ألا بذكر اللَّهِ تطمئن القلوب

 Cure for Anxiety and Stress from Qur'an and Sunnah:

4. Dhikr of Allah:

 If a person makes dhikr (remembrance) of Allah Almighty in abundance, then Allah bestows tranquility, ease and His blessings upon that person.

If a person forgets to make dhikr of Allah, then all sorts of problems and difficulties surround him.

What is Dhikr (of Allah)?

Any deed, whether small or great, which is done with the intention of seeking the pleasure of Allah, is called Dhikr (of Allah). 

سبحان اللہ ، الحمد للہ ، اللہ اکبر

These belong to one of the kinds of Dhikr of Allah.

Abu Darda explained Dhikr to his wife Umm Darda as follows: 

 ♦️ مَن أطاعَ اللَّهَ فقد ذَكَرَ اللَّهَ ، وإن قلَّت صلاتُهُ وصيامُهُ وتلاوةُ القرآنِ ، ومَن عصى اللَّهَ فقد نَسيَ اللَّهَ وإن كثُرَتْ صلاتُهُ وصيامُهُ وتلاوةُ القرآنِ وَإِنْ قَلَّتْ صِیَامُهُ وَصَلَوٰتُهُ وَزَکٰوتُهُ

Before taking any step in his life, if a person looks for:

What does Allah order about this (issue)?

What is Allah’s Messenger  صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم  Sunnah regarding this (issue)?

What is the prescribed way of (our Deen) regarding this (issue)?

(and then that person follows accordingly) then this is the (true form of) Dhikr of Allah, even if that person does not offer much voluntary worship; fasts or prayers (nawafil) or Tahajjud.

رواه الطبراني في الكبير؛3559

1⃣ Example:

If we are about to eat, we should think about all what Islam has taught us about eating; We should realize that we have to follow the guidelines of Allah and our Deen at all costs and at all times.

Hudhaifah reported:

When we attended a meal with the Messenger of Allah  صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم , we would not stretch forth our hands towards the food until he صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم  would start eating first. Once, we were with him when a little girl rushed in as if someone was impelling her. She was about to lay her hand on the food when the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم  caught her hand. Then a bedouin came rushing as if someone were pushing him. He صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم  caught his hand, too, and said, "Satan considers that food lawful for himself on which the Name of Allah is not mentioned. He (Satan) brought this girl to make the food lawful through her but I caught her hand. Then he brought the bedouin to make it lawful through him but I caught his hand too. By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, now Satan's hand is in my grasp along with their hands." Then he mentioned the Name of Allah and began to eat.

Sahih Muslim

(Riyad as-Salihin: 730)

 If we recite بسم اللہ before eating, Satan cannot share our food.

If we do not recite بسم اللہ before eating, Satan will not only share the food with us, he would disconcert us and cause disharmony amongst the family.

❗ Dhikr is showing complete  obedience to Allah!

2. Example:

These days we face disharmony and discontent in every house. There are fights amongst husband and wife, amongst mother in law and daughter in law, amongst siblings and so on. The children are depressed and stressed out because of continuous fighting in homes and cannot perform well in studies.

Why is anxiety and stress so prevalent in society?

This is all because of excluding Dhikr of Allah from our lives.

Prophet of Allah صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم  said:

There is none who is about to leave the house but there are two flags beside every door; One flag is in the hands of an angel. One is in the hands of Satan. If that person is leaving to do something which pleases Allah, then the angel follows him along with his flag and the person stays under the flag of that angel the entire day until he returns to his home. But if that person leaves the house to do something that displeases Allah, Satan follows him and he spends the entire day under the flag of Satan until he returns home.

[Musnad Ahmed]

"But when you enter the houses,, greet one another with a greeting ˹of peace˺ (السلام علیکم ) from Allah, blessed and good."

[An-Nur 24:61]

Prophet of Allah  صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم said:

When a person enters his house and mentions the name of Allah at the time of entering it and while eating the food, Satan says (addressing himself): You have no place to spend the night and no evening meal; but when he enters without mentioning the name of Allah, the Satan says: You have found a place to spend the night, and when he does not mention the name of Allah while eating food, he (the Satan) says: You have found a place to spend the night and evening meal.

[Sahih Muslim: 2018]

All the stress, anxiety and depression in our lives stem out from being negligent in Dhikr of Allah and from being disobedient to Allah.

All the wealth and all the luxuries of life would never bring any bliss and contentment as long as Satan stays amongst us.

Satan dislikes harmony and peace in a family. So, when he enters a house, he will cause fights amongst the parents, cause disharmony in the house and would lead the children astray and onto the path of evil and sin.

❗That is why it is really necessary to always be very careful that whatever we are doing is being done according to the teaching of Islam and according to the orders of Allah. We should always try to recite the daily Adhkar; duas before leaving the house, while entering the markets, before going to bed etc.

❗ Another point worth remembering is that we are keen to recite the duas and adhkar but often forget that it is equally important to stay away from sins and evil.