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Dua to Overcome Feeling Helpless | Khutbah
This dua is one of the most common supplications of the Prophet ﷺ. It carries deep meanings of overcoming our inability or willpower to change our situation
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ غَلَبَةِ الدَّيْنِ وَقَهْرِ الرِّجَالِ
"Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief; from inability and laziness; from stinginess and cowardice; and from the burden of debt and oppression of men."
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Allahumma ja'alna minhum wa minal ladheena aamanu wa aamilu al-salihaati wa al-tawasu bil-haqqi wa al-tawasu bil-sabr. Ameen. Wa min yuta'il laaha wa rasoolahu faqad faaza fawzan a'azeema thumma amma ba'd. We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him and we bear witness that Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him and those that follow in their blessed path until the day of judgment. We ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, we've spent the last few weeks talking about Palestine and what we see in Palestine and what we see in the world in terms of those that are oppressed. The ones that we mention frequently like our brothers and sisters in Palestine, the ones that in the backgrounds like our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria and the list goes on. Things continue to unfold for them in a horrible way and as we see these things, a lot of times
there can be a shut off inside of you and I want us to talk about this idea of a'az, of being unable, feeling helpless. It's actually a very interesting word and it's one that the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam taught us in several of his du'as and several of his supplications and realize there is a'az in both our personal and our social contexts, both those things that affect us at the family level and those things that affect us at a global level, at a community level. A'az is if you're seeing someone that you love in a lot of pain and you can't do anything to help them. Some of us have been in that situation, right? You see someone, a child, a parent, a spouse, a friend, someone that you love and you wish you could do something but you can't do anything and so you feel a sense of inability. You feel a sense of helplessness and a'az could indeed be that you see the injustice of the world and you say subhanAllah, Allah maghfir lana ajzana, Allah maghfir lana ajzana. Allah forgive us for our inability. When we see our brothers and sisters in Palestine, when we see people that are oppressed at this level and you know this becomes a repeated thing where it's video after video. The trauma of seeing police brutality in the United States if you are a black parent in this country and you have to worry about that being your child. The trauma of seeing people back home if you have migrated to this country and you realize that you are in a place of goodness and welfare and they're in a place of hardship. All of these things shut us off and they could make us feel a great sense of ajz, of inability. And there's this du'a that we say morning and evening. It is not a new du'a for people to learn. I think for the most part you have all heard this du'a but I want to elaborate on these few concepts inshaAllah ta'ala as they relate to us at a deeply personal level.
Because if we are in a place where we're asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us overcome certain things that hold us back and if we are able to gain certain qualities then that will make us more productive in all of our affairs. And this is a hadith, the du'a is authentic across the board. The incident behind it is disputed however the du'a is undisputed in terms of how authentic it is. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu says that once the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam entered the masjid and he saw a man from the Ansar named Abu Umama. So he said to Abu Umama, Ya Abu Umama, ma li araka jalisan fil masjidi fi ghayri waqt as-salah? Oh Abu Umama, why is it that I see you sitting in this masjid at a time that is outside of the prayer time? Fi ghayri waqt as-salah, of course there were people that would sit and do tadabbur and tafakkur, there were people that would do reflection and contemplation, there were people that would engage themselves in remembrance, but Abu Umama looked like he had a lot on his mind, a lot on his heart, he was at the salah at a time or at the masjid at a time where he typically was not at the masjid before. And our Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam who had enough on his plate adds more to his plate by going and asking people how they're doing. Now that's something by the way that should not be missed in this hadith. Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wasallam you can imagine when he came to the masjid how much he's carrying, when he leaves the masjid how much he's carrying, and sometimes you don't ask someone how they're doing because you know you're going to get into a long conversation, you know that this is going to prolong itself, I might regret getting involved because I don't have time to deal with this right now. But our Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wasallam would ask people about them, he would ask about people that were missing and he would ask people that were there but they seemed to be in a different place, that were physically present but emotionally, mentally looked like they were somewhere else.
So why is it O Abu Umama I see you in this situation? So he said to the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam, he said Ya Rasulullah I'm just overcome with a lot of anxiety and I'm buried in debt too. So I have a lot going on in my life right now, I'm grieving, I have a lot of anxiety and at the same time I'm buried in this debt. The Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam said let me teach you some words that if you say them on a daily basis in the morning and the evening Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will do away with your anxiety and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will do away with your debts. He said I said to the Messenger of Allah, yes O Messenger of Allah. He said when you wake up and when you go to sleep, O Allah I seek refuge in you from worry and sorrow, I seek refuge in you from weakness and laziness, I seek refuge in you from poverty and poverty, I seek refuge in you from the overburden of debt and the oppression of men. So this is a dua of course that we say often and has different variations of it but the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam said to say O Allah I seek refuge in you from worry and sorrow, O Allah I seek refuge in you from anxiety and grief. And I seek refuge in you from inability and from laziness and I seek refuge in you from stinginess and cowardice and I seek refuge in you from the burden of debt and from being subjugated to man, from being at the mercy of someone else other than you O Allah. Now Abu Umamah continues, he said I did what the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam told me so Allah indeed removed my anxiety and Allah subhana wa ta'ala did away with my debts.
But I want to talk about this inshaAllah ta'ala particularly from the first two sentences. The difference between these words and what the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam is actually giving to us. O Allah I seek refuge in you from alham which is anxiety and alhazan which is grief. Alham the scholars say refers to anxiety over the future. I'm worried about what's going to come next. I'm worried about tomorrow. I'm uncertain about this situation. I don't know how this is going to unfold and that's causing me a great sense of paralysis. Alham and the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasallam mentioned man asbaha wa dunya akbara hamma whoever wakes up and has dunya, has the world, the life of this world as their greatest ham, their greatest concern, that which causes them great anxiety. Ja'alallahu faqrahu bayna aynay He has poverty between his two eyes. All he sees is poverty at all times. And so the ham here is not a positive ham. It's not worried about something that is good, but it's rather the anxiety that comes with being uncertain about the future. Alham. Alhazan is grief and it refers to the past. It refers to a great sense of loss. I can't get out of the pain that I am feeling in the past. And so basically subhanAllah you're asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to remove the concern of the future and the burden of the past so that you can be more productive in the present. Because at the end of the day both of these things paralyze you. They both stop you from being able to move forward. And sometimes we might think that we should feel a sense of guilt for moving on from something. You know, by the way, it's always important to recognize that the shaitan leads you to either unproductive action or to no action at all
by giving you good words. Right? And so how can you move on from the past? You should feel guilty. You should hold yourself to the past and you should not do anything. That is something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not praise about a person. You might think that it's a sin that I committed in the past and I can't get over it. An-nadmu tawba. Regret is repentance, but at the same time hasra, which is remorse, where a person just sits around and a person says, I messed up, I messed up, I messed up. That's not a praiseworthy quality. And so a person is either stuck in the past or they're way too concerned about the future. And the scholars mention here that when it comes to the past, because you're not just saying these duas without understanding the attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala behind them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will not hold you to the sins that you have committed in the past if you repented from them. So if it's a sin that's causing you grief, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will not hold you to that. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants you to move forward. And this is something that I want you to think, if you were the sahaba, we talked about Hamza radiyallahu ta'ala anhu a few nights ago. Imagine being wahshi, right? And you cause that grief to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam by killing someone so beloved to him, but still you have the motivation to move on. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not want you to be frozen or paralyzed by your past. So if it's sin or something that you've done bad, you need to understand that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one that's most forgiving. If it is pain that you feel over something that indeed happened to you, then it is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that compensates for that pain in the hereafter. The compensation awaits around the corner. If it is regret that you did not do something differently, sometimes we think I could have done this differently and this wouldn't have happened. So we beat ourselves up over not having done enough for someone or not having intervened at a certain point
or not having done this or not having done that. Then know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had a plan for that person as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has a plan for you. The point is that you're not supposed to be frozen by your past, paralyzed by your past. But instead use it, grow out of it. And think about that which comes afterwards bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. And remember that when it comes to the future as a person is so afraid, anxious, uncertain about that which comes next, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala indeed is upon all things in control. That everything is going to unfold in the way that is going to unfold whether you concern yourself with it or not. But by acting in a way that is praiseworthy bi'idhnillahi ta'ala, the future will hold a positive fate for you. So al-ham wal-hazan, and this is also when the angels come to us when we are dying, al-la takhafu wa la tahzanu. Do not be afraid, al-la takhafu, about the future. When a person is leaving this world, the angels say, al-la takhafu, don't worry about that which comes next, wa la tahzanu. And don't grieve over that which you are leaving behind. What's going to happen with their kids? What's going to happen with their spouse? What's going to happen with this person, that person? What's going to happen with all this? la tahzanu. What's going to happen next? Where am I going? What's the next stage here? At this point there is no a'mal, there is no actions. la takhafu, don't be afraid. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is going to take care of you at this point. So min al-hammi wal-hazan, and then I'll just talk about the second one. Min al-ajzi wal-kasal, this is very powerful because al-ajz and al-kasal often get translated as the same thing. Al-ajz, which is inability, is adam al-qudra ala fi'l al-shay. Al-qudra is when you don't have the ability to do something. So things are truly out of your control. You're in a situation where you are helpless and you can't do anything about it. And you're asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Oh Allah, protect me from that.
Al-kasal is when you have al-qudra ala shay. You have the ability to do something, but you have al-tathaqul. You have a burden, something that's holding you back. You're able, but you're not willing. You can, but you're not. And a lot of times we resign things to al-ajz that are really just al-kasal. Many of us put things in the domain of we're not able to do it, where the reality is we're not willing to do it. So finding the motivation, finding the willpower to be able to do something. And this is something that we have to remind ourselves. That we push ourselves as much as we can and sometimes the things that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala opens up for us as a result of His blessing, insha'Allah, by His will, by His permission, are things that we would have never thought we are capable of. Now the last thing I'll say here, min al-jubni wal-bukhl, cowardice and stinginess. We've talked about that before in the past, this idea of not being able to do something when I should do something. Cowardice is I restrain myself when I should say something, when I should do something. Al-bukhl is when I don't spend, when I could spend. I'm not generous. I'm paralyzed by a sense of fear of poverty. And then you find, غلبة الدين وقهر الرجال to not be burdened by debt or to be at the mercy of another person, to be subjugated by man. When the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was in Ta'if, and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, إِلَى مَن تَكِلُنِي Who are you leaving me to? Oh Allah, are you leaving me to a family member? Are you leaving me to a stranger? Who are you leaving me to? Because no one likes to be at the mercy of another human being in any way whatsoever. What I want us to leave with insha'Allah ta'ala today though, what is the psychological effect of repeating this du'a every morning and evening and understanding what it means? العجز والكسل الحمى والحزن Reminding yourself that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is in control of the future, so I should not lose myself in uncertainty about it. Reminding yourself that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has forgiven what you have done in the past and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will allow that past to lead to future growth. Reminding yourself not to grieve over it. Reminding yourself that you get yourself out of العجز that there are certain things that I cannot control but oh Allah, forgive me when I can't control the situation and help me overcome those situations. Oh Allah, open up those doors for me. And الكسل, when it comes to laziness, when a person just does not find the willpower to do anything anymore, when a person shuts down. All of these are deeply complex topics but the effect of reading this on a morning and evening basis where you're understanding the attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and you understand the deep wisdom of these words are things that can truly transform our lives and more importantly can lead to elevation in the hereafter. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect us from الحمى والحزن نعوذ بك من الحمى والحزن ونعوذ بك من العجز والكسل ونعوذ بك من الجبن والبخل ونعوذ بك من غلبة الدين وقهر الرجال اللهم آمين أقول قولي هذا فاستغفروا إنه الغفور الرحيم الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه ومن ولاه اللهم اغفر المؤمنين والمؤمنات والمسلمين والمسلمات الأحياء منهم والأموات إنك سميع قريب مجيب دعوات اللهم اغفر لنا وارحمنا واعف عنا ولا تعدبنا ربنا ظلمنا أنفسنا وإن لم تغفر لنا وترحمنا لنكوننا من الخاسرين اللهم إنك عفو كريم تحب العفو فعفو عنا اللهم اغفر لوالدينا رب ارحمهما كما ربونا صغارا ربنا هبلنا من أزواجنا وذرياتنا قرة أعين واجعلنا للمتقين إماما اللهم انصر إخواننا المستضعفين في مشارق الأرض ومغاربها اللهم اعز الإسلام والمسلمين واذل الشركة والكاذبين ودمر أعداء الدين اللهم أهلك الظالمين والظالمين وأخرجنا وإخواننا من بينهم سالمين
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