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Uncertainty Tolerance | Daily Reminders
Dr. Osman Umarji speaks on uncertainty tolerance, a psychological principle that relates to how we deal with uncertainty in our lives, and provides ways on how to deal with uncertainty.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. My dear brothers and sisters, every single day we have to make so many difficult decisions. The hardest of decisions to make in life are those that are the most uncertain. We do whatever we can in our power to remove uncertainty from our lives. That is why we check the weather regularly. That is why we check our GPS even though we know the route, just to reduce that chance that we would get stuck in a traffic jam. Although uncertainty is something unpleasant, it is something that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has woven into the fabric of this universe. And although life in general can be uncertain, these days during the spread of COVID-19, times seem especially uncertain. We feel uncertain that perhaps we're not sure if whether we are going to contract the virus or one of our loved ones will. We are uncertain whether our jobs are going to stay the way they are or our investments will be stable. We might be concerned about when all this is going to end. And so uncertain as to when will life go back to normal. And all of these sources of uncertainty can cause us to worry and to feel anxious and nervous. And this is completely normal, my brothers and sisters, but it's not something that is fixed. It is something which we can change and we can learn to adapt to. Today I want to speak about uncertainty tolerance. Uncertainty tolerance is a psychological principle that relates to how we deal with uncertainty in our lives. Those who embrace uncertainty, who learn not to fight it, who recognize they're not in control of everything in the world, they are the ones who are best able to cope and function in the world that we're in today. Whereas those who are really intolerant of uncertainty, unfortunately struggle with added anxiety and stress. What can we do? The first is to acknowledge that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who's in control of the universe. Most of the things in life are uncertain to us or at the best they're indeterminate. So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, He knows as He says in the Quran,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ وَيُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْأَرْحَامِ وَمَا تَدَرِي نَفْسٌ مَاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا وَمَا تَدَرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ Allah tells us, and the verse is beautiful because it talks about things that we want to know. That we know it, you don't know any of these things. We do not know when the final hour will be. إِنَّ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ We don't even know when it's going to rain. Yes, we can have probabilities, but it's not certain to us. And that certainty is only for Allah. We don't know what our children, when they're in the wombs, what they're going to grow up to be like. And we don't know what our income will be tomorrow. We don't know when we will die. All of these are only known to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Now the believer, what he does is he recognizes there are things in life that he or she has control over, and things that he or she does not have control over. And so they learn to put the things which they have no control over into the hands of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And this is why the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he said that if someone was to take all of their anxieties and put them in and channel them into one concern which they have, then Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala would take care of all their other concerns. Which concern is that my brothers and sisters? And that is a concern of the Akhirah, of the hereafter. That if we focus on, is Allah pleased with me, and we put our complete energy into that, because we have control over that, then Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala promises that He will take care of the other aspects of life. Of course, with our human effort. And that is why the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, when he gave us this beautiful analogy of how to deal with uncertainty, he told us that if you had the tawakkul of the birds, if you had the reliance of the birds,
then Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala would provide for you the way He provides for the birds. Now how do the birds act? The Prophet said that they get up in the morning, and they go out and they seek the bounty of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, and then they return. What do we learn from that? My brothers and sisters, the birds do not know when they wake up, what is going to happen. They don't know where their food is. They don't know what type of food they're going to have, and they don't know when they're going to find their meal. But that uncertainty does not paralyze the birds. It does not make them stop, and get stuck. But it actually propels them to do the only thing they can do, which is to go off and seek the bounties of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, while putting their trust and reliance, that, Ya Allah, only You know with certainty, what is out there in the world. And I am going to rush with my efforts, to do whatever I can do, but I know that it is all in Your hands. So Allah, I put that uncertainty into Your hands, and I'll do my best to do that which I have been commanded to do. And so these are some steps we can take, some practical steps perhaps, in this time where we are struggling, because there's not a lot of control in our hands. The Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam told us, a number of things we could do. Number one is get into the habit of saying, La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. There is no power, there is no might, there is nobody that can change a condition, except for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Say that over and over until it seeps deeply into your heart. So that way whenever you feel a lack of control, you say this and transfer that. Say Allah, I can't control it, You can control it, help me Ya Allah. Number two, the dua of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Hasbi Allahu ladhee la ilaha illa hu, alaihi tawakkalt, wahuwa rabbu al-arshil azeem. Another dua about uncertainty, and about tawakkul and trust, that says, Allah is enough.
Allah, You are sufficient. Everything else is uncertain, everything around me looks probable, everything seems indeterminate, but You are enough to fill that void of certainty in my life. You are enough to fill the trust that I need in my life. So I worship You alone Allah, I go to You seeking Your, relying upon You alone, and You are the Lord of the magnificent throne. The final thing which we can do my brothers and sisters, is actually to do the things within our power, that go beyond the realm of worship, but they also go into the realm of self-care. Do things like deep breathing, we can do things like try to practice mindfulness, and not allow our thoughts to consume us. We can do certain things like progressive muscle relaxation. There are a number of different things we can do, we can color, we can do art, we can paint. SubhanAllah rabbika rabbal izzati amma yasifoon, wasalamun ala al-mursaleen, walhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.
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