Ever gone through that uncomfortably difficult feeling that, after experiencing a period of high motivation and inspiration, suddenly you face a major performance drop and go through that uncomfortable feeling of “unproductiveness” and lack of motivation to get back on track?
We go through this in our careers, in our studies, sometimes even in our parenting experience
Spiritually, I’m sure we have all experienced this after Ramadhan or returning from umrah. During Ramadhan, we feel this incredible urge to recite more Qur’an, recite more dzikir, perform more prayers, and when Ramadhan goes, our motivation levels go down. When we perform Umrah, we arrive at Masjidil Haram, we see the Ka’bah, we just feel this intense feeling of emotional motivation to do more good deeds, we feel determined to change, but when we return to our home country….
… Life happens.
And we look back at those times reminiscing on our past performance, how we used to do so well, and now because we dropped, we feel really bad about ourselves, as if we are hypocrites or impostors for being unable to consistently sustain that good performance, i.e. we lack in istiqamah.
This is known as the slump.
Here’s the interesting thing: even the best of Muslims – the companions of the Prophet ﷺ - used to feel the same. And alhamdulillah, because this happened to the best of Muslims, in the presence of Rasulullah ﷺ, we also get some clear answers to how we can best handle these situations.
عَنْ حَنْظَلَةَ الأُسَيِّدِيِّ، قَالَ - وَكَانَ مِنْ كُتَّابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ - لَقِيَنِي أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَقَالَ كَيْفَ أَنْتَ يَا حَنْظَلَةُ قَالَ قُلْتُ نَافَقَ حَنْظَلَةُ قَالَ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ مَا تَقُولُ قَالَ قُلْتُ نَكُونُ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُذَكِّرُنَا بِالنَّارِ وَالْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى كَأَنَّا رَأْىَ عَيْنٍ فَإِذَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ عِنْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَافَسْنَا الأَزْوَاجَ وَالأَوْلاَدَ وَالضَّيْعَاتِ فَنَسِينَا كَثِيرًا قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَوَاللَّهِ إِنَّا لَنَلْقَى مِثْلَ هَذَا . فَانْطَلَقْتُ أَنَا وَأَبُو بَكْرٍ حَتَّى دَخَلْنَا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قُلْتُ نَافَقَ حَنْظَلَةُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " وَمَا ذَاكَ " . قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ نَكُونُ عِنْدَكَ تُذَكِّرُنَا بِالنَّارِ وَالْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى كَأَنَّا رَأْىَ عَيْنٍ فَإِذَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ عَافَسْنَا الأَزْوَاجَ وَالأَوْلاَدَ وَالضَّيْعَاتِ نَسِينَا كَثِيرًا . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنْ لَوْ تَدُومُونَ عَلَى مَا تَكُونُونَ عِنْدِي وَفِي الذِّكْرِ لَصَافَحَتْكُمُ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ عَلَى فُرُشِكُمْ وَفِي طُرُقِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَا حَنْظَلَةُ سَاعَةً وَسَاعَةً " . ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ .
Hanzhalah Al-Usayyidi, who was amongst the scribers of Rasulullah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was amongst those who felt like he was going through a slump. He narrated:
“One day, I met Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. He said: “How are you?” He (Hanzhalah) said: “Hanzhalah has turned to be a hypocrite!”
He (Abu Bakr) said: “SubhanAllah! Why are you saying that?”
Thereupon he said: “When we are in the company of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), we are reminded about Hell-Fire and Paradise, and becomes so strong as if we are seeing them with our very eyes!
However, when we are away from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) we attend to our wives, our children, our business; we forget a lot of it..” (i.e. we get distracted and are unable to sustain that high iman)
Abu Bakr said: “I Swear by Allah, I also experience the same!”
So Hanzhalah and Abu Bakr went to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and narrated to him what Hanzhalah felt. Upon listening to Hanzhalah, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“I Swear by Him in Whose Hand is my life, if your state (of iman) remains (consistently) the same as it is in my presence, as it were when you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the Angels will shake hands with you in your beds and in your pathways!
But, Hanzhalah, there is a time for this, and a time for that”
The Prophet ﷺ said this three times. (Narrated by Muslim)
Lessons from this amazing hadith:
1. The companions had a strong sense of self-awareness to know when their levels of iman – the motivation and drive to perform righteous deeds – would be strong, and when they would dip.
Abu Darda, the companion of Rasulullah ﷺ said:
"إِنَّ مِنْ فِقْهِ الْعَبْدِ أَنْ يَتَعَاهَدَ إِيمَانَهُ وَمَا نَقَصَ مِنْهُ، وَمِنْ فِقْهِ الْعَبْدِ أَنْ يَعْلَمَ أَمُزْدَادٌ هُوَ أَمْ مُنْتَقِصٌ؟ وَإِنَّ مِنْ فِقْهِ الرَّجُلِ أَنْ يَعْلَمَ نَزَغَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ أَنَّى تَأْتِيهِ؟". [أبو الدرداء رضي الله عنه].
“It is from one’s fiqh (understanding) to take care of his iman and what decreases of it.
It is from one’s fiqh to know whether he has gained or lost (in his iman and good deeds).
And it is from one’s depth of understanding to know from where the whispers of shaytan come to him” (Syarh Usul I’tiqad Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, vol 5. P. 1016)
2. If you are feeling distressed about a matter, go and seek help and consultation for a solution! Don’t just keep it bottled to yourself; it can only make things worse.
3. Consult to those who are qualified and are better than you. Hanzhalah didn’t just share his personal experience with anyone; he shared it with Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, the man whom the companions unanimously considered as the BEST person among them, the most knowledgeable in religion, and the highest level of iman, and the closest in companionship with the Prophet ﷺ. I can imagine that Hanzhalah would think, that “if there were a person who has a solution to this, it would be Abu Bakr!”
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“And ask the people of knowledge, if you do not know” (Surah Al-Anbiya 21:7)
4. Authentically admitting your own weaknesses and shortcomings. There was something quite profound in the reaction of Abu Bakr. Upon listening to Hanzhalah’s fear of hypocrisy, Abu Bakr immediately realized that “oh no! I also feel the same!” And this was a repeated pattern in the behavior of Abu Bakr. Even though he was the best of them – he still felt terribly inadequate. This is what psychologists today label as the Dunning-Kruger effect: those who are very competent and skilled at what they do, always feel themselves inferior and incompetent, when in actual fact they are so much better than the rest. And Abu Bakr was objectively the BEST!
5. There is no shame in admitting “I don’t know”. Many of us have an ego problem when it comes to acknowledging we don’t know something, so we are tempted to just “shoot” an answer from the hip when people ask questions, so that we don’t seem ignorant or incompetent. Yet interestingly, even when it comes to experts in science and engineering, they will readily admit in their academic integrity that “they don’t know” the answer to something.
Likewise here, Abu Bakr – the most knowledgeable of the Muslims after the Prophet ﷺ - he himself does not know the answer or the solution to this problem, and so he referred it to the Prophet ﷺ himself.
6. This is human nature. The Prophet ﷺ reassured Hanzhalah that “there is a time for this, and there is a time for that”, meaning that it is perfectly normal to go through phases of high motivation and low motivation. We all feel this, even the best of us!
This hadith is a practical illustration of how iman increases and decreases, a concept which is agreed upon (ijma’) by consensus of ahlus sunnah. Iman increases when we perform good deeds, and when we are in the company of those who perform acts of righteousness, and iman decreases when we disobey Allah or are in the company of sins and evil acts.
7. This does not, however, mean that it is justifiable for our iman levels to drop to the point that we abandon the basic, obligatory deeds. In another hadith, the Prophet said,
إنَّ لكلِّ عملٍ شِرَّةٌ، و لكلِّ شرَّةٌ فَتْرَةٌ، فمنْ كانْ فترتُه إلى سنتِي فقدِ اهتدى، و منْ كانتْ إلى غيرِ ذلكَ فقدْ هلكَ
“For every deed, there is a period of high motivation, and a period of low motivation (futur). For those whom, their period of low motivation is upon my sunnah, then he is guided and successful. And for those who is upon other than that, then he is destroyed” (Narrated by Ahmad).
What this hadith implies for us is that we always have to work to improve our baseline. In your jobs, if you face this slump and are not able to perform at your peak “exceed expectations”, at least don’t abandon your core job, i.e. the minimum requirements to earn your paycheck.
Whereas in matters of religion, make it a habit to do the obligatory deeds, and gradually, but consistently add a little bit of sunnah (nawafil) deeds. If you are consistent in performing nawafil deeds, at least, if you were to lapse, that one will go first, and will not compromise your wajib.
8. To sustain consistent high iman is praiseworthy! Although we are not expected to have continuously high levels of iman at all times, the Prophet ﷺ did acknowledge that, IF one were able to sustain the high levels of motivation and iman even behind the presence of the Prophet, then the angels themselves would descend from the heavens and shake our hands!
Meaning, we should strive to improve our state of taqwa (righteousness/God consciousness) to the point where as much as possible, we are self-driven and proactive to have strong levels of iman in public and in private, instead of living with the external dependency of others to “motivate us”.
This is why deeds done in secret – such as qiyamullayl (the night prayer) – are so powerful, and very much encouraged in Islam: because these iman-boosting deeds are purely for the sake of Allah. Work towards increasing more good deeds in secret, and it will be gradually easier to sustain a level of consistency.
9. The Prophet ﷺ did not rebuke Hanzhalah’s family or businesses or blame them resulting in low performance. This is important: Sometimes we may undergo our slumps because of natural, external changes in life. Perhaps we just got married, just had a child, just got a job, or migrated to a new location, and suddenly our new circumstances just don’t allow us the same opportunity to be as productive as we used to be. Don’t blame those things, have a negative perception towards them, or use them as an excuse.
These are all a part of our life, and in fact, when utilized with the right intention, can be a means of worship to Allah in a different way. What matters most is what we DO with what we have. This is why Allah says:
إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ
Your wealth and your children are only a trial, whereas Allah! With Him is a great reward" (Surah At-Taghabun 64:15)
10. As an extension of the point of self-awareness, we need to understand our “triggers” of productivity and find ways to increase in it, improve it and make it easy for us to instill the right habits to facilitate this for us. Hanzhalah was aware that the presence of Rasulullah ﷺ would increase in his motivation to perform righteous deeds, hence he enjoyed being in his ﷺ company. For us, this may mean being in a certain group of good friends, getting rid of certain gadgets, uninstalling certain apps, showing up for classes, volunteering for positive community-based contributions or da’wah efforts, and so on.
At the same time we need to also understand our personal weakness and our proverbial kryponites. This could be social media, television, fast food, YouTube or certain WhatsApp groups. Although these may not necessarily be haram, we know ourselves to have a weakness and tendency to drop in performance once we get stuck in them, so it is part of personal discipline to abstain from them to maximize our own productivity.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
استفت قلبك، الْبِرُّ مَا اطْمَأَنَّتْ إلَيْهِ النَّفْسُ، وَاطْمَأَنَّ إلَيْهِ الْقَلْبُ، وَالْإِثْمُ مَا حَاكَ فِي النَّفْسِ وَتَرَدَّدَ فِي الصَّدْرِ، وَإِنْ أَفْتَاك النَّاسُ وَأَفْتَوْك
“Consult your heart! Righteousness is that about which the soul feels at ease and the heart feels tranquil. And wrongdoing is that which wavers in the soul and causes uneasiness in the breast, even though people have repeatedly given their legal opinion [in its favour].” (Narrated by Ahmad and Ad-Darimi)
May Allah help us all recover from our slumps and get us back on track!
No comments:
Post a Comment