Hopefulness in the Qur'an: The spiritual condition of those in despair

One of the most important spiritual factors that gives people energy and keeps them alive, happy, and at peace is a positive spiritual state. Maintaining such a condition is required to ensure that people can live their lives in a healthy manner. In fact, many people who do not completely experience a positive outlook, and who therefore experience pain and distress, oppress themselves and make the world unlivable for themselves.

This problem is due to the facts that they do not believe in Allah's control of all events and so do not submit completely to their destiny, for only complete submission to Allah and destiny can bring peace to a person. Being positive about the future, instead of getting caught up in fear and distress, and trusting Allah renders people both physically and spiritually healthy. Not doing so makes it impossible for them to be balanced and healthy. Those who feel anxious and distressed about the future, even if it is only one second from now, are like those who have lost all life, even though they are still living. It would be wrong to expect great progress and service, as well as good ideas and thoughts and positive behavior from such people, because their souls are constantly filled with displeasure and anxiety. People who are shaken by the smallest event that goes against their wishes, who go into depression and spiritual decline, are at a loss on several accounts. Their souls become battered, and consequently their bodies start to decline, whereas they were created to be peaceful, healthy, and productive by submitting to and trusting in Allah alone. For those without faith, everything can seem to be a problem. Getting sick on an important day, not being able to accept a "special" invitation, complete one's research, or going on a much-desired holiday, not receiving attention from somebody one wants to impress, or even a small scrape on one's car can lead to sudden and great sadness and despair. Similar trivial events also can lead to sudden depression. The reason for such negative attitudes is that such people give far more importance to the world than it deserves, do not think even for a minute about the afterlife or remember that everybody will die and leave this world behind. Thus they get stuck on trivial things and problems, and the hopes that they placed on small goals can be shaken very quickly. People who adopt this type of lifestyle become unhappy and troubled.

People may also become depressed about a certain unexpected physical flaw and may experience a period of great despair. During this time, they may exhibit certain behavior – which they would not display if they thought there were no flaws in their physical appearance – such as mocking a beautiful or handsome friend out of jealousy or talking in ways that make their friends feel ugly. Other people, under the same circumstances, may withdraw into themselves and avoid their friends. All of these behavior disorders result from not submitting to destiny and trusting Allah.

No one gains from despair, for it has no positive effect upon their manners, spiritual health, future, or present lifestyle. On the contrary, it drives them to sickness and moral depression, which can lead even to death. However, having a positive attitude bears a lot of physical and spiritual gains. First of all, it results in one's gaining Allah's good pleasure and performing a type of worship by applying His commands.

Remaining hopeful in the face of all events and rejecting hopelessness leads to the soul's positive development. Such people are resigned to their destiny and have no worldly ambitions. Patient and calm, they are not swept away by events and are strong, content, and respected by others. They become people who are sought after for advice, are mature, and have the characteristics of a leader.

The "hope" of those without wisdom

There is a very important connection between being hopeful, following Allah's commands, and observing the limits set by Him. A person's degree of hope for Allah's mercy is in direct proportion to one's attachment and closeness to Him and to one's observance of the Qur'an's rulings. Those who do not remember Allah, who live as they please, and who turn away from Allah's commands and then expect a good recompense are only fooling themselves. They can obtain that good recompense only by correcting those attitudes and turning to Allah in sincere repentance.

Thus, the hope of unwise people is like this. Many people have convinced themselves that they will receive a great reward in the hereafter, even though they have not acknowledged and appreciated Allah as required and have no idea about the Qur'an and Islam. Instead of being hopeful, a trait unique to believers, this ugly daring and recklessness is brought about by unbelief. They try to comfort their consciences – which have become constricted due to their living far from religion – with false hopes and expectations. Eventually, they make themselves believe in the truth of such self-deceptions.

For example, consider a researcher who does not display even the slightest Qur'anic behavior and yet expects to be saved because of his scientific research. Or a philosopher who, even though she denies and rejects religion, believes that she is superior to others because of her education, and believes that she will be rewarded for it in the afterlife. A merchant also expects the hereafter and becomes hopeful because of the merchandise and opportunities that he provides to others. But when one speaks to these people for a while, one sees that they doubt the existence of an afterlife. One verse describes such people as follows: Make an example for them of two men. To one of them We gave two gardens of grapevines and surrounded them with date palms, putting between them some cultivated land. Both gardens yielded their crops and did not suffer any loss, and We made a river flow right through the middle of them. He was a man of wealth and property, and he said to his companion, debating with him: "I have more wealth than you, and more people under me." He entered his garden and wronged himself by saying:

This person clearly has doubts about the Day of Judgment, and so displays an inconsistent logic by hoping to meet with a good result just in case he goes to the hereafter. This inconsistent logic is a result of the senselessness engendered by the lack of true faith. This example reflects a mentality that is very widespread today.

Those who have this ridiculous hope and expectation believe that they should be rewarded for the good they did in this world – which they did only for their own benefit. In fact, they believe it is their natural right. They adopt and frequently use such slogans as "Work is the greatest form of worship" and "Service to the public is service to Allah." Now these ideas are useful if they are done sincerely, but to display an ungrateful and rebellious attitude toward Allah in addition to the corrupt behavior and ugly manners that the Qur'an forbids, and then to expect to be rewarded for deeds done only to suit one's ego is illogical.

But when reminded that such an expectation is vain and ridiculous, and that Allah considers the important thing to be having faith and carrying out actions solely to gain His good pleasure, they do not draw near to accepting this truth. The Qur'an relates that deeds done without faith or keeping Allah's good pleasure in mind receive no reward in the afterlife and are for nothing. Except for what Allah wills, whatever they do is in vain if they have no faith, as related in the Qur'an as follows: Say:

The Qur'an also describes the shock when those who set up partners with Allah, and yet still expected to enter Paradise, face this unexpected situation as follows: On the Day We gather them all together, We will say to those who associated others with Allah:

"Where are the partner-gods for whom you made such claims?" Then they will have no recourse except to say:

Therefore, being hopeful has meaning only when coupled with faith, for then it becomes a type of worship and good manners. To hope from Allah and to expect the hereafter without having true faith, observing the Qur'anic rulings, and worshipping in the manner prescribed by Allah are all products of an insincere, inconsistent mentality driven by easing one's conscience. Such thinking only deludes those who follow it, for it is no more than empty conjecture. The believers' hopefulness should not be confused with the vain hope of the people of ignorance and those who associate others with Allah.

Those who hope for Paradise should behave in a manner consistent with Allah's signs for this. If they act according to His will, follow His orders and advice, and never compromise with His verses, they win the right to hope that they will be among those whom Allah has determined to be worthy of the reward of Paradise. The following verse states:

Another point deserves special mention here: Until this very moment, one may well have adopted a morality and a way of life that displease Allah. But what matters is that one repent and intend to be a sincere person after becoming aware of the facts related in the Qur'an. After making this decision, one should display moral perfection throughout his or her life. In such a case, one may hope for Allah's forgiveness and Paradise.

Satan desires to infect people with hopelessness

Satan inculcates a lack of confidence, despair for the future, and a negative outlook of events in people who befriend him. He does not want people to have faith, trust and obey Allah, submit to their destiny, or to live with hope and enthusiasm. Allah wills that believers have all of these attributes, because they allow them to draw closer to Him. Of course Satan does not want to see people succeed in reaching such goals, and so tries to drive them to destruction by tempting them to nonenthusiasm, depression, helplessness, and boredom.

One of the things that Satan wants to make the believers do, but fails at, is to feel despair when situations appear negative. Satan fails only with the sincere believers, for he cannot pull them toward him due to their ever-mindful faith, which causes them to observe carefully Allah's commands and advice at all times. And since He has mentioned being positive in the Qur'an, believers cannot form a different response on this topic. Allah tells believers:

So, believers avoid showing any tendency toward such a state of mind.

Other verses also condemn falling into despair and state that it is one of the unbelievers' negative characteristic. The related verses are as follows: Man never tires of praying for the good, and if evil touches him, he despairs and loses hope. But if We let him taste mercy from Us after he has suffered hardship, he says:

Those who lose hope and rebel have fallen into Satan's trap and fulfilled his commands. On the other hand, believers are always hopeful and look positively upon their future. They have gained Allah's good pleasure and the reward of the hereafter and, as a favor from Him, live a healthy and happy life in this world. Satan cannot lure them into despair, because they are hopeful under all circumstances, bound firmly to the Qur'an, and have taken Allah as a close Friend. Since this subject is most important and even central to Islam, believers are just as meticulous with it as they are with all other Qur'anic teachings. Satan does not want Allah's religion to prevail. Rather, he wants people to live lives based on anti-religious morals, and hopelessness is one part of this model. In some societies, hopelessness has become a philosophy of life. Those who are under Satan's influence reach a state in which they receive egotistical pleasure out of songs, films, and other forms of expression that reflect hopelessness and pessimism.

But the mind, mentality, opinion, and reasoning of those without hope are not conducive to healthy decision-making. Just as hopelessness can cause people to lose their physical and mental health, it is also a serious spiritual illness that, depending on its severity, can lead people to commit suicide. Obviously, such people cannot be expected to live according to the Qur'anic morals. This situation serves Satan very well, for he uses it to make people stray from the religion and any expectation in the hereafter, and to drag them along with himself toward an endless punishment. Throughout human history, this has always been his goal. People without hope infect those around them with the same negative depressive state. In effect, they virtually become Satan's helpers, for they can inculcate in other people the spiritual state desired by Satan. When successful, this approach turns people – willingly or unwillingly – into Satan's servants, despite the fact that humanity was created only to serve Islam and to be Allah's servant.