His eminence Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim –May Allah protect him– delivered last Friday’s Khutbah titled “Optimism and Pessimism” in which he dealt with the importance of being optimistic and having good faith in Almighty Allah (May He be extolled) and explained how important and effective this is on the life of the Muslim. He also warned against despair, hopelessness and anguish and gave evidence as to the advantages of optimism and disadvantages of pessimism.

Praise be to Allah! We praise Him and seek His assistance and guidance. We ask for His forgiveness and repent to Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own souls and sinful deeds. He whom Almighty Allah guides will have none to lead him astray. He whom Allah decrees that he should go astray will have none to guide him to righteousness. I bear witness that there is no other deity worth worshipping except Allah alone with no associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is his Servant and Messenger.
 
"O You who believe! Fear Allâh (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islâm (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allâh." [?l Imr?n: 102]

"O Mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allâh through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship) . Surely, Allâh is Ever an All¬Watcher over you." [Al-Nis?: 1]

"O You who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger (SAW) he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and made to enter Paradise)." [Al-A?z?b: 70-71]

Now then,

The best speech is the Book of Allah Almighty, and the best guidance is that of Muhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) and the worst of all things are innovations (fabricated rites in religion), and that every such innovation is misguidance.

Keep with the Muslim congregation, for Allah’s hand is with the congregation. He who deserts Muslim ranks will do so in hell. "And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) after the right path has been shown clearly to him, and follows other than the believers' way. We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell – what an evil destination." [Al-Nis?: 115]

O Muslims!

Amid the hustle and bustle of life, amid the doom and gloom, and man’s obvious and concealed blemishes and heart-rending flaws, man cannot tolerate more fuel or more air that may fan the blaze, nor can he tolerate more water to make matters worse. Otherwise, he would be running the risk of withering away or facing a fatal destiny.

We see with our own eyes, and hear with our own ears whole-sale calamities and misfortunes befalling our brothers and sisters in faith, our neighbours or relatives, or befalling us before or after them –May Allah protect you and us from them– and we stare browbeaten not knowing what to do. We give in to despair, hopelessness and pessimism although this does nothing but aggravate our sorrow and multiply our plight as if we were travelling through high altitudes. It only makes our wound more painful.

Suffering from all these calamities, we crave a ray of hope and trust in Allah. We feel that we are in a dire need for a sense of relief and deliverance especially in times of despair and trouble. A society that has not been scorched by the fire and devastation of war, internal or external, is a society blessed with security and safety. Therefore, it should cherish its peace and meditate the reasons of its intellectual, food and health security as well as its financial wellbeing. It should exert unrelenting efforts to fend off elements of anarchy, division and disunity before it is too late. Prevention is better than cure, and a stitch in time saves nine. We have to make hay while the sun shines.
 
Having good faith in Allah is the best remedy of misfortunes, and adversities; it is most effective in the present as well as in the future. It is innate hopefulness that makes you have good faith in Allah and be guided by your Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) who always adhered to optimism and hated pessimism because it spelled out thinking ill of Allah for no good reason.

If one is struck with hardship, he will be duly rewarded by Allah (To Whom belongs Might and Majesty) Who elevates ranks, forgives sins, sends relief and assigns happy endings to painful experiences. Every cloud has a silver lining and it is darkest before dawn.

"So verily, with the hardship, there is relief, Verily, with the hardship, there is relief (i.e. there is one hardship with two reliefs, so one hardship cannot overcome two reliefs)." [Al-Shar?: 5-6]

The key to transiting from hardship to relief lies in optimism and having good faith in Allah. Optimism allows even the blind to see light. Conversely, pessimism makes one see nothing but darkness even though one has perfect eyesight.  

He who meditates on the biography of our Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) will find it full of hope and optimism even during confrontation with his sworn enemy. When a man of Quraish named Suhail Ibn ‘Amr came to the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) during the Hudaybiya peace treaty, the Prophet told him, “Sahula amrukum (Your matter has become easy)!”  

The Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) used to be so keen on optimism for it engenders a special connection between man and his creator that is associated with having good faith in Allah to the extent he (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) used to encourage people to choose good names that inspire optimism and to shun names that inspire pessimism. When a man named “Hazn”   (the grandfather of Sa’id Bin Al-Musayab) came to the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him), the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) asked him about his name. “My name is Hazn,” the man replied. “No! Your name is Sahl,”   the Prophet said. “I am not changing a name that my father gave me!” the man replied. Al-Musayab said, “Unhappiness never left us ever since!” [Narrated by Bukhari]

The Prophet’s optimism was not confined to the world of reality; it was also there in the world of his dreams. (Imam) Muslim narrated in his Sahih that the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) said, “I saw us in my dream as if we were at ‘Uqba Ibn Rafi’s, and that we had some of Ibn Talib’s dates. I interpret that dream as we are going to achieve glory in the herein and a good reward in the hereafter, and that our religion will prevail.”

In his hadith, the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) reminds us of optimism; he says, “Supplicate Allah Almighty and be certain that He will answer your prayer.” [Narrated by Al-Termidhi]

(The Sheikh recites two lines of poetry):

I do supplicate Allah until I feel as if I could see,
Through my good faith in Him, what he ordained in reply.

The Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) teaches his Ummah to be sure that relief will come despite the dark moments, the painful circumstances, and the agonizing misfortunes. Relief is embedded in optimism and high hopes in Allah. The Prophet (May Allah’s Salât and Peace be upon him), whenever he led his Companions in a rain-invoking salat, he used to wear his gown in reverse hoping that Allah would reverse their condition from distress and want to prosperity, and from barrenness to rain and fertility.

If this was their behaviour during times of drought, so what about if victory and empowerment were withheld, and their pride and honour were taken away from them?!

The prominent Muslim scholar (The Sheikh of Islam)  Ibn Taymiyah, may Allah have mercy on his soul, mentioned that when Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) decided to march out to fight the Khawarij (a separatist group of Muslims) a fortune teller came to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful! Do not travel because the moon is in the Scorpion (horoscope), for if you travel when the moon is in the Scorpion, i. e. the Scorpion Horoscope, your followers will be defeated. Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "rather we travel putting our trust in Allah, relying on Him, and proving you are a liar." So Ali travelled and Allah blessed that travel, for he killed the majority of the Khawarij. That made him (May Allah be pleased with him) feel ecstatic. It is, indeed, hope, optimism, and trust in Allah which he (Ali) learnt from his beloved and example (Muhammad) (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him).

O son of Adam! You are free to choose from what befalls you in your life, between despair and hope, pessimism and optimism. However, you shall find your hope and optimism with Allah, and your despair and pessimism with Satan, "in order that he may cause grief to the believers. But he cannot harm them in the least, except as Allah permits." [Al-Muj?dilah: 10]. In the Qudsi Hadith , Allah Almighty says: "I am to my slave as he thinks of Me." [Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim]

Thus  – O Son of Adam –  there are two roads and two doors! So think about which road or door you choose! "Every person is a pledge for what he has earned (38) Except those on the Right, (i. e. the pious true believers of Islamic Monotheism)." [Al-Muddaththir: 38-39]

May Allah bless you and me by the Glorious Qur'?n and make its verses and wise sayings beneficial to you and me! This is what I have said. If it is correct, it is so thanks to Allah, but if it is wrong, it is my own fault and Satan’s. I ask Allah to forgive my sins, yours, and those of all the Muslims, so ask Him for forgiveness, for He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful!