
principles and guidelines by means of which they deal with everything that
happens to them, be it the causes of happiness and excitement or the causes of
anxiety, worry and grief.
They deal with the things that they like by accepting them and giving
thanks for them, and using them in good ways. When they deal with them in this
manner, that creates in them a sense of excitement and the hope that it will
continue and that they will be rewarded for their gratitude, which is more
important than the good things that happen to them. And they deal with bad
things, worries and distress by resisting those that they can resist,
alleviating those that they can alleviate, and bearing with goodly patience
those that they cannot avoid. Thus as a result of the bad things they gain a
lot of benefits, experience, strength, patience and hope of reward, which are
more important and which diminish the hardships they have undergone and replace
them with happiness and hope for the bounty and reward of Allah. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) expressed this in a saheeh hadeeth
in which he said: “How wonderful is the situation of the believer, for all his
affairs are good. If something good happens to him, he gives thanks for it and
that is good for him; if something bad happens to him, he bears it with
patience, and that is good for him. This does not apply to anyone but the
believer.” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 2999).
The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told us that the believer is
always gaining and the reward for his deeds is always multiplying, no matter what
happens to him, good or bad.
2 –
Being kind to people in word and deed, and all kinds of doing good.
This is
one of the means of removing worry, distress and anxiety. By this means Allah
wards off worries and distress from righteous and immoral like, but the
believer has the greater share of that, and is distinguished by the fact that
his kindness to others stems from sincerity and the hope of reward, so Allah
makes it easy for him to be kind to others because of the hope that this will
bring good things and ward off bad things, by means of his sincerity and hope
of reward. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“There is no good in most of their
secret talks save (in) him who orders Sadaqah (charity in Allah's Cause), or
Ma‘roof (Islamic Monotheism and all the good and righteous deeds which Allah
has ordained), or conciliation between mankind; and he who does this, seeking
the good Pleasure of Allah, We shall give him a great reward” (Quran, 4:114)
Part of
that great reward is relief from worry, distress, troubles, etc.
3 –
Another of the means of warding off anxiety that stems from nervous tension and
being preoccupied with disturbing thoughts is to occupy oneself with good deeds
or seeking beneficial knowledge,
for that will distract one from dwelling on the matters that are causing
anxiety. In this way a person may forget about the things that are making him
worried and distressed, and he may become happy and more energetic. This is
another means that believers and others have in common, but the believer is
distinguished by his faith, sincerity and hope of reward when he occupies
himself with that knowledge which he is learning or teaching, or with the good
deeds that he is doing.
The work
with which he occupies himself should be something that he likes and enjoys,
for that is more likely to produce the desired results. And Allah knows best.
4 –
Another thing that may ward off worry and anxiety is focusing all one’s
thoughts of the present day, and not worrying about the future or grieving
about the past.
Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sought refuge with
Allah from worry and regret, from regret for things in the past which one
cannot put right or change, and worry which may come because of fear for the
future. So one should focus only on the present day, and focus one's efforts on
getting things right today. For if a person is focused on that, this means that
he will do things properly and forget about worry and regret.
When the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said a du’aa’ or taught a
du’aa’ to his Ummah, as well as urging them to seek the help of Allah and hope
for His bounty, he was also urging them to strive to attain the thing they were
praying for through their own efforts and to forget about the thing which they
were praying would be warded off from them. Because du’aa’ (supplication) must
be accompanied by action. So a person must strive to attain that which will
benefit him in worldly and spiritual terms, and ask his Lord to make his efforts
successful, and he should seek His help in that, as the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Strive
for that which will benefit you and seek the help of Allah, and do not be
helpless. If anything (bad) happens to you, do not say, ‘If only I had done
such-and-such, then such-and-such would have happened.’ Rather you should say,
‘Qaddara Allah wa ma sha’a fa’ala (Allah decrees, and what He wills He
does),’ for (the words) ‘If only’ open the door to the Shaytaan.” (Narrated by Muslim).
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) connected the matter of striving to
achieve good things with the matter of seeking the help of Allah and not giving
in to feelings of helplessness which are a harmful kind of laziness, and with
the matter of accepting things in the past which are over and done with, and
acknowledging that the will and decree of Allah will inevitably come to pass.
He described matters as being of two types:
1 –
Matters which a person may strive to achieve or to achieve whatever he can of
them, or to ward them off or alleviate them. In such cases a person must strive
and make the effort, and also seek the help of Allah.
2 –
Matters where such is not possible, so he must have peace of mind, accept them
and submit to Allah's will.
Undoubtedly
paying attention to this principle will bring happiness and relieve worry and
distress.
5 – One
of the greatest means of feeling content and relaxed and of acquiring peace of
mind is to remember Allah a great deal (dhikr). That has a great effect in bringing
contentment and peace of mind, and relieving worry and distress. Allah says:
“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest” (Quran, 13:28)
Remembering Allah (dhikr) has a great effect in achieving this aim
because it has a special influence and because of the hope that it brings of reward.
6 – Another of the means of bringing happiness and
relieving worry and distress is striving to eliminate the things that cause
worry and to achieve the things that bring happiness. That
may be done by forgetting about bad things in the past which cannot be changed,
and realizing that dwelling on them is a waste of time. So a person must strive
to stop himself from thinking of that, and also strive to stop himself from
feeling anxious about the future and the things that he may imagine of poverty,
fear and other bad things that he thinks may happen to him in the future. He
should realize that the future is something unknown, he cannot know what good
or bad things are going to happen to him. That is in the hand of the Almighty,
the Most Wise, and all that His slaves can do is to strive to attain the good
things and to ward off the bad things. A person should realize that if he
diverts his thoughts from worrying about his future and puts his trust in his
Lord to take care of his situation, and puts his mind at rest concerning that,
if he does that, then his heart will be at peace and his situation will improve
and he will be relieved of worry and anxiety.
One of the most effective ways of dealing with worries about the future
is to recite this du’aa’ which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) used to recite:
“Allaahumma aslih li deeni alladhi huwa ‘ismatu amri,
wa aslih li dunyaaya allati fiha ma’aashi, wa aslih li aakhirati allati ilayha
ma’aadi, waj’al al-hayaata ziyaadatan li fi kulli khayr, wa’l-mawta raahatan li
min kulli sharr (O Allah, correct my religious commitment which is the
foundation of my life, and correct my worldly affairs in which is my
livelihood, and grant me good in the Hereafter to which is my return. Make my
life a means of accumulating good, and make death a respite for me from all
evil).” (Narrated by Muslim, 2720)
And he said, “Allaahumma rahmataka arju
fa la takilni ila nafsi tarfata ‘aynin wa aslih li sha’ni kullahu, laa ilaaha
illa anta (O Allah, for Your mercy I hope, so do not abandon me to myself
even for a moment. And correct all my affairs. There is no god but You).”
(Narrated by Abu Dawood with a saheeh isnaad, no. 5090; classed as hasan by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Kalim al-Tayyib, p. 49)
If a person utters these du’aa’s, which ask that his spiritual and
worldly affairs may be set right or corrected, with proper presence of mind and
sincerity of intention, whilst striving to achieve that, Allah will grant him
what he has prayed for, hoped for and striven for, and He will turn his worry
into joy and happiness.
7 – If a person experiences anxiety and distress
because of a disaster, then one of the most effective means of relieving
himself of that is to think of the worst scenario to which that may lead, and
try to accept that. When he has done that, then he should try to
alleviate it as much as possible. By means of this acceptance and these
efforts, he will relieve himself of his worries and distress, and instead of
worrying he will strive to bring about good things and to deal with whatever he
can of the bad things. If he is faced with things that cause fear or the
possibility of sickness or poverty, then he should deal with that by striving
to make himself accept that, or something even worse, with contentment, because
by making himself accept the worst-case scenario, he lessens the impact of the
thing and makes it seem less terrible, especially if he occupies himself with
efforts to ward it off as much as he can. Thus as well as striving to achieve
something good which will distract him from his worries about calamity, he will
also renew his strength to resist bad things, and put his trust and reliance in
Allah. Undoubtedly these matters are of great benefit in attaining happiness
and peace of mind, as well as bringing the hope of reward in this world and in
the Hereafter. This is something which is well known from the experience of
many who have tried it.
8 – Steadfastness of heart and not being disturbed
about the imaginary things that bad thoughts may bring to mind. For
when a person gives in to his imagination and lets his mind be disturbed by
these thoughts, such as fear of disease and the like, or anger and confusion
stirred up by some grievous matter, or the expectation of bad things and the
loss of good things, that will fill him with worries, distress, mental and
physical illness and nervous breakdowns, which will have a bad effect on him
and which causes a great deal of harm, as many people have seen. But when a
person depends on Allah and puts his trust in Him, and does not give in to his
imagination or let bad thoughts overwhelm him, and he relies on Allah and has
hope of His bounty, that wards off his worries and distress, and relieves him
of a great deal of mental and physical sickness. It gives indescribable
strength, comfort and happiness to the heart. How many hospitals are filled
with the mentally sick victims of illusions and harmful imagination; how often
have these things had an effect upon the hearts of many strong people, let
alone the weak ones; how often have they led to foolishness and insanity.
It should be noted that your life will follow your train of thought. If
your thoughts are of things that will bring you benefit in your spiritual or
worldly affairs, then your life will be good and happy. Otherwise it will be
the opposite.
The person who is safe from all of that is the one who is protected by
Allah and helped by Him to strive to achieve that which will benefit and
strengthen the heart and ward off anxiety. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him” (Quran,
65:3)
i.e., He will be sufficient for all that is worrying him in his
spiritual and worldly affairs. The one who puts his trust in Allah will have
strength in his heart and will not be affected by anything he imagines or be
disturbed by events, because he knows that these are the result of vulnerable
human nature and of weakness and fear that have no basis. He also knows that
Allah has guaranteed complete sufficiency to those who put their trust in Him.
So he trusts in Allah and finds peace of mind in His promise, and thus his
worry and anxiety are dispelled; hardship is turned to ease, sadness is turned
to joy, fear is turned to peace. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound, and to
bless us with strength and steadfastness of heart, and complete trust, for
Allah has guaranteed all good things to those who put their trust in Him, and
has guaranteed to ward off all bad and harmful things from them.
If bad things happen or there is the fear of such, then you should
count the many blessings that you are still enjoying, both spiritual and
worldly, and compare them with the bad things that have happened, for when you
compare them you will see the many blessings that you are enjoying, and this
will make the bad things appear less serious.
See al-Wasaa’il al-Mufeedah li’l-Hayaat al-Sa’eedah by Shatkh
‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Sa’di
Ibn al-Qayyim summed fifteen ways through which Allah may dispel
worries and regret. These are as follows:
1- Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (belief in the
Oneness of Divine Lordship)
2- Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah (belief in the
Oneness of the Divine nature)
3- Tawheed of knowledge and belief (i.e., Tawheed
al-Asma’ wa’l_Sifaat, belief in the Oneness of the Divine names and
attributes)
4- Thinking of Allah as being above doing any
injustice to His slaves, and above punishing anyone for no cause on the part of
the slave that would require such punishment.
5- The person’s acknowledging that he is the
one who has done wrong.
6- Beseeching Allah by means of the things that
are most beloved to Him, which are His names and attributes. Two of His names
that encompass the meanings of all other names and attributes are al-Hayy (the
Ever-Living) and al-Qayyoom (the Eternal).
7- Seeking the help of Allah Alone.
8- Affirming one's hope in Him.
9- Truly putting one’s trust in Him and leaving
matters to Him, acknowledging that one's forelock is in His hand and that He
does as He wills, that His will is forever executed and that He is just in all
that He decrees.
10- Letting one's heart wander in the garden of the Qur’aan, seeking
consolation in it from every calamity, seeking healing in it from all diseases
of the heart, so that it will bring comfort to his grief and healing for his
worries and distress.
11- Seeking forgiveness.
12- Repentance.
13- Jihad.
14- Salah (prayer).
15- Declaring that he has no power and no strength, and leaving matters
to the One in Whose hand they are.
We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound from worries and to relieve us
of distress and anxiety, for He is the All-Hearing, Ever-Responsive, and He is
the Ever-Living, Eternal.
And Allah knows best. May Allah send blessings and peace upon our
Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
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