Is there an end?

[جوري]

To the darkness that is? if you have many many dark years, is there reason a religious reason to believe that they'll come to an end with something other than death?

I'd like evidence for that from the Quran & Sunnah ..
I was reading this Arabic adage today: Urwa ibn al-Zubayr: "Know that greed is poverty and despair sufficiency. When a man despairs of something, he does without it."

So pls. bear with me as truly I am not lucid but feeling philosophical. Is the end of endless darkness despair from which one is to find sufficiency? or attainment for what one has worked for?

all replies are welcome..

Jazakoum Allah khyran

[Tyrion]

Whenever someone is feeling like life is too much, I'm always reminded of the consolation Allah gave to the Prophet (saw)...

So there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel... No idea how long the tunnel is though. I sincerely hope you find some of that light soon though... Perhaps the solution lies in you taking some steps to change certain aspects of your life? I think sometimes trials could act as signs, letting us know we need to change things... Whatever it is, good luck.

[جوري]

ha tyrion. indeed I love suret ad-duha and inshriah two of my favorites insha'Allah.. hind sight is always 100% and we're told in the Noble Quran

Sahih International

Say, "I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what Allah has willed. And if I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me. I am not except a warner and a bringer of good tidings to a people who believe."

in several places I find the verse: لاستكثرت من الخير وما مسني السوء
to resonate so much better in Arabic.. if I'd known where good is, I'd not be touched by harm.

and indeed I very much agree with changing what we can, but also resigned to work with what is.. and I'd not have started the thread if I didn't mean an absolute cul de sac, you've reached the last stop on the train and taken all the detours and byways to a particular end and the end is just not at all what you were expecting.. Imagine when people are in the ocean and it is the dark of night or the scorching sun of day, and all you could do is but swim and steadfast to float, but there are no buoys or boats or any amount of swimming at this stage that would take you to shore, except for the two obvious options a miracle or death..
Are we promised miracles? is that part of faith? does faith bring miracles or is faith also to be resigned to a certain metaphorical death and where do we find the wisdom to deal with living with a metaphorical death..

thank you for your well wishes by the way.. I do appreciate it..

JZK

[Abz2000]

I believe despair is a part of wanting to change things,
When we feel despair at the situation of the ummah,
We develop a greater desire to change it.
It's like getting someone to realise they are being enslaved and make them want to change it,
Otherwise they think they are free and get drunk grinning.

Likewise, when the ummah realises we are under attack, we pray sincerely and strive hard.

002:214 Pickthal
:
Or think ye that ye will enter paradise while yet there hath not come unto you the like of (that which came to) those who passed away before you? Affliction and adversity befell them, they were shaken as with earthquake, till the messenger (of Allah) and those who believed along with him said: When cometh Allah's help?
Now surely Allah's help is nigh.

[Ali_008]

Are we promised miracles? is that part of faith? does faith bring miracles or is faith also to be resigned to a certain metaphorical death and where do we find the wisdom to deal with living with a metaphorical death..

I don't know if this will make sense to anybody but I have sort of witnessed a miracle in my life. It happened in 2009, I had come home after THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE. Alhamdulillah, I haven't seen worse since then. I came home and started surfing the web. I remember it very clearly that I had opened only 2 windows, one was my mail and the other was some google search (googling something not related to Islam at all) and one of my friends had sent me a mail about not smoking. And all of a sudden, I felt like I was reading a verse from the Qur'an and suddenly I realized that I was not that disappointed about the day at all. I left the computer and went for dinner and then just went to sleep. I didn't even read the Qur'an that night but this verse just seemed to appear in front of me. It can be possible that it had come to me from memory but I can guarantee that I hadn't read that verse anywhere that night. It still remains very difficult for me to explain it but it just happened that way. The verse was Surah Ale-Imran's 160th verse

إِن يَنصُرْكُمُ اللَّهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِن يَخْذُلْكُمْ فَمَن ذَا الَّذِي يَنصُرُكُم مِّن بَعْدِهِ ۗ وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

Yusuf Ali
If Allah helps you, none can overcome you: If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? in Allah, then, Let believers put their trust.

And yes believing in miracles is part of faith.

• The birth of Eesa (AlayhiSalaam)
• Mi'raj
• The revelation of the Qur'an (The miracle of miracles)
• The well of Zam Zam

I'm sure there are more in our fiqh.

[Ğħαrєєвαħ]

As'Salaam Alaaykum

I have to say that the lectures by Amr Khaled posted by sis Ghazalah have helped me realise more about Allaah, names attributed to him, their importance and helping one turn to Allaah SWT more, alhamdulilaah.

Heres the link to the thread, but i suggest watching 'Al Mujeeb'..

--->>> Dr Amr Khaled. <<<---

To the darkness that is?

There sure is! We have to keep in mind that there will be hardships but during these hardships we must ask ourselves how much do we turn to him, or how sincere are we, how much trust do we put into asking him, do we ask with certainty that Allaah is the All-hearing. How do we not know that every hardship we have, Allaah is calling us to him?, to turn to him, to ask him, to bring us closer to the righteous path, for the sake of our benefit, maybe for the benefit of the hereafter.

if you have many many dark years, is there reason a religious reason to believe that they'll come to an end with something other than death?

Well, we have the promise of Allaah swt and many of his blessings, in all we have him to turn to and also to be able to learn from his great prophets.

Apologies for not providing any sources from Qur'aan and sunnah, but the second video posted on the thread is helpful insha'Allaah, also i would recommend watching the first also.

[SFatima]

The end of perceiving darkness is the beginning of an enlightened faith.

I think faith has many stages, we start with blind, and then we get to see things that lead to it, live it, experience it, choose to hang on it, increase it, decrease it, and so on.

I might not entirely get what you're really trying to ask, but instances where we see pitch darkness all around us may mean two things.
1. If we have sincerely prayed and have sought guidance from Allah swt with the thought in our hearts that He is the only One who guides and He will not let us go astray, then even if the darkness prevails, we have to accept it as the decree of Allah swt which, also is a huge step of faith, i.e to accept takdeer (fate, as is decided by ALlah swt). We may be sorrowful for it, but we will know in our hearts that this was the will of Allah and the best thing that could happen at that time.

2. When we haven't prayed much and are not guided/do not want to be guided to the right path, or haven't taken practical steps to emerge from the darkness; the darkness can act as a catalyst which leads us to the light. If you start believing in faith, or wanting to shed the darkness all around, the darkness will seem to fade, but if your heart still desires the temptation of the darkness, it will seem to prevail.

Just like the other day, my small kitty fell from the roof to the ground, she misplaced her neck, twisted her shoulder/front limbs, and was unable to move herself all back together, stuck in a miserable position I was so dismayed, first her mother abandonned her, now this! she was in so much pain, and I got so panicked that instead of trying to help her, (darn to my medicine degree :/) I started crying She almost breathed her last, heaving and moaning lightly lying still, I prayed to Allah to only ease her pain...I wanted to do something, but I let passive thoughts take over, like what if she doesn't survive, what if I cause her more pain or kill her if i try to re locate her joints? what if she's meant to die?

Then My brother came, picked her up, placed her on a flat firm surface, tried to pull her joints back to place, I only told him to place it on her left lateral side and put her neck straight a bit stretched ( I don't know why i said that ) she was still, completely, not a single movement, it seemed oxygen stopped to her brain and her brain stem stopped working. Then we prayed her fatiha. Went inside to prepare for her burial and a bath. came out after 10 minutes to see her standing up!

SubhanAllah, she was almost dead! And by the grace of Allah swt she resumed her breathing and got up, it was such an unbelievable moment. But had she gone away, I would have to accept it as the decree of Allah....

[جوري]

Glad your cute kitty survived al7mdlillah and lol at left lateral. You did good what works for humans works for animals we've the same anatomy ..

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you ßlµêßêll;

I am so sorry to hear you are going through a dark period in your life, life is a journey always one day at a time, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a great mystery, Lord grant me the peace and serenity to get through this day and every day, knowing that you hold me in the palm of your hand.

Here is a wonderful prayer copied from this forum, sadly I forgot to take any references of were it comes from. We pray in our way; and Allah answers in his way
We pray for things we want on this Earth, but they may not be the things that help us attain eternal salvation. Here is an Islamic prayer that might help.

I asked for Strength.........
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom.........
And Allah gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity.........
And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage.........
And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love.........
And Allah gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favours.........
And Allah gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted
I received everything I needed
My Prayer has been answered.


Pray for Others to Heal Yourself.
The Prophet was always concerned about other people, Muslims and non-Muslims, and would regularly pray for them. Praying for others connects you with them and helps you understand their suffering. This in itself has a healing component to it. The Prophet has said that praying for someone who is not present increases love.

In the spirit of praying for an inner peace that surpasses all understanding.

Eric