Inner Peace in A Troubled World

The State of Man in Our Times

The world is developing at breakneck speed. It is constantly modernizing, becoming smaller and less life-size, becoming closer to people like a round table where the whole world can reunite and communicate and share their ideas and lives. But with the race for power and wealth, the rich are getting richer. The poor are getting poorer. And the world continues to exist until the One Creator decides otherwise.

Rich or poor, everyone tries to live in their own way. But how many of us ponder over what health, recreation, food, and tranquillity cost to the inhabitants of a country? But above all, how much of their precious time do they devote in remembrance of the Creator through prayer. The rich have almost no problem in living their lives quietly. The poor, on the other hand, have to work harder to try to make ends meet. This class of population of any country will always remain in poverty with its multiple problems - famine, sickness, housing, unemployment.

However, people, whatever their situation, live. They try to live. Maybe some people want death because they are crushed by poverty and misery. But life or death does not depend on us. It is the exclusive prerogative of Allah Ta’ala.

But then why so much worries, so many misfortunes? ... Does Allah Ta’ala, the Unique Creator, Who knows and controls everything, not love us? Does He not appreciate our way of life, our way of doing things? Not really, according to a Hadith of our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). It is rather that we humans, especially those of the Ummah forget too quickly our obligations to the Creator. So everything turns upside down. When the situation changes, life becomes destabilized. Stress, anxiety, anger, worry, doubt take place.

A World of Dizzying Inequality 

So why the vast majority of the world’s population lives in poverty and a very small percentage, being extremely rich controls everything in this temporal world? Some who feel that they are so powerful because of their fortune, think they are half-gods. But let it be clear. Rich or poor we always live in the same fear, the same anguish, the same anxiety.

We live today in the 21^st century, a time of confusion where materialism (i.e. people with materialistic minds) prevails everywhere, including within the Ummah. Material comfort is only useful to us here on earth. What have we prepared for the afterlife? Are we preparing enough for it? Here on earth, it is total confusion leading to wounded hearts, broken with the weakened soul.

We only have to follow the medical news - to get information about the world of medicines (pharmaceutical drugs). Scientists only produce drugs of all kinds to combat stress - the disease of the modern world, to combat anxiety, anger, nervousness, etc. The medications prescribed which are used in high doses sometimes have side effects. The situation gets complicated. Whether he is rich or poor, whether he gets treatment at the private clinic or the public hospital, the patient does not find the desired happiness or if he gets it, it is very precarious. He then turn to diabolical, satanic treatments that only worsen the situation, while there is only an effective remedy, very effective indeed, freely offered but neglected, forgotten, cast aside: a CALL TO ALLAH TA’ALA.

Turn to Your Creator

Yes, turn to HIM, The Saviour, The Healer, The Protector, The Merciful. He offers all the remedies. Without fees. Without an appointment. He only asks us one thing: to think of HIM at all times. He is here to listen to us. All we sick people have to do is to have unreserved faith and piety. Believe in Him, in His remedies, in His miracles. Are we ready for this?

We will have to be ready. We must trust our Creator. Without the slightest doubt. Without reservation. We must realize that we humans are the most fortunate of all creatures. For Allah Ta’ala gave us everything, free of charge. It’s up to us to use it carefully, with moderation, with modesty. The best goods, the best jobs, the highest security are for the human being. He must not complain about anything because everything is offered to him. Accessibility is limitless.

Despite all this, the soul of the human being is never at peace. This soul is always anxious, frightened, without tranquillity. This soul suffers, the body has no rest, comfort, sleep, tranquillity. The body is deprived of joy, happiness, gaiety. Everything looks perfectly black in his everyday life. No peace. It is a rudderless boat/ ship at the mercy of huge waves where anything can happen. Sometimes for the worse. We feel abandoned. And yet ... All material resources have been used (by him) without a positive result. Man throws in the towel. He is helpless, discouraged ... but in the face of such situations, any Muslim has the true remedies: ALLAH ... ALLAH ... ALLAH ... ONLY ALLAH!

Never Despair

Each one of us from the Ummah, who has reached the edge of the precipice, must never give way to discouragement. Each one (of us) of the Ummah must regain strength and turn to his Creator ... his Unique Creator. He is the Saviour, the Protector, the Benefactor, the Unique Supporter. He is the Only One to understand man from head to toe. It’s normal, after all. For is He not the builder/ creator of this human being? It is He who modelled him, breathed in him His spirit, gave him the strength, the courage, the mind to make the difference between good and evil. He knows perfectly the human psyche being Himself the Sole Creator. He knows the pain, the despair, the sorrow, the joy of every human being around the world. He has a register for all of us here on earth. So, what is the point of turning to scammers (who try to fool us to extract money from us) when the cure for each problem is in the path of Allah Ta’ala?

In this path (i.e. the path of Allah), there is no despair, no danger, no unnecessary expense. Yes expense there is. The expense comprises of spending all your energy to obtain the grace of Allah Ta’ala. And then that's the reality of life. “Is it not in the remembrance of Allah that hearts find tranquillity?” (Ar-Raad, 13:29).

Islam: the Path to Inner Peace

Islam is the most perfect religion, the most beloved one of the Creator. Islam does not embody idolatry or hypercritical rules or insignificant rituals. We are Muslims. Our sacred duty is to believe in one God, to turn to Him at all times, to worship Him unreservedly. No more no less. And Allah Ta’ala, filled with kindness, mercy, infinite wisdom, never gives up His subjects. Especially those of the Ummah. Even if, by negligence, laziness, carelessness, we forget Him, we abandon Him! Because of the love that Allah Ta’ala has for us, He has armed us with various very effective means, very powerful indeed. Among those means, there is the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). These are favours by Allah bestowed on the Ummah. Are we - people of the Ummah - aware of it? Do we know how to use them effectively and wisely for the tranquillity of our faith, of our piety, of our soul, of our very body?

The Holy Qur’an is a guide for all of humanity. The Sunnah is in a way an explanation and implementation of this guide.

Islam preaches first the establishment of a close, infallible bond between man and his Creator Allah Ta’ala. And this bond need to last forever because that is where there is tranquillity, cure for any mental problem. It is this bond that will protect this element of the Ummah against any misfortune that strikes it in this temporal world. That should be well anchored in the mind of everyone of the Ummah: it is Allah Ta’ala Who brings the desired stability that each of us needs when we have problems to solve or when we face difficulties ...

If a Muslim dissociates himself from this divine bond and allow himself to believe that he can solve his problem by appealing to other sources, this makes the Muslim lose the essence of his faith (Iman). Now, without this faith, what is this Muslim's worth? Only the name (Muslim in name only) is left.

Therefore, we must do everything to bring ourselves closer to Allah, for He alone is the Source of our tranquillity. If we want to live in tranquillity even during trials, it is by placing our trust in Him alone our Creator that we can succeed and open for us the door of inner serenity and draw on us the pleasure of Allah. Insha-Allah, Ameen.

---From the Friday Sermon of 02 February 2018(15 Jamad’ul Awwal 1439 AH) delivered by Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.