A man's journey from darkness into light

He vowed to His creator he would only worship Him but when he came here he let the fantasies of this world distract him from what he was sent here for.

When his life suffered from the consequences, he fruitlessly tried to find the root of his sufferings. He started cursing his fate. He started bemoaning. He learned the words like ‘curse’, ‘hatred’ and ‘vengeance’ but forget the one his Creator had taught him. The word was ‘sabr’. Patience.
“But for those who remained patient and did good deeds there is forgiveness and great reward.” Al-Quran [11:11]
The days went by and he began to notice that some other people possessed better things then he did. It gave rise to a new emotion, envy. He started complaining and eventually learned to snatch. He forgot something.
“Allah’s provision is the best and long-lasting.”
Even snatching could not comfort his disturbed soul so to feign tranquility he developed drugs. A crucial lesson was long forgotten.
“Hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah.” Al-Quran [13:28]
He desperately busied himself with the worldly pleasures in order to distract himself from the hollowness he had started feeling in the core of his heart but that hollowness kept haunting him. It kept nagging him about the part of his essence he was losing because of his wrongdoings.
“Then, after that, your hearts were hardened and became as stones or even worse in hardness. And indeed, there are stones out of which rivers gush forth, and indeed, there are of them (stones) which split asunder so that water flows from them, and indeed, there are of them (stones) which fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.” Al-Quran [2:74]

Soon there wasn’t left a single place on Earth where he could find himself a moment of peace. Guilt was eating up the rotten remains of his soul. It was as if every single wrong he had ever done was clung to his throat, suffocating him.
“We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve.” Al-Quran [3:151]

He realized he had no one to go to for help. No place to hide. Nothing that could stop him from falling. It was all his own fault. He had let the world distract him from the actual purpose of his existence. He had traded the eternal success for a temporary fantasy. He had no one else to blame for what he had done. He deserved what he was getting. How will he ever face his Creator who warned him not to get carried away with the illusions of this life?!

Just when he was about give up he felt a presence around him.
He found something warm and bright swirling around him in the air. He felt the warmth penetrating his heart, healing his soul and he fell on his knees in prostration.

“Say, ‘O MY servants who have committed excess against themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins, for it is He who is the Ever-forgiving, Merciful.” Al-Quran [39:53]

“Indeed, Allah loves those who repent, and He loves those who purify themselves.” Al-Quran [2:222]

Survival Story: 2 How my mother's support and clinical therapy helped me after my father's death

I was a young and careless boy when my father went through an interferon therapy with poor prognosis and within 5 years fell seriously ill. I was still coming of the age when a person himself is experiencing shifts in mood and personality. An age when you don’t even know who you are. My father wanted me to become a better and stronger image of myself as if he himself knew that he doesn’t have enough time. One night, he went into coma and as a young boy all I knew was that his disease has progressed to some advance level. The next day as I was appearing in a viva My mother called and asked me to come to the hospital immediately. That was the last moment when I grabbed his hand and for a moment he opened his eyes and like something was not letting him do so he fell asleep once again. By the night he was declared dead. After his death, the resulting void and financial crisis among other things made me develop negative thoughts, anxiety and detachment from the world. I would have done something extreme if not for my mother’s constant support and the clinical therapy. I learned that you have to work it all out; your priorities, your friends, how you want to live, everything.

There is a tomorrow!

When all doors look closed

All cards are fold

Nothing makes any sense

The fog is too dense

When it’s too hard to breathe

And soul wants to be freed

Remember the night always end

Every path has to bend

After darkness there is light

Dawn comes and shines bright

And after every today

There is a tomorrow!

Survival Story : 1 How support from my family and counselling helped me fight the negative thoughts

It was back in intermediate, I was too serious about my grades and worked very hard but didn’t get the grades I was expecting. I was extremely dejected and blamed everything including me for that. I felt stuck. I didn’t what to do with my life. Negative thoughts were popping in my mind and I was looking for some escape. I noticed it was becoming intense so I shared my problem with my family and prayed to Allah to help me make the right choices. It took me a lot of time to come out of that depression but eventually I did. With counselling, I realized that suicide was not the solution to my problems and opted to redefine my choices, priorities, schedule and goals.