Dealing With Depression Islamically
By Bilal Philips | 2026-01-15T16:43:44.415042+00:00 | Topic: Trials
Dealing With Depression Islamically
The Islamic Cure for Depression
Understanding Depression
First and foremost, it is important for us to recognize how serious the illness known as depression is. Because sometimes we take it for granted and actually we mix it up with sadness.
And there is a difference between a quantitative difference between sadness and depression. Now depression involves sadness. But it is sadness to an extreme level.
And according to the clinical definitions of depression, it involves particular symptoms which are identifiable, they have been listed. And one, before saying I'm in a state of depression, they should really look at this list and confirm whether what they are talking about is actually depression or not. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. through suicides, 75% of suicides are a result of depression.
And the country with the highest rate of suicide is New Zealand. I mean one would think why these people are just sheep and where is all this depression coming from? But they have the highest rate in the world. And it affects more people than cancer in the U.S. and you can extend that to the rest of the world.
It's just these are the statistics that we have. And more than heart disease, the various diseases of the heart, causing heart attacks, etc. There's about 17 million people in America who suffer from heart disease.
Those who are suffering from depression are more. So, we're dealing with something that can affect people on a level which is to us, to the normal person, incomprehensible, difficult to understand. Whether it is a child coming to school, like in the Columbine massacres, a young boy coming to school because he got dumped by his girlfriend, he brings his father's gun collection with him to school and he starts mowing down his classmates, his teachers, principal.
The Case of Adolf Merkel
Or we have the case of Adolf Merkel, not related to the current president, who was the 94th richest person in the world. In 2009, he was the 94th richest person in the world. He had a fortune of 8.5 billion dollars.
And the depression or recession which took place at that period of time caused him to lose, in his investments in Volkswagen, 400 million dollars. In the space of a very short period of time, a month or so, he lost 400 million dollars. And he built his own industrial empire by himself from zero, worth 8.5 billion.
What he did after realizing that, he went one morning to the train tracks, laid down on the train tracks and waited for the train to run over him. Killed him. Suicide.
This is a man who still had 8.1 billion dollars. What happened here? 8.1 billion dollars, if a person lived until the age of 80, he would have to spend 280 thousand dollars every day of his life, from the time he was born until he hit 80 and died. Imagine that.
And this man killed himself. So, we're dealing with something. He was 74 years old at the time.
So he wasn't a young person. He was still mentally, his faculties were all there. But when falling into this state of depression, then everything around him lost its value.
He became unable to see good in anything. That's what takes people to the point where they feel life is not worth living anymore. And there is no clear treatment medically for depression.
The psychologists who specialize in this area don't even know the cause. They say, some say it's hereditary. They say they have identified two chemicals, serotonin and dopamine, as two chemicals that if a person is in a state of depression, the quantity goes down.
When the quantity comes up, they are in a better state. Actually, what causes the quantity to come up is seen in various treatments that they give, etc. But Islam has provided for Muslims a means to deal with depression as a part and parcel of life.
Islamic Approach to Depression
And this is not to say that where people are in states that can't be treated normally we deny them access to trained psychologists who perhaps can help them. But Islam provides a theoretical basis as well as a practical basis for the treatment of depression. First and foremost, where people have set the goal in life what is considered to be a good life as a stress-free life we need to understand that this is not possible.
First and foremost. A stress-free life is no life. When you are dead, stress is gone in this life.
As to the barzakh, that's a whole other story. But the point is that we are constantly encouraged through the motivational speakers and writers, etc. And given that carrot hanging on a stick that we run after the stress-free life.
Be happy. This is about it. No stress, naturally you are going to be happy.
However, reality is that Allah told us Allah said, I have created human beings in difficulty, struggle, stress.
That's how he created us. And it's natural in our lives to have struggle from the time we are born if you observe a child coming into the world from the safety of the womb into this world it's a massive struggle.
Children die in the process. Mothers die in the process. Struggle.
And then what the child goes through growing, drinking milk, crying for food and milk starting to walk you see the children, the struggle they have to go through to finally stand up and then take their first steps and they fall down that is natural. Every child goes through that. And this is how Allah has created us.
So human nature is basically one which is stressful. There is stress in it. There is stress in our lives.
So the real challenge is not to live a stress-free life but to know how to handle stress in life. This is the challenge. Not to find a stress-free life find an island somewhere in the Pacific coconut tree and you just lie there in the sand tsunami will come and wipe you out.
This is not real life. This is what is sold to us in the media. If you have enough money you can do that.
And what you have to do to get that money is so stressful most of us never make it. So the challenge for us is to manage stress in such a way that it doesn't lead to depression. We can't escape it but we have principles in Islam which teach us how to manage it.
Principles of Gratitude and Patience
First and foremost we have an outlook on life. Life which we said is stressful it has its ups and its downs. Times when you are happy, times when you are sad.
Times when good things are coming times when bad things are coming. That's just how life is. So the Prophet gave us a basic principle on how to deal with the ups and the downs of life.
So this is a concept which we can apply. He told us that the affair of the believer is amazing and it's only in the case of the believer whenever good comes to him or her he or she is grateful to Allah and Allah rewards them for it. And whenever bad comes they are patient and Allah rewards them for it.
So we have the principle of gratitude and patience. Gratitude and patience. That if we are able to handle the ups and downs of life with those two principles then we are not going to be overwhelmed by stress because our lives are either up we are successful we got a raise our business made its first million whatever or the business failed.
Customers left partner broke the contract ran away with all the money. All these things are happening one or the other. So if you are able to deal with it by understanding these principles then a great portion of stress will be managed in your life.
It doesn't mean you don't get sad sure you'll be sad when things didn't go right didn't go the way you expected them to go or you wanted them to go but you won't be overwhelmed by that sadness. And when things go well you are successful then you are grateful to Allah you don't allow that success to go to your head when it goes to your head people think I did it when people are successful you see them just jumping and screaming success but
in that state they forget Allah so it became I I did it I'm the best I'm the one remember Muhammad Ali used to say what I'm the greatest when I met him in Riyadh Alzheimer's had already set in and he had difficulty speaking but slowly he could speak he said to me the best thing that ever happened to me was Alzheimer's yeah if that hadn't happened to me I would have gone to my grave thinking I was the greatest which is shirk Allah humbled me I was not the greatest he humbled me so at that time he told me that he used to do the Dawah by preparing brochures on Islam the night before any events that he was invited to of course these events were usually filled with non-Muslims so he would spend the night before or two days before just signing these brochures which were explaining what is Islam what is prayer in Islam fasting in Islam he would sign very slowly maybe it would take him five minutes for every brochure but he would just take his time and sign them because he knew that these at the end of his event these would be distributed they would be given signed brochures by Muhammad Ali people would treasure that maybe they weren't interested in Islam mostly they weren't but still they would take the brochure home with his signature and maybe they might say what is this about anyway and start to read it he kept doing that da'wa until he died may Allah bless him give him paradise forgive his sins
Dua for Relief from Depression
The prophet also gave us dua and we know that dua is of a special place having a special place in Islam the prophet stressed it to such a degree that he said the only thing that can change qadr is dua dua being individual prayer because usually dua translated as prayer people think salah so salah dua we know is a distinction between it salah includes dua but dua does not include salah so he told us a dua to make which again people who are struggling with stress etc should learn
Allahumma inni a'udhu bika minal hammi wal hazan
O Allah I seek refuge in you from worry and depression from worry and depression this is something for those of us that feel depressed or feel that they are unable to handle their situation that they should learn to learn this dua you may say it in English or Bahasa or Arabic it's nice to say it in Arabic help you to learn a little bit more Arabic to understand it to understand what it means but not to say it without knowing what you are saying right
The Dua of Prophet Yunus
We also have another dua which was the dua of prophet Yunus Jonah in English Dhunnun title given to him also where his people rejected him rejected the message of Islam that he brought which is the sunnah of the people of all of the prophets, whenever the prophets came the people rejected them virtually without exception as far as we know but eventually they would win the people over in the case of Yunus prophet Yunus his people rejected
him continually till he gave up hope and he abandoned them says it's just totally useless no point so he tried to get away from where he was, he went on the sea he got caught in a storm everybody knows the story fell out swallowed by a sea creature we don't know if it's a whale a big fish a shark mega or whatever we don't know the point is that a sea creature swallowed him and Allah protected him from being digested because what happens when you get in the stomach of an animal they're gonna digest you digestive juices will be all over you and you're dissolved absorbed so Allah prevented him from being digested and in the belly of that creature he made dua
la ilaha illa ant subhanaka inni kuntu minaz zalimin
This dua prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam said which means there's no god worthy of worship but you may you be glorified I was and am among the sinful he repented for the sin mistake, error that he did by leaving the command that Allah had given him to his people to go and carry the message to his people so the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam had said Allah will relieve the distress and depression of anyone who makes the prayer of my brother Yunus that's the promise of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam so again it's another dua which we should take benefit from to help us in dealing with the depression
Four Lessons from Prophet Yunus
And with regards to that incident with prophet Yunus there are four basic lessons that we should take from it:
1. The Need for Patience
One the need for patience in all of our affairs we talked about the principles of the ups and the downs prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam gave us that principle to be grateful when things are good and to be patient when things are bad now most people are impatient human beings were created hasty by nature we want to do things right now immediately impatient it's our nature so those people that have been born by Allah's qadr having patience from an early age they are known for their patience they are few and far between and they have been blessed specially but the vast majority of us are impatient that's the rest of us impatient so if Allah made the majority of us impatient and he wants us to be patient then it must mean that it is possible for us to become patient even though we are by nature by our genetic makeup impatient so Prophet Muhammad being the final messenger of Allah to humankind he didn't leave this world without telling us the formula for learning patience he told us
wa man yatasabbar yusabbirhu Allah
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whoever whoever pretends to be patient continually Allah will give him or her patience whoever pretends meaning you are in a stressful situation whatever you are impatient but you hold yourself back and you pretend to be patient inside you are not but on the outside people say look how patient so and so is inside you are not you are just fighting it that if you keep doing that eventually it will become your nature this is what the Prophet Muhammad told us it's just like people who are angry actually it's a general principle that you can apply to all of these characteristics people who are angry people just say ah that's how I am I can't help it they just flare up but it is possible if they use that same principle that when they feel that they are going to explode they hold themselves back inside they are exploding but externally if he keeps or she keeps doing that eventually they will overcome anger it's possible because Allah is not going to give you a characteristic that you cannot overcome and then punish you for that characteristic that doesn't make sense that's unfair so all of those higher noble characteristics which as Muslims we should invite others to and we should ourselves practice all of these characteristics are attainable we don't have to say no it's only the Prophets only the saintly people special people even the most common of people it's possible
You know in the time of the Prophet there was one companion who nobody knew as a notable person there is even doubt about exactly what his name was but on one occasion when the Prophet was sitting in a circle with his companions and he walked in the masjid just before he walked in the Prophet said to all of the companions there the next person who walks into the masjid will be from the people of paradise so they all looked to see who was coming in and in walked this companion in the narration his name is not even mentioned he walked in carrying his shoes in his hand, sandals water was dripping from his beard he prayed two rakah and sat down with the Prophet nobody looked at him mashallah mashallah the next day in the circle with the Prophet a time came and he said the same thing the next man who comes inside of the masjid will be from the people of paradise they're looking again in walks the same sahabi puts his sandals down, prays and sits with the Prophet it's not Abu Bakr it's not Umar, Uthman, Ali third time he came the Prophet said the same thing in he walked again one of the companions Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn Al As he said I decided to find out what it is about this man what was so special about him that the Prophet would designate him among the people of paradise only a few people who in his time, in his lifetime he said these people will be of the people of paradise so he went to the man, he said listen after the circle he was leaving, he came to the man he said listen I got into an argument with my father and so I need to leave the house so can I spend a couple of days with you nights sleep over your place he said sure he brought him so night time time to sleep came he's waiting to see you know, is this guy going to get up for Tahajjud he waits middle of the night Fajr Tahajjud maybe he's going to make Suhoor no Suhoor ok he prayed his Fajr in the Masjid second day same thing third day same thing now he's frustrated what is this there's nothing special about this guy why in the world should he be among the people designated to be among the people of paradise so he told him, he said listen actually I didn't have any argument with my father I just wanted to see what it was he said what you saw is what it is I do what you saw me do I sleep, night get up in the morning not necessarily Tahajjud sometimes fast, sometimes why is that he said well there's only one thing I could say before I go to bed at night I make sure that there's no rancor in my heart for anyone Abdullah said that's it that's the one that's so difficult for everybody that quality and nobody so to speak that quality
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distinguished him from everybody else so it is attainable by everyone the deen the peak, the pinnacles is attainable by everyone it only requires us to practice Islam
2. Acknowledge Our Mistakes
The second lesson from the story of Yunus is to acknowledge our mistakes to Allah and to those around us if we don't acknowledge our mistakes we can't correct them we can't change them
3. Repentance Immediately
The third is repentance immediately it's what he did
4. Glorify Allah Throughout Our Day
And the fourth is to glorify Allah throughout our day to glorify Allah not just as a ritual subhanallah we repeat it culturally many times after each prayer etc but not reflecting in our glorification of Allah because without reflection it is useless it's just a sound subhanallah people say subhanallah remember that people hey subhanallah is far different from subhanallah to be serious in that sense so from prophet Yunus we learn those principles all of which create a personality capable of dealing with stress handling stress not escaping it but handling it
Don't Be Sad - Don't Be Depressed
Sadness we have the book which was translated into English don't be sad huh la tahzan when the prophet and Abu Bakr were in the cave on the way to Medina Abu Bakr got scared Quraysh were close he said la tahzan this is translated as don't be sad actually that's not the correct translation though everybody knows it as that etc it's not don't be sad because prophet Muhammad was sad when his son died in Medina when his son died tears came down his cheek he was sad we have by our nature times when we are sad and we will feel sad so to say don't be sad no don't be depressed that is the better translation don't be depressed don't be overwhelmed by sadness where you reach what they call clinical depression where you're overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness you're helpless nobody can help you it's hopeless you've lost all hope
Signs of Clinical Depression
These are among the key principles to know:
- Loss of interest in daily activities your hobbies your social activities you don't get enjoyment and pleasure from them anymore
- Your appetite is affected either you gain weight you balloon or you lose weight you become a skeleton one or the other these are the extremes both are symptoms of the true depression
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- You become finding difficulty at night to sleep insomnia one of the signs you can't sleep at night depression takes you to that point or you go to the other extreme they call it hypersomnia you sleep in all the time can't get out of bed these are the extremes right
- And you become irritable you get angry very easily you have a low tolerance for anybody to say or do why are you looking at me like that
- And then loss of energy you don't seem to have the energy to do anything, you become fatigued, sluggish you just wanna find a corner and die
So these are the signs of real depression
Islamic Solutions
So Islam offers a number of solutions we've talked about some in general in theory but among them is:
Fasting Mondays and Thursdays
Fasting Mondays and Thursdays fasting where is fasting from depression well when you're depressed you feel a loss of control like your life is just spinning out falling down there's no way to stop things from happening you've lost control of your life people are depressed is a common expression that they say I don't feel I have control of my life anymore my life is just spinning out of control what fasting does it gives you control what is fasting but control isn't it the essence of fasting is control so you control the time when you eat your suhoor you control the time when you break your fast your iftar that gives you a sense of taking hold of your life you've got it under control that can help
Demonstrating Gratitude Through Sujood Shukr
Demonstrating gratitude through sujooda shukr I talked about it before when I visited you guys it's one very important way because gratitude through sujooda shukr where you prostrate without necessarily having wudu doesn't have to be in the direction of the qibla you just go into prostration especially when something good happens in your life that's the norm but for people who are already depressed then they need to go and prostrate and find the good things in their lives go down and prostrate and think about stay down there till you can remember something good in your life that very day or yesterday if you can't find anything today but actually everyday there's something but you stay down there until it comes to your mind and everyday you go ahead and you do sujooda shukr remembering other things which were good and you keep doing that day after day after day eventually your outlook will change because where you thought there was no good because this was a problem when you feel there's no good in your life and in reality there is plenty of good there are always people far worse off than we are so you just need to reconnect with the good that is in your life so when you have that consciousness of the good then that can start to change your whole mentality your expression your energy all of that can start to change
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Dua and Belief in Qadr
And of course our dua the two dua's we mentioned and others and we also have belief in qadr the sixth pillar of iman reflecting on it as the prophet had told us that 50,000 years before this world was created Allah instructed a writing instrument to write and it asked Allah what should it write and Allah told it to write everything that was and would be so whatever has happened to our lives and in our lives it was already written already there it's just for us to handle it the good of it and the relative evil of it as prophet said belief in the qadr it's good the good of it and evil but the evil is relative to us because Allah is not evil whatever Allah has created is good it is us who end up in evil by violating the rules disobeying disbelieving etc so coming to grips with qadr is also important mentally to help us deal with depression
Conclusion
So Islam as we said in the beginning provided already a foundation for us to deal with depression if we are implementing the teachings of Islam in our lives properly then we shouldn't fall into full scale depression becoming sad at different times maybe depressed occasionally but not a state of continual depression I mean that is only going to happen when one is not following the teachings you know many times when people get depressed they give up salah they don't realize that that's just making it worse instead of trying to make your salah better because there is in salah cure purification repentance all those elements are there that can make us better human beings consciousness of Allah make us understand the world around us correctly all of the good that is there we lose when we abandon prayer etc.
Alhamdulillah Allah has blessed us to be Muslims for those of us who converted to find Islam from those of us who reverted from having left Islam some reverted back there's a lot of those out there too Alhamdulillah we thank Allah that Allah has blessed us with the greatest possible blessing that a human being could have and that is Islam and through it through knowing it properly studying it practicing it and teaching it we have a complete comprehensive system of life which will protect us from most of the problems that general society faces and that is why till today in spite of where Muslims have gone away from the teachings there's still enough energy there to protect the Ummah from much of the psychological mental issues that exists in the first world in the developed world where we have a situation like New Zealand Japan is way up there too you know, suicide massive, they may be number 3 or number 2 so Alhamdulillah we thank Allah for the blessing of Islam and we ask Allah to allow us to leave this world as Muslims firmly practicing his religion
Ameen
End of Lecture