Ibn Daud - A Handbook of Spiritual Medicine

Displeasure with the Divine Decree
Signs & Symptoms
Perceived Injustices
Qur’ānic, Prophetic
& Scholarly Evidence
You often grieve to yourself, “I do not deserve
this!” or “Why me?” or “I did not warrant
this happening to me!” or “What did I do to
deserve this suffering?” or similar declarations
When you are afflicted with a calamity, you
rankle with feelings of hostility, anxiety, and
disbelief, and even complain and lose patience
You become so overwhelmed and depressed
that you abandon your obligations and neglect
your commitments
You live with bitter regret in your heart
because of what you have been apportioned
in life
You hold a belief that there is only this world,
and this understanding creates a blind spot to
the wondrousness of Allāh’s creation and
the signs strewn throughout
Abuse of Blessings
You abuse your material assets by hoarding
them without consideration of the needy or by
using them for forbidden matters (an obvious
act of ingratitude)
Allāh
o
o
says:
“Perhaps you dislike something
which is good for you and like
something which is bad for you.
Allāh knows and you do not know”
[Al-Baqarah 2:216]
“Do people think once they say,
‘We believe’, that they will be left
without being put to the test?” [Al-
’Ankabūt 29:2]
The Prophet said, “The strong believer
is better and more beloved to Allāh than
the weak believer, although both are good.
Strive to do that which will benefit you
and seek the help of Allāh, and do not feel
helpless. If anything befalls you, do not say
‘If only I had done (such and such), such
and such would have happened,’ rather
say: ‘Allāh has decreed and what He wills
He does,’ for ‘if only’ opens the door to the
work of Satan.” [%a#ī# Muslim 2664:34]
Regret & Frustration
You are frustrated by a certain outcome and
wish you had taken another course of action
Showing Contempt Towards Others Allāh says, “As for those who abuse
believing men and women unjustifiably,
You look with ridicule at those in tribulation, they will definitely bear the guilt of slander
exhibiting a mocking sarcasm toward ‘those’, and blatant sin." [Al-A#zāb 33:58]
the ones who seem (to you) unguided
For instance, you have this feeling towards the
homeless, whom you believe have brought
such circumstances upon themselves through
laziness, for example
The Prophet said, “Whoever taunts
a brother with a sin (which the brother
has committed), will not die until he (the
taunter) commits the same sin.” [At-Tirmidhī
2505]
DISPLEASURE WITH THE
DIVINE DECREE
75