Many of us have fallen into the pit of misery where there are no signs of life. Try as you might, you can’t pick yourself up from the situation at hand. But there’s a reality that overrides yours. And that is that there is always hope.
“Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear…” (Qur’an, 2:286)
Allah never makes you burdened with something you can’t bear. You can always pick yourself up when all hope seems to have dwindled down. That’s because there always seems to be a spark…a little kindled fire…a reason for hope that preludes to something better. Because the darkness always preludes the light.
“Do you not see that Allah causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term, and that Allah , with whatever you do, is Acquainted?” (Qu’ran 31:29)
The day will precede the night, the night will precede the day, and so forth. There is a pattern in the intricateness of life. And it is beautiful if you only bore the right perspective.
That’s the perspective of hope. That out of the darkness you can always be bathed back into the light. It seems that the human soul is embedded with this little friend of ours, pulling us up when we feel our worst.
Sometimes a darkness falls upon man where he lay in solitude with no one as his companion except the feeling of meaninglessness. He lays there, trying to find meaning to fill up that lack inside. The void inside leaves one desperate. When all other options seem lost, he falls into the misery of desperation.
But inside of us, inside every one of us, is a small lighthouse of determination. In the dark, desolate seas where there is nothing but vast emptiness and chaotic tides, there is a light beckoning us. It’s our job to hear that light’s call. If you’ve ever found that light, you’ll come to find that it’s called none other than hope.
Don’t give into despair. The more miserable you are, the more miserable you’ll be. Until you make a change within yourself.
“…Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves...” (Qu’ran 13:11)
Indeed, giving up hope when you’ve had it all along inside of you is a grave fault. That, then, would be falling into the category of despair. And when you despair, it’s a lose-lose situation. When you’ve released that shard of light in your hand called hope, you lose out on everything. You let yourself bask in the darkness without any help. You are left lonely, miserable.
“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.’” (Qu’ran 39:53)
Desperation is the essence of being left alone in the void. There is nothing but emptiness, and how will you find a way out in complete darkness…? Feeling your way out? What else is that then being blind?
“So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts.” (Qu’ran 22:46)
When you despair of Allah’s mercy, you are left with darkness in your heart, in other words your heart is left blind. Dark, alone, desperate, miserable…
But wait. There’s something calling you. It’s familiar. It’s close by. It’s been there all along.
It’s name is hope. In every circumstance, hope may show it’s brilliant face and pull you out of the void into the light again. Because it’s ingrained in us. As humans, we are naturally hopeful in so many circumstances. So don’t release that hope, but also don’t depend on it; use it as a guide to pave your fate.
And that’s when you know. That’s when you see that hope is found at the pit of the heart. That’s wherein lies hope.
Hope is necessary for salvation. But being bathed in the light and looking straight at it is a cause for blind faith.
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) drew a few lines and said, "This is (man's) hope, and this is the instant of his death, and while he is in this state (of hope), the nearer line (death) comes to Him."
This is an outline to show that too much hope may outreach one’s death. That’s why hope can pull you out of the darkest times, but it can also take you to the blindest of faiths. That’s why you must synergize the tenets of faith. Combine fear and hope together, with the head of the matter being love, and you are on the path to having what is called faith. Faith in God Almighty.
"Call upon Him with fear and hope." (Qur'an 7:56)
“The heart is like a bird: love as its head and its two wings are hope and fear.” –Ibn Al-Qayyim
So don’t just call out to the light with blind faith. Simultaneously, don’t wallow in the darkness with hopelessness. Combine love, fear, and hope, and you will find the right path. In the pit of your heart you can bring out the most purest forms of hope, and be guided to the true way. And that is the way of Islam.