A Duaa When Dealing With Anxiety

Opening

إِنَّهُ 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

Allah says in the Qur'an:

He says: O believers, have taqwa in Allah — which means that we should be conscious of Him, we should be aware of Him, and we should protect ourselves from His punishment and His wrath — and we should never die except in a state of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

I begin my khutbah by asking Allah first and foremost to send blessings and prayers upon our Prophet Muhammad صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

أَمَّا بَعْدُ — My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ.

The Story of the Sahabi Who Came to the Masjid

One time a man came to the Masjid of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ at a time where there was no prayer. As you know, the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ used to live in the Masjid — his house was placed in the Masjid. So when he saw that Sahabi coming in at that time, the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ felt that there was something up with that man. So he came and approached the man and asked him: "What are you doing here at this time? Do you need help?"

The Sahabi told the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that he had two things he was struggling with in his life. He said:

He said: "I'm struggling with two things. Number one, I'm just overwhelmed with all of these negative thoughts and feelings that are taking over me. And number two, I have a lot of debts that I need to pay off. So I'm just overwhelmed and I found the Masjid a way out for me. And I came here to speak to you, O Rasulallah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ."

Before diving into the advice — which comes in the shape of a du'a, a very powerful du'a that we really need to internalize — just see how the community of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ built a massive connection to him. They just felt very comfortable coming to the Prophet and opening up to him. That indicates the deep relationship that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ had with his companions. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was just easy to talk to. He had that care towards his ummah, towards his Sahaba. And so the Sahabi didn't take him long at all to just open up to the Prophet.

The Du'a the Prophet Taught Him

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ gave him his advice. He told him: "I will teach you this du'a that I want you to say three times in the morning and three times in the evening."

Now, if you think about it — why is it that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is giving the Sahabi a specific frequency for saying this du'a on a daily basis? If you look at adhkar al-sabah and adhkar al-masa' — the morning du'as and the evening du'as that we recite on a daily basis — and if we're not reciting these du'as on a daily basis, we really need to engage in them. Because these du'as are very powerful and beautiful. They actually set you up for the day. If you say them at the beginning of your day, it sets you up for the day. They have beautiful meanings behind them.

The Prophet said three times — because you just need to internalize it. When you say something more frequently, you start to build that connection to the du'a or build a connection to a statement. In corporate settings, sometimes they let employees repeat the vision and mission of the company. Why? Because it's a reminder. You say it more often, it builds a sort of attachment in the back of your head. And here is a beautiful du'a — the more you say it, the more connection you get, and you build towards that du'a.

The Prophet told him: "Say this du'a." Are you ready to hear it? Bismillah. The Prophet told him, say:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2893; Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1555)

Understanding الهَمّ and الحَزَن — Anxiety and Sadness

Let's translate this beautiful du'a. He told him — first and foremost — I want you to seek refuge in Allah from hamm (الهَمّ) and hazan (الحَزَن). Now what is the difference between الهَمّ and الحَزَن?

Al-hamm is basically things that relate to the future. Al-hazan is mainly things connected to your past — sadness, depression that has to do with your past. Hamm is a sort of anxiety you have about the future. You have that anxiety towards the future of your children. You have that anxiety towards the future of your health. Things that you have no control over and you're worried about because they're going to come up and you don't get to control those results. So you're panicking, you're just overwhelmed:

"I don't know what's going to happen to my child." "I don't know my health condition — what's going to happen next month." "My parents are sick, I don't know what's going to happen to them." "The future of my children here — I'm worried." Or you're even worried about your financial situation, about the future. How am I going to deal with all of my bills? How am I going to navigate these difficulties? Many, many things that we worry about on a daily basis.

So anything that you're worried about when it comes to the future — it's called hamm. Just a thought that comes to mind and you're feeling that this thought is making you kind of worried about the future.

Now, hazan — things that happened in the past, certain events that may have occurred in your past and still have an impact on your present. You're recalling these incidents into your present, and as a result you feel this sense of sadness, a sense of depression, demotivation. You just feel like you don't want to get up.

So these are two things that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told the Sahabi about — in order for you to actually be able to navigate these ill thoughts and ill feelings, and to be able to pay off your debts, you need to be in control of these two things. Hamm and hazan. You don't let your past have control over your present, and you don't worry too much about the future — especially when it comes to things you have absolutely no control over.

The Two Circles: What Is Within Our Control

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is very precise in the words he uses with this brother. Because subhanAllah, when you're worried about results — that's what experts say — there are two circles: a big circle and a smaller circle. It's a beautiful analogy that I want you to internalize insha'Allah.

The big circle represents the things we want in our lives: I want my child to be righteous. I want to have good health. I want my parents to be healthy. I want to be able to pay off my debts. These are all things that we aim for, that we desire — that's basically in the big circle.

The smaller circle represents the things within our means. I want my child to be righteous — therefore I'm taking my child to actually study Qur'an and Islamic sciences. And I'm going to make sure that my child is in a good environment, around good people, good individuals that will help him grow spiritually and emotionally. I'm taking practical steps. These practical steps fall under the smaller circle.

Experts say: if you are very overwhelmed with the big circle and you're not giving the same attention to the smaller circle, then most likely you will not be able to accomplish these big goals. But if you flip the coin — if you actually focus on the smaller circle, which represents the means and the things within our control — and then you convince yourself that eventually the results are in the hands of Allah, that you don't get to control the results — then they say you are more likely to be able to accomplish these goals.

You see the point? It's a mindset. We only worry about the things within our means. I know my parents are sick, for instance. Okay — what can I do within my means? I can provide resources to my father and my mother. I will consult with doctors within my network. I will do research about how I can help my father do better psychologically. I provide him with a support system around him. These are things within our means.

Now, if I get very overwhelmed about the results — "I want my father to be cured" — well, you don't get to control those results. It doesn't work this way. And as a result you will feel very overwhelmed, and this sense of anxiety over your father's health condition will actually prevent you from doing anything. You don't get to do the things that are really going to help him — which are the means within our control. You see the difference?

And when it comes to sadness, it's the same thing. Why are we recalling things from the past into our present to the point that it makes us sad? The only exception for bringing something from your past into your present is when it's crucial in order for you to avoid making similar mistakes or similar issues in the future. So you're calling it from the past because you don't want to repeat those issues. It's important to actually process what happened to you in the past so you can avoid it in the future. But in most cases, we're just bringing some events from the past into our present and as a result we get very sad and we stop.

Salah Trains You to Live in the Present

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told him: say,

What is so beautiful — and I will end with this insha'Allah, hopefully in future khutbahs we can go through the rest of the du'a bi'idhnillahi ta'ala — what is so beautiful about salah is that Allah is asking you not to think about your past and not to worry about the future. Because you have to be present in your moment. You have to be thinking about the moment that you are praying to Allah right now. You're not allowed to think about your past in the prayer — that takes away from your khushu'. And you're not allowed to think about the future — "Oh, what am I going to be doing?" No. It's to live your moment with Allah.

So salah trains you to actually live your present. Right now — me and you — we have absolutely no problems in our present. Right now, right this second, think about it. Right now I have no issues. Either my issues have to do with our past or our future. But right this second, right this moment, we have no issues.

And so subhanAllah, the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ knew that maybe this brother was overwhelmed because he was a prisoner of his past, and he had that massive anxiety about the future that wasn't allowing him to function — and as a result he wasn't able to pay off his debts.

When to Seek Professional Help

Obviously, we are human beings. We will have to go through these phases. We will feel some sort of anxiety at some point. We will feel some sort of sadness at some point. Because the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ himself felt some sort of sadness at some point in his life — when he lost his family members, when he lost his son Ibrahim عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام. He was just standing on his grave, crying, tearing, sad. When he lost his wife.

So what is really important here is to know: to what extent can I feel this? To what extent can I feel sadness, and to what extent can I feel this sort of anxiety, before I say to myself, "I need help — I need to actually seek professional help"?

Experts say: when you feel that this sort of depression or anxiety is crippling you from doing your daily activities — at that point it is beyond your capacity, and you need to actually seek professional help. But in most cases, this minor depression, this minor anxiety — everybody goes through it. And so it's so important to know how to navigate it.

Al-'Ajz and Al-Kasal — Disability and Laziness

Just to recap: depression and anxiety are two things that we will eventually experience, and it's so crucial to know how to navigate these ill thoughts and ill feelings. This du'a that we discussed during this khutbah is a mindset. Imagine every day in the morning you wake up and the first thing you say to yourself is: "Today I really seek refuge in You from sadness and from anxiety."

That's for another khutbah — but next comes: al-'ajz is disability, and al-kasal is laziness. Ya Allah, give me the strength to be able to start my day. And Ya Allah, give me the desire to actually get out there and work and be productive — that's the opposite of kasal.

Al-'ajz — when you are crippled, you don't have the strength, you're not able to function. But kasal — you have the strength for it, but you don't have the desire to do it. Al-'ajz: you have the desire to do something but you're not able to. Kasal: you don't have the desire — even though you have the strength for it, you have the capacity for it.

So the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was also telling him: say this at the beginning of the day and towards the end of your day — Ya Rabb, we seek refuge in You from kasal and from al-'ajz. Because maybe you're not able to pay off your debts because you're lazy. You're not out there exploring more options. You're not putting in the work. And so the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ figured it out. He told him: these are the things that you may want to consider.

Number one — depression and anxiety. You need to understand how to navigate these. Then after this, if you're not able to do it because you're physically not able to — ask Allah to give you strength. And if you're not able to do it because you have no desire, because you're lazy even though you have the strength — ask Allah to motivate you, to give you the strength and the desire to do it.

So you wake up in the morning and you say: Ya Allah, we seek refuge in You from al-'ajz and from al-kasal. What a beautiful du'a. We want us all to memorize it insha'Allah. Right after this khutbah, put this du'a into your routine — your daily routine. Say it in the morning and say it in the evening.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah to relieve the burden of our brothers and sisters all over the world. And we ask Allah to make us among those who internalize these powerful, beautiful, prophetic du'as.

I ask Allah in this blessed moment of Jumu'ah to relieve the burden of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Ya Allah, we ask You to free Palestine. Ya Allah, we ask You in this blessed moment of Jumu'ah to free Palestine. Ya Allah, we ask You and we beg You to bring immediate relief to our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Lebanon and all over the world. Ya Allah, give our brothers and sisters in Palestine victory. Ya Allah, we ask You to bring victory to our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ — وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ.