Deeds to Habit
10 / 30
Transforming Struggles into Gratitude
How can we transform our mindset into one of gratitude? Sarah Sultan provides some practical tips on how to view our struggles and hardships through a positive lens.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. This is Sara Sultan here with Yaqeen Institute to bring you the deed of the day. Before we get into what we're reflecting on, I wanted to introduce today's good deed, which is how to turn situations that you dislike, struggles that you're going through, into a gratitude in and of themselves. So how to take something that we dislike in the moment and transform it into a form of gratitude. Islamically, psychologically, from a mental health perspective, and Islamically from a spiritual perspective, gratitude is something that is incredibly beneficial. Allah reminds us of it constantly. The Prophet Muhammad reminds us of it constantly. And so looking for the good in different situations is very transformative. Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen, rahimallah, talks about the different stations that people can reach when they are afflicted with a struggle and something that's difficult. The first and lowest is discontent. The second is patience. The third, acceptance. And then the fourth and highest is gratitude. Meaning being able to reflect on a struggle and view it as a source of reward. Knowing the hadith of the Prophet, where he says that there's nothing that ever befalls a Muslim, nothing that afflicts a Muslim, except that it is a means of removing their sins.
Even if it's as small as the prick of a thorn. And so how do we practically implement this so that we're not just viewing the struggle as a reward, but that we are also viewing the actual struggle itself through a positive lens that we can be grateful for. So I'll give you a couple of examples. The first is, you know, if you have been missing something in your life and you've been constantly making du'a for this something, then transforming the sadness that you have, that that du'a has not yet shown itself in the way that you want it to, into a gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for your ability to make du'a. Thanking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, saying something like, I'm thankful that I have been given the opportunity to turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That whatever is missing in my life has led me to connect with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a way that maybe I wouldn't be able to if I did have that something in my life. So you're transforming what you are desperately wanting and feeling sad about into something to be grateful for. And then in the example that I gave earlier about kids running around in the house and kind of driving their parents nuts because of that, the frustration of a parent in a situation like that is absolutely normal, right? But if that can be transformed into a gratitude where you are thinking about the fact that my children are able to run, how many parents would wish for this mess, would wish for this noise because their children aren't healthy enough to do that. And I'm so grateful that I get to experience this despite the frustration that comes up with it because it means that my children are capable of doing this. These types of gratitudes can transform the hardest moments into something that brings you joy.
And that can be really, really powerful. So Jazakumullah Khairan and InshaAllah I pray that your Ramadan is going wonderfully. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Welcome back!
Bookmark content
Download resources easily
Manage your donations
Track your spiritual growth
1 items
1 items
1 items
1 items
25 items
50 items
9 items