Prayers for relieving the burdens of Stress

Relieving Stress


Ibn Abbas narrated that ALL Mighty's Messenger (pbuh) said: "Your Lord will dispel worries of one who regularly prays for forgiveness, He will lead him out of trying situations, and grant him earnings from sources he does not anticipate." (Reported in Sunan Abu Dawud. /Medicine of the Prophet pg. 159.)



It is also narrated in the masnad that whenever God's Messenger experienced difficulties, he hastened to prayers, remarking that (Allah) Almighty said: Find strength in exercising patience, and in prayers. (Qur'an 2:45)


Ibn Abbas narrated that God's Last and final Messenger said: "When overwhelmed with worries and dispiritedness, one should oft-recite: "La Hawla wa la quwatta illah billa" (There is no Might or power except that of Allah.) This prayer is also authenticated in Bukhari and Muslim to be one of the hidden treasures of jannah. If these prayers do not cause a cure for one's worries, grief, and dispiritedness, it means that one's condition is serious, and requires thorough cleansing of his system through complete purgation or detoxification, followed by sincere repentance and assiduous devotion. The supplication represents 14 kinds of spiritual remedies including:



Recognizing the Oneness of the divine sustaining remedies (Rububiyya); Recognizing the Oneness of the divine controlling attributes (Uluhiyya); Recognizing the 'fait accompli' and the manifest fact of God's supremacy through logical signs, with absolute faith regarding their source;

Acknowledging that God Almighty is free from injustice, and that He will never cause His servant any hardships without necessity or reason; Confessing that imperfection and failure are the servant's own;

Imploring God Almighty by His divine Names and Attributes, which are revelations His creation must recognize, and among them is the most embracing and comprehensive of attributes: Al-Hayy (The Living) and Al-Quyyum (The Controller) Soliciting only His help;

Confession of the servant that God is the only provider that can fulfill one's needs, and that He is the only One to be sought. Confirming one's dependence on Him, relying on Him, and acknowledging that one's destiny is moving according to the divine plan; that He alone has the power to change it ; that what He has decreed is pursuing its course, and that His ordinance is just;

Soliciting the blessing of understanding the divine revelation, living by it, and to recognizing it as the light of one's heart and soul. Through it, one will eschew dubiety, defeat craving, overcome passion and lust, and dispel darkness. Soliciting the blessings of regularly reciting the divine revelation also comforts one's heart, and helps focus one's intention beyond material losses, and attunes one's attachment to what is lasting versus what is ephemeral; Asking forgiveness for one's sins'.

Repenting for one's wrongdoing. Taking the course of prayers to receive guidance; and finally, disclaiming any will or power to effect things, and rightly attributing all will and power to God Almighty alone. (Taken from Medicine of the Prophet pages 160-161.)



The Merciful Creator created human beings and provided each limb of his body with its own balance and perfection. Should the limb sense any imbalance in the standard of its innate excellence, or failure in its natural functions, it will feel pain. God also provided the heart, which is king of the body, with its own balance and perfection. Should the heart become divested, and lose such equilibrium, it will feel pain, suffering, distress, depression, anxiety, and sorrow. Like that, if the eye loses its power of seeing, and the ear loses its power of hearing, and the tongue loses its power of speech, they lose their purpose and become bereft of their perfection.



The heart was created innately to recognize its Creator, love Him, celebrate His praises, glorify His Oneness, feel satisfaction in His presence, rejoice at knowing Him, and to be satisfied with His control and management of everything. The heart was created to be content with its Lord and with His decisions, to trust in Him, to rely of Him, to love what He loves, to hate what He hates, to defend His Name, to love those who defend His Name, and to constantly be mindful of Him, to be filled with Him, and to keep His remembrance. The heart was created to have no greater love than that for its Lord, to find no satisfaction in other than Him, to revere nothing more than Him, and the heart was created to know no joy, comfort, peace, pleasure, or even to feel alive, in other than that. Such knowledge is the needed nourishment the heart requires to exist. Should the heart lack any of such natural nutrients, it will definitely feel sick, and consequently be overwhelmed with worries, sorrow, anxiety, dissatisfaction, burdens, and concerns. It will feel that every calamity is descending upon it, and it becomes a victim and a hostage of their pounding.



The greatest enemies of the heart are: polytheism; sins; and heedlessness; to treat indifferently what God Almighty regards as cordial; judging carelessly what He considers important; discounting the knowledge and revelations of one's Creator; loving other than Him; soliciting gratification in other than Him; feeling satisfaction in other than His presence; associating partners to His control and management of the universe; objecting to His decisions; lacking trust in Him; relying on other than Him; loving other than what He loves; desiring what He hates; hating His decree; speaking His Name in vain; associating with those who use His Name blasphemously; being heedless of Him; thinking little of Him; refusing to be reminded of Him; doubting His promise; taking lightly His warnings; seeking joy, comfort, peace, and pleasure in other than His company; and lastly feeling alive in other than Him. (From the Medicine of the Prophet page 161 -162)





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