Mullah Nasruddin

Once a king consulted Nasruddin. "Daring the Abasis and after, khalifs
used to add the term "Allah" after their names. What title do youthink
I should choose for myself? Nasruddin answered "Nawoozobillah" (God
forbid).
Because of lack of time Nasruddin went to a judge's office to divorce
his wife. The judge asked him, "What is yourwife's name?" He answered.
"I don't know." "For how many years havd you remainedas spouses?" The
judge asked again. He said "More than 20 years". The judge asked him.
"How come you don't know her name?" Nasruddin answered, "Because I did
not have any social relations with her." Once a person slapped
Nasruddin in thestreet. Later he came hack and started to apologize
and said that he had mistaken Nasruddin for some one else. But
Nasruddin was not satisfied and took tight hold of his collar, took
him to the judge and told the judge aboutthe incident. The judge
ordered, "Nasruddin must slap that person to avenge. But Nasruddin
didn't get satisfied. Thus the judge ordered the person to give
Nasruddina gold coin in lieu of the slap. The accused had to go out of
the court to bring the gold coin. Nasruddin waited for sometime. The
accused didn't come hack. Nasruddin stood up and slapped the judge on
hisface and said, "Since I have a lot of work, whenever that person
Comes and brings the coin, You take the moneyfor this slap."

1c] How to be successful in life

1c]
because he knows that these are the result of vulnerable human nature
and of weakness and fear that have no basis. He also knows that Allaah
has guaranteed complete sufficiency to those who put their trust in
Him. So he trusts in Allaah and finds peace of mind in His promise,
and thus his worry and anxiety are dispelled; hardship is turned to
ease, sadness is turned to joy, fear is turned to peace. We ask Allaah
to keep us safe andsound, and to bless us with strength and
steadfastness of heart, and complete trust, for Allaah has guaranteed
all good things to those whoput their trust in Him, andhas guaranteed
to ward off all bad and harmful things from them.
If bad things happen or there is the fear of such, then you should
count themany blessings that you are still enjoying, both spiritual
and worldly, and compare them with the bad things that have happened,
for when you compare them you will see the many blessings that you are
enjoying, andthis will make the bad things appear less serious.
See al-Wasaa'il al-Mufeedah li'l-Hayaat al-Sa'eedah by Shatkh 'Abd
al-Rahmaan ibn Sa'di
Ibn al-Qayyim summed fifteen ways through which Allaah may dispel
worries and regret. These are as follows:
1- Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (belief in the Oneness of Divine Lordship)
2- Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah (belief in the Oneness of the Divine nature)
3- Tawheed of knowledge and belief (i.e.,Tawheed al-Asma'
wa'l_Sifaat, belief in the Oneness of the Divine names and attributes)
4- Thinking of Allaah as being above doing any injustice to His
slaves, andabove punishing anyone for no cause on the part of the
slave that would require such punishment.
5- The person's acknowledging that he is the one who has done wrong.
6- Beseeching Allaah bymeans of the things that are most beloved
to Him, which are His names and attributes. Two of His names that
encompass the meanings of all other names and attributes are al-Hayy
(the Ever-Living) and al-Qayyoom (the Eternal).
7- Seeking the help of Allaah Alone.
8- Affirming one's hope in Him.
9- Truly putting one's trust in Him and leaving matters to Him,
acknowledging that one's forelock is in His hand andthat He does as He
wills, that His will is forever executed and that He is just in all
that He decrees.
10-Letting one's heart wander in the garden of the Qur'aan, seeking
consolation in it from every calamity, seeking healing in it from all
diseases of the heart, so that it will bring comfort to his grief and
healing for his worries and distress.
11-Seeking forgiveness.
12-Repentance.
13-Jihad.
14-Salaah (prayer).
15-Declaring that he has no power and no strength, and leaving matters
to the One in Whose hand they are.
We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound from worries and to relieve
us of distress and anxiety, forHe is the All-Hearing, Ever-Responsive,
and He isthe Ever-Living, Eternal.
See Alhomoom – Dealing with Worries and Stress, in the Books section
of this site.
And Allaah knows best. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our
Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.

1b] How to be successful in life

1b]
One of the most effective ways of dealing with worries about the
future is to recite this du'aa' which the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) used to recite:
"Allaahumma aslih li deeni alladhi huwa 'ismatu amri, wa aslih li
dunyaaya allati fiha ma'aashi, wa aslih li aakhirati allati ilayha
ma'aadi, waj'al al-hayaataziyaadatan li fi kulli khayr,wa'l-mawta
raahatan li min kulli sharr (O Allaah, correct my religious commitment
which is the foundation of my life, andcorrect my worldly affairs in
which is my livelihood, and grant me good in the Hereafter to which is
my return. Make my life a means of accumulating good, and make death a
respite for me from all evil)." (Narrated by Muslim, 2720).
And he said, "Allaahummarahmataka arju fa la takilni ila nafsi tarfata
'aynin wa aslih li sha'ni kullahu, laa ilaaha illa anta (O Allaah, for
Your mercy I hope, so do not abandon me to myself even for a moment.
And correct all my affairs. There is no god but You)."(Narrated by Abu
Dawoodwith a saheeh isnaad, no. 5090; classed as hasan by al-Albaani
in Saheeh al-Kalim al-Tayyib, p. 49).
If a person utters these du'aa's, which ask that hisspiritual and
worldly affairs may be set right or corrected, with proper presence of
mind and sincerity of intention, whilst striving to achieve that,
Allaah will grant himwhat he has prayed for, hoped for and striven
for, and He will turn his worryinto joy and happiness.
7 – If a person experiences anxiety and distress because of a
disaster, then one of the most effective means of relieving himself of
that isto think of the worst scenario to which that may lead, and try
to accept that. When he has done that, then he should try to alleviate
it as much as possible. By means of this acceptance and these efforts,
he will relieve himself of his worries and distress, and instead of
worrying he will strive to bring about good things and to deal with
whatever he can of the bad things. If he is faced with things that
cause fear or the possibility of sickness or poverty, then he should
deal with that by striving to make himself accept that, or something
even worse, with contentment, because by making himself accept the
worst-case scenario, he lessens the impact of the thing and makes it
seem less terrible, especially if he occupies himself with efforts to
ward it off as much as he can. Thus as well as striving to
achievesomething good which will distract him from his worries about
calamity, he will also renew his strength to resist bad things, and
put his trust and reliance in Allaah. Undoubtedly these matters are of
great benefit in attaining happiness and peace of mind, as well as
bringing the hope of reward in thisworld and in the Hereafter. This is
something which is well known from the experience of many who have
tried it.
8 – Steadfastness of heart and not being disturbed about the imaginary
things that bad thoughts may bring to mind. For when a person gives in
to his imagination and lets his mind be disturbed by these thoughts,
such as fear of disease and the like, or anger and confusion stirred
up by some grievous matter, or the expectation of bad things and the
loss of good things, that will fill him with worries, distress,mental
and physical illness and nervous breakdowns, which will have a bad
effect on him and which causes a great deal of harm, as many people
have seen. But when a person depends on Allaah and puts his trust in
Him, and does notgive in to his imagination or let bad thoughts
overwhelm him, and he relies on Allaah and has hope of His bounty,
that wards off his worries and distress, and relieves him of a great
deal of mental and physical sickness. It gives indescribable strength,
comfort and happiness to the heart. How many hospitals are filled with
the mentally sick victims of illusions and harmful imagination; how
often have these things had an effect upon the hearts of many
strongpeople, let alone the weak ones; how often have they led to
foolishness and insanity.
It should be noted that your life will follow your train of thought.
If your thoughts are of things that will bring you benefitin your
spiritual or worldly affairs, then your life will be good and happy.
Otherwise it will be the opposite.
The person who is safe from all of that is the one who is protected by
Allaah and helped by Him to strive to achieve that which will benefit
and strengthen the heart and ward off anxiety. Allaah says
(interpretation of themeaning):
"And whosoever puts his trust in Allaah, then He will suffice him"
[al-Talaaq 65:3]
i.e., He will be sufficient for all that is worrying him in his
spiritual and worldly affairs. The one who puts his trust in Allaah
will have strength in his heart and will not be affected by anything
he imagines or be disturbed by events,:->

1a] How to be successful in life

1a]
In this way a person may forget about the things that are making him
worried and distressed, and he may become happy and more energetic.
This is another means that believers and others have in common, but
the believer is distinguished by his faith, sincerity and hope of
reward when he occupies himself with that knowledge which he is
learning or teaching, or with the good deeds that he is doing.
The work with which he occupies himself should be something that he
likes and enjoys, for that is more likely to produce the desired
results. And Allaah knows best.
4 – Another thing that may ward off worry and anxiety is focusing all
one's thoughts of the present day, and not worrying about the futureor
grieving about the past. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) sought refuge with Allaahfrom worry and regret,
from regret for things in the past which one cannot put right or
change, and worry which may come because of fearfor the future. So one
should focus only on the present day, and focus one's efforts on
getting things right today. For if aperson is focused on that, this
means that he will dothings properly and forgetabout worry and regret.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said a
du'aa' ortaught a du'aa' to his ummah, as well as urging them to seek
the help of Allaah and hope for His bounty, he was also urging them to
strive to attain the thing they werepraying for through their own
efforts and to forget about the thing which they were praying would be
warded off from them. Because du'aa' (supplication) must be
accompanied by action. Soa person must strive to attain that which
will benefit him in worldly and spiritual terms, and ask his Lord to
make his efforts successful, and he should seek His help in that, as
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Strive
for that which will benefit you and seek the help of Allaah, and do
not be helpless. If anything (bad) happens to you, do not say, 'If
only I had done such-and-such, then such-and-such would have
happened.' Rather you should say, 'Qaddara Allaah wa ma sha'a fa'ala
(Allaah decrees, and what He wills He does),' for (thewords) 'If only'
open the door to the Shaytaan." (Narrated by Muslim). The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) connected the matter of
striving to achieve good things with the matter of seeking the help of
Allaah and not giving in to feelings of helplessness which are a
harmful kind of laziness, and with the matter of accepting things in
the past which are over and done with, and acknowledging that the will
and decree of Allaah will inevitably come to pass. He described
matters as being of two types:
1 – Matters which a person may strive to achieve or to achieve
whatever he can of them, or to ward them off or alleviate them. In
such cases a person must striveand make the effort, and also seek the
help of Allaah.
2 – Matters where such is not possible, so he must have peace of mind,
accept them and submit to Allaah's will.
Undoubtedly paying attention to this principle will bring happiness
and relieve worry and distress.
5 – One of the greatest means of feeling content and relaxed and of
acquiring peace of mind isto remember Allaah a great deal (dhikr).
That has a great effect in bringing contentment andpeace of mind, and
relieving worry and distress. Allaah says:
"verily, in the remembrance of Allaah dohearts find rest"
[al-Ra'd 13:28]
Remembering Allaah (dhikr) has a great effect in achieving this aim
because it has a special influence and because of the hope that it
brings of reward.
6 – Another of the means of bringing happiness andrelieving worry and
distress is striving to eliminate the things that cause worry and to
achieve the things that bring happiness. That maybe done by forgetting
about bad things in the past which cannot be changed, and realizing
that dwelling on them is awaste of time. So a personmust strive to
stop himself from thinking of that, and also strive to stop himself
from feeling anxious about the future and the things that he may
imagine of poverty, fear and other bad things that he thinks may
happen to him in the future. He should realize that the future is
something unknown, he cannot know what good or bad things are going
tohappen to him. That is in the hand of the Almighty, the Most Wise,
and all that His slaves can do is tostrive to attain the good things
and to ward off thebad things. A person should realize that if he
diverts his thoughts from worrying about his future and puts his trust
in his Lord to take care of his situation, and puts his mind at rest
concerning that, if he does that, then his heart will be at peace and
his situation will improve and he will be relieved of worry and
anxiety.