Jamaat-e-Islami Hind organised a special programme in which it invited Sheikh Alauddin Al-Bakari to deliver a speech on “Pressures on Mind in Today’s World” on Jan 28. Sheikh Alauddin Al-Bakari, a motivational speaker and Imam in West Valley Islamic Centre in California, was born in Ben Ghazi to a Palestinian family. He gave a very simple, attractive and captivating speech in which he incorporated all kinds of pressures and stress a modern day man experiences, and presented the Islamic solution to the sufferings.

Today’s life has become full of pressures and stress, and encircles and hounds man from all sides. The most common problem that hovers over everyone’s shoulder is to meet the financial expectations for the well being of one’s family. Al-Bakari said different people face different kinds of stress; some worry about jobs, some about education and others try hard to keep their families intact as divorce has become rampant at all levels of society. Diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, suicides and 90 per cent of other kinds of chronic and non-chronic diseases are the result of stress. Sheikh said there are four things which are plaguing the world today, namely, anger, anxiety, stress and depression.

He said, whenever a person feels angry, he should recite, Auzubillahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem (I seek the refuge of Allah from Satan, the outcast). Anger is from Satan and Satan is made from fire, which heats up blood and people get angry; hence we should seek refuge of Allah from Satan, he explained. Anger is very common in our society; people tend to lose their temper at the slightest of provocation and in many cases they do not even need any provocation. Sheikh said that remembrance of Allah and doing wudu (ablution) helps people reduce their anger.

However, he said, there is a world of difference in knowing things and practising things. One can know a thing very well but may not apply it, then that knowledge will not benefit him at all. He said, “Knowing Islam is just information, however practising it and applying it in life will lead to transformation, and it is the transformation of people which Islam aims at and has been revealed for.”

As for anxiety, he said, it is about a situation or problem which a person thinks and perceives that he cannot handle or consider it something which is out of his bounds and hence feels jitters and restlessness in heart. All anxiety and restlessness will vanish if one puts real faith and trust in Allah. “If Allah is with you, who can be against you; and if Allah is against you, who can be with you?” he said. If you put your complete trust in Allah and take him as your protector, then all the anxiety will leave you and your heart will be at peace, no matter how difficult the situation is: Hasbun Allah wa Nemal Wakeel (Allah is enough for me and He is best to rely upon), he asserted.

He gave the example of Prophet Ibrahim (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), who was asked by Jibrael while he was in the air and approaching the raging fire (as he was being thrown into the huge fire with the help of a large catapult by the disbelievers to execute him as he had denied their false gods) that whether he needs any help at the moment, to which Ibrahim responded, “Certainly, but from Allah, He knows the help I need.” He again asserted that Allah possesses absolute power and all other powers besides His are nothing, Lahaula wala Quwata Illa Billah.

Stress is a situation when the demand is more than the resource, he said. When this demand is for more and we find less means to meet the demands we tend to get stressed out. We lose our sleep; we get frustrated and end up destroying ourselves. He said that stress can go away by holding on to Islam. Islam has come to deliver people from the fear of things to the fear of Allah, and the most interesting and comforting part in fearing Allah is that you fear the Rahman and the Raheem, the one who is most gracious and most merciful. People get stressed as they are impatient; however Allah delays it because he wants them to have a long run benefit. “Life is stressful, the solution lies in Islam,” he said.

As Islam is an antidote for problems, we should not be depressed and stressed out, he said. He ended his talk on a very positive note and enthused people with optimism. He said, “We are the people of knowledge, we built civilizations, we did everything, you name it we have it.”

His speech was later translated into Urdu by Mr. Ejaz Ahmed Aslam.

In another programme, organised by SIO Delhi Zone a day before, Al-Bakari spoke on “Role of Muslim Students and Youth in the Revival of Muslim Ummah.” He emphasised that the time of talking and the time of complaining has gone; now is the time of action. For action, one needs an objective, a plan and efforts. He said that he himself belongs to a country where Muslims are in minority, but he reminded that considerations of minority and majority are irrelevant as what matters is mental strength. Every material defeat is preceded by a mental defeat. We were in the minority in Makkah, in Badr, but we were mentally strong and nothing else mattered. “What do you mean by youth?” he demanded. And explained that to-be-a-youth is not a matter of age but a matter of mentality. Being broadminded, receptive, active, functional and responsive to change are the qualities of being youth and not the age. Drawing from day-to-day examples he tried to inculcate the spirit of Islamic activism among those present.