Psychological State and its Relation to the Strength of Faith: A Sharia Perspective

One of the methodological necessities in understanding the human psyche is the realization that a person's psychological state is not necessarily linked to the extent of their faith or the strength of their certainty. Human emotions, such as sadness and distress, are part of the innate human nature (fitrah) from which even the elite of creation—the Prophets and Messengers—were not exempt, despite being the strongest in faith and the closest to God.

The Holy Qur'an has recorded instances of distress and grief that gripped the hearts of the Prophets. Here is the one who spoke with God, Moses (peace be upon him), saying:

And my breast straitens, and my tongue is not eloquent

And here is Jacob (peace be upon him), whose longing for his lost son reached such a point that he wept until his eyes became white with sorrow, and he fell into silent melancholy. As for our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his Lord addressed him, consoling him for the intense grief he felt in his chest for the state of his people:

Then perhaps you would kill yourself through grief over them, if they do not believe in this message, out of sorrow

The nature of worldly life is built upon hardship, as the Almighty said: We have certainly created man into hardship. Absolute rest and eternal happiness are found only in Paradise; as for this world, it is a place of passage and trial.

When the Prophet ﷺ was struck by the death of his son Ibrahim, he outlined for us the sound methodology for dealing with human emotions when he said:

The eye weeps, the heart grieves, and we do not say except what pleases our Lord. And indeed, O Ibrahim, we are grieved by your departure.

Therefore, it is the duty of the believer when calamity strikes to seek help from God and be patient, following the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ in seeking refuge from the dominance of negative emotions, as he used to supplicate: O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and sorrow, weakness and laziness, miserliness and cowardice, the burden of debts and from being overpowered by men. Reliance upon God (Tawakkul) is the path to overcoming life's challenges, with the certainty that sadness does not diminish the status of one's faith in the slightest.