Trusting Allah SWT When the Going Gets Tough By: Zainab Sandhu
F
or many of us, the past several months have been the most confusing times of our lives, and it is difficult not to be anxious. When we try to find answers about the upcoming future, we hear conflicting answers which only exacerbate the anxiety we already have. Many of us are out of work and are experiencing financial hardship; many of us have missed out on celebrating important life changes like graduations and weddings; and many of us are simply terrified at the thought of our loved ones becoming sick. The stress we are experiencing during this pandemic is, in part, a consequence of societal pressure to plan every detail of our lives in order to ensure maximum worldly success. So it is natural that a phenomenon that leaves us uncertain about the next months, or even years, completely turns our society upside down. The interesting part of the Coronavirus pandemic is that it is
a universal experience- almost everyone around the world is being impacted by the virus one way or another. The media has inundated us with advice articles and “healthy” coping mechanisms to overcome pandemic-induced stress (all coming from sources that do not have professional credentials to give this kind of advice). The advice tends to err on two extremes, either hyper-productivity or hyperstagnation. On one end, we are encouraged to use every possible minute for “productive purposes” like excessive exercise or learning a new language, and on the other end, we are encouraged to “relax” by binge watching shows and movies. Both methods rely on essentially escaping reality. We are bound to forget what is going on around us if we’re spending all day watching TV or obsessing over crossing things off a to-do list. As Muslims, we know that Allah SWT is the All-knowing and the most-Merciful. In these last few months, humanity
Noor Magazine II 2020 | 11
