The First Struggle of the Prophet (PBUH): Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

The Believer's Mindset: Looking Beyond the Struggle

I prefaced how a mindset of a believer should be — how the thought process, the outlook on life a believer should have. Regardless of how high they get or how low they get. Regardless of how sunny it is or how gloomy it is. How do I create a mindset that allows me to traverse past those thoughts and through those thoughts and get to that sunset? How do I look beyond the struggle? How do I look beyond the darkness?

One is to talk about a moment. One is to talk about an action. One is to talk about an experience — all of these are important. But one is to speak about a mindset. And Allah teaches us the mindset that the Prophet ﷺ was encouraged to have in order for him to continue the struggle of the life that he was to live.

This story takes place in the first few years of Nubuwwah. Some would say it is among the first five surahs that were revealed. Last week, the speaker spoke about Surah al-Qalam. Among the first five surahs that were revealed was this chapter — and in this chapter we find the human side of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet was also a human. The Prophet felt lows and highs. The Prophet felt the struggle of isolation. The Prophet felt the struggle of being isolated and being cornered. That is not something which only we feel on our campuses. It's not something that only we feel in our workplaces. It was a reality that the first believer, the strongest believer, had to live through.

Hence Allah encouraged and discussed and opened up this mindset in this surah. And this surah — for those that want to guess — is Surah al-Duha. At a personal level I can say it's one of my favorite surahs. This surah also had a story, a background. There was something that took place in the life of the Prophet ﷺ which brought him to his knees. You know those moments in life where we're cornered in, and when we're on our knees, experiencing tears coming down our cheeks for whatever reason that may be — that's something which the Prophet experienced multiple times in his life. And what allowed him to go beyond those moments and allow himself to see the light at the end of the tunnel was this foundation which Allah had created for him.

The Silence of Revelation: The Fatrah

The surah begins with:

The story takes place like this: The Prophet ﷺ received the first wahi. The first wahi began with Iqra, and there was some continual wahi after that. But then for a span of six months there is no wahi — no communication with his Creator. No visits from his beloved companion Jibreel. No talking to Allah.

Imagine: you start a relationship. You meet your spouse, or you meet your mother or father after many years and you're finally reunited. You're allowed to have one conversation, and after that one conversation there is nothing but quiet and silence. And you're like — I just experienced something so powerful. I want more of that. I need that. I enjoy that.

Allah gives the Prophet ﷺ the initial commencement of wahi through Surah al-Iqra, Surah al-Mudaththir, Surah al-Muzzammil, Surah al-Qalam — and then six months of silence. Some even go to the point of saying that the silence of the fatrah — the time period in which the Prophet did not receive any wahi — was two years. Some say it was a few weeks. But regardless of how long it was, it was long enough to make the Prophet feel sad. It was long enough to make the Prophet feel alone. It was long enough for him to think: what's happening to me?

The narration goes by Jundub ibn 'Abdillah where he says that this surah was revealed during this time of no wahi coming down to the Prophet ﷺ. During this time the people of Mecca began to approach the Prophet. Among them the wife of Abu Lahab, Abu Lahab himself, and other enemies of Islam. They came to him and said, "Hey man, looks like a devil has left you." Abu Lahab was like, "That person that you were talking to — they're gone. There's no communication anymore." Others came and said, "Oh, that person that came to tell you to do all these things — what happened? They're gone."

"Your Lord has let you go. You're alone now. You're on a freefall, brother. There's no one here that supports you." These were the sentiments that the Prophet also experienced. And similar sentiments are experienced by us — that there's no one like us in our workplace, there's no one like us where we study, there's no one like us amongst our isolated community, and there's no one that truly supports these things that I believe in.

It's okay. It's alright. Because the Prophet experienced the same exact thing. To think that we're always supposed to be happy is a mindset that we have to put aside. And to understand that the reality of life — as Imam al-Ghazali rahimullah, the giant classical scholar, would say — is truly difficulty. If we were to look at the Quran and within the prophetic tradition and attempt to derive just one word that could summarize life in its complete essence, it wouldn't be hard to recognize that that one word is bala — trial and tribulation.

Allah uses this concept many times in the Quran — the reality of life is difficulty. So what happens when the Prophet is experiencing the first difficulty as a believer? The first time we start praying salat at work, the first time we decide to change the way we dress, the first time we decide to introduce ourselves as believers to people, the first time that we're actually proud of what we wear and the way we speak and the way we inherently feel — rather than hoarding that internally and not exposing that to people because we're afraid of the words and the mockery that comes with it — that feeling was also felt by the Prophet ﷺ.

Surah al-Duha: The Foundation of a Positive Mindset

Verse 1: وَالضُّحَىٰ — By the Morning Light

At that point, Allah revealed this surah, beginning with a beautiful verse saying وَالضُّحَىٰ. If we look into the depth of this word — Allah says, "I swear by the morning light." Because the morning is associated with ease and happiness. The morning is associated with joy. The darkness of the night is associated with the whispers of Shaytan. The darkness of the night is associated with hardships.

Allah says وَالضُّحَىٰ — O Muhammad ﷺ, the light has come. There is light in your life. You have the light of Allah with you:

You have Allah's light with you. وَالضُّحَىٰ — don't worry. That darkness which is staring directly at you — remember, light is coming to you. Some scholars go on to say that Allah says وَالضُّحَىٰ referring to the beauty of the Prophet's face — that noor on your face, that radiance brimming off your face. Don't let that light go away. Don't allow that light in your life to be removed because of a single hardship.

Verse 2: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ — By the Night When It Is Still

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ — I swear by the night when it becomes still. Meaning: that time in which everything is still and stagnant. There is no haraka, not much is happening. And now you're alone. And now your emotions come and overtake you. And now you start thinking. And now you start imagining. Now you start reflecting.

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ — I want for you, O Muhammad ﷺ, that at that point of your life where there is absolutely nothing happening except for your thoughts eating up your brain — because everyone has thoughts, the Prophet had thoughts too. The Prophet felt: my Allah told me I was a prophet and then He let me go. How could that be?

The same way we think about it. How is it possible that I am studying harder than my classmates and hoping to get better grades, but they get a job before me? How is it possible that I put in more hours and reach all the goals my boss set for me, but I don't get that promotion? How is it possible that people who are not as practicing as me — you look at them and they have nothing but happiness in their life?

Allah speaks about those people and says:

Allah says: don't think that people who are just enjoying the fluttery of life are okay. No — that's Allah allowing them to benefit for now, and there will always be a time where they also go through difficulty. Where the Prophet ﷺ says:

It is the sunnah of Allah: when anything is at a high point, it will come down; and when anything is at a low point, it will go up.

Verse 3: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ — Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You

There will be fluctuating thoughts that come to our minds. There will be different experiences that we go through as we live through life. That was the same thought that came to the Prophet ﷺ: Allah has left me. How can Allah forsake me? How can Allah do this to me? These words — we can hear the echoes of them in our minds, because we've all said it before. We've all thought about it before. And if we haven't, then we're lucky.

Allah says: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ. The word وَدَّعَ literally means not to say salam and I'll see you later. وَدَّعَ comes from the root letters of wida'. We've heard about Hajjatul Wida' — the farewell pilgrimage. We've heard about Khutbatul Wida' — the farewell address that the Prophet ﷺ gave in his Hajj. These are wida'as which literally mean an absolute final goodbye. مَا وَدَّعَكَ — your Lord will never forsake you. He had never forsaken you. He was always around.

When the sahabas ask the Prophet ﷺ about their Lord, respond to them: إِنِّي قَرِيبٌ — your Lord is right around the corner. Allah will manifest Himself in our life in many ways. Ibn al-Qayyim rahimullah would say that many a time Allah will bring a blessing in the form of a bala, and many a time Allah will bring a difficulty in the form of a blessing. Sometimes a blessing comes and it looks like a blessing, but in reality it is covered internally with a difficulty — and the vice-versa is also true. He says: regardless if it's a blessing or a difficulty, take the best from it and try to make the best of it.

مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ — your Lord didn't let you go. The Lord never left you. He's right around the corner.

Even in those times of our day or those times of our life where we think and reflect upon our du'as not being accepted — when we see that despite us praying more, sometimes there is more difficulty — it is the reality of life. How do I get through that? Allah creates a mindset for us. The mindset that we should have, the outlook on life that we should have, is: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ — Allah can never let us go. Allah will always be with us and Allah is always supporting us.

وَمَا قَلَىٰ — it is interesting. Allah says مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ, meaning your Lord never left you, and وَمَا قَلَىٰ because the people of Quraysh had started saying: your Lord is unhappy with you. Sometimes people will come to you and say the difficulty in your life is because Allah is unhappy with you. But difficulties come for two reasons: one is due to our own sins, and the second is because Allah wants to raise our ranks in this world and in the akhirah. So difficulty actually enhances our closeness to Allah, not distances us from Him.

So وَمَا قَلَىٰ — Allah is not unhappy with you. It's important for us to realize this. The mindset we should have with difficulties is to stay positive. And it is equally — in fact, more — important that when someone else is going through a difficulty, we use the same mindset for them. Not the opposite. A lot of the time if someone's going through difficulty, it's very easy to say, "Oh, it's written for you," or "That was gonna happen anyway because they were doing that sin," or "Because they didn't pray salat." No. Give them the benefit of the doubt, just the same way Allah is giving us the benefit of the doubt.

The Believer as a Stranger in the World

The mindset that Allah creates for the Prophet ﷺ through this surah is: you will not be left alone as long as you know that I am with you. The condition of Allah's help being with us is that we don't lose hope in that help. The moment we start limiting Allah's help and confining His power, that is when it becomes confined for us.

Hadith Qudsi — "I am as My servant thinks of Me." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7405; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2675)

Where the Prophet ﷺ relates in a Hadith Qudsi where Allah says that I am with My slave as he perceives of Me. If he thinks I can do it — that is different. If he knows I can do it, then I'll do it for him. One is to say, "Allah, can you do this?" One is to say, "Allah, please do this for me." There is a difference in the way we communicate with those whom we love.

We as believers will always be people who are strangers in the world.

"Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began. So Tuba (glad tidings) for the strangers." (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

The Prophet ﷺ says that this religion started off as something strange. It came in an era in which people gave absolutely no respect to those who were inferior to them in society. There was absolutely no respect given to people that were slaves or whose daughters were being buried alive. No inheritance was given to women. Men were fighting over the most petty of things. In a time in which the worst of eras — where people are worshipping 360 idols — and you're coming and telling them to worship one Allah. It's going to be strange.

And to be strange is to be a believer. This is why the reality of deen is the balance of two things. Number one: I'm not supposed to completely assimilate. Neither am I supposed to completely isolate myself. There is a balance. As a Muslim in this community, I need to assimilate, but I also need to find my own time of isolation. And we find that in the second and third surahs that were revealed:

That means: find your own Allah in your own time. Isolate yourself. Speak to your Allah.

That means: assimilate with people. Allow that strength that you bore at night to become a source of power and strength for you in the day. Because you were able to connect to Allah at night, you feel connected throughout the day.

A simple example: what happens to us if we don't charge our phones at night? When the phone doesn't charge — that's a bad day. The entire day you're struggling. "Can someone give me a charger?" That charger for us is the night. That's the time we connect to Allah, where we spend a few minutes with nothing but Allah. Even if it's just a few moments.

Imagine you're in a relationship with a person and you don't communicate with them at all. The only thing you do is benefit from them. It's a one-sided, incentivized relationship. No spouse will stay with you. No sibling will stay with you. No friend will stay with you if every time you call it's only: "Hey man, hook it up. I need this. I need money. Can you help?" No friend will stay with you because it's a one-sided relationship with no real communication.

Similarly, there is a relationship that we have with Allah which has to be in some ways reciprocal. Allah continuously gives us, we continuously ask. Allah continuously helps us, we continue to connect ourselves to Him at moments when no one else is around us. Those are moments that stay with us throughout the day. It's a power surge that we need during the difficulties of the entire day.

This is why Allah told the Prophet to isolate himself at night. This is why He said:

O Prophet of Allah, you need that time. Because in your day there is a lot of difficulty. There is a lot of running around. سَبْحًا literally means to swim. You're swimming through waves. You think you know how to swim until you swim in the ocean — and then you realize, oh wow. In Abu Dhabi, coming back from Hajj, our flight got delayed and we had about 13 hours. A fellow Hajji and I found a place to jet ski. The brother that was with me — I dropped him in the sea and he thought he could swim. And when he started swimming against the waves, it wasn't that easy. سَبْحًا طَوِيلًا — you're swimming against these waves. It's not easy. So in order for you to survive that swim, you dedicate some part of your alone time to Allah.

I find that nowadays, more than before, youngsters say: "This is my me time. I need my me time. I need my alone time." Well, yes, you do need your me time. But what does your me time consist of? That me time should consist of things you enjoy — as long as permissible — but it should also consist of something to do with Allah. Maybe just spending a few moments thinking about your day and having some form of accountability.

"Take account of yourselves before you are taken to account." (Attributed to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, reported in various sources including al-Tirmidhi)

Imagine you don't look at your accounts for an entire year, and at the end of the year it's tax time. "I didn't realize what was happening with my accounts!" Now imagine if Allah does that with you. We can't even live without looking at our accounts for a week. Accountability on a nightly basis — just thinking about what we actually did.

Stories from the Prophet's Life: The Mindset in Action

The mindset that Allah creates for the Prophet ﷺ through this surah is: you will not be left alone as long as you know that I am with you. The condition of Allah's help being with us is that we don't lose hope in that help of Allah. The moment we start limiting Allah's help and confining His power — that's when it becomes confined for us. We know that He's there for us.

Is it possible that people can say they believe and they don't get tested? No, it is not possible. That test does come. But we are allowed to get through it because of these mindsets that the Prophet ﷺ was taught to create within himself. مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ was shown to the Prophet ﷺ in different levels and different moments of his life.

I'll go through a few moments where we can realize that this mindset was immensely important to him. We see in his life in Mecca that Allah didn't just say this and let it be. At every moment of the Prophet's life where he felt lowered in society, where he felt humiliated — Allah came and spoke on his behalf.

Story 1: The Loss of Qasim and Surah al-Kawthar

We find that to be true in Surah al-Kawthar. What happened in Surah al-Kawthar? The Prophet ﷺ lost his beloved child Qasim — a few months old, the son of Khadijah. The Prophet ﷺ is in grief. Khadijah is crying for days. The struggle is continuous for them. It doesn't matter who you are or how pious you are — the loss of a child is a burden that is difficult for anyone.

The Prophet ﷺ loses Qasim, and then within a few moments his neighbor — Abu Lahab — finds out. The wife of Abu Lahab finds out and they start saying: "Muhammad is abtar." The Prophet has no lineage. He cannot have children.

Imagine: a couple is struggling to have a child. They are finally blessed with one. That happiness the family is enjoying for a few moments — and then that happiness is snatched from them. How low can that couple be? They're at rock bottom. And then on top of that, people in the community say: "You were never supposed to have children anyway. You can't have any kids. Have you seen yourself?" That makes the entire situation worse.

So the Prophet ﷺ is at a low point. People are coming into the city and the Prophet is being introduced to visitors as abtar — "Oh that guy, he can't have kids, he's childless." Psychologically, he is torn. That's trauma. So Allah jumps in and says:

Stay positive. وَالضُّحَىٰ — there is light. إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ — We have given you al-Kawthar. And al-Kawthar doesn't just mean the stream or river of Jannah. Al-Kawthar, from the root letters of kathura — meaning abundance — means: we've given you an abundant amount of good. Don't think that just because I took one thing from you, I haven't done good for you. I have done so much for you.

Creating a positive mindset. O Prophet of Allah:

We found you to be in need of guidance and We guided you. You had nothing and We gave you wealth — you became self-sufficient. You were an orphan and We gave you shelter. Don't think just because one thing is snatched from you that that defines the entire relationship that I have with you. Just because one thing goes wrong does not denote the entire relationship that I have with Allah. إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ — yes, I took Qasim from you.

"To Allah belongs what He gives and to Allah belongs what He takes." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1284; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 923)

O Prophet — but We have given you a lot more than that. We have made you the greatest prophet. We have given you the best companions. We have given you the right to be the first person to enter Jannah. أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ — We've given you so much. Don't just think about one thing. Rather, create a positive mindset about all the other things that you have. And as for your enemy who said that you are childless:

Your enemy is the one who will have no legacy. A legacy is not learned or known when a person is alive. A legacy is understood when people die and leave the world. You think Imam al-Bukhari was writing his book thinking that every single person in the world would know his name? That's not what they thought. The legend was born when they left the world. Because they did things with such sincerity. Your legacy will remain even though you don't have the apparent factors to continue a legacy — but their legacy will never continue.

Story 2: Abu Lahab and Surah al-Masad

Another example in Mecca: Abu Lahab's wife and Abu Lahab would speak about the Prophet ﷺ. They would refer to him as a person that is destroyed. They would throw garbage and thorns in front of his pathway. They would say: "Tabbanlaka ya Muhammad" — may you be destroyed, may you perish. Abu Lahab said this twice in his life: once on the mountain of Safa, and secondly when the Prophet invited his entire household and invited them towards Islam.

Nobody can speak to the Prophet like that. But the Prophet is told:

You don't respond — because I have your back. We don't respond because Allah has our back. Allah said in a Hadith Qudsi:

"Whoever shows enmity to a wali (close friend) of Mine, I will wage war against him." (Hadith Qudsi — Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502)

And this is not a hadith put in a corner — this is authentic. Whosoever harms a wali of mine. A wali is not just a friend. A wali is a close friend — a person that you share your secrets with. Not a sadeeq. Sadeeq is a friend, sahib is a companion — there are these different categories. Wali is a close friend that you share your internal, hidden secrets with, and nobody else knows about it except that person.

And then we have wilaya — when a person has wilaya with Allah, they share their secrets with Allah and Allah does the same with them. And above that is khulla — Ibrahim a.s. was Khalilullah. And the highest level is Habibullah — which is the Prophet ﷺ. But wilaya and being a wali can be a goal of life.

Allah says: whosoever harms a wali of Mine — a person that actually shares the hidden secrets of their heart with Me. And you know, it's not hard to share secrets with people that already know you. You'll come and say, "Hey man, I'm struggling with..." and they'll say, "I already knew that. I could tell by the way you walked in. I could tell instantly." Well, Allah already knew the secrets of our hearts before we even thought of saying them. So let's talk to Allah about it.

Allah says: whosoever harms that person — I will take care of them. And we believe this. It's a reality of life. If we harm people, at times the person can forgive us but Allah still shows us an effect of that sin. It's not okay just to harm people and speak negatively about them, get their forgiveness, and move on to sunshine and dazzle. You have to go through both steps. What if Allah doesn't forgive you?

Tabbat yada took place — they spoke negatively about the Prophet. And Allah revealed:

No. Allah's Prophet has not perished. Abu Lahab and his wife are perished. And we find that Abu Lahab — tabba means to deteriorate over a long period of time without having the power to help yourself. Like you become helpless. Tabba doesn't mean instant death. Tabba means deterioration. So throughout Abu Lahab's last few months of his life, he had a disease which ate up his entire body. And when he passed away, not even his own sons were prepared to take his body to the grave. They told slaves in the community of Mecca to tie his body with ropes and drag him on the streets of Mecca to a grave and dump him in.

That's what you call Allah stepping up on their behalf. You want to see tabba? That's tabba. You'll die alone. Your sons can't even stand at your graveside. They can't even take you to your grave. Don't say that about my Prophet ﷺ. A mindset was being created: stay positive regardless of what difficulty is going on. Look at إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ. Look at وَالضُّحَىٰ.

Story 3: Ta'if and Three Gifts from Allah

And these stories continue. When the time of Ta'if came — when the Prophet ﷺ was pelted with stones and he left Ta'if and came back — Allah kept the Prophet's mindset positive by giving him three things after Ta'if.

And dear brothers and sisters — we know we cannot receive these as wahi, but the same effects are felt by people who are the friends of Allah. Despite the difficulty, they feel some form of help, some form of support through Allah.

So Allah gave the Prophet three things after Ta'if. Number one: the Islam of the jinn. The jinns became Muslims on the return journey from Ta'if — the 10th year of Nubuwwah. Number two: Surah Yusuf. You're going through a lot? Let me tell you about Yusuf. Yusuf almost got killed by his own brothers. He was thrown into jail for something he never did. And then his closest companion forgot about him in jail. Don't worry — he was alright. And the third thing: Allah gave him the blessed journey of Mi'raj, where he was able to actually meet Allah. So He kept the positive mindset for the Prophet ﷺ.

Story 4: The Cave of Thawr During the Hijrah

This thought process, this mindset, continued beyond Mecca — even through the Hijrah. What happened in the Hijrah? The Prophet ﷺ is in the Cave of Thawr. People are walking above the mouth of the cave. Negativity steps into the mindset of Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu. "Ya Rasool Allah, if they just look down beneath their feet, they'll notice we're here — and then we're dead. We're toast."

The Prophet ﷺ taught his companion the mindset that Allah had taught him:

Don't grieve. Don't get sad. إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا — note: not إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعِي, "Allah is with me." Because the mindset of Allah's closeness and nearness is not limited to the Prophet alone. The mindset of Allah's nearness and closeness is general for every single person who believes Allah is near to them. إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا is all-inclusive. It is not selective. It is for every single person — regardless of how far they are from deen.

It doesn't matter how far you get from your parents — your mother, your father — they will still love you. إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا — Allah is still with me. And Allah is with us. Creating a mindset for his beloved companion Abu Bakr.

This is different from how Musa a.s. addressed his people. When Musa a.s. was cornered in front of the sea with the army of Fir'aun closing in, the people of Musa said: "You've killed us, Musa. You brought us to this place and you're the one that will have our blood on your hands." And Musa responded:

That was Musa a.s. — "Allah is with me." But for the Prophet ﷺ it was: إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا — Allah is with us. Allah sent down sakinah — relax, comfort, ease, serenity — upon them.

Imam al-Shafi'i rahimullah said:

Allow the days to continue to progress — because everything will finish sooner or later.

Three Blessings in Every Difficulty

Imam al-Ghazali rahimullah says:

"In every difficulty there are three blessings."

In every difficulty — how many blessings? Three. This is creating a positive mindset, because every single person goes through this. And I'm going to ask you this in two weeks inshaAllah — please try to remember.

The first blessing: the difficulty is in my dunya, not in my deen. Which is very important. A person can lose a family member, and that difficulty will last a very long time. But they know that that family member will be reunited with them in the akhirah. I met a mother in Houston last Ramadan who had lost her daughter — about two or three years old, who had a brain hemorrhage. She was sad — who wouldn't be? It would be inhumane not to be. But after having a discussion with her, I saw that woman smiling. I saw her talking to her husband. I noticed she was enjoying life. One year later, she's still moving forward.

And then the other example: I met another mother who didn't lose her son or daughter to death — they lost them from Islam. If they left the fold of Islam, that mother never smiles. Because now the difficulty is not in her dunya, it's in her deen. A difficulty that I should truly be afraid of is not being able to pray salat. That's a difficulty. Not being able to make du'a — that's a difficulty. Everything else will just pass. So the first blessing in my difficulty: it's in my dunya, not in my deen.

And Allah says:

What is about to come to you in the akhirah is better for you.

The second blessing: this will soon pass. And the third blessing: it could have been worse. I got in a car accident and lost my car — well, it could have been worse. I could have lost a limb. I'm driving back from work and I don't like my job, I don't like my boss — have a positive mindset. What if you didn't have a job? How would you serve your family then? You're driving in a car without heat — what if you didn't have a car at all and had to take the bus? What if you had to live like the people in our countries back home?

I mean, it's okay to acknowledge difficulties, but don't drown yourself in negativity. Do you ever think about the fact that you're still able to feed your family? Do you ever think about the fact that you still have a sibling, at least? Do you ever think about the fact that at least you have food? So: it could have been worse.

So three blessings in every difficulty: number one, it's in my dunya not in my deen. Number two, this will soon pass. Number three, it could have been worse. That's not psychology. That's Allah teaching us a mindset of positivity. Allah teaching us to always look beyond that which is right in front of us.

Nonetheless — it wasn't that every difficulty was met with ease. No. That's not what happened. It wasn't that Qasim came back to life. It wasn't that Abu Lahab stopped making fun of him. It wasn't that Hijrah became easy. No. Every difficulty brought a positive mindset from Allah to him. Even though you still don't have Qasim — you still have Allah. Even though I didn't give wahi to you for six months — don't worry, I'm still with you. Even though Abu Lahab is saying these things — I'll take care of him.

So it wasn't that everything was changed and flipped. The mindset was recreated. The mindset was reaffirmed. Don't think that every difficulty should always bring you ease right away. It's possible that difficulty continues for a long time and ease comes much later. But the mindset should always remain positive.

Story 5: The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

The Prophet ﷺ saw a dream and went for Umrah — and got stopped at the outskirts of Mecca. Imagine: you take a flight, you pay for your ticket, you get to Makkah and Madinah, and they say, "You don't have a visa. Go back." You can be a person who never prayed in their life and you'd still cry. That's a difficult experience.

Imagine the Prophet ﷺ and the Sahabas — mountains of iman — coming to Makkah for Umrah. And: go back. That is such a low point that even Sahabas started saying to the Prophet, "What's going on? Are we not on the truth?" The Prophet ﷺ remained quiet. Because even in this difficulty, the positive mindset was revolving. Something is happening behind the scenes that I don't know about.

And as they were able to get through that difficulty, ease was brought to them:

O Prophet of Allah, We have given you a clear victory. And the Prophet ﷺ, before reading this ayah to anyone else, called Umar r.a.: "Umar, you come here. You said, why are we going back? Well, here it is. Allah said: We've given you a clear victory."

So when we are able to get through that difficulty, there is — on the other side of the door — some ease for us. But if we get stuck in that difficulty, as Sheikh Sulman Mulla said beautifully: the difficulty is something that everyone deals with, but the mindset is something that you create. You can be going through something difficult and you can make it worse for yourself by the way you perceive it. Or you can be going through something difficult and start thinking positively about it — and allow yourself to deal with that difficulty. It's still going to be there. It's not going to disappear. But you're able to get through it and start living your life.

Story 6: The Battle of Uhud

What happened in Uhud? The Prophet ﷺ told the archers to stay on the mountain, and they left. Because of that, they lost 70 Sahabas. And you're not talking about 70 companions when there were 124,000 — you're talking about 70 companions when there was only a handful. That's a big deal. The Prophet was hurt. He was bleeding. His tooth became shaheed. His close companions became shaheed.

Allah creates a continual mindset:

O Prophet of Allah, if difficulty has come to you — it came to them last year. In Badr, they lost 70 people. In Uhud, you lost 70 people. So if you're going through difficulty now, they went through it last year. The days continue to revolve, and a time will come where you are also at ease again. And that happened — by the time of Fath al-Makkah five years later.

The Mirror: Clean Your Heart to See the World's Beauty

Imam al-Ghazali rahimullah uses the example of a father and a son. He says: imagine a father holding his baby toddler and playing with him by throwing him up in the air. You know how we do it. When you let that child go, initially — it's so fun! And then he realizes: wait, where's my dad? Where's my mom? Who's holding me? I'm alone? But a few moments later he comes back into your arms — and he's laughing. "Do it again! Do it again!" He says that's the same way Allah treats us in this world. Allah lets us live in this world. We're like — we're all alone. But the same way your father is going to grab you again, Allah says: I'm there. I'm just letting you live for some time. And when the akhirah comes, I'm taking you back into My grasp, into My comfort.

Another example: if we take our children to the dentist — I mean, I hate the dentist. Everyone does. No child wants to go to the dentist. You take a kid to the dentist, he hates it. When the dentist pulls the tooth, he's crying the whole time. And then a few moments later, the child stops crying and says, "That's all it was? I was shrieking and crying the entire time just out of fear for that? It was nothing. It was a moment. And it was gone." That's the world for us. We're crying and screaming over something that will last for such a limited time, and then it will be gone.

Imam al-Ghazali draws a beautiful parallel: the way we look at the world is a reflection of our heart. To have a positive mindset, you don't need to have a positive mind — you need to have a positive heart. And he uses the example of a king who says to two architects: make for me the best castle you can, and I'll give you all the money you need.

One group goes ahead and requests marble, gems, materials — and builds their palace behind a covering. You can't see what they're doing while the work goes on — because we don't know what Allah is doing behind the scenes. After 30 days, they pull their cloth off: a beautiful palace. Marble, gems, glittering, shiny.

Then the king says to the other group: pull off your covering too. And they pull it off — and there is a huge mirror. All there is, is what? A huge mirror. So when the king looks at the mirror, he sees the reflection of the beautiful palace. All the effort was on the other side, and these people are just reflecting it.

That's life. If we clean our hearts, we are able to see the beauty of the creation of Allah all around us. If we purify ourselves internally, the things that are beautiful — everything that Allah created is beautiful.

Meaning: everything that Allah has made is beautiful. Nothing is not beautiful. Everyone is beautiful. But in order for me to experience that beauty, it's not about how hard we work — it's about how smart we think about our hearts and how we clean them.

Everyone is busy. Even a kid says, "I'm busy." What are you busy with? "I'm playing Fortnite." The most overused term in the world is busy. The goal is not to be busy — the goal is to be efficient. Our efficiency comes by connecting ourselves to Allah and cleaning that heart of ours. That allows us to see the reflection of the world which is positive for us. It allows us not to be in a negative mindset all the time.

Conclusion: The Quran Was Revealed to the Prophet, but for Us

It is important for us as youngsters, as parents — because everyone is dealing with mental health, depression, being isolated by people. These are real things that happen. And it's not all to do with spirituality. Some people actually deal with these things and we hope we can help them. But at a spiritual level, the remedy is to create a positive mindset and to realize that how Allah spoke to the Prophet — Allah is also speaking to us. We just have to allow ourselves to benefit from that speech. Because the Quran was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, but revealed for us.

There was an ayah that was revealed about hoarding gold and silver. Abu Dharr radiallahu anhu would tell people: give that gold away, give the silver away. The Sahabas would say: after we give zakat, we can keep it. But Abu Dharr would say: no, you should give all of it away. The Sahabas said, that ayah you're referring to — where Allah talks about people who don't give charity — is referring to Bani Israel. It's not referring to us. It's just telling us their story. Guess what Abu Dharr said: it was revealed about them, but for us to take a lesson from it.

So Surah al-Duha is revealed to the Prophet. Surah al-Kawthar is revealed to the Prophet. لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا is revealed to the Prophet. The story of Yusuf is revealed to the Prophet. إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ is revealed to the Prophet. But it's for all of us.

And the greatest of all these things revealed to the Prophet in those difficult 23 years was the salat that he was given in Mi'raj. And we still have that. And we can still benefit from that.

May Allah allow us to understand that a feeling is not wrong — but allowing that feeling to grow is on us. Allowing that seed to become an entire tree is us watering it. So we have to make sure we don't water those negative thoughts — and we rather think how Allah taught us to think, with a positive mindset. The way the Prophet ﷺ dealt with the same things that we deal with. He dealt with isolation. He dealt with being on his knees and not receiving an answer to his du'a for six months. The du'a was not instantly answered for him. But yet when Allah spoke to him, He said:

You have light in your day. What's going to come your way is far better than what's already here. And He reminded him of all the blessings He gave him. And He ends the surah by saying: وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ — all the blessings that you have, your responsibility is to use that talent and that blessing to benefit people.

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ doesn't mean to show off our blessings. It means that a blessing can only be defined as a blessing if people can benefit from it. If people don't benefit from my blessings, that is the most selfish way of living. Whatever blessing I have, I can be generous with it — regardless if it's my time, my wealth, my smile, the way I look at people. I should allow people to benefit from my blessings and not hoard them for myself. And it's not that hard. It's a mindset. A blessing does not reduce or lose its power just because you share it with people — rather it gets enhanced.

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ — O Prophet of Allah, many people are thinking the same way as you: that Allah has left them. Many people are struggling with that same struggle. So now it's your job to take your blessings and allow people to benefit from them.

And Ibn al-Qayyim would say — and I'll end at this — the greatest usage of any talent or skill is that that skill and talent can be used to bring someone closer to Allah. Allow our talents to be used to bring people closer to Allah. Because once they become close to Allah, all the other diseases and hardships will fall into place. There will be a domino effect. The domino effect starts with Allah being with us — and not the other way around.

May Allah bless you all. JazakAllah khair for coming once again.