Addressing the Impact of Trauma on Faith

NAJWA AWAD & SARAH SULTAN

Foreword by Omar Suleiman

Your Lord has not Forsaken You: Addressing the Impact of Trauma on Faith

First Published in England by Kube Publishing Ltd

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Leicestershire, LE67 9SY, United Kingdom

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Copyright © Najwa Awad & Sarah Sultan 2023

All rights reserved.

The right of Najwa Awad & Sarah Sultan to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988.

CIP data for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-84774-220-9 paperback

ISBN: 978-0-86037-221-6 ebook

Editor: Shaykh Ismail Kamdar

Creative Direction, Design and Cover: Nida Khan

Illustrations and Layout: Rola El Ayoubi

Typesetting: Abdel-Minem Mustafa

Printed by: Elma Basim, Turkey

Foreword

All praise is due to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be upon the final Messenger, the Mercy to the Worlds, Muhammad and upon all those who follow his way with righteousness until the end of time.

Trauma is a topic that is very close to my heart. I spent much of my youth dealing with trauma, and my own journey of knowledge and Dawah has also been a journey of overcoming deep trauma and channelling it towards the production of what heals and clarifies. This amazing work by Dr. Najwa Awad and Sarah Sultan is something I wish I had access to when I was younger. Over the past few years, I have seen the hard work and long hours they spent researching this topic, and greatly appreciate all the time and sacrifice that went into writing this excellent work.

The result is a wonderful book that I believe will benefit many people around the world. This book was designed to benefit anyone who has ever had to deal with any kind of trauma, large or small. In a sense, every one of us can find benefit in the work. You will find in this book chapters covering a variety of trauma types, and how to use faith to bring us back to our best version and to our Loving Creator. We hope that no matter what trials you have faced in life, you will find comfort and a way forward through this book.

Allah revealed Islam not to bring discomfort to mankind, but to heal it. The Qur’an is a Shifā’ (healing), and the final Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) is a mercy. One can, therefore, find in the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah cures for every illness, including the various forms of trauma faced in life. This book was written in a clear and accessible way to make its ideas easy to implement.

This life is a test, and each of us are tested in different ways. Every one of us has at some point or another faced a trial that is traumatic and difficult to move past. Sometimes we get stuck in these trials and feel overwhelmed. Without the right support, it is too easy to fall into despair and lose hope.

This book is a gentle guide for dealing with so many of these traumatic trials of life. In this book, you will learn how to break cycles of negativity, move forward after grief, overcome anxiety about the future, fight negative thoughts and silence your inner critic. The authors have taken a very gentle and empathic approach to helping us deal with any kind of trial we generally face in life.

The prophetic model of this book is built upon the powerful message of Surah al-Duha. Reminding us that after night, there is always a dawn. This Surah calls on us to recall Allah’s blessings, be optimistic about the future, and maintain positive thoughts about our Creator. “Your Lord has not forsaken you!” we are reminded in the powerful message of this Surah, and that forms the foundation of this wonderful book.

Filled with optimism and constructive advice, this is not just a manual on psychology, it is a very personal guidebook for life. The authors have taken the time to structure this book in a manner that makes it easy for anyone to follow and understand. Each section has practical activities to help inspire breakthroughs and to push us forward. The inspirational optimistic message of Islam flows through every page of this book.

I hope that this book inspires you as much as it inspires me. I hope you find even more comfort and healing in it than you ever imagined. I ask Allah to reward the authors and all those involved in putting together this book with the best of both worlds, and to make this a source of continuous reward for them.

Dr. Omar Suleiman

Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research Founder, President & CEO

Introduction

Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You

Addressing the Impact of Trauma on Faith

Giving a voice to unbearable pain

When you hear the word “trauma,” images of a soldier in combat, holding on to dear life while people all around him are being violently killed, may come to your mind. Or maybe you envision a refugee who forcefully left her beloved home to relocate to safety, only to have her entire family drown at sea. Trauma can provoke a wide range of ideas, but if you are like most people the clinical term feels exceptional and uncommon, and like something that doesn’t happen to average people like us. But what if you don’t need to travel to different corners of the world to experience trauma? What if these struggles are much closer to home—something your friend endured as a child, an event your sibling has kept to themselves, or a load that you have been quietly carrying without even realizing it?

According to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study, in a sample of over 17,000 individuals, researchers found that 64% of the people surveyed had experienced something traumatic during their childhood years.1 Contrary to the images of trauma we described at the beginning, like war and violence, these more commonly experienced traumatic incidents included emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, household substance abuse, household mental illness, parental separation/ divorce, incarceration of a household member, emotional neglect, and physical neglect. When you walk down the street, two out of every three people you pass by have likely experienced at least one of these significant traumas during their childhood. These substantial traumas are sometimes called ‘big T’ traumas.

1  Felitti et al., “Relationship of Childhood Abuse.”