The Search for Inner Peace (part 1 of 4): The Obstacles to Achieving Inner Peace

The topic of inner peace addresses a universal need. There is nobody on this planet that does not desire inner peace. It is not a desire that is new to our time; rather, it is something that everybody has been searching for throughout the ages, regardless of color, creed, religion, race, nationality, age, sex, wealth, ability or technological advancement.

People have taken a variety of different paths in trying to achieve inner peace, some through accumulating material possessions and wealth, others through drugs; some through music, others through meditation; some through their husbands and wives, others through their careers and some through their children’s achievements. And the list goes on.

Yet the search also goes on. In our time we have been led to believe that technological advancement and modernization will produce for us physical comforts and through these we will attain inner peace.

However, if we were to take the most technologically advanced and most industrialized nation in the world, America, then we would see that what we have been led to believe is not factual. The statistics show that in America some 20 million adults suffer from depression yearly; and what is depression but a total lack of inner peace? Furthermore in the year 2000 death rate due to suicide was double the rate of those who died from Aids. However, the news media being what it is, we hear more about those who die from Aids than we do about those who die by committing suicide. Also more people die from suicide in America than from homicide, and the homicide rates themselves are massive.

So the reality is that technological advancement and modernization have not bought inner peace and tranquility. Rather in spite of the comforts that modernization has brought us, we are further away from inner peace than our ancestors were.

Inner peace is for the most part of our lives very elusive; we never seem to get our hands on it.

Many of us mistake personal pleasures for inner peace; we achieve elements of pleasure from a variety of things, be it wealth, sexual relations or other than that. But these do not last, they come and go. Yes we have personal pleasures from time to time and we are pleased with various things from time to time, but this is not inner peace. True inner peace is a sense of stability and contentment which carries us through all the trials and difficulties of life.

We need to understand that peace is not something that will exist in this world around us because when we define peace according to the dictionary definition it states that peace is freedom from war or civil strife. Where do have this? There is always a war or some sort of civil unrest happening somewhere in the world. If we look at peace in terms of the state level then peace is freedom from public disorder and security, but where in the world do we have this in a complete form? If we look at peace on a social level, family and work, then peace is freedom from disagreements and arguments, but is there such a social environment that never has disagreements or arguments? In terms of location, then yes, we can have a place which is calm, peaceful and tranquil, some islands for example, but this external peace only exists for a small amount of time, sooner or later a storm or a hurricane will come.

Allah says:

“Verily, I have created man in toil (struggle).” (Quran 90:4)

This is the nature of our lives; we are in toil and struggle, ups and downs, times of difficulties and times of ease.

It is a life full of tests as God says:

“And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to as-Saabirin (the patient ones, etc.).” (Quran 2:155)

To deal with our circumstances, the circumstances of toil and struggle in which we live, patience is the key.

But if we go back to the inner peace that we are looking for, then patience cannot manifest itself if we do not have that inner peace.

We are living in a world of toil and struggle, but yet within ourselves it is possible to attain inner peace, peace with the environment, with the world in which we live.

Obviously there are some obstacles which prevent us from attaining peace. So first we have to identify the obstacles in our lives which prevent us from achieving maximum inner peace and develop some kind of strategy to remove them. The obstacles will not be removed just by thinking that we need to remove them; we have to develop some steps to achieve this. So how do we go about removing these obstacles so that we can achieve what is possible of inner peace?

The first step is to identify the obstacles themselves. We have to be aware of them, because if we cannot identify them then we cannot remove them.

The second step is to accept them as obstacles within ourselves. For example anger is one of the biggest obstacles to inner peace. If a person is angry, worked up and has blown a fuse, how can he or she have inner peace in that circumstance? It is not possible. So the person needs to recognize that anger is an obstacle to inner peace.

However, if a person states that, “Yes, it is an obstacle but I do not get angry”, then such a person has a problem. He has not accepted that obstacle as a problem and is in a state of self denial. As such he cannot remove it.

If we look at the obstacles in life we can put them under a variety of headings: personal problems, family issues, financial dilemmas, work pressures and spiritual confusion. And there are many issues under these headings.

soure - http://www.islamreligion.com

(to be continued.....insha Allah.....)

Take nothing for granted........

Take nothing for granted………….

‘Cos

Tomorrow you might wakeup

To find a loved one gone..

To find out, you suffer from a severe disease

To find out, you have lost all your hard earned wealth….

To find your self, worn out and old.

Hence………

Give love to your loved ones, expect nothing in return, except the reward from Allah

Appreciate your health, be thankful to Allah for your health, help others, while you can

know it in your heart, what you save is only, what you give (with sincerity)

Make use of young age in the proper way,not to hide from the truth, not to get lost in worldy amusements,but to worship Allah

Be thankful to Allah for everything .Say Alhamdhlillaahi..

Take nothing for granted.......

………………………….

Picture taken from Deaviant art

Backbiting – Meaning of Verses from Holy Quran and Hadith of Rasoolullah SAW regarding backbiting

'And do not backbite one another; would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor that.' (Al-Hujurat: 12)

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, in deed some suspicions are sins. And spy not neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear God, verily, God is the one who accepts repentance, Most Merciful. (49: 12)

Behold, you received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things which you had no knowledge; and you thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of God (24: 15)

And why did you not, when you heard it, say? "It is not right of us to speak of this: Glory to God, this is a most serious slander" (24:16)

Say to My servants that they should only say those things that are best, for Satan does sow dissensions among them, for Satan is to man an avowed enemy. (17:53)

You have indeed in the Messenger of God an excellent pattern of conduct. (33:21)

Prophet Muhammad SAW said : "Who protects his tongue from unlawful utterances and his private parts from illegal sexual intercourse, I shall guarantee him entrance into Paradise." (Bukhari and Muslim)

"I asked the Messenger of God : Who is the best Muslim? The Messenger of God replied, "He is the one from whom Muslims are safe from the evil of his tongue and hands." (Muslim)

"When man wakes up in the morning each day, all parts of the body warn the tongue saying, ‘Fear God as regards us for we are at your mercy; if you are upright, we will be upright and if you are crooked, we become crooked.’" (At-Tirmidhee)

"Do you know what backbiting is?” They said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He then said, “It is to say something about your brother that he would dislike.” Someone asked him, “But what if what I say is true?” The Messenger of Allah said, “If what you say about him is true, you are backbiting him, but if it is not true then you have slandered him."

"I asked the Messenger of Allah: Who is the best Muslim? The Messenger of Allah replied, "He is the one from whom Muslims are safe from the evil of his tongue and hands."(And when they hear Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk), they withdraw from it and say: "To us our deeds, and to you your deeds. Peace be to you. We seek not the ignorant.)(28:55)

"...no one believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."(Muslim)

“If a man's Muslim brother is slandered in your presence, and you are capable of defending him and you do so, God will defend you in this world and in the next. But if he fails to defend him, God will destroy him in this world and the next.”(Baghawi).

'While we were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the wind brought a foul odor in our direction, whereupon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'Do you know what this odor is? It is the odor of those who backbite the Believers.' (Reported by Ahmad)

From the above, it’s clear that backbiting (talking bad about your brother in his absence) is strictly prohibited in Islam. By avoiding backbiting, We are obeying Allah and Prophet SAW, we are also doing something for the other and also, it brings us peace of mind, and calmness.

By backbiting we instill negative feelings in us, which does no one any good……..
Many a times we tend to forget the simple rule of life……….to get love we should give sincere love first……..to get respect, we should sincerely respect others……...and the list goes on……..Its like, what you give, comes back to you…….

Please do vote in the poll at the end of this page.

Have a nice day…Insha Allah..May Allah guide us all.

Have you?

Have you found contentment yet?

Have you found peace of mind yet?

Have you found calmness yet?

Yes, they have…..those who think of and worship Allah daily, in their thoughts and deeds…

Have you stopped running in this life’s mad race?

Have you stopped giving in to your temptations?

Have you given up challenging others?

Yes they have……those who do everything they do for the sake of Allah.

Have you found a never ending calmness?

Have you realized that there is nothing worth striving for except Jannah?

Have you realized that there is no other path worthy to follow than that of Rasoolullah SAW?

Yes they have….. those who pay more importance to the hereafter than this world.

Have you realized that it’s not the western style that build your integrity?

Have you let Islam decide your morals, values and principles?

Have you realized that to strive for Jannah is the only worthy goal?

Have you realized?

Let's ask ourselves!

Surah Baqarah

Rasoolullah (saw) has said -

• Shaitan flees from the home where Surah Baqarah is recited

• Keep reciting Surah Baqarah as the reading of it is a means of blessing. Not to read Surah Baqrah is a means of loss and regret.

• For three days shaitan does not come close to that house wherein the last two verses of Surah Baqarah have been recited.

• The Qur'an and those who committed themselves to it will be presented on the Day of judgment, preceded by Surrah Al Baqara and Surrah Al Imran.

• Learn how to recite Surah Al Baqara for there is a blessing in it, and there is sorrow for abandoning it, and it is unbearable for the idle' and that Al Baqara and Al Imran are like two flowers which will shade their learner on the day of Judgment, as if there were two large clouds or two flocks of birds.

• "Recite Surrah Al Baqara in your dwellings and do not keep them as tombs. He also said that whoever recited Surrah Al Baqara at night would be crowned with a crown of paradise."