Husn udh-Dhann Bil-Lah – Having Good Opinion of Allah
By Naila’s
Diary
Have you ever
thought that you don’t deserve Allah’s Mercy? Did you ever mess up ‘big time’
and think that Allah will never forgive you? Have you ever stopped making du’a
to Allah thinking that He will not accept it anyway? What really comes to your
mind when you think of Allah? Do you think good of Him or otherwise?
Husn udh-dhann billah means having a good
opinion of Allah. It refers to, being certain of receiving only good from Him,
to have positive thoughts about Him, believing that He will deal with us in the
best of ways.
That is, in
order for us to expect something good from Allah we have to truly believe that
He is Capable of giving us that good.
Thinking well
of Allah is a fundamental aspect of our worship. How can we worship Him the way
He deserves to be worshipped when we are not aware of His Attributes or when we
think that He is akin to the people around us?
One of the
main causes of lacking husn udh-dhann billah is our comparing
Allah and His Attributes to those of humans, wrongly assuming that Allah will
not be good to us because we ignored Him; or that He is One who takes pleasure
from our sufferings and will not listen to our pleas because we disobeyed Him (na’udhubillah); or that since we have
indulged in the worst of sins, He will put us in the blazing hell-fire,
wondering why will He even consider us for Jannah (Paradise) as there are so
many pious people that already exist! All such thoughts indicate that we
do not know who Allah actually is or how Just and Merciful He is.
In order to
avoid all these negative thoughts, we need to study and know the Attributes of
Allah. Allah is nothing like any of His creation. He is free
of defect and deficiencies. His Promise is always true and He never forgets.
Even the tiniest of our deeds does not escape His Attention. He is never too
busy to ignore us. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him, nor sleep.
He always remembers us no matter how many times we forget Him. We need to
firmly believe that Allah answers our duas, forgives
us and that He is enough for us. Count all
your Blessings and ponder over your past, recounting all the moments that Allah
never let you down.
This lack of
education on our part helps shaytaan play with our minds
and heart. This creates hopelessness in us and we begin to despair the Mercy of
Allah.
I will share
two great examples of this from the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him).
Example 1:
Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) set out of his home with Abu Bakr (may Allah be
pleased with him) as his companion to migrate to Madeenah, while the Quraysh
were conspiring against him. They hid in the cave of Thawr, and Abu Bakr (may
Allah be pleased with him) said to him (peace be upon him) “If
one of them looks down at his feet he will see us.” He (peace be upon
him) said, “What do you think, O Abu Bakr, of two, the third of whom is Allah?”
This is an
example of nothing but having a strong conviction that Allah is the Most
Powerful and the One in control of everything. Allah mentions this historical
event in the Quran:
“If you do
not aid the Prophet – Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved
had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two, when they were in the cave and he
said to his companion, “Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.” And Allah sent
down his Tranquillity upon him and supported him with angels you did not see and
made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the Word of Allah –
that is the Highest. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.” (Quran,
9:40)
Example 2:
Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was having his mid-day sleep under a tree, with
his sword hanging on one of the branches. A Bedouin suddenly came and took the
Prophet’s sword. The Prophet (peace be upon
him) woke up and the Bedouin asked him, “Who will protect you from me?” He
(peace be upon him) replied, “Allah”. The sword fell from the bedouin’s hand
and the Prophet (peace be upon him) took his sword. (Bukhari)
Benefit of Having Good Opinion of Allah
It makes
life easy and productive. When we have husn
udh-dhann billah, we have a sense of peace and inner calm which
pushes us to do good with the belief that Allah will reward us and grant us
success.
Husn udh-dhann billah also increases
our tawakkul (trust) where we do
our best and then leave the result up to Allah. If we had a bad opinion of
Allah (soo’udhann billah) then we wouldn’t strive
hard in life, nor would we wish to achieve anything because we would not expect
anything good to happen to us.
We also need
to keep in mind that good opinion has to be followed by good actions. We can’t
be mean to people or disobey Allah and then expect that He be kind to us.
“And whoever fears
Allah – He will make for him a way out and will provide for him from where he
does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him.
Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything
a [decreed] extent”. (Quran, 65:2-3)
How to Develop Husn
udh-Dhann Billah
1) Making du’a with
Certainty
Making du’a is not only action of
the lips but also includes the intention in one’s heart. People may raise their
hands in making du’a but may not be sincere in asking Allah. They
either make their minds up that Allah is never going to answer, or they
preoccupy their minds so much with worldly thoughts that making dua becomes merely a
ritual.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) said, “Call upon Allah when you
are certain of a response, and know that Allah does not accept any supplication
from a heart that is unfocused and distracted.” (Tirmidhi)
2) The Intention of Our Deeds
Performing
deeds solely for Allah’s Pleasure and having firm belief that Allah will accept
them and reward us in the best way is another way of imbibing husn
udh-dhann billah. Else, we would never attempt at anything good or we may easily give up
half-way questioning ourselves, ‘why bother when our actions
are not bringing instant results or the way we want them to turn out?’
3) Belief in Allah’s Promise
Husn udh-dhann billah also refers to believing
that Allah always keeps His Word and will Grant us all that He Promises. For
instance, if He Promises ease with every hardship, then indeed we will have
that ease. If Allah Promises us increase in our sustenance if we spend in His
way, then we must have firm belief in that too.
4) Repenting & Seeking Forgiveness
Allah
says, “O My servants, you commit error night and day and
I am there to Pardon your sins, so beg pardon from Me so that I should Grant
you Pardon.” (Muslim)
This teaches us to sincerely repent and seek forgiveness from Allah with the hope that He will accept our repentance and forgive us. If we did not have this certainty in our hearts, then we will never seek forgiveness and perhaps will keep on sinning. Not expecting Allah to Forgive us or Grant us what we ask him is despairing of His Mercy and not believing in His Word.
5) Trials & Tribulations
The most
crucial stage to have a good opinion of Allah is when calamity falls upon the
believer. It is very easy to complain at that time, lose hope and be in the
worst state of negativity. But a believer knows that trials occur only due to
Allah’s infinite Wisdom, and to purify and increase us in closeness to Him. We
might not understand why we are suffering but being positive in those times
will help us to accept Allah’s Decree and make us realize that tests from Allah
are in our best interest which we may comprehend only later.
The Prophets
and Messengers of Allah had pinned all their hopes onto Allah, most especially
when all odds were stacked against them. The fire was cooled for Prophet
Ibrahim (peace be upon him), Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him) came out of the
belly of a fish and Prophet Zakariya (peace be upon him) was blessed with a
child even though he was old and his wife barren. Why? Because they knew that
Allah would respond to their pleas and get them out of every situation no
matter how impossible they seemed.
6) At the Time of Death
Finally, we
are encouraged to remember and remind others of Allah’s Mercy & Forgiveness
on our/their death beds so that when we leave this world, we are hopeful of
meeting our Lord.
Three days
before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) passed away, he said:
Husn udh-Dhann Billah and
Positive Thinking
Having good
opinion of Allah has one major byproduct – it makes us positive about life
itself. This positive mindset will help us in keeping calm even during
turbulences and help us get rid of pessimistic thoughts.
Having a
positive outlook is the most important thing to bring ease in life especially
when everything around us seems unbearable. It is the good belief that Allah is
the Most Powerful, the Giver, our Savior & our Provider which will stop us
from fearing people, and fear Allah instead. It will help us be consistent in
our worship and teach us to ask from Allah alone rather than tiring ourselves
in struggling to gaining acceptance from people. It frees us from the need of
other human beings, and liberates us from following shaytaan and all those who
follow him.
This positive
thinking about Allah arises from our firm belief in tawheed. Knowing that Allah is One
and Alone, He doesn’t have any partners who will help us. Allah is the most
Merciful, Powerful, Forgiving, the best Planner & Controller of everything.
He alone we should expect & ask from. If we truly recognize Allah’s Majesty
only then will we believe that He alone deserves this unshakable certainty.
You may wonder: What if you did not
experience success even though you worked hard and had good opinion of Allah?
Well, remember that what seems like failure to us now will in fact bring only
the best – even much better than what we had initially anticipated. It might be
that Allah is saving us from something not in our knowledge. So we have to do
our best in everything and accept His Divine Will that whatever we get is in
our best interest, and be thankful to Allah.
“But perhaps
you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is
bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.” (Quran:
2:216)
*Originally Published on:
How does having good opinion of Allah help you in
life? Looking forward to your kind comments below.
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