Remedy Your Anxiety - Mufti Menk
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-10T13:12:44.948486+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Remedy Your Anxiety - Mufti Menk
Opening
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful."
"All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. The end is for the righteous. No aggression is allowed except against the wrongdoers."
"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Peace be upon him, his family and all his companions."
The Promise of Divine Remembrance
My beloved brothers and sisters, Allah tells us to remember him and he tells us if you remember me, I will remember you. Remember me, I will remember you and be thankful and don't show ingratitude. That is the instruction of Allah.
My brothers and sisters, many times we go through difficulty and hardship. Days when we are quite sad. Days when we feel lonely. Days of anxiety. Days when we are facing uncertainty. Yes, we are human beings.
We will go through those days. But we need to understand as human beings we are taught something. How to remedy this? Allah speaks about how to remember him and he will remember us.
The verse I just read, the remembrance of Allah is such that if we were to engage in it, Allah will alleviate whatever we're going through. So my brothers and sisters, point number one, remember Allah upon all conditions. The messenger peace be upon him used to remember Allah upon all conditions, at all times, all situations, every time.
Subhanallah. So what is the remembrance of Allah? Yes indeed, when people say dhikr, the first thing that comes to the minds of many of us is Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah, Praise be to Allah, Glory be to Allah. There is none worthy of worship besides Allah. Allah is the greatest, repeating these words. Yes, that is part of the remembrance of Allah. But remember, to obey his instruction is by far more important than praising him and disobeying him.
Subhanallahi rabbil alameen. So remember this my brothers and sisters. When you make an effort to obey Allah, you definitely will achieve a lot of contentment and happiness.
You will learn something through which your level of anxiety will be reduced or eradicated. And that is to lay your trust in Allah completely. Nothing will happen except by the will of Allah.
Divine Protection and Trust
(Sahih At-Tirmidhi Hadith 2516)
"You need to know that if the entire nation gathers in order to harm you, they will never be able to harm you except by something that Allah has already written for you."
My brothers and sisters, when you obey the instruction of Allah, when you begin to understand who Allah is, when you ponder over the greatness of Allah, over the greatness of the creation of Allah, Allah gives you a comfort. Allah gives you a cool, calm feeling that of contentment.
You've laid your trust in Allah and you trust Allah so much that you know all your affairs will be managed by Allah alone. Allah tells us:
"Those who believe achieve contentment of the hearts by the remembrance of Allah and by the remembrance of Allah that the hearts will achieve contentment and calmness. So remembrance of Allah is primarily in the obedience of Allah."
The Quran as Dhikr
Where do we find these instructions? We find them in the Quran and in the Sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. So to read the Quran is a great dhikr. To be able to understand the Quran and work towards understanding it is a powerful dhikr. It's a great remembrance of Allah.
You are remembering Allah. If I were to say I am remembering my friend, what would I do? I might speak to those around me about that friend and then I will end up communicating or picking the phone up or doing something to speak to the friend. Subhanallah.
And I would never do something to harm my friend. That is a very different example but only to bring it closer to our minds. When you remember Allah, you speak about Allah.
To remind others about Allah, we should lead our lives in a way that when people look at us they are reminded of Allah. Is that the case? Well, we can do much better, my brothers and sisters, can't we? If people look at us, they should be reminded of Allah and we should talk about Allah in a beautiful way. We praise Allah indeed.
He has blessed us with so much. Learn to look at that which Allah has given you and understand He has taken you through challenges in the past. He has brought you out of hardship.
He has taken you out of situations you never imagined you would come out of. He will do it again and again. Subhanallah.
Every time you're in a situation, He is testing you to see whether you're going to rely on Him, trust Him, do whatever He has given you the capacity to do and then keep praising Him and worshipping Him, obey Him and don't disobey Him and then you see what happens. So we read the Quran, we try to understand its meaning, that is a powerful remembrance of Allah. We put it into practice that is even more powerful.
The Double-Edged Nature of the Quran
What's the point of reading the Quran melodiously without practicing? What's the point of understanding the meanings of the Quran and you haven't practiced? Imagine, The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم tells us that Allah will raise the status of some people through the Quran and He will drop the status of others through the same Quran. If you look at the explanation of it, Subhanallah. Allah is telling us through the blessed lips of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, those who recite the Quran, who learnt its meanings, who put it into practice and conveyed it into others, sought the forgiveness of Allah, Allah elevates their status through the Quran and those who have learnt it but not practiced it, understood its meaning but gone against it, never bothered to practice upon it or teach it to others.
Allah says it will bear witness against you on the day of judgment. You don't want that to happen. My brothers, my sisters, Allah definitely will elevate us through His word, through the Quran.
Practical Solutions for Anxiety
Make an effort to learn the meanings of the Quran, the words, the understand, the rules and regulations and try your best to practice upon the Quran. We're noticing lots of people going through suicidal thoughts, going through anxiety, going through so much, while we extend a hand of love to those, a hand of love and understanding, care and goodness to those, we should say part of the remedy would definitely be to improve on your recitation of the Quran, remembrance of Allah, relationship with Allah, for He is the only one who has the solutions to your weaknesses in mind, to your difficulties in mind. It is Allah who is in charge.
He is in control, definitely in charge. Allah is the owner of the hearts. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to say:
(Sahih At-Tirmidhi Hadith 2140)
"Oh Allah, in whose hands lies the turning of the hearts, turn our hearts towards your deen, towards your obedience, the faith that you have revealed to us."
Brothers and sisters, whenever Allah has set rules and regulations, every single time it is in order to empower us, in order to liberate us, in order to grant us the contentment we're searching for in this world and the next. Allah has never promised you material things, but He has promised you contentment and happiness.
My brothers and sisters, some of the happiest people have very little when it comes to material belongings, but they have the ownership of something that is very great, that is the relationship with Allah. And Allah is the owner of the heart. Allah will give it calmness.
A Powerful Dua for Anxiety
(Sahih At-Tirmidhi Hadith 3524)
"Oh Allah, oh Allah, who is ever living, ever watchful, ever alive, subhanallah, the all living, the eternal, the everlasting. We seek desperate help of your mercy. We seek desperate help through your mercy, of your mercy. Make good for us all our affairs. And don't leave us alone. Don't leave us to ourselves even for the blink of an eye, subhanallah."
When you make that dua, you are asking Allah to take care of all your affairs, to be with you at all times, to guide you to the best decisions in this world in such a way that you succeed in the hereafter.
Avoiding Worldly Competitions
My brothers, my sisters, yes, many people follow the trends of this world and these trends are sometimes leading to anxiety. Trends of the world to expose ourselves. We need to live up to a standard of someone else and we cannot do that so we become depressed.
Trends of the world to show off what you have. When you show off what you have, you will never have as much as others. So you will be led to depression and anxiety and stress and so much more.
You will have sleepless nights trying to compete when Allah says you're not in a materialistic competition. Allah says:
"To compete with someone, compete with them in good deeds, in helping others, in being the best person, in your character, your conduct and so on."
Allah says:
"When speaking about paradise, He says those who want to compete with one another, that is what you should compete with one another for, for paradise, subhanallah."
And I will achieve paradise by worshipping Allah and by being kind to the rest of the creatures of Allah. We will never win the competitions of this world. If you take a look at technology, the technological
advancement has brought about a lot of goodness, but at the same time it has come up with many challenges.
Some of them have resulted in people taking their own lives because they feel they were not worth it. They were not happy with their skin color. They were not happy with their belongings. They were not happy with the income of their parents or their own income or that of their spouses or what they could afford or not afford. Allah liberates you from the clutches, from the enslavement of all of that. Allah truly liberates you by saying, be excited with what we've given you.
Be happy with the condition we've kept you in. Don't compare yourself with those who have more materially. Your heart will be absolutely content if you are satisfied with what Allah has given you.
The type of hair you have, the skin you have, the type of living you have, where you are living, the conditions in which you are living. May Allah make it easy for all of us. Yes, while we are taught to reach out to the homeless and those who are struggling, those who have less than us, we are never ever taught to look up to those who have more than us materially.
Not at all. But rather look at those who are doing more than us in their relationship with Allah and you will achieve contentment. So today I want to present to you these solutions.
Building Your Relationship with Allah
Firstly, develop your relationship with Allah. Increase the remembrance of Allah. Imagine Allah tells us through the blessed lips of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam to remember him. There's so many words he taught to us:
(Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 6682)
"What about those words? Declaring the praise of Allah morning and evening."
Nobody has ever been let down when they've remembered Allah every morning and evening. When they read whatever they are supposed to recite from the revelation in praise of Allah, they've developed their relationship with Allah. You open your eyes, you remember Allah.
You get up from your bedding, you remember Allah. Subhanallah. You relieve yourself, you thank Allah for giving you good health.
You eat your food, you remember Allah. Praise him, thank him, say his name. You get up, you're breathing, you're okay, your health is fine.
You look into the mirror, you remember Allah. Subhanallah. Do you really think you're going to be sad when you know Allah loves you, he's given you so much? May Allah take away our sadness.
Brothers and sisters, I repeat, we are human beings. We will go through sadness, anxiety, and so much more in terms of difficulty, hardship. The days will not be the same, we're just human beings.
Taking Precautions While Trusting Allah
That doesn't mean you don't lock your doors or you don't take precautions. We go out into an area where there is disease, there is a virus. We do know that we are prone perhaps to catching the virus, but we take every precaution, we lay our trust in Allah, we praise him, we seek refuge in him and we continue with our day-to-day lives.
Then we don't have to worry. If we have gotten or we have contracted the virus or a disease after, if you have taken all precautions, then your iman will make you realize it's a test from Allah. It will never be a punishment from Allah and you will come out of it.
You need to have that hope, firm conviction that you will definitely be cured. May Allah cure all those who are sick and ill, not only with the coronavirus but with any other sickness or illness. Ameen.
You will come out of it by the will of Allah. Allah is the Curer. Oh Allah, cure for indeed you are the owner of cure.
Allah has the cure. But take the precautions. Make sure that you do what you've been told to do and make sure you don't behave in a manner that is silly.
The Consequences of Disobedience
My brothers and sisters, we ask Allah to grant us every protection, to open our doors and to make us from those who achieve comfort. My brothers and sisters, when we rely on Allah, we've said our dua, our supplications, we need not worry. Allah will take care of everything else.
We've taken precautions and we've asked Allah's goodness. We praise Allah, we have a connection with Allah. But when we go against the commands of Allah, we have everything to worry about.
We will be so upset, we will be sad, we will lose contentment, something is wrong within me. I am failing in my basic duty of praying five times a day. I'm failing in my basic duty of dressing to cover myself.
Many people dress in order to reveal that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says is the wrong way. He calls it one of the signs of the end of times when people will dress not to cover but to reveal. So what was the point of dressing? Subhanallah, may Allah protect us.
The Importance of Proper Covering
Remember, when you've covered yourself correctly in a way that you don't expose things, nobody will be able to compare you to someone else, nor will we be able to compare someone else to us because if they were covered too, then you know what? We would be content with what we have. We would begin to
realize the true value of the real person behind the face rather than the face alone and we don't even know the person. And this is the reason why many relationships break because people look at a face, a pretty face, a beautiful face, a made up face and they begin to think that that means the person is nice.
Not realizing that in actual fact the goodness is in your character, your conduct, your connection with Allah and the goodness is actually in who you are as a person, the real you. And this is why when looking for a spouse, we are taught:
(Sahih At-Tirmidhi Hadith 1084)
If someone has come to propose for your daughter, your sister, and you are satisfied with their level of religion, meaning their closeness to Allah as well as their character and conduct and both of them want to get married to each other, let it happen. If you don't let that happen, there will be chaos and corruption on earth.
That's the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. He never taught us to look at other things. Yes, it's important to know that the person you are actually going to marry looks acceptable to you because Allah has kept every person such that they like different types of people.
And this is why nobody should think they are ugly. (أستغفر الله) Nobody should think that they are not good looking. (أستغفر الله) Someone, somewhere, somehow will always believe that you are very good looking.
May Allah help us to accept ourselves the way we are before everybody and anybody else.
Avoiding Harmful Trends and Challenges
So, remember, the trends of the dunya are not necessarily a good thing. If it is a challenge people are challenging you with in order to do something absurd and silly, you will be the most foolish person to follow them.
Remember when the Dajjal comes, he will be calling people based on trends and everyone will blindly follow. And therefore, my brothers and sisters, when it is a good challenge, a good trend, be part of it. But when it is something silly, something foolish, making a real fool of myself or yourselves, don't do it.
Abstain. As tempting as it may be, you will not achieve contentment. You will struggle with anxiety because someone, somewhere, somehow will create an even more silly or a sillier trend or a challenge.
And then one of two things, you either join them and become even more foolish or you realize I've got to stop somewhere. May Allah grant us ease. Remember when people challenge, when people trend certain things and they challenge the world to do certain things, we don't just say, wow, this is a challenge, I'm going to do it.
We need to look at the challenge first. Is it something of great morals, values? Is it something that would depict the real me? It's not just for a laugh. Some people say, you know what? I am actually going to do this just for laughs.
Yes, you may if it is acceptable. If it is not acceptable, you're actually pushing the moral ground to a new low. May Allah accept us.
The Balance of Islamic Living
And then we complain about not being content, not being happy when we've converted the world into an immoral playground. Is that what we want? May Allah grant us happiness. I'm not saying don't enjoy. I'm not saying don't fulfill challenges and trends. I'm saying if they're good and if they're worthwhile, if they're going to bring you closer to Allah or if they don't have something immoral, unacceptable or dirty in them. Alhamdulillah, you may participate.
But remember, ultimately it's your connection with Allah that will help your mind, your spirit, your soul, your heart and your body. Subhanallah. So develop that relationship with Allah.
Learn to discipline yourself. Do you think the rules of Islam are there simply to make your lives difficult? That's what was spread at the time of the Sahaba from the very beginning. Allah revealed the verses of Surah Taha to say we have not sent this Quran down in order for it to be a means of distress against you.
"We have not sent down the Quran to you so that you may be distressed,"
Allah says in Surah Taha, we have not sent this Quran down to you in order that it be a means of your distress. Not at all. These rules and regulations are there to protect you, to give you the feeling of appreciation, not only within you, but others will appreciate you too, to make you feel loved and comforted and good, to develop your character, your conduct, to make you reach out to people.
Proper Use of Wealth and Material Things
And this is why the teachings of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), when you have something material, don't show off, don't boast, don't brag. Do you know why? Because you will hurt the hearts of others who cannot afford it if you're living in a poor neighborhood and you have the latest motor vehicle. There is no need to go out and show off when everyone's hearts are going to be sore because of you showing it off.
But if you're a wealthy person living in a wealthy neighborhood, there is no harm to keep up with what is going on if you can afford it and it's not prohibited. So my brothers and sisters, this is a balanced message. We should enjoy ourselves, yes.
We must spend more time with our family members. That will bring about a lot of contentment. Be patient. Don't get angry. Control your temper. All this will bring about a lot of contentment.
And remember Allah. Build your relationship with Allah. Build your relationship with the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) Read about his life. Read about his sunnah. Adopt his practice. We all want jannah.
But when we get there on the Day of Judgment, will the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) recognize us? That's a question I want you to ask yourselves. We all want to drink from the great pond known as Al-Kawthar.
We all want the intercession of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Will he recognize us? Make an effort to dress in a way that you'll be recognized as a Muslim.
Make an effort to speak in a way that you'll be recognized as a Muslim. Stay away from vulgar words, bad words, brothers and sisters. As a father, as a brother, as a person living in this generation, I want to plead with you.
Clean Speech and Digital Habits
Please clean your tongue. May Allah help me to do that as well as all of us. Don't utter vulgar words, bad words, even if it happens to be in a song that you've heard or a challenge you might want to participate in.
There is no point in participating in challenges, my brothers, my sisters, that have such bad words that the angels are writing them against us. And we will arrive on the Day of Judgment with so many evil words.
Some of the children say more swear words and vulgar words than they ever utter the remembrance of Allah.
What part of the scale would you like to be tipped, my beloved children? Please, let's utter clean words, good words. Let's turn to Allah. People are struggling.
They are suicidal simply because the challenges will never end. The words will become dirtier. The challenges will become more and more immoral. We cannot allow ourselves to be let loose and continue engaging in all of this without thinking what we're supposed to be doing as Muslims. More and more children are not happy with their lives because, subhanAllah, following some trends on social media. My brothers and sisters, it's time we revisited some of the apps on our phones.
And trust me, if Allah has disliked something, you can, you can uninstall that app and say goodbye to it and do something better. How many of us have the Quran on our phones? We have so many good apps on our phones that we never ever use. And the ones that have foolishness on them, every day we're on them to the degree that some of those who are practicing are losing the plot.
May Allah grant us ease. I don't mean to sound hard or harsh. It's a reality on the ground. We have to talk about it, my brothers and sisters. You will leave behind a legacy, leave behind something that you will be proud of Don't ever leave something that will really embarrass you. May Allah grant us contentment.
Closing Dua
May Allah protect us. May Allah protect us from the diseases. May Allah grant us cure. May Allah open our doors. May Allah have mercy on all of us, all those going through struggles. May Allah alleviate those struggles.
Those who've passed on, may Allah have mercy on them. My brothers and sisters, with much love, much kindness, I say:
May Allah grant us the strength to implement these remedies for anxiety and grant us peace and contentment in this world and the next. Ameen.