We all go through tough times in life. Life can be a ruthless teacher. It could be the loss of someone very close, fame, power, money, or heartbreak due to others’ expectations.
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What do we do when this happens? How do we stay happy from within and fight the darkness growing inside?
Do we lose hope in becoming the bright shining star for the world, and lose all the thunder we carried within to save the world? Or should we give up on being a good guy and turn into the bad one? It’s not easy to stop thinking and shutting all the thoughts within.
Something Personal:
I had been, like many, multiple times in this situation. I once heard a very famous scholar saying that the more wise and knowledgeable a person is, the stronger the depression waves hit him. The ups and downs. I’m not saying that I’m very wise but perhaps learned a lot from the past hard times (I’ll cover them in my future book, InshaAllah). In different stages of life, I experimented with various things to survive. Listening to music, writing my heart out in poems, learning from motivational or religious talks, and even crying my soul out in the darkness to the Divine, I tried them all. Some helped temporarily, while others made it easy to survive through hard times.
I once heard a very famous scholar saying that the more wise and knowledgeable a person is, the stronger the depression waves hit him. The ups and downs.
I had been struggling again for the past 3-4 months of sadness. Honestly, I get these dozes of sad mood swings a lot. It’s often because I see a lot of misery and sorrow in the society we live in, and as being an imaginary hero, it’s never enough what I do. But this time, it was different. Some very precious people made me feel I was way behind in life and have achieved nothing so far. They showed me that everything in life is about a big house, a fancy car, and a life that is supposed to be spent not in Pakistan. Worst, they were not strangers who pierced my heart, but people I look up to. If you are reading this post, and are/were someone close to me, know that this is collective damage that I took. So it’s not only you but people who couldn’t see the big picture in things I did and the luxuries I sacrificed for life, hopefully, much more significant and everlasting. This damage hit me hard. I started to question myself about everything I did, my social media influence, and if it ever helped anyone. That’s when I posted a question on Instagram asking about it and promised myself to disappear from social media if there wasn’t any impact. Luckily, a lot of strangers and friends replied. I saved each of those replies and read multiple times to motivate myself. I know this post was to give you tips to cure depression, but I had to share 10% of what I had been going through. I’ll share the rest in my book if I get the time and power.
On Facebook and Twitter people started sharing their thoughts and impact I had in their lives, here the link to those answers.
Some very precious people made me feel I was way behind in life and have achieved nothing so far. They showed me that everything in life is about a big house, a fancy car, and a life that is supposed to be spent not in Pakistan
The above messages helped me decide not to disappear from social media, but the motivation lasted for a week or less. And the sadness of expecting too much from really close ones kicked in again.
Well, then I listened to the following verses from The Holy Quran and Duas. It still helps me a lot, so I thought of writing about it, and in case if I forget in the future, I can always refer back to this blog post. Remember, the ups and downs will keep coming.
The Healing Part from Islam:
Before I share the powerful verses from The Holy Quran that still help me, you need to understand the context of its revelation. Allah revealed the verses of ‘Surah Ad-Duha’ unto The Last Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) when He (S.A.W) was in sadness and thought Allah is displeased with Him (S.A.W) because there was a brief interval in the Quranic revelations from Allah. Furthermore, the enemies started to question and gossip too. And when the verses descended on him, it was like refreshing rain to Him (S.A.W).
You need not just hear but feel the verses. As if Allah is speaking this to you!
Take a 10-15 mins time break from this article and listen to this recitation.
In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
1. “By the Glorious Morning Light,”
2. “And by the Night when it is still,
3. “Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor has He become displeased.”
4. “And surely the hereafter will be better for you than the present (life).”
5. “And soon, your lord will grant you, and you shall be well-pleased.”
Alright, so once you listened, cried, and heard the above verses. Let’s move on to a motivational talk that helped me further by Mufti Ismail Menk on why were are being tested so much.
The next one is from Nouman Ali Khan, where he quotes Almighty Allah, questioning us on why we aren’t trusting Allah’s decision for us. You can skip to 2:22, but I’d suggest you watch it from the start as when you reach 2:22 you’ll be experiencing a whole new dimension.
Another prayer that I regularly recite with the following context in mind helped me a lot. Imagine, Hazrat Yunus (AS), Prophet Jonah, representing us, in the lowest of low, calling up Allah, acknowledging His Majesty and Glory. Yunus (A.S) calls upon Allah, in the darkness of the Night, in the darkness of the ocean, in the darkness of the belly whale, He (A.S) calls from the bottom of the ocean the following prayer!
You need to listen to this fully to understand the context, so you know what to expect when you pray.
Then, I also prayed Dua for Istekhara, and sought help from Above, having strong faith that Allah will pick me up and make me walk through a path that is for the best of me in this world and, more importantly, in the HereAfter.
Once I started feeling better, I started memorizing short, powerful prayers. Let me mention them below.
Short Powerful Prayers:
The Prayer of the Night (Tahajjud Prayer):
Allah descends to the lowest skies at the third part of every night. If you haven’t prayed Tahajjud and asked Allah for your wishes, then where is your faith in Allah? I’ve shared a video below sharing the importance of Tahajjud prayer. I strongly recommend waking up at the last third part of every night, reciting Holy Quran, and then praying your Tahajjud Prayer. You’ll see the magic in your life!
I saw the blessing in my life the very next day…
For Wealth and Barakha:
For Virtues beyond:
For a better and powerful speech:
Dua of Hazrat Musa (A.S)
For better spouse and offsprings:
Dua To Seek Protection From Trials And Tribulations:
Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever sees a person afflicted, and then says this dua, then he or she shall be saved from that affliction for as long as he or she lives.”
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي عَافَانِي مِمَّا ابْتَلَاكَ بِهِ وَفَضَّلَنِي عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِمَّنْ خَلَقَ تَفْضِيلًا
Transliteration: “Alhamudu lillahil-ladhi afani mimmab-talaka bihi wa faddalani ala kathirim-mimman khalaqa tafdeela”
Meaning: “All praise is for Allah, Who saved me from what He has afflicted you with and favored me more than many others He created.” [Sunan At-Tirmidhi]
My Favorite recitations of Surahs:
Surah Al-Rehman:
Surah Taha:
Surah Maryam:
Another beautiful way of the recitation of Surah Maryam, which I love!
Surah Al Mulk
Surah Waqiah
*link to be updated, I can’t find the one that I used to hear*
Other References:
– Daily reciting of Holy Quran verses is another highly recommended religious practice in Islam. (sites.kowsarpub.com)
– The Holy Quran intones, “This sacred book is ‘shifa’ for its followers.” Hence, we recommend that researchers should focus on finding remedies for other psychological and physical diseases from Quranic verses. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
– In the Arabic language, sabr, shukr and tawwakul. “And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to the patient ones.” (The Holy Quran 2:155) “Therefore, remember Me (God) and I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless Favours on you) and never be ungrateful to Me.” (The Holy Quran 2:152) “If God helps you, none can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there after Him that can help you? (medium.com)
– The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), is reported to have said, “ Treat yourself through medications, for God has sent down a cure even as He has sent down the disease.” All this being said, one should supplement treatment for all illnesses with prayers asking for God’s mercy, cure, and healing. (postpartumprogress.com)
– Abu Bakar Muhammad Zakaria Al-Razi (925 CE) is the first Muslim physician who introduced the methods of psychotherapy and he had achieved a lot of success in discovering the definition, symptoms, and mental health. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
– Allah S.W.T says: “And never give up hope of Allah’s soothing Mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah’s soothing mercy, except those who have no faith.” [Surah Yusuf 12: Ayah 87] So dear fellow Muslims, don’t let past mistakes define you. Don’t let repeated mistakes define you. The only thing that should define you, is your niyyah (intention). (themuslimyouthprogramme.com)
– Sleep more and drink more water. In my personal experiences with clients, I am amazed how often this simple therapy will cure almost anything. Most of the time I find people do not even need to go further than this step. (aboutislam.net)
– A misconception in the Muslim community is that mental health is associated with being “non-religious” or “not religious enough.” Many factors may contribute to the development of mental health issues, so it is not fair to oversimplify multifactorial medical conditions this way because it dismisses the potential role of mental health professionals in helping. (muslimmentalhealth.com)
Conclusion:
Depression is a serious mental health issue. Consult help from doctors and experts in this field. Sometimes the traumas left need to be cured either by therapy or medicine. I’ve referred people to a psychiatrist too because they needed help.
What I shared above is what I often do now to bring back my lightning thunder again. I hope it helps you to find yours too.
If this post helps you, remember me in your prayers! 🙂 That is one of the greatest gifts you can ever give to me.
Peace!