The
believer does not suffer from something called psychiatric diseases.
That is because he/she lives in acceptance and harmony with all that
is happening to him, whether it is good or evil. He/she is just like a
passenger of a plane who has full confidence in the pilot, that he
cannot go wrong because he has ultimate knowledge and skills of
controlling a plane. He will fly it efficiently in all circumstances and
will pass by storms, heat, cold, ice and fog.
In
such a plane, and with full confidence in the pilot, he can sleep in
his chair in complete contentment and tranquility. He does not shiver
or shake if the plane falls into turbulence, or
staggers in a turn, or tends towards a mountain. He knows that all
those things happen by the pilot’s will and under his knowledge, and
that they happen with wisdom behind them and for a purpose of greater
safety. Everything is being masterminded, and every event is
predestined, and there is nothing more perfect than what has already
been predestined. That is why he gives himself fully to the pilot
without accountability or arguing. He has full confidence in him; that
is why he stretches in his chair with full serenity, in a state of
complete trust.
That
is the same sense of confidence the believer has with his Lord, Who
drives the ship of destiny, controls the course of events, leads the
huge universe, and runs galaxies in their orbits and suns in their
rising and setting.
Everything
that is happening to him, which he has no power over, is eventually
good. If he has an illness and medicine fails to treat him, he says to
himself, “This is good!” If his plants burn because of drought and all
his means fail to avoid the disaster, he says to himself, “This is
good, Allah (SWT)
will provide me with something better.” If he fails in love, he says,
“Failed love is better than a failed marriage.” If his marriage
fails, then he says, “All praise be to Allah! Loneliness
is better than bad company.” If his business goes bankrupt, he says,
“All praise be to Allah. Perhaps Allah knows that wealth is bad for
me, and that worldly earns will make me lose in the Hereafter. And if
someone dear to him passes away, he says, “All praise be to Allah, Allah (SWT) is worthier of our life than we are of it
and He is the only One Who knows whether it is good or bad for us to
live longer. All Glory be to Him, He is not questioned about what He
decrees.”
The believer’s slogan is always:
“But
it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and
that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye
know not.” (TMQ, 2:216).
He
always has comfort in his heart, with a tranquil soul, seeing by the
light of his inner insight that the world is a place for tests and
affliction, and it is just a temporary resting spot and not a permanent
home. It is a temporary shelter which will be completely removed with
its good and evil. Only those who show patience and gratefulness are
the winners.
The
believer's heart cannot be invaded by an evil obsession, nor is his
soul troubled by any scruple. That is because his soul is always busy
with the remembrance of The Almighty, The Most-Merciful, and his heart
always whispers: Allah…..Allah…with each pulse. The Satan cannot find a
step or a dark corner in such a heart to creep in.
It
is a heart that cannot be moved by calamities or shaken by disasters
because it is firmly established in the seat of Truth, which never
changes or alters.
The
believer gives different names to all psychiatric diseases that
psychiatrists talk about. For him/her repression is called sticking to
chastity….. Deprivation is a spiritual development….Feeling guilty is piety…. Fear
(which is fear from Allah) is a protector from slipping into sin.
Suffering is the way to wisdom and grief leads to knowledge.
Desires
are steps of a ladder that the believer climbs over through
suppressing them. He triumphs over his desires by reining them in to
reach the status of serenity and spiritual strength.
Insomnia
is a gift from Allah, as the night in which the believer cannot sleep
can be spent in remembrance of Allah. Spending the night with Allah
is a special blessing that the believer should be thankful for; not
complaining or seeking for a tranquilizer. Furthermore, if s/he remains
awake till dawn, this offers him/her a chance to make his/her dawn
prayer which is a great grace.
In
addition, going through feelings of remorse sometimes allow the
believer to reflect, return to the truth and go back to Allah. Even
pain, including physical and psychological, is considered as a divine
aid by which the believer can resist the lure of the worldly life and
renounce it.
Despair,
carrying a grudge and envy are psychiatric diseases which the
believer never suffers. Furthermore, he is capable of overcoming
hatred, the urges for revenge and retaliation through forgiveness,
pardoning and tolerance. He does not get enraged except to defend one
who has been oppressed and help him/her attain justice; he never
practices violence except to overcome an oppressor.
The
prevailing feelings that overwhelm the believer are cordiality,
mercy, patience, gratitude, forbearance, compassion, gentleness,
forgiveness, acceptance and contentment. Being occupied with such
positive feelings, the believer develops a state in which there is no
place for psychiatric diseases or psychiatry.
For
the believer, the worshiped idols such as wealth, sex, prestige and
authority are all demolished, and are no longer able to fragment hisher
emotions, or distract hisher attention. Hence the believing soul can attain focus to unite its energy. Here the fog of desires clears, the vision becomes lucid, eddies
calm down and tranquility prevails. As a consequence the believer
gains more control over hisher own self, becoming more able to lead it
as he turns from slavery to hisher own self to be free, and that is
all because of the believer’s profound understanding of Monotheism:
(there is no God except Allah (SWT). Besides, heshe realizes
that there is no ruler, or controller or owner of the creation except
only One, thus heshe is freed of the fear of any tyrant and any
master. For him/her, even death is seen as liberty and pleasant
journey to meet with the beloved.
The
soul is different due to faith and becomes protected from psychiatric
diseases. It is ascended to such a status by faith, obedience and
worship, to the extent that its choices become as the same as what Allah
chooses for it and its inclination is the same as what Allah pleases.
Narcissism
and selfishness melt and no longer exist in such a faithful soul,
thus it becomes a working tool and a hand executing the will of The Lord.
Such
a believing soul is never afflicted by depression as it is always
optimistic, having certain faith that there is no distress with the
presence of Allah, and that justice can be achieved as long as there is
Allah, The Utterly Just. For the believer, the door of hopefulness is always open as long as The All Able is alive and he never dies.
The
believing soul is in permanent childish astonishment from the signs
of divine power all around. A believer feels ecstasy of the beauty he
can see in everything. He can see the traces of The Creator’s
creativity in major galaxies as in minor atoms and micro electrons.
The larger the scientific domain expands, the wider the area of
fascination gets, and the ecstasy multiplies. That is why the
believing soul does not know weariness, or apathy, or depression.
The
grief of the believing soul is luminous. It is filled with
hopefulness. In the hardest times of pain and tragedy, this soul never
gives up hope and thinking well of Allah (SWT); that leads it to feel secure all the time, because it believes that Allah (SWT) is always there. For this soul, nothing saddens it more than its own deficiencies, shortcomings and sins; not the deficiencies or shortcomings of others. However, its deficiencies do not discourage it from striving to reform its flaws. Thus it is engaged in continuous Jihad (struggle),
continuous climbing up the tree of sins to get out of the cone shadow
to the light spreading at the top of the tree. From that light, the
soul is given life; not from the thick mud at the bottom of the tree.
Thus
this soul is in fighting for existence, and always engaging in a war
of internal purification. However, it is a calm and confident
conflict, which never disturbs its tranquility or dispels its
serenity. That is because it has certainty that it fights its internal flaws with the power of Allah (God) (SWT),
not by its own power. That soul’s feeling of being in permanent
companionship with Allah never deserts it. That is the reason why this
soul feels lasting security despite the inside fighting against ghosts
of defeat and forces of nihilism….it is not fighting alone.
That is the biggest jihad
(struggle) that occupies the believing soul and protects it from
being occupied by trivialities, complaints and little pains; it also
preserves it from obsession on its own self, lamenting itself or
celebrating its talents. It is busy by going beyond itself and
ascending over it. It is always in a continuous journey of exit; a
journey of ascension and going beyond itself. The constitution of this
soul is: to always resist what you desire and bear what you dislike.
The
feelings of this soul flow smoothly in complete harmony with the
universe, perfectly compatible with its laws, easily adapted to the
changes that exist. Tolerance and natural simplicity are deeply rooted
in such a soul; it seeks friendship with everything, and its perfect
ideal is Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) while he was embracing Mount Uhud saying, “This
is the mountain which loves us and we love it.” (Muslim) Thus
comprehensive love is the root of all feelings of the believing soul. It
is in permanent reconciliation with nature, with destiny and with
Allah.
Such
a soul never suffers solitude when being alone; on the contrary it
enjoys a magnificent feeling of being in the company of Allah. For this
soul, loneliness does not mean emptiness, or silence; it is rather
busyness in being engaged in a rich and precious internal dialogue and a
deep feeling of the luminous presence of Allah (SWT) all around. This
cannot be loneliness, but rather a secure embrace. The only torment
for this soul is its sin, and when it suffers separation and distance
from The Creator. It is an agony that can be relieved by the soul’s
profound faith in Allah’s forgiveness, generosity, and His love of
those who repent and pray for forgiveness.
The
nearest the soul comes to its Lord is when it is prostrating itself
before Him; that is when the believing soul melts in love and humility
to Allah. One of the patrons of Allah said, “We
are enjoying a pleasure (of closeness to Allah), which if the kings
taste, they would fight us to attain it!” However, the kings are so far
from experiencing such a pleasure, while they are sinking in the
worldly life, imprisoned in its materialistic pleasures.
Religion, obedience and jihad
are the only way for the believing soul to be born again and get out
of its mud cocoon. There is no other way for its birth; as science
breeds conceit, art breeds nothing except idolization. Thus, only
religion is the incubator in which the soul grows and reaches its
target. Among scientists there may be some with mental illness, busy in
inventing devastating weapons and poisonous gas. Among artists, there
may be some deifying themselves and drowning in sensory pleasures.
Religion alone is the path for the soul to attain integrity, salvation
and healing.
The
believing soul is always active, energetic and working to serve and
help others. Its contemplation and worship never cut it off from being
engaged in people’s everyday lives. You can see it in streets, markets
and crowdedness of livelihood. That is because it sees work as an
aspect of worship; and sweat and toil are the treatment and cure of
the diseases of luxury, laziness and idleness.
The
life of such a soul is a journey of longing for Allah, a trip of
gaining knowledge and a message of helping others. Working is its gate
to mental health. Its ultimate hope is to still be able to work until
the last breath, and to die while planting a tree, building a wall or
lighting a candle. Such a soul is a lifeboat, and it is protected from
any psychiatric disease. It has no need of these days' medicine as its
life is truly a prescription of happiness.
(Source: “A World of Secrets”, by Dr. Mustafa Mahmoud)
