All praise is due to Allah, and His praise and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, his family, his companions, and his followers until the Day of Judgment. I bear witness that Allah is the only one worthy of worship and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is his last and final messenger.

The Man Who Could Only See the Hole in the Donut

In one of my trips to Malaysia, I had a person who traveled with me. And he drove me crazy in that trip because he was very negative. The whole trip he was complaining about everything — his first trip, I think, to that part of the world. And he kept comparing whatever he experienced in the West to what he was seeing in the Far East. And it became too much.

So I said, the only way to get the guy in a good mood — I took him to one of my favorite dessert places in Malaysia. Anybody who has been to KL knows what I'm talking about. It's called Big Apple Donut Place. They have these nice, juicy, fluffy, thin and very nice donuts. I said, just load him with some sugar. He will change his attitude.

So I took him to the store — it's Big Apple, so you remember New York. I walked with him into the store. I said, taste it, it's very nice. He said, "Yes, but it has a very big hole in the middle."

No matter what you do, some people always have this negative way of looking at the world. They look at the world through a lens where there is always something bad, always something wrong, always something missing. And the only thing they can see in the donut is the hole — not the donut itself.

And it was interesting to see people like this. I have experienced in my life a lot of people who live their lives believing that evil, bad things, diseases, and calamities are surrounding them and that there is no way they will survive. I don't know how people like this will ever be happy in their life — while they always expect bad things to happen, always expect a terrible outcome, always expect things will not go the right way. Is it hasad? Is it sihr? Did somebody give me the evil eye? Did somebody do something bad to me? Always there is something there to ruin your life. As if life is meant to be nothing but difficulties one after another.

While the reality is — yes, there are difficulties in life. There are challenges in life. But in each one of them, there is a gift. There are opportunities for you.

The Prophet's Optimism ﷺ

That's why the Prophet ﷺ was the master of optimists — كان سيد المتفائلين. Anas رضي الله عنه said:

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

The Prophet ﷺ loved optimism. He was an optimistic person ﷺ. He always saw opportunities. He always wanted positivity surrounding him and his companions. That's why he was very particular and meticulous about the words that he used — from day one.

Changing Names, Changing Outlooks

When he arrived in Madinah, the city was called يثرب — a name with a negative connotation, derived from a root meaning deficiency and blame. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1871; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1385)

He changed the name of the city from يثرب to طيبة — the good city.

He ﷺ once asked a man, "What is your daughter's name?" He said, عاصية — meaning "the disobedient one." He said, "No, call her جميلة" — the beautiful one.

He asked another man where he was from. He said, "We are from a land called غبرة" — a dusty, barren land. He said, "No, call it خضرة" — the green land.

When Ali رضي الله عنه wanted to name his son حرب — meaning "war" — the Prophet ﷺ said no, and named him حسن — the beautiful one. And another man he also told: change your name to سلم — peace.

The Prophet ﷺ has so many stories like that — where he would always show his companions that sense of optimism, that they always see ﷺ a great future waiting for them.

Optimism Is Built Into Our Religion

And that is the religion that he came with — a religion that taught us the beautiful concept of tawbah. Repentance to Allah. What is التوبة? Repentance to Allah is nothing but optimism. It is placing hope that Allah will not only accept you back, but that He will reward you, elevate you, erase your sin, draw you near to Him, and guide you. That is a great sense of optimism.

Can you imagine going to repent to Allah while your heart is full of pessimism or negativity? No. You know that التوبة will raise you and wipe out your sins. And you have that sense of optimism and trust in Allah. Yes, we always have fear of our sins — but that should not take away the sense of optimism. The sense of trust in Allah. The sense of حسن الظن بالله — that you expect nothing but good from Allah.

Du'a and Certainty

Another concept of shari'ah that speaks to this is du'a. Can you imagine raising your hands while your heart is full of negativity — you know it's not going to happen, you know it's not going to work, you know you're not going to get anything out of it? No. As the saying goes:

I pray and I can visualize in front of me what Allah will do for me.

I remember a brother telling me a story of his struggle to have children for so many years with his wife. Then one brother told him: "Do you really make du'a?" He said yes. He said, "Do you really, really make du'a while your heart is full of certainty about it?" He said, "You know what? Before you make your du'a today, let's act as though Allah has already brought your child." And he took him to the mall and bought a set of clothes for a newborn baby. He said, "Let's put it in your closet. Now I want you to make du'a while you are sure — you already have the clothes for the baby." And Allah accepted from him — he got twins, actually.

And he said, "Yes, it happened. But the first time I made du'a like that — it felt different. When I had that certainty in my heart, that yes, I know that Allah hears me and accepts me and I hope He will give me what I'm asking for."

Al-Qadar: The Best Is Always Coming

You know that whole concept of al-qadar — where Allah said: whatever I decree upon you is always the best for you, even if you don't see it right now. But the outcome eventually will always be the best for you.

Against Superstition

That's so different from the world that Ibn Abi Salam came to — a society full of superstition versus that message of optimism. Superstition is a huge chunk of every culture on the face of the earth, from far east to far west, from north to south. People have very different ways of being superstitious — by colors, by animals, by appearances, by people who have disabilities, by names, numbers, months.

One of the worst examples I've ever seen in my life is the famous poet Ibn al-Rumi — هذا الشاعر المشهور المعروف. He was one of the most pessimistic people I have ever heard of in my life. A man once came to him and said, "Come with me." He said, "Wait, let me take a good omen from your name. What's your name?" He said, إقبال — meaning "prosperity" or "advancement." Can you imagine a name better than that? He said, "No, I take a bad omen from your name." They asked him: "How can you take a bad omen from إقبال?" He said, "Read it backwards." And when you read it backwards, it reads لا بقاء — meaning "no survival," "no permanence." And he said, "I'm not going. That's bad luck."

That is how ridiculous a person can be. And this is a smart man — a very famous poet. But optimism is not something in us like a button that you push to become an optimistic person. It's not like a fake Botox — you inject yourself and all of a sudden you have a smiley face. Yes, because you just injected yourself with Botox, not because it's genuine.

I wish there were a shot that made you an optimistic person — you just take it and you become an optimist. It does not work that way. It is something that you need to train yourself toward. To train yourself to have that positive attitude towards life, towards what happens to you. It is not all about what happens to you — it is about your attitude towards what happens to you. How can you see it in a positive way? How can you take it and build on it? How can you learn from it? That is what makes you change.

As they say: your attitude will determine your altitude.

May Allah give us this positive outlook towards the world and a positive attitude towards what happens to us in life.

Practical Ways to Build Optimism

How You Carry Yourself

One of the beautiful things in our religion that psychologists also talk about when it comes to this sense of optimism is the importance of how you carry yourself. That's why in our shari'ah it is important to dress nicely. You might have no control over your looks, but you have control over your style. Dress nice, smell nice, walk with confidence.

Allah when He described the believers in Surah al-Furqan — عِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ — one of the first things He talked about is how they walk:

They don't walk with arrogance, but also they don't walk like the dead. When Umar رضي الله عنه saw somebody walking with his head down and his shoulders hunched, dragging his feet, he struck him with his staff and said:

"Do not make our religion look dead!" Walk with confidence. As the saying goes:

When you walk with confidence, with firm steps, it gives you that sense of good self-esteem. I love it when I shake somebody's hand and they grip my hand firmly and look me in the eye. That is the first thing they teach you — it builds confidence, which leads to a positive outlook on the world.

Smile

And the Prophet ﷺ taught us to smile and to always keep your smile. Don't ever be that borderline grumpy person — ever. Stay away from that. Smiles make you happy and confident and give you that positive attitude and energy inside you so you can bring it outside.

Optimism Is Not Naivety — It Is a Way of Fighting Back

And finally I will say: being optimistic and talking about optimism is not just some fluff talk to make you feel good about yourself. You might want to tell me, "Sheikh, you don't know what's going on in my life. I have a kid who is sick at home. I have a disease. I just got laid off. I'm in debt." Everybody has their own set of problems. But just don't add to them another problem. Start one step at a time. Don't talk about your problems — start talking to your problems. Start dealing with them. When you deal with them with a positive attitude, you will find yourself able to overcome.

Optimism doesn't mean that you live in some la-la land or fantasy world. No. Optimism means that you know there are diseases out there — but you also know that there are cures out there. There is no disease unless there is a cure for it.

Du'a and Closing

May Allah make us always among those through whose hands Allah brings cure. And bring happiness to their hearts, to others, and to their families. May Allah give us success in this life and the next. May Allah make the outcome of all the tragedies and calamities that we see in the world — may He make the outcome good for us.