Mental Toughness & Resilience of the Palestinians | Qur'ānic Influence

Recently, many non-believers became very impressed/wowed by the mental toughness, resilience and strong īmān (belief/faith) shown by our Palestinian brothers and sisters, in Gaza particularly. AlhamduLillāh, these non-believers are ordering/getting their copy of the Qur'ān in English to understand what is making these Palestinians be so mentally tough and resilient in the face of this ongoing genocide they are suffering from, at the hands of the Israeli, apartheid, zionists.

In this article, in Shā Allāh, we will be delving into mindsets influenced by the Qur'ān & Sunnah which correlates to the Palestinians displaying an exemplary level of mental toughness and resilience.

1. Say "Hasbun(ā)Allāhu Wa Ni'mal Wakeel (Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us))" in times of calamity

You may have watched and heard from the videos, many Palestinians, when they witness their family members/their other Palestinian brothers' and sisters' dead body as a result of the zionist's bombings, that they repeatedly say 'Hasbun(ā)Allāhu Wa Ni'mal Wakeel (Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us)).' Why do they say such a phrase? Well, it goes back to the Qur'ān.

Allāh (God) inspires us to have resilience/mental toughness/strong īmān by describing to us in the Qur'ān, how the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Sahābah (Companions) reacted when their enemies threatened them. Their enemies said to them "verily, the people (pagans) have gathered against you (a great army), therefore, fear them." Instead of fearing them, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and the Sahābah increased in īmān, displaying mental toughness and said "Hasbun(ā)Allāhu Wa Ni'mal Wakeel (Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us))." [1] As a result of their reliance upon Allāh which was affirmed by their saying of that phrase, "they returned with Grace and Bounty from Allah. No harm touched them."[2]

Going back a long time before Prophet Muhammad's (ﷺ) time, to the time of Prophet Ibrāhīm (Abraham) [peace be upon him], when the idolators threw him into the fire, he also displayed mental toughness, saying "Hasbun(ā)Allāhu Wa Ni'mal Wakeel (Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us))." Due to his reliance upon Allāh which he affirmed by saying that phrase, Allāh commanded 'O fire! Be you coolness and safety for Ibrahim (Abraham)!" [3] As a result, Prophet Ibrāhīm came out alive without any burns/harms of course.

2. Positive Outlook

Another teaching of Islām which is inculcated within the believers is the quality of thinking good of Allāh during calamitous periods. This quality manifested consistently during tough times by the believers, leads to an increase in their mental toughness over the long term. We learn about this quality from the hadīth where the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

عَجَبًا لِأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ

"Wondrous is the affair of the believer for there is good for him in every matter and this is not the case with anyone except the believer. If he is happy, then he thanks Allah and thus there is good for him, and if he is harmed, then he shows patience and thus there is good for him." [4]

To explain further, particularly for the non-believing audience, in times of prosperity, the believers thank Allāh, thus are rewarded for it in the Hereafter as well as in this world, such as receiving more blessings/provisions. The same is the case when they are patient with Allāh's decree - they get rewarded in this world, such as overcoming low/weak/sad states quickly, thereby increasing in their mental toughness and not slowing down in progress towards their goals. At the same time, they get rewarded in the Hereafter. That is because they are 'believers,' i.e. they sincerely were patient (mentally tough)/grateful, ultimately for the sake of Allāh and not ultimately just to attain worldly benefit.

3. Grand Optimism

A martyr has a very high rank in the sight of Allāh. There are also various levels within the category of martyrs. Allāh gives us the order of ranks in His sight which commensurate with their respective ranks in Jannah. Allāh says:

"And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger will be in the company of those blessed by Allah: the prophets, the people of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous—what honourable company!" [5]

All 4 ranks mentioned in the verse above are excellent ranks to achieve. However, there are distinctions between them. As you can see, the rank of the Prophets come first. This is the highest rank which none of us can attain of course. The martyrs come third in this order.

The innocent Palestinian civilians from amongst the women, elderly and even some children are generally aware regarding the noble status of being martyred, to say the least, when faced with the constant terror/fear of being bombed. This awareness of the martyr's status in the Hereafter motivates them to stay strong, mentally tough and reach a grand state of optimism/hope. Such optimism/hope translates to an exceptional level of resilience.

Qur'ānic mental toughness in correlation with worldly success/entrepreneurship

Successful entrepreneurs, multi-millionaires and billionaires talk much about the various components that build mental toughness in a person due to its sheer importance in achieving a lot of success, fast.

Furthermore, it is well known that billionaires/those who became champions or achieved great worldly success, had to overcome rock-bottom states, big failures/errors that resulted in losing millions of pounds for example and so on. They exercised excellent mental toughness which was a core factor behind their worldly success.

In comparison, the level of mental toughness one develops by adopting mindsets based on the Qur'ān & Sunnah, takes their mental toughness to another level - one that is connected to the Hereafter. They transform into a person of sincerity whose lofty goals of the worldly life is a means to attain the everlasting bliss in the next life. As a result, their degree of mental toughness/resilience becomes stronger than one who doesn't believe in Allāh, due to the Help/barakah (blessings) from Allāh (as they relied upon Him), thus leading those believers to being more productive and efficient. In other words, they deal with rock-bottom states/heartbreaks/challenges/trials much better, recovering faster, than those who aren't believers, thereby not adopting the Qur'ān & Sunnah mindsets, ceteris paribus. [6]

Advice to the non-believers

Finally, addressing more so the non-believers in this section, realise that the aforementioned mindsets from the Qur'ān & Sunnah are just a section of what Islām teaches regarding mental toughness and resilience. There is a vast ocean of knowledge still left to be discovered in the Qur'ān & Sunnah. And so I encourage you to start by reading the Qur'ān - the best book on this planet, - in order to fathom further as to what equips our Palestinian brothers and sisters with a remarkable level of mental toughness. Not only that, but you'll also learn about many other success mindsets of life, which incorporates living with purpose and meaning.

If you'd like to get started on this journey of reading the Qur'ān right away, use one of the two links in footnote 7 at the bottom of this piece. [7] For the website via the second link within this footnote, reputable translations that you can select include Hilali & Khan and Saheeh International.

Moreover, if you're not sure where you can order a free copy of the Qur'ān with the English meaning, it can be done via the link in footnote 8. [8]

Lastly, I ask you to continue taking effective action in order to help bring an end to this genocide of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Take effective action based on the authority, influence and platforms you have been bestowed with. Actions such as du'ā' (supplication) and posting/sharing relevant content on social media is what many of us can do if we aren't equipped with much authority, influence and access to platforms. We may feel tired, bored or hopeless of constantly taking such actions, but let's at least be inspired by the Palestinians to build some level of mental toughness and resilience of our own, through continuing to take those actions regardless.

Footnotes

[1] Al-Qur'ān, Āl-'Imrān(3):173

[2] Al-Qur'ān, Āl-'Imrān(3):174

[3] Riyād as-Sālihīn, 76 [Bukhārī]. Accessed from: https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:76

[4] Sahīh Muslim, 2999. Sahīh. Accessed from: https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2011/06/04/everything-believer-sabr-shukr/

[5] Al-Qur'ān, An-Nisā'(4):69

[6] Cambridge dictionary definition of 'ceteris paribus:' "if everything else remains the same; other things being equal." Available from: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/equal

So in this context, we assume both individuals are the same in every way. This includes their environment that impacts them. The only difference is that one person is a believer and the other a non-believer. The former using Qur'ānic mindsets (along with their rationale) to be resilient whilst the latter using mindsets emanating from the realm of rationale only, to stay resilient.

[7] https://quran.com/ ; tanzil.net

[8] https://thedeenshow.com/product/free-quran-english-translation/