We all know that hope in accepted duas should be met with action but have you considered that hope is just as important as action?
Did you know that it is in fact disrespectful towards Allah to lack hope in His acceptance of duas?
Hope in Allah is often misunderstood and neglected yet it is a crucial tool for success in this life and the after. Not hoping for accepted duas also disregards Allah’s vast mercy and generosity towards His slaves. Having hope is indeed thinking positively of Allah, while lacking in it is thinking negatively of Allah. It is a submission to His names/attributes of the most generous, and the most merciful.
Consider this hadith qudsi, “Allah says: ‘I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him)…” [sahih Bukhari 7405]
Misinformation has led some to believe that this hadith deals with the false concept of manifestation, that one can achieve whatever he desires simply by believing it into existence.
All revelation must be understood and acted upon as our prophet and his companions had. It is understood that all goals should come with action, that Allah does not accept duas that contradict the teachings/values of the Quran and sunnah, and that nothing occurs without the will of Allah.
This beautiful hadith encourages us to have high hopes in Allah and that we would only be weighing ourselves down by lacking hope.
A muslim should hope for permissible matters, and hope that they will benefit him in his worldly and afterlife. He should have firm faith that Allah will grant him what is good for him.
Having hope is indeed an act of worship, therefor, we know our hope is sound when it leads us to strive for good, and take measures to refrain from evil. Hope becomes a deception when we do not follow through with action and lack fear of Allah. True hope requires sincerity.
Most shortcomings in ourselves actually come from a lack of hope in Allah.
Consider a muslim who feels weak, that he could never stop a sin he’s committing and is afraid that it would lead him towards eternal punishment. Perhaps he is weak, as mankind have been created weak, but Allah is capable of all things. Therefor, if he attached his hope to Allah, then he would gain a strength of guaranteed success. Allah would never disappoint a servant that wishes to please Him. As long as the servant remains hopeful that he will be freed from the shackles of sin, and continues to get up each time he falls short, then Allah will open doors from where we could never imagine.
Lets say a muslim has severe waswas regarding what is halal/haram. She constantly thinks “what if my wudoo is broken, should i redo it”. These thoughts lead to unnecessary difficulty in worship. The issue is that she lacks hope in the mercy of Allah, that Allah knows she is sick with waswas and that He does not hold ignorance against his slaves, nor does He want us to overthink religious matters.
Perhaps a muslim is dealing with depression, depression comes from a lack of hope which leads to a lack of motivation, one ends up feeling stuck in a miserable hole. Man is weak, but Allah is not. We should have firm hope in Allah granting us a bright future, as long as we are striving towards Allah, how could He ever disappoint? Know that, as our prophet said, “Whoever is mainly concerned about the Hereafter, Allah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place…” [Tirmidhi 2389]. Therefor seek Allah, and Allah will make everything fall into place. Whether the cure is religious, psychological, or physical, He will lead you to it.
Therefor, brothers and sisters in Islam, have honorable goals, and have firm hope in Allah accepting them. If you lack hope then learn about Allah, for one cannot trust and befriend another without first knowing them.