Assalaamu alaikum. I'm Yasmin Mogahed, and I'm honored to be part of CelebrateMercy's webcast about the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
When the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) first received revelation, two revelations came back-to-back, and then there was a long period with no revelation — from about six months to two and a half years.
During that time, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) began to worry. He worried about whether he truly was a prophet, and most of all, whether Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) was displeased with him.
This is something many of us can relate to. There are periods in our lives when we also worry about whether Allah is displeased with us. We may be going through something difficult, and that becomes our greatest concern, just as it was for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
What happened after that period is so beautiful. Before this, he was being comforted by his wife Khadijah (radiyallahu anha). But when the next revelation came, he was comforted by the Creator.
Allah begins by making an oath by His creation: the daylight, and the night when it is still.
The night and the day are both creations of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala), and they have a physical reality. But there is also a possible symbolic reality here. The light of revelation is like a light upon our hearts. Allah swears by the daylight, and then by the night, which can resemble the periods when we feel disconnected from revelation.
And just as Allah causes day and night to alternate, hearts also turn.
From the dua we know: "O Turner of hearts, keep our hearts firm on Your religion."
So, like day and night that turn, our hearts also turn.
After this oath, Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) says: "Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased."
Here, Allah is directly comforting the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), telling him that he has not been abandoned and that Allah is not displeased with him.
SubhanAllah, this is comfort for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), but it is also comfort for us. In those periods when we go through hardship and begin to doubt whether Allah is displeased with us, this verse reassures us.
Then Allah says that the latter life, the Hereafter, is better than the first life, this dunya.
This is a reminder and comfort for the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), and for us as well: something better is coming for us, insha'Allah, in the Hereafter.
It is also a reminder for times when we are overwhelmed by the burdens of this life. There is a life coming that is better than this life, easier than this life, greater, and more lasting.
After that, Allah says: "And your Lord will give you, and you will be pleased." Insha'Allah, we too...
Dear brothers and sisters, any time something negative happens to you, any time your business fails, any time you're in a car crash, any time you fail an exam, any time Shaytan throws a thought in your head — "Oh my God, I have no luck" — realize there are always positives in your life that you're overlooking.
At that stage, Shaytan has caused you to neglect some of the biggest blessings Allah has given you, and you concentrate on the negative rather than the positive. Look at all of these positives that you have. How could you ever think Allah abandoned you, neglected you, or hated you? How is that even possible, when at every stage of your life Allah has blessed you with so many things?
So we learn from this: when feelings of worthlessness come, when feelings of despair come, don't look at the negatives, and don't look at the failures. Remind yourselves of the positives. "Okay, this didn't work out, but Allah blessed me with that. Okay, maybe I don't have something, but I have something else."
Always look at the positives rather than the negatives. Always concentrate on blessings and examine them, rather than only what you don't have.
Our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: when one of you sees someone with something he doesn't have and starts desiring it, don't keep looking there. Look at another person over whom Allah has blessed you, and whom you have something they don't have.
This modern culture emphasizes what we don't have: "Look at this multi-million dollar mansion, look at these beautiful cars..." and we keep aspiring: "I want that, I want that."
Our Shari'ah says: stop looking only at what you don't have, and look at what you do have. This hadith of our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) teaches: if you begin to desire what others have, look at someone who doesn't have what you have been blessed with, so you appreciate the positive you already have.
Whatever you don't have, look at people who don't even have a house and thank Allah for what you do have.
You wanted this and that — but look at what you already have: good health, good wealth, a happy family, a loving spouse. These are blessings we often take for granted.
Rather than looking at what you don't have, remind yourself of what you do have. That's what these three verses do: they contextualize our struggles and make us appreciate that we are blessed and fortunate. Every one of us is blessed and fortunate in our own way. We just neglect and ignore our blessings and focus on what we don't have.
So Allah, in these three verses, reminds us to think about what we do have. Then Allah tells us: once your frame of mind changes, don't just sit there and do nothing. Be proactive. Do something positive. Contribute to society.
Don't just sit and say, "Life is tough." Yes, it might be difficult. Be optimistic. Change your paradigm and your frame of mind, then find a higher cause and dedicate yourself to it.
Do something useful with your life — something that brings meaning and value to you and to others around you. Contribute positively in a way that makes you internally happy and earns the reward of Allah, because every one of us, without exception, can bring happiness to others in some way.
As for the orphan: "Do not overpower the orphan." What does that mean? Be involved in the life of an orphan, in the life of a beggar, in a way that makes them happy.
A man came to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I want to complain..."
..."that my heart has become hard. I don't have khushu', my heart has become hard. What should I do?"
Do you know what our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said? He said: "Go find an orphan and wipe his head. Go find a poor person and feed him."
Beautiful hadith. If you have a hard heart, if your life lacks meaning, if you're becoming spiritually lazy, if you don't have a higher purpose — go find an orphan.
He didn't even say "sponsor," because maybe that man couldn't afford it. He didn't even say "give half your savings." Show love to someone who needs love.
Isn't a smile charity? Isn't giving water from your bucket to your neighbor's bucket charity? Isn't a positive word of encouragement charity?
So even if you don't have money to give, those of you who can sponsor an orphan should do so, and those who can feed a beggar should do so. But if you cannot, our Prophet said: wipe the head of the orphan — free of charge. Show love to those who need it.
When you're battling depression and struggling with issues, yes, life is difficult. Find someone else, share their pain, and help lighten it. What a beautiful religion we have. What a great Lord we have.
When we give happiness to others, Allah gives happiness to us — free of charge. SubhanAllah. When we become useful to other people, our lives become useful to us.
Go find those who are deprived and do something meaningful. Even if you cannot give something to the beggar — and sometimes we don't have the money — Allah is saying: even then, don't be harsh.
Don't say, "Go away, no money." Be gentle. Be soft. Say, "May Allah make things easy for you."
"I don't have anything today, but I make dua for you."
This is the point: if you cannot give something cash or physical, then give something with your words and character. Don't be nasty to the one who comes to you. He also has issues, just like you do.
And the point here is this: when we struggle with our own issues — and all of us do — never forget there are people struggling with different issues too. We all have pain. We all have struggles.
When we go help other people, SubhanAllah, Allah helps us. When we give our time and money to others, our lives become meaningful, our depression lessens, and we gain purpose. A sense of nobility comes to us. We feel useful when we give to others.
That's why our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: the best of people are those most useful to other people.
Then the final verse — and we are only zooming through this surah, because it has so much depth and insha'Allah one day we'll do a longer tafsir — this ayah is very profound and has many meanings. I will mention only two.
First meaning: don't speak negative, speak positive. Don't complain to others — "I didn't pass my exam..." Rather say: "Alhamdulillah, I have children. Alhamdulillah, I have a home."
Tell people the positive. Thank Allah for the good. If you try to count Allah's blessings, you won't be able to count them.
Don't count negatives. Count positives. Don't keep mourning to people about what is bad. Thank Allah and speak about what is good.
I'm complaining only to Allah. I'm not complaining to any of you. Allah is the One I complain to: "O Allah, look at my situation." I don't want your sympathy; I want His mercy. As for people, I should speak positively.
This is the first meaning.
The second meaning here is a reference to the Quran and to Islam, because the biggest blessing is the Quran, and the biggest blessing is Islam. So he is being told (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam): be active in Islam and Islamic causes.
In other words, the last three verses instruct us to do two things:
1) Become proactive in benefiting other people.
2) Become more religious — involved with the masjid, involved in da'wah, and role models of Islam.
So through service to society and commitment to religion, your life finds meaning.
When you give to others, and when you come closer to Allah, and when you become a caller to Islam — your life becomes purposeful. By "preacher to Islam," we don't mean everyone must leave everything and study 20 years overseas. We mean your colleagues, neighbors, and coworkers should see in you the beauty of Islam and ask about the religion of Allah.
Tell people about it. All of us need to become ambassadors of Islam. In that, our lives become meaningful.
This beautiful surah, my dear brothers and sisters, is one of the most powerful surahs in the Quran for battling depression and overcoming feelings of negativity.
To summarize: this surah has 11 verses. The first two are an oath from Allah — an optimistic oath that a new day is coming. The next three verses remove feelings of spiritual worthlessness: "I'm not good enough; Allah doesn't love me." The next three verses remove the...
...feelings of being unlucky and unfortunate: "Life is always tough." No — there are positives you have.
Then in the final three verses, Allah tells all of us: take that negativity and channel it into something positive. Give back to your community, and give back to this religion.
Through all of this, you will find meaning in life, and through all of this, you will overcome these feelings of negativity.
May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) bless me and you through the Quran. May He make us of those who understand its verses and apply its halal and haram throughout our lives.
I ask Allah's forgiveness, and you as well should ask for His forgiveness. He is the Most Merciful.
Transcript — 0:18
Assalaamu alaikum. I'm Yasmin Mogahed, and I'm honored to be part of CelebrateMercy's webcast about the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
When the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) first received revelation, two revelations came back-to-back, and then there was a long period with no revelation — from about six months to two and a half years.
During that time, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) began to worry. He worried about whether he truly was a prophet, and most of all, whether Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) was displeased with him.
This is something many of us can relate to. There are periods in our lives when we also worry about whether Allah is displeased with us. We may be going through something difficult, and that becomes our greatest concern, just as it was for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
What happened after that period is so beautiful. Before this, he was being comforted by his wife Khadijah (radiyallahu anha). But when the next revelation came, he was comforted by the Creator.
Allah begins by making an oath by His creation: the daylight, and the night when it is still.
The night and the day are both creations of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala), and they have a physical reality. But there is also a possible symbolic reality here. The light of revelation is like a light upon our hearts. Allah swears by the daylight, and then by the night, which can resemble the periods when we feel disconnected from revelation.
And just as Allah causes day and night to alternate, hearts also turn.
Transcript — 2:19
From the dua we know: "O Turner of hearts, keep our hearts firm on Your religion."
So, like day and night that turn, our hearts also turn.
After this oath, Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) says: "Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased."
Here, Allah is directly comforting the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), telling him that he has not been abandoned and that Allah is not displeased with him.
SubhanAllah, this is comfort for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), but it is also comfort for us. In those periods when we go through hardship and begin to doubt whether Allah is displeased with us, this verse reassures us.
Then Allah says that the latter life, the Hereafter, is better than the first life, this dunya.
This is a reminder and comfort for the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), and for us as well: something better is coming for us, insha'Allah, in the Hereafter.
It is also a reminder for times when we are overwhelmed by the burdens of this life. There is a life coming that is better than this life, easier than this life, greater, and more lasting.
After that, Allah says: "And your Lord will give you, and you will be pleased." Insha'Allah, we too...
Transcript — 4:20
...when we go through those times of hardship, Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) has something better for us.
Any time we sacrifice something for the sake of Allah, He replaces it with something better.
Transcript — 0:00
What is the purpose of these three verses?
Dear brothers and sisters, any time something negative happens to you, any time your business fails, any time you're in a car crash, any time you fail an exam, any time Shaytan throws a thought in your head — "Oh my God, I have no luck" — realize there are always positives in your life that you're overlooking.
At that stage, Shaytan has caused you to neglect some of the biggest blessings Allah has given you, and you concentrate on the negative rather than the positive. Look at all of these positives that you have. How could you ever think Allah abandoned you, neglected you, or hated you? How is that even possible, when at every stage of your life Allah has blessed you with so many things?
So we learn from this: when feelings of worthlessness come, when feelings of despair come, don't look at the negatives, and don't look at the failures. Remind yourselves of the positives. "Okay, this didn't work out, but Allah blessed me with that. Okay, maybe I don't have something, but I have something else."
Always look at the positives rather than the negatives. Always concentrate on blessings and examine them, rather than only what you don't have.
Our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: when one of you sees someone with something he doesn't have and starts desiring it, don't keep looking there. Look at another person over whom Allah has blessed you, and whom you have something they don't have.
This modern culture emphasizes what we don't have: "Look at this multi-million dollar mansion, look at these beautiful cars..." and we keep aspiring: "I want that, I want that."
Our Shari'ah says: stop looking only at what you don't have, and look at what you do have. This hadith of our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) teaches: if you begin to desire what others have, look at someone who doesn't have what you have been blessed with, so you appreciate the positive you already have.
Transcript — 2:01
Whatever you don't have, look at people who don't even have a house and thank Allah for what you do have.
You wanted this and that — but look at what you already have: good health, good wealth, a happy family, a loving spouse. These are blessings we often take for granted.
Rather than looking at what you don't have, remind yourself of what you do have. That's what these three verses do: they contextualize our struggles and make us appreciate that we are blessed and fortunate. Every one of us is blessed and fortunate in our own way. We just neglect and ignore our blessings and focus on what we don't have.
So Allah, in these three verses, reminds us to think about what we do have. Then Allah tells us: once your frame of mind changes, don't just sit there and do nothing. Be proactive. Do something positive. Contribute to society.
Don't just sit and say, "Life is tough." Yes, it might be difficult. Be optimistic. Change your paradigm and your frame of mind, then find a higher cause and dedicate yourself to it.
Do something useful with your life — something that brings meaning and value to you and to others around you. Contribute positively in a way that makes you internally happy and earns the reward of Allah, because every one of us, without exception, can bring happiness to others in some way.
As for the orphan: "Do not overpower the orphan." What does that mean? Be involved in the life of an orphan, in the life of a beggar, in a way that makes them happy.
A man came to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I want to complain..."
Transcript — 4:02
..."that my heart has become hard. I don't have khushu', my heart has become hard. What should I do?"
Do you know what our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said? He said: "Go find an orphan and wipe his head. Go find a poor person and feed him."
Beautiful hadith. If you have a hard heart, if your life lacks meaning, if you're becoming spiritually lazy, if you don't have a higher purpose — go find an orphan.
He didn't even say "sponsor," because maybe that man couldn't afford it. He didn't even say "give half your savings." Show love to someone who needs love.
Isn't a smile charity? Isn't giving water from your bucket to your neighbor's bucket charity? Isn't a positive word of encouragement charity?
So even if you don't have money to give, those of you who can sponsor an orphan should do so, and those who can feed a beggar should do so. But if you cannot, our Prophet said: wipe the head of the orphan — free of charge. Show love to those who need it.
When you're battling depression and struggling with issues, yes, life is difficult. Find someone else, share their pain, and help lighten it. What a beautiful religion we have. What a great Lord we have.
When we give happiness to others, Allah gives happiness to us — free of charge. SubhanAllah. When we become useful to other people, our lives become useful to us.
Go find those who are deprived and do something meaningful. Even if you cannot give something to the beggar — and sometimes we don't have the money — Allah is saying: even then, don't be harsh.
Don't say, "Go away, no money." Be gentle. Be soft. Say, "May Allah make things easy for you."
Transcript — 6:03
"I don't have anything today, but I make dua for you."
This is the point: if you cannot give something cash or physical, then give something with your words and character. Don't be nasty to the one who comes to you. He also has issues, just like you do.
And the point here is this: when we struggle with our own issues — and all of us do — never forget there are people struggling with different issues too. We all have pain. We all have struggles.
When we go help other people, SubhanAllah, Allah helps us. When we give our time and money to others, our lives become meaningful, our depression lessens, and we gain purpose. A sense of nobility comes to us. We feel useful when we give to others.
That's why our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: the best of people are those most useful to other people.
Then the final verse — and we are only zooming through this surah, because it has so much depth and insha'Allah one day we'll do a longer tafsir — this ayah is very profound and has many meanings. I will mention only two.
First meaning: don't speak negative, speak positive. Don't complain to others — "I didn't pass my exam..." Rather say: "Alhamdulillah, I have children. Alhamdulillah, I have a home."
Tell people the positive. Thank Allah for the good. If you try to count Allah's blessings, you won't be able to count them.
Don't count negatives. Count positives. Don't keep mourning to people about what is bad. Thank Allah and speak about what is good.
This is one meaning, and it's a valid meaning.
Transcript — 8:04
And of course this is true, as well.
I'm complaining only to Allah. I'm not complaining to any of you. Allah is the One I complain to: "O Allah, look at my situation." I don't want your sympathy; I want His mercy. As for people, I should speak positively.
This is the first meaning.
The second meaning here is a reference to the Quran and to Islam, because the biggest blessing is the Quran, and the biggest blessing is Islam. So he is being told (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam): be active in Islam and Islamic causes.
In other words, the last three verses instruct us to do two things:
1) Become proactive in benefiting other people.
2) Become more religious — involved with the masjid, involved in da'wah, and role models of Islam.
So through service to society and commitment to religion, your life finds meaning.
When you give to others, and when you come closer to Allah, and when you become a caller to Islam — your life becomes purposeful. By "preacher to Islam," we don't mean everyone must leave everything and study 20 years overseas. We mean your colleagues, neighbors, and coworkers should see in you the beauty of Islam and ask about the religion of Allah.
Tell people about it. All of us need to become ambassadors of Islam. In that, our lives become meaningful.
This beautiful surah, my dear brothers and sisters, is one of the most powerful surahs in the Quran for battling depression and overcoming feelings of negativity.
To summarize: this surah has 11 verses. The first two are an oath from Allah — an optimistic oath that a new day is coming. The next three verses remove feelings of spiritual worthlessness: "I'm not good enough; Allah doesn't love me." The next three verses remove the...
Transcript — 10:05
...feelings of being unlucky and unfortunate: "Life is always tough." No — there are positives you have.
Then in the final three verses, Allah tells all of us: take that negativity and channel it into something positive. Give back to your community, and give back to this religion.
Through all of this, you will find meaning in life, and through all of this, you will overcome these feelings of negativity.
May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) bless me and you through the Quran. May He make us of those who understand its verses and apply its halal and haram throughout our lives.
I ask Allah's forgiveness, and you as well should ask for His forgiveness. He is the Most Merciful.