NEVER SAY NEVER

A lesson from the life of the Prophet: Never say never.

Oneday, a companion by the name of Rabi'ah ibn Malik al-Aslaami did something which really pleased the prophet (SAW) so the prophet said to him "Ask (anything)". Rabi'ah said "I ask of you to be your companion in Jannah" so the prophet said "or anything else" to which Rabi'ah replied "that is it" so the prophet told him "a'inni ala kathratis-sujud (assist me with a lot of prostration)" - Muslim.

perhaps, you are yet to see anything extraordinary in this hadith. Let's examine it.

Why did the prophet say "or something else" i.e he should ask for something else?
Rabi'ah asked for something very special, something that we might say, he was not entitled to. You still don't understand? Come along.

Rabi'ah knew that the prophet has a special place in Jannah so he wanted to be with the prophet there. This is a place, the likes of which, other prophets would not have the privilege of staying, not to talk of a Sahaabah. But Rabi'ah didn't think anything was impossible. The prophet told him to ask for something and he asked without thinking "that would be too much".

That action of Rabi'ah is the major message of this post.

Don't you Ever look down on yourself or put yourself down, don't do that. Learn a lesson from Rabi'ah who didn't think anything was impossible.
Tell yourself you can do it and don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise. Although this doesn't mean doing away with good counsel.

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS;
In psychology, there is a concept of 'learned helplessness' which was discovered in circus elephants.

It is a common knowledge that the elephant is an animal with incredible strength, but in the circus, the 'all mighty' elephant is tied to a small short stick that is driven into the ground. The amazing thing is that the elephant, with it's brute strength, doesn't even try to break free.

Why? you might wonder. The answer is really simple.
When the elephant was younger, it was tied to something similar and despite exerting all its effort, it failed to free itself. So the elephant, though stronger now, thinks he still cannot break free so it doesn't even try. In other words, it learned to be helpless.

So don't do that to yourself, don't tell yourself that you can't do something. Put all the necessary things in place and hope for the best from Allah.

May Allah awaken the Rabi'ah in us and suppress the little elephant.

Jazak Allahu khairan. I hope this was of some benefit to you. If it was, please drop a comment and don't forget to share.