Optimism

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

In the world in which we live today, there isn't much to contribute toward one being optimistic. But we ought to be the most optimistic people in the world because of our belief in the One God, the Sovereign, the Creator.

In the midst of a troubled world, there is hope of the future. Allah's plan for mankind is on track, and the believers are the recipients of a blissful life that is eternal.

Allah is Al Hakim. He created this the world in Wisdom. Wisdom according to the ulama' is the word they used for the idea of cause and effect. Allah created the world in absolute cause and effect.

For example, when we put our feet on the ground, we are going to be on the ground. We are not going to be floating in the air. They called this gravity. If we hit our head on the rock, it hurts. Next time when you hit your head on the rock, it will still hurt. They called this you haven't learned your lesson. The sun rise in the east and sets in the west. You don't see the sun rise one day from the east and another day from the west (we would be in great trouble if we see this!) Everything is consistent and everything make sense. That's why we can study the cause and effect and come up with technology.

So part of the adab/manners with Allah is to use these causes and effects. We work and we make ourselves subject to the Wisdom that Allah created this world, a world of means, but at the same time we realize that our taking the means, means nothing because ultimately Allah is the Creator of every effect. That does not mean that we don't do anything and wait for something to happen. But we separate the exterior from the interior: meaning externally we make plans and we execute our plans for the sake of slavehood to Allah because that is the world of Wisdom and the way of the Prophets, but internally we don't feel that we are responsible for giving ourselves anything or for changing the situation. We don't feel that our efforts are going to guarantee for us anything. Rather, we realize that He is the One who will create whatever He wills. And we trust the All-Merciful and we believe that He wants good for us.

So our efforts do not bring along with them extra stress. We don't stress ourselves with this idea that I am responsible to bring peace and stability, to create food for our dependents, and so on. Allah is creating the peace and Allah is creating the food. And to please Him we work for it and we work well, and when we have peace and stability and when we have food in front of us, we think of those who are not as fortunate as we are--those who are being displaced from their homes, those who are homeless, those who are orphaned, those who have to scrape the garbage for food, those who are fighting for their lives. And so we cannot but grateful to the Lord, As-Salaam, Al-Mu'min, Ar-Razzaq.

When we are grateful, we naturally give. We give our all for His sake. And you know you cannot ever outdo Al-Karim. You know you can never outdo the All-Merciful. So the more you give, the more Allah gives you.

May Allah bring peace to the world we live in and make us keys to unlock good and to lock evil. May Allah increase us in provision both spiritually and physically. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam