A Muslim brother called me one morning asking if he could see me at once. He did not know where to turn. He had called his job sick because he could not go to work. We agreed to meet at the Masjid. He was restless. It was obvious that he was going through a panic attack. He explained to me how he could not do his job any more. He was afraid of something, but he did not know what he was afraid of. He became overwhelmed with thoughts of impending doom. His heart started pounding, and his whole body became at edge. He felt as if he was losing control or having a nervous breakdown.  It was relaxing to him when we talked and identified the problem. However, going through some of his past, it seemed that his anxiety started when he committed a sin that caused him to neglect his prayers. 

 

Anxiety is a common reaction to accummalating stress and stress is what life is about in a nutshell. The difference is in how we react to it. At one point in our life we will experience a case of a full blown anxiety in response to stress that may lead to a panic attack. Many of us however learn to cope with the stress in our life.

 

Some Muslims may downplay and even deny that there is stress saying that we as Muslims should never be in a situation where we may lose control. It is rather simplistic to think this way, because in reality stress is there and we react to it in different ways. Even the prophet (saw) used to get anxious about Islam and what would happen to his ummah. He used to be anxious when the Mushrikoon would reject Islam. Allah said: "Perhaps you are worrying yourself that they may not believe in this speech out of sadness".

 

We all become stressed out for several reasons: some may be afraid of the unknown, losing their job, catching a disease, losing a loved one, etc. Some may grow anxious due to the difficulty of the job, people they meet everyday, demands of life and family. Our sisters may be worried about how to please their husbands, how to raise the children, how to keep the house clean and yet worry about the job they have to do as well. There are so many stressors in our life. In addition to that, our life style is not comfort friendly even though we are building it for comfort, but to keep this lifestyle is a stress in and of itself.

 

Sins are also a major factor into our unhappiness and therefore our anxiety. When you sin, before you can realize it, as a Muslim you will feel guilty which produces certain hormones to be secreted in your body that cause anxiety. It is that anxiety that may lead you to repent to Allah or to indulge even more in sinning. Allah (swt) said: "And whoever turns away from My rememberance, To  him there will be a difficult life.

When a Muslim understands the causes of his anxiety he will be able to overcome it. He turns to Allah for help. Allah teaches us in the Quran that every thing we face in this life is predestined. So our belief in al Qadar is a great relief from all of our worries and griefs. Allah says: And surely We shall try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the steadfast; those who when a calamity befalls them say: 'Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him is our return'." (Qur'an, 2:155).

 

Believing in al Qadar will make it easy for you to not be afraid of the unknown. We know that no matter what we may do to prevent it, it is going to happen that is if it is destined. But nothing will harm you ever if it is not destined. Allah says: "There is no calamity on earth or within yourselves except that it had been [placed] on the records before we created it. That is easy for Allah [to do] so that you will not grieve your losses nor be exuberant about your gains..." and the Messenger (saw) said in a hadith Qudsi: "What has occured to you was never to miss you and what has missed you was never destined to occur to you."

 

This belief will always be your comfort, especially when  you know that if you are patient upon every thing that happens to you, you will be rewarded for it, you will be more able to cope and deal with its anxiety to the point that you are relieved of it. The Messenger of Allah said: "Amazing is the condition of the believer, all of his matter is good for him; if a good thing happens to him he is grateful and that is good for him and if a harm occurs to him he is patient and that too is good for him. And that is only for the believer".

 

Alhamdulillah we believe in Allah and we know that we can turn to Him all the time. Having no one to turn to at times of difficulty worsens it and causes one to turn to harmful habits such as drugs and alcohol. So what can we do as Muslims at times of anxiety?