NEGATIVE THINKING IS UN-ISLAMIC
Look Within
ONE community develops negativity against another when it holds the other community responsible for one or more of its troubles. But there is absolutely no license for such negative thinking in Islam. This is because God has categorically declared in the Quran that,
Whatever misfortune befalls you is due to your own doing. (42: 30)
Therefore, according to Islam whenever any trouble comes upon you, the only thing you must do is introspect to discover the fault within yourself which is the real cause of your troubles. Only then can you take corrective action. On the other hand, holding others responsible for your troubles and engaging in hostility and enmity against them is clearly forbidden in Islam.
This reality is also evident in many of the Hadith sayings of the Prophet of Islam. According to one Hadith, ‘You will never overcome your opponents unless and until you follow my practice. And if you leave my practice, God will let such people overpower you who will neither fear you nor have any sympathy for you, until and unless you return again to my practice.’ (Sahih Muslim)
Holding others responsible for your troubles and engaging in hostility and enmity against them is clearly forbidden in Islam.
Another fact we learn from the Quran is that enmity with others is created as a result of the faults of the believers themselves. External matters have no part to play in the existence of an enemy. One verse of the Quran says, ‘..If you persevere with patience and fear God, their plots (conspiracies) will never harm you in the least..’ (3: 120). From this verse we learn that the real issue for the believers is not the presence of plots and conspiracies, but the absence of patience and piety. Were the believers to adhere to the path of patience and piety, they would be entirely safeguarded from the conspiracies of their enemies. No harm would ever transpire on them due to the actions of others.
There are clear practical examples of this principle in the Quran. One example is that of the Battle of Uhud which took place in the third year after the Hijrath (migration to Madinah). The believers suffered a severe defeat in this battle. This battle was clearly due to the oppression of the opponents of the Prophet of Islam. One obvious evidence of this fact was that the battle occurred near Mount Uhud which was on the outskirts of Madinah. The enemy forces had come from Makkah—300 miles away— to Madinah to attack the Muslims. However, when the Quran refers to the matter, there is no mention of the oppression and plots of the enemies, rather it says that the Muslims had to suffer this severe loss due to their own internal failings.
Were the believers to adhere to the path of patience and piety, they would be entirely safeguarded from the conspiracies of their enemies.
With reference to the Battle of Uhud in the third chapter, the Quran says, ‘…when your courage failed you and you disagreed among yourselves [concerning the Prophet’s direction]…’. (3: 152). This verse is a clear lesson to the Muslims that they were not to lay the blame of their defeat in the battle on others. They were to hold themselves responsible for it and then make amends to rectify their faults.
Abstain from evil
Apparently, fasting means to abstain
from food and drink but in spirit, it
includes abstaining from all kinds of
undesirable activities.