Positivity Part 2

Practical Ways to Live A More Positive Life

If you live the life of a positive Muslim, you will live a healthier life. You will be more content and happier. You will become a people magnet. People will want to be around you because you exude positivity. So, here are 14 practical ways to live positively:

1. Focus on solutions not problems.  We spend too much time focusing on problems, and too little time focusing on solutions.
2. Keep your eye on the bigger picture. Don’t get too engrossed in small issues, look at the bigger picture.
3. Be creative in your thinking and be innovative in the way in which you approach things.
4.  Have Tawakkul or trust in Allah. The greatest source of power and positivity for a Muslim is to know that we have ALLAH – حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ “Allah is sufficient for us and He is the Best Guardian”. (Surah Al-Imraan)

If you rely on Allah, Allah will always come to your rescue. Allah will be there for you.

1. Be good to people irrespective of how they treat you. This is an instruction of the Quraan, ٱدۡفَعۡ بِٱلَّتِي هِيَ أَحۡسَنُ “Repel evil with that which is better” (Surah Fussilat). Respond in a positive way. It was once beautifully shared, “If you want to be positive in life, if you want to be happy in life, whoever you meet, wherever you meet, say a good word.” It will keep you positive and will be a means of spreading positivity.
2. Don’t dwell too much on the past. Whatever has happened has happened. The hadith says فلا تقل‏:‏ لو (Riyad as-Salihin 100) “Don’t say ‘if this’ and ‘if that’. Learn from it, move on. A Muslim is futuristic; a Muslim looks forward.
3. Maintain a balancing act between hope and fear on the one hand and optimism and reality on the other.
4. Start your day with empowering Duas and supplications. Learn the Duas that motivate you; learn their meanings and start your day with them.
5. Keep the company of positive people. Don’t associate much with people who are whiners, who are ‘grumpy chachas’, or those whose habit it is to only complain about life.
6. Smile. It is a sunnah. Smiling keeps you positive and helps to spread the positivity. Give thanks to Allah. When your wife puts down the delicious meal, say, “Alhamdulillah, I have a meal.” When you walk into your home, say, “Alhamdulillah, I have a home.” When you sit in your old car, say, “Alhamdulillah, I have a car.” See the glass as half full, never as half empty.
7. Be patient, never give up. The tide will turn. That is the system of Allah.
8. Avoid suspicion. The Quraan says اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ “Avoid excessive suspicion” (Surah Al-Hujurat) Not only will it lead you into sin: إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ but, it will make you negative.
9. Do not worry yourself unnecessarily: What are they saying about me? What are they plotting against me? An amazing quote that is so apt: “What others think of you is none of your business.” Your business is to focus on your talents, your work, and on living the best life that you can live.
10. In whatever situation you find yourself, ask yourself, “Will this matter in five days? Will it matter in five weeks? Will it matter in five months? Will it matter five years from now?” Sometimes we become so absorbed in a situation, but after five days it fails to have any relevance. Five weeks later, it has no importance, five months later, will not even be remembered, and five years later, you will be embarrassed about how much of time you spent fretting over it.

At the core of positive thinking and being a positive Muslim is إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ which is to have positive expectations of Allah.

Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم has mentioned in the narration of Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi on the authority of Abu Hurairah RA: إِنَّ حُسْنَ الظَّنِّ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ حُسْنِ عِبَادَةِ اللَّهِ that to have positive expectations of Allah is from the best acts of worship. To have positive expectation of Allah is ibaadah, an ibaadah of the heart.

In a famous Hadith Qudsi, Allah says: قَالَ اللَّهُ أَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي (Sahih al-Bukhari 7505) I am as my slave expects me to be. I treat you as per your expectations of Me.

Be positive! Islam wants us to think positively. Have positive expectations of Allah!

{Extracted and adapted from Volume One of the book In Pursuit of Purpose by Ml Sulaimaan Ravat}