Helplessness!
Among the great prophetic supplications,
which are from the concise yet comprehensive words of the Prophet ﷺ, is the
hadith reported by Anas ibn Malik in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “O Allah! I
seek refuge with You from worry and grief, from incapacity and laziness, from
cowardice and miserliness, from being heavily in debt and from being
overpowered by (other) men.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhari)
Scholars have defined ‘ajz
(weakness/inability) as “the lack of ability to perform an action despite
having the desire and intention to do so.” This feeling is deeply painful to
the human soul, for it causes one to experience frustration and
helplessness—wanting to act but lacking the power to carry it out.
It is inevitable for a human being in this
world to face moments of weakness.
How many fathers feel helpless when they cannot afford to provide for their
families?
How many mothers collapse in exhaustion, powerless before a sick child whom
medicine cannot cure?
How many children feel helpless as they care for an aging parent who has lost
their memory and dignity in old age, after once being a person of status and
influence?
And if such helplessness is devastating at
the individual level, then what can be said of the helplessness felt by an
entire ummah—an entire nation—failing to support its beating heart in Al-Aqsa
Mosque, in Jerusalem, and in Gaza, where our people endure every bitter
taste of abandonment and weakness?
We ask Allah Almighty to deliver us from
weakness to victory and empowerment—swiftly and without delay.
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Written By: Dr. Soud Abdulaziz Alghanem
