Does Living a Pious Life Require Sacrifice and Pain?
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question
I am a young Muslim woman struggling with mental health due to criticism and isolation from family and the Muslim community. I feel more accepted among liberals but fear losing my faith.
Does living a pious life require emotional pain and sacrifice? How can I maintain my faith and connection with Allah in this situation?
Answer
Thank you for your question. I empathize with your frustration and pray that you can overcome the isolation as living a pious life will entail some sacrifice, but in sha Allah, not forever.
Piety
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“Verily Islam started as something strange, and it would again revert to being strange just as it started, and it would recede between the two mosques just as the serpent crawls back into its hole. [Muslim]
God’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) also said,
“Islam began as a small religion and will return to the state in which it began. Then blessed will be the few (who hold to it).” [Muslim]
It was narrated that Abu Umayya Sha‘bani said:
“I came to Abu Tha‘aba al-Khushani and said: ‘How do you understand this verse?’ He said: ‘Which verse?’ I said: “O you who believe! Take care of your own selves. If you follow the (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who are in error.”? [Quran, 5:105]
He said: ‘You have asked one who knows about it. I asked the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) about it and he said:
“Enjoin good upon one another and forbid one another to do evil, but if you see overwhelming stinginess, desires being followed, this world being preferred (to the Hereafter), every person with an opinion feeling proud of it, and you realize that you have no power to deal with it, then you have to mind your own business and leave the common folk to their own devices. After you will come days of patience, during which patience will be like grasping a burning ember, and one who does good deeds will have a reward like that of fifty men doing the same deed.” [Ibn Maja]
Being religious is not always easy, but if you practice sincerely for Allah Most High, you will eventually find baraka (blessings) and a sweetness nobody can take away from you. You will also find that you might seem weird to everyone around you now because of your practice, but with time, you will be seen as the one who is resilient, balanced, and wise, and your advice will be sought after.
Company
Be careful with the company you keep because they affect you. Liberal friends may make you feel nice in the short term, but in the long term, you will probably find more harm than good. Our Beloved Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) advised us, saying,
“A person is on the religion of his close friend, so let him carefully examine whom he befriends.” [Tirmidhi; Abu Dawud]
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“The similitude of good company and bad company is that of the owner of musk and the one blowing the bellows. The owner of the musk would either offer you some free of charge, or you would buy it from him, or you smell its pleasant fragrance; and as for the one who blows the bellows (i.e., the blacksmith), he either burns your clothes or you smell a repugnant smell.” [Bukhari; Muslim]
Dua
Please say this supplication daily:
اللَّهُمَ حَبَّبْ إِلَيْنَا الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيِّنْهُ فِي قُلُوبِنَا، وَكَرِّهْ إِلَيْنَا الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الرَّاشِدِينَ
O Allah, make our faith beloved to us and beautify it in our hearts and make hateful to us disbelief, wickedness and disobedience, and make us of those rightly guided. [Dua taken from the Quran, 49:7]
See these tips on what you can do to increase faith and good works.
- How Can I Increase My Iman (Faith)?
- What Can I Do to Strengthen and Increase My Faith?
- How Can Muslims Maintain Their Faith amid Today’s Challenges?
- How Do Achieve Such Faith That No Doubts Can Ever Shake It?
- What Are the Best Ways to Prevent One’s Faith from Weakening?
- Bringing Barakah Into Your Wealth and Life
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied ‘aqida, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.
