I read a news article a while ago which I wanted to briefly discuss. It reported on the stresses of life and how to navigate through them without becoming affected by mental disorders, such as depression. One thing which can help a muslim to achieve this is to understand that every worldly blessing they possess is only a means which should aid them in reaching the hereafter safely. It is not an end in itself. For example, wealth is a means one should use in order to obey Allah, the Exalted, by fulfilling His commands and their necessities and the necessities of their dependents without waste, extravagance or excessiveness. It is not an end or an ultimate goal in itself.
This not only aids a muslim in maintaining their focus on the hereafter but it also aids them whenever they lose worldly blessings. When a muslim treats each worldly blessing, such as a child, as a means to please Allah, the Exalted, and reach the hereafter safely then losing it will not have such a detrimental impact on them. They may become sad which is an acceptable emotion but they will not become grieved which leads to impatience and other mental problems, such as depression. This is because they firmly believe the worldly blessing they possessed was only a means so losing it does not cause a loss in the ultimate goal namely, Paradise, the loss of which is disastrous. Therefore, still possessing and concentrating on the ultimate goal will prevent them from becoming grieved.
In addition, they will understand that just like the thing they lost was only a means they will be provided with another means to reach and fulfil their ultimate goal by Allah, the Exalted. This will also prevent them from grieving. Whereas, the one who believes their worldly blessings are the end instead of a means will experience severe grief when losing them as their whole purpose and objective has been lost. This grief will lead to depression and other mental issues.
To conclude, muslims should treat each blessing they possess as a means to reach the hereafter safely not as an end in itself. This is how one can possess things without being possessed by them. This is how they can keep worldly things in their hands and not in their hearts.
PodNews: Means Not End: https://youtu.be/cnjDL-Q661w
PodNews: Means Not End: https://fb.watch/7FPrY0nS7V/
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