Reasons for Serenity of the Heart
Serenity and tranquility in the heart can be attributed to several factors. Among these are entrusting matters to Allah Almighty, being certain that whatever Allah chooses is for the best, maintaining a strong connection and submission to Allah, and the feeling of impending relief during trials and tribulations. Additionally, the pursuit of knowledge serves as nourishment for the mind and soul, while persistent supplication and sincerity in prayer are also significant contributors. Reciting the Holy Quran and remembering Allah are essential practices, along with being content and having faith in Allah. As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stated: “The taste of faith is felt by those who are pleased with Allah as their Lord, Islam as their religion, and Muhammad as their Prophet.”
Supplications for Relieving Worries
The Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) includes various supplications that he recited during times of distress, which serve to bring comfort to the heart. Some of these supplications are as follows:
- The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The supplication of one in distress is: O Allah, I hope for Your mercy; do not leave me to myself even for the blink of an eye. Rectify all of my affairs; there is no deity but You.”
- Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “When calamity, hardship, or affliction befalls you, say: ‘Allah, Allah is our Lord; He has no partner.’
- The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stated: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from worry, sadness, incapacity, laziness, stinginess, cowardice, the burden of debt, and the domination of men.”
- Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say during times of distress: “There is no deity but Allah, the Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing. There is no deity but Allah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. There is no deity but Allah, the Lord of the heavens and the earth and the Lord of the Honorable Throne.”
- The Prophet (peace be upon him) remarked: “No one suffers from worry or sadness and says: ‘O Allah, I am Your servant, the son of Your servant, the son of Your maidservant. My forelock is in Your hand. Your decree upon me is continuous, and Your judgment concerning me is just. I ask You by every name You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or taught to one of Your creatures, or kept with You in the knowledge of the Unseen, to make the Quran the spring of my heart, the light of my chest, the dispeller of my sadness, and the departure of my worries,’ except that Allah Almighty will remove his worry and replace his sadness with joy.”
- The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If any of you experiences grief or distress, let him say: ‘Allah, Allah is my Lord; I do not associate anything with Him.’
- As reported, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The supplication of the one who was in the belly of the fish – No deity except You; exalted are You; indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers – no Muslim supplicated with it for anything except that Allah responded to him.”
Morning and Evening Remembrances
Reciting the morning and evening remembrances is considered a fortified protection for a believer from harm throughout the day. Consistently reading these prayers daily can lead to peace for the heart amidst worries. These include the following:
- “There is no servant who says in the morning every day, and in the evening every night, ‘In the name of Allah with whose name nothing is harmed on earth or in the heavens; and He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing,’ three times, except that nothing will harm him.”
- As stated by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): “If you say when the evening comes: ‘I seek refuge in the complete words of Allah from the evil He created,’ it will not harm you.”
- “Whoever says in the morning and evening: ‘Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him,’ one hundred times, will bring forth no one on the Day of Resurrection with better than what he has brought, except for someone who said the same or increased it.”
- Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him), when evening would fall, would say: “We have entered the evening and the dominion belongs to Allah, and praise belongs to Allah. There is no deity but Allah alone; He has no partner. I believe He has all dominion and to Him belongs all praise, and He is capable of all things. My Lord, I ask You for the best of what is in this night and for the best of what comes after it, and I seek refuge in You from the evil of this night and the evil of what comes after it. My Lord, I seek refuge in You from laziness and the evil of old age. My Lord, I seek refuge in You from punishment in the Fire and punishment in the grave.’ When he would arise in the morning, he would say the same.
- It is narrated by Abdullah ibn Khabib that he said: “We went out on a rainy night during a thick darkness seeking the Prophet (peace be upon him) to lead us in prayer. When we reached him, he asked: ‘Have you prayed?’ I did not answer, so he said: ‘Say!’ I still did not respond, and he repeated: ‘Say!’ Finally, I asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what should I say?’ He replied: ‘Say: {Say, He is Allah, [who is] One} and the two protectors (Al-Falaq and An-Naas) three times in the evening and morning, and they will suffice you for everything.’
- Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “O Messenger of Allah, advise me with words that I may say when I wake up and when I go to sleep.” He said: “Say: O Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, Lord of everything and its Sovereign, I bear witness that there is no deity except You; I seek refuge in You from the evil of my own self and from the evil of the devil and his partnership. Say it when you wake up, when you go to sleep, and when you lie down.”
- According to the Prophet (peace be upon him): “Whoever says upon waking: ‘There is no deity except Allah; He is One; He has no partner; His is the dominion, and His is the praise. He has power over everything.’ will have the reward of freeing a slave from among the descendants of Isma’il, and he will be credited with ten good deeds, and ten bad deeds will be removed from him, and he will be raised ten degrees and will be protected from the devil until evening. If he says this in the evening, he will have the same reward until morning.’
- Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) stated: “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not neglect these supplications when he would enter the evening and morning: ‘O Allah, I ask You for well-being in this world and the Hereafter. O Allah, I ask You for pardon and well-being in my religion, my worldly affairs, my family, and my possessions. O Allah, cover my flaws and grant me tranquility in moments of fear! O Allah, guard me from in front of me, from behind me, on my right and on my left, and from above me. I seek refuge in Your greatness from being attacked from below.'”
- “The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught his companions to say: When any of you wakes up, let him say: ‘O Allah, with You we have woken up; with You, we have entered the evening; with You, we live; with You, we die; and to You is the gathering.’ Likewise, when evening arrives, let him say: ‘O Allah, with You, we have entered the evening; with You, we have woken up; with You, we live; with You, we die; and to You is the resurrection.'”