I once asked a doctor: Is it true that one of the important steps to be cured from a sickness is to believe that we can be cured? He answered: It’s not just merely one of the steps, but this is the first thing that I tell my patients.
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In Islam, we’ve been commanded to improve ourselves in order to become better people. Whether we want to improve our patience, generosity, humbleness & so on, we first need to believe that we can do it, that we can change. We should never say: I am who I am & I cannot change.
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Consider the hadith about a group of companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who came to Madinah one day. They raced with each other, quickly dismounting from their rides in order to be the first to send their salam & respect to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. So it became really crowded around the Prophet ﷺ.
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One of them, Al-Mundhir Al-Ashajj, saw this, so he decided to wait instead. He placed his belongings first, put on his two garments, then he went to see Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ noticed this & said:
“You have two characteristics which Allah loves: forbearance & deliberation.”
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Al-Mundhir asked: “Have I acquired them (i.e. nurtured these 2 characteristics throughout my life), or has Allah created (them as) my nature?”
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The Prophet ﷺ replied: “No, Allah has created (them) in your nature.”
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Then Al-Mundhir said: “Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah), Who has created in my nature 2 characteristics which Allah and His Messenger love.” [Sunan Abi Dawud 5225]
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Some of us were born with a high level of mercy, of patience, of bravery & courage, of generosity that no one else was born at that level. To some people, Allah has bestowed these traits as their default status, ma shaa Allah!
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But this hadith also proves that we *can* grow & nurture good traits that we haven’t achieved or excelled yet. Why? Because the Prophet ﷺ didn’t deny Al-Mundhir’s question. He didn’t say: No, these traits cannot be nurtured or acquired. So this hadith is proof that we can change our current state into a better state.
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Have tawakkul on Allah, seek His Help, and believe that we too can change for the better!
