Depression is an illness that a lot of people go through at some point in their life and it can be avoided and treated just like all other illnesses. Although, anti depressants are used to treat it somehow the person may find that they are back in that state again after a year or two. Some of the symptoms of depression are:
• continuous low mood or sadness
• feeling hopeless and helpless
• having low self-esteem
• feeling tearful
• feeling guilt-ridden
• feeling irritable and intolerant of others
• having no motivation or interest in things
• finding it difficult to make decisions
• not getting any enjoyment out of life
• having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself
• feeling anxious or worried
(Symptoms according to NHS)
The solution to it can only be found in the infallible words of Allah, The Qur'an.
Have you wondered why it happens? There may be an answer like a life event or unhappiness with one’s life but this is not the answer because one may find that after a while they end up in depression again. The truth is life is hard.
Allah says in the Qur'an “Or do you think you will enter into heaven (with ease)?” (2:214)
This verse poses a question for people to understand that entering Jannah is not possible without various difficulties surrounding it.
We also need to remember this verse in the Qur'an where Allah says: “Allah does not place a burden on a soul greater than what it can handle.” (2:286). One should feel hope from this verse because whatever you are going through, you CAN handle it or else Allah, The Almighty, The All-Knowing would not have put you through a certain test.
Depression can be related to from a spiritual way. Allah has created everything in a perfect balance, even humans. Allah says in the Qur'an “And do not ruin the balance” (55:9).
So how can depression be related to balancing something? We as humans have a spiritual side and a physical side and both need to be kept in a balance. We need to feed our bodies for energy and feed our spiritual side with prayer and acts of worship as we have been created to worship none other than Allah. If we overfeed our bodies, we’ll be unable to perform our duties or if we focus too much on the dunya and not on Islam, this unbalances the natural balance and abandoning worshipping Allah has a detrimental effect on us especially our soul, which leads to depression.
The only solution to avoid and treat depression is found in the Qur'an.
Allah says in the Qur'an “Those who believed, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah.” (13:28)
Ibn Kathir said in his tafsir “for their hearts (believers) find comfort on the side of Allah, become tranquil when He is remembered and pleased to have Him as their Protector and Supporter. So Allah said,
“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest” (13:28)
So one needs to ask themselves are they remembering Allah during hardship, trials, tests and during times of ease.
The best option to avoid depression and find peace in the heart is to remember Allah constantly. Some of the acts that help are:
• Ask Allah to help you because none can help but Him. Just turn to Him and remember “Verily the help of Allah is near” (2:214)
• Ask Allah for patience
• Having Khushu in prayer ( I would recommend everyone to read ‘Developing Khushu in the prayer’ by Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid)
• Dhikr (Remembering Allah and Praising Him whenever you have some time free e.g. walking to the bus stop)
• Reading the Qur'an (Even if it is just a page or a verse, plus translation if you do not understand Arabic)
• Having Hope in Allah and leaving everything in His Hands because He knows what is best for us
• Also remember that everything comes to an end so whatever trial or test you are going through will come to an end as well
• Speak to a friend or family (Talking about a problem helps to perceive your problems in a different way)
• Do exercise (During depression, a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which regulates mood, anger etc goes low. Doing exercise helps to keep it up). Even the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) took part in various sports.
• having no motivation or interest in things
• finding it difficult to make decisions
• not getting any enjoyment out of life
• having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself
• feeling anxious or worried
(Symptoms according to NHS)
The solution to it can only be found in the infallible words of Allah, The Qur'an.
Have you wondered why it happens? There may be an answer like a life event or unhappiness with one’s life but this is not the answer because one may find that after a while they end up in depression again. The truth is life is hard.
Allah says in the Qur'an “Or do you think you will enter into heaven (with ease)?” (2:214)
This verse poses a question for people to understand that entering Jannah is not possible without various difficulties surrounding it.
We also need to remember this verse in the Qur'an where Allah says: “Allah does not place a burden on a soul greater than what it can handle.” (2:286). One should feel hope from this verse because whatever you are going through, you CAN handle it or else Allah, The Almighty, The All-Knowing would not have put you through a certain test.
Depression can be related to from a spiritual way. Allah has created everything in a perfect balance, even humans. Allah says in the Qur'an “And do not ruin the balance” (55:9).
So how can depression be related to balancing something? We as humans have a spiritual side and a physical side and both need to be kept in a balance. We need to feed our bodies for energy and feed our spiritual side with prayer and acts of worship as we have been created to worship none other than Allah. If we overfeed our bodies, we’ll be unable to perform our duties or if we focus too much on the dunya and not on Islam, this unbalances the natural balance and abandoning worshipping Allah has a detrimental effect on us especially our soul, which leads to depression.
The only solution to avoid and treat depression is found in the Qur'an.
Allah says in the Qur'an “Those who believed, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah.” (13:28)
Ibn Kathir said in his tafsir “for their hearts (believers) find comfort on the side of Allah, become tranquil when He is remembered and pleased to have Him as their Protector and Supporter. So Allah said,
“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest” (13:28)
So one needs to ask themselves are they remembering Allah during hardship, trials, tests and during times of ease.
The best option to avoid depression and find peace in the heart is to remember Allah constantly. Some of the acts that help are:
• Ask Allah to help you because none can help but Him. Just turn to Him and remember “Verily the help of Allah is near” (2:214)
• Ask Allah for patience
• Having Khushu in prayer ( I would recommend everyone to read ‘Developing Khushu in the prayer’ by Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid)
• Dhikr (Remembering Allah and Praising Him whenever you have some time free e.g. walking to the bus stop)
• Reading the Qur'an (Even if it is just a page or a verse, plus translation if you do not understand Arabic)
• Having Hope in Allah and leaving everything in His Hands because He knows what is best for us
• Also remember that everything comes to an end so whatever trial or test you are going through will come to an end as well
• Speak to a friend or family (Talking about a problem helps to perceive your problems in a different way)
• Do exercise (During depression, a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which regulates mood, anger etc goes low. Doing exercise helps to keep it up). Even the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) took part in various sports.
