The Importance of Remaning Positive - Sheikh Abu Abdillah Yunus Mahmud

The Importance of Remaining Positive

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمَّا بَعْد

The Story of Ya'qub: Never Losing Hope

Allah, when He tells us about Ya'qub (alayhi salam) and what he went through — he lost his son, his beloved son Yusuf (alayhi salam). Many years later his children come back and they inform him that a second son of his, Bin Yamin, has also been imprisoned. So he loses one child after the other. He didn't lose hope. He didn't give up. This didn't cause him to feel negative towards his Creator and towards his Lord. Rather, what does he say? In such a beautiful way he says, ya bani — all my beloved sons — I haven't given up. I have a Lord who I'm sure will never let me down, and I'll never feel any despair or lose hope or anything similar.

He says, ya bani udh'habu — all my beloved sons, go — and after all of those years he still has not lost hope that he'll be reunited with that son who he lost many years ago. He says:

Go and inquire about Yusuf and his brother, and never feel despair towards the mercy of Allah — for no one despairs of the mercy of Allah except for the non-believers.

My dear respected brothers and sisters, Allah — when He strikes these beautiful stories and examples and incidents in the Quran, specifically of the prophets — they are there for us to follow:

So follow the example — meaning whose example? The prophets, all of them.

The Story of Musa: Certainty in Allah's Help

And then we find again another incident which Allah strikes in the Quran — with Musa (alayhi salam). When he takes the Children of Israel and Fir'awn and all of his people follow him, when both parties meet together and there is nothing except a sea behind them — what happens? The companions of Musa look and they see: behind them is the sea, and in front of them is Fir'awn and his people. The number that they have — there is nothing in comparison to the number of Fir'awn and his people. And the power — again, there is no comparison. So they think: now it is game over, this is the end, we have been overtaken.

But what does Musa (alayhi salam) say? He is convinced: I have carried out whatever I could carry out, so now I leave the rest to my Lord. He is not going to leave me at such a vital time when I need Him most, and then give the upper hand to this individual — Fir'awn — who claims that he himself is the lord. So what did he say? He tells his people: never — never would this happen with me. I have my Lord. He will guide me. And that is exactly what happened. Then Musa (alayhi salam) was instructed by Allah to strike his staff, and immediately the sea split into a number of different parts — each part looks like a massive mountain — and then they walked through. And what happened to Fir'awn and his people? They were drowned.

Looking at the Positive Side of Things

My dear respected brothers and sisters, it is important that in life a person — as a Muslim specifically — always tries to be positive, to the best of their ability and as much as they can. When you look at two things: you look at the sun, for example — it bears a lot of heat, so there is a negative side — and then you look at the positive side, look at the light. That also bears the same thing. So you see a negative side and then you see a positive side. And for the believer, my dear respected ones, it is important for us to look at the positive side. We look at the ocean — we see that many people have drowned, that is a negative side — but how many people have survived? How many people have crossed from one land to another? So there are benefits as well. So let us try our best, my dear respected brothers and sisters, to look at the positive side of things.

For Those Who Have Sinned: Do Not Despair of Allah's Mercy

A person has wronged themselves — what have they done? They have been committing many sins for a very long time. You find many brothers and sisters always complaining: "I've committed too much. I committed zina, I drank alcohol, I've been on drugs for such-and-such amount of time, I've gone too far." This is something we hear on a regular basis. My dear respected brothers, the reality is Allah has a message. He says:

O my servants who have wronged themselves, who have transgressed — they have done lots of haram and they have wronged themselves — do not feel despair towards the mercy of Allah. It doesn't matter. So you committed this sin — the fact that now you have a heart which doesn't want to do anything except return back to Allah. What is so beautiful, my dear respected brothers and sisters, is that you find that a person who you are normally scared of — you run away from them. As for Allah, you run to Him. You don't run away from Him. When you are scared of Him, you go back to Him. And this is what Allah says: regardless of how far you have gone, innallaha yaghfirul dhunuba jami'a — Allah can forgive, He forgives all sins, regardless of how far you have gone. Return back now. The fact that you still have your soul in your body — you still have a chance, my dear respected brothers and sisters. You still have a chance. Maximize and capitalize on this chance before that chance is no longer available.

Positivity in Times of Illness

And like we said, a person has to feel positive at all times. The same when you enter upon a person who is sick — when you enter upon a person who is ill — then the illness, my dear respected brothers and sisters, has two sides to it. It has a dark side and it has a bright side. The dark side: the pain, the difficulty that it puts a person through. And then the bright side: look at the good, the amazing reward that a person can obtain through this if they are patient and seek reward — and also the expiation of sins, that the sins will be wiped out. So there is a dark side and a bright side.

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) entered upon a person — Imam al-Bukhari narrates in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) entered upon a person and said: "Tahoor insha'Allah." The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) knows about these two sides of a sickness. So what does he do? He covers the dark side and he presents the bright side. He says: purity — this illness, don't worry. He says: I've come here to give you good news that you are having difficulty right now, but this will be expiation for sins — your sins are going to be wiped out insha'Allah. And this will help you reduce the sickness — you will not feel as much pain when you are aware that you are actually receiving rewards.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3616)

In fact, some of the ulema mention that sometimes, my dear respected brothers and sisters, a person is tested with these illnesses and sicknesses and trials and tribulations so that they are elevated to such a degree that many optional acts of obedience would have never raised them to such a high calibre.

So he tells him: purification insha'Allah. So what does that person say? He is an old man and he was a person who felt very negative. So he said: "Never — purification? Never! Rather, this is a sickness that is only going to increase and harass an old man until it will end him" — meaning, this person will end up dead in the grave, that will be the outcome of this sickness. So what does the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) say? He says: "Okay, then if this is what you want it to be, then that is what it will be. That is your choice. If you are so convinced and you have taken this pessimistic, negative path — so be it." But the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) did tell this person: change it. Fair enough, you might be negative, you might have had this negative way most of your life — that is it. Many of us didn't know many things. Many of us used to have bad characteristics — when a person learns, they try to mend their ways.

Another time, in Sahih Muslim, Imam Muslim narrates that the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) entered upon a female companion, Umm al-Sa'ib, and he said: "Are you having pain? Are you suffering pain?" So she said: "Yes, it is a fever — may Allah not bless it." So what did the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) say?

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2575)

He said: "Don't swear at the fever." And this is the case of any sickness and any illness — what benefit are you going to get from swearing at an illness? He said: "Don't swear at the fever, for the fever — when it comes — it wipes out the sins of the son of Adam." Look at things in a positive light, my dear respected brothers and sisters.

Spreading Positivity to Others

This is a very important point — for a person to try to feel positive and also to make others feel positive as well. Whenever you want to do something, the fact that it is something that you want to draw yourself closer to Allah, and you are trying to do something in order for Allah to be pleased with you, a person should try their best to be positive. And even if others annoy them — like you find the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) again, in Sahih al-Bukhari: when the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) became a prophet, the people of Mecca — when he would walk through the streets of Mecca — what do you think? How were the non-believers addressing him? Were they saying: "O courageous one! O brave person! O noble person! O Prophet! O Messenger!" — in fact, the complete opposite. They would criticise him, try to belittle him: "Mad person!" — this and that.

So one thing that they would say to him: because his name is Muhammad — meaning "the praiseworthy" — they were trying to flip it around and they were calling him Mudhammam — "the one who is hated." So the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) says to his companions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3533)

"Are you not amazed at how Allah has protected me from the abuse and the cursing of the people of Quraysh? They are cursing and abusing Mudhammam — and I am Muhammad. They are cursing and swearing at Mudhammam — and I have nothing to do with it!" What would most of us do? A person criticising them, saying something belittling — most of us, some of us, you find falling into depression: "Why are people attacking me? What have I done wrong? What have I done to deserve this?" Look at it in the positive light, as the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) instructed us.

Positivity in the Household

You find, my dear respected brothers and sisters — would you find a household which is completely free from problems? No, it doesn't exist. Generally speaking, where a husband and wife are always just smiling at each other — "MashaAllah, you're the most perfect wife" — you find this doesn't exist, my dear respected brothers and sisters. But the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), in Sahih Muslim, has instructed us to have this positive behaviour even in our households:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1469)

A believing man should never hate a believing woman. If he dislikes a characteristic of hers, he will be pleased with another characteristic of hers. So you might dislike your wife because she gets angry very easily, for example — maybe she does this or that — but then you remember: as for her religion, mashaAllah, it is on point. She is kind, she takes care of the children. Or vice versa as well — a wife looks at her husband, and her husband always gets angry at her, or something — again, she remembers: okay, but he also does a lot of khayr for us, whenever we need him he is always there — or whatever it is. The point is, my dear respected brothers and sisters: don't forget the good times. Do not be ungrateful. Just like every single one of us has some bad traits, we also have good traits — and the same applies to others as well.

The Power of a Good Name and a Good Word

The problem is — and my dear respected brothers and sisters, even when the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) would come across a person with a name which was no good — for example, in Sahih Muslim, Ibn Umar (radi Allahu anhu) narrates that Umar's father had a daughter whom he had named 'Asiya — meaning "disobedient." So the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) changed her name to Jameela — meaning "beautiful."

There was another person — this is in Sahih al-Bukhari — whom the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) met and asked: "What is your name?" So he said his name was Hazn — meaning a person who is rough, harsh, very abrupt, very difficult. So the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "No — rather you are Sahl" — and he changed his name. He said: "You are easy-going." But that person was not happy with what the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said to him. He said: "I am not going to change a name that my father named me." So the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) left him.

Then this individual, my dear respected brothers and sisters — he had a son, and then that son's son was one of the great ulema of Madinah: Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyib. Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyib was one of the great scholars of Madinah, and he mentions that this harshness — he wishes that his grandfather had changed the name to what the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) told him — because he says: until now, in the offspring of his grandfather — meaning even himself — they are still quite rough in their character, because they did not take the advice and recommendation of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) to change the name.

So my dear respected brothers and sisters, let us — at least from today, insha'Allah — try to feel positive when we go home, when we go to work, or wherever we go. Because right now it is like a holiday period generally speaking in this country, so it is a time for a person to take a step back and look at any shortcomings that can be fixed. Immediately — like this — slowly, slowly, within a short space of time, you will see immediate improvements.

Positivity in One's Final Moments

My dear respected brothers and sisters, even when a person is during their final moments — they know that this sickness may lead to their passing, they know that these may be their final moments in this world — even then, my dear respected brothers and sisters, it is important that a person thinks positively in respect to their Lord. Of course they try to make tawbah for everything they can remember, and if they have wronged anyone they seek forgiveness from them — but at the same time they also try to feel and think positive.

Look at Bilal (radi Allahu anhu) — the famous mu'adhin, the one who used to give the call to prayer at the time of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) — when he was during his final moments, his wife was with him. And he started to say:

He started to say: "Tomorrow we are going to meet our beloved ones — the ones we love, the ones who have departed — tomorrow we are going to be reunited with them insha'Allah: Muhammad and his companions." Even at that time, my dear respected ones, he is looking forward — fair enough, I am going to depart from my family, alhamdulillah, but I am going to be reunited with other loved ones.

Gratitude in the Face of Calamity: The Example of 'Urwah

And even when a person speaks to others who are going through difficulty — we find 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, from the time of the tabi'een, the great scholar from the second generation of Muslims. What happened was that on a journey, his foot became infected, so they had to amputate it. And he also lost one of his seven sons — one of them passed away. So he said — and this is very profound, my dear respected ones, and it shows how grateful some of these people used to be:

He said to Allah: "O Allah, you have taken one of my four parts — meaning the hands and the legs — you have taken one of them, and I still have three left. Alhamdulillah. You have taken one of my children, and you have left me six."

Look at that. When a person has this, my dear respected brothers and sisters, programmed in their mind, it becomes very easy — even at times of trials, tribulations and difficulties — to feel positive and to look at things in a positive light.

The Impact of a Kind Word

And at the same time, just like you program yourself to see things in a positive light, it is also important to say nice things. This was something which used to amaze the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam):

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5776; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2224)

What is الفَأْل? This used to amaze him — al-kalimah al-tayyibah: a nice word. A nice word, my dear respected brothers and sisters. Sometimes a person really has no idea what great impact a small little statement has on a person's heart — and in fact in a person's life. You find sometimes a person takes an entire U-turn in their life due to a sentence that you might have said to them. Just a small sentence — you are not taking a penny out of your pocket, you are just saying something nice — and due to that, all of a sudden a person's life takes a complete U-turn.

You find, for example, Imam al-Dhahabi (rahimahullah), the great scholar of the past — he used to be a great scholar of the Quran and its different recitations. So one time one of his teachers looked at his handwriting and said: "Your khatt — your handwriting, your style of writing — is like the style of writing of the people of hadith." That is all he said — a small statement. So he said: ever since his teacher made that statement, he took a U-turn, and he went on to become one of the greatest scholars of hadith of his time. Over a small thing — just a comment on his handwriting.

And when a person looks at what initiated the thought of authoring and compiling Sahih al-Bukhari — you find that when Imam al-Bukhari was younger, one of his teachers — Ishaq ibn Rahwayh — was giving a talk to a large audience, and he was amongst them. His teacher said: "If only one of you would compile a book gathering all of the authentic narrations of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) and make it concise — summarize it." Just one statement — and he wasn't even directing it directly at Imam al-Bukhari, he was directing it at all of those who were present. He said: automatically it was as if it went straight into Imam al-Bukhari's heart, and he said: "Then I started compiling" — meaning Sahih al-Bukhari.

So sometimes, my dear respected brothers and sisters, even if a person looks at many of the people of the past — all it is is a small statement, a few words where someone says something that really amazes you and has a very strong impact — and then after that you start to look at life in a completely different way. So try your best, my dear respected brothers and sisters: just as you need to feel positive yourself, also spread positivity — making others feel positive and optimistic.