Lesson 4 of 6 · Give worry an appointment
The tradition has its own first move under distress
Two things sitting next to each other rather than one replacing the other. When something weighed on the Prophet, peace be upon him, he prayed. The Qur'an gives the same move as an instruction, to seek help through steadfastness and prayer. And the Qur'an speaks of hearts settling in the remembrance of Allah. That is a statement about the settling of a heart in certainty. Whether it is also a claim about the course of an anxiety disorder is a different question, and it is a scholar's question rather than ours.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Hearts settling in the remembrance of Allah, and worth being careful with. It is a statement about a heart settling in certainty, and whether it is also a claim about the course of an anxiety disorder is a scholar's question rather than ours.
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَتَطۡمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِۗ أَلَا بِذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطۡمَئِنُّ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ
those who have faith and whose hearts find peace in the remembrance of God- truly it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find peace
Qur’an 13:28
The tradition's first move under distress, given here as an instruction rather than only as something he did.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱسۡتَعِينُواْ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
You who believe, seek help through steadfastness and prayer, for God is with the steadfast
Qur’an 2:153
The tradition's own first move under distress was to go and pray. Short, and it comes from Hudhaifah.
Hudhaifah said:When anything distressed the Prophet (ﷺ), he prayed
Sunan Abi Dawud 1319graded sound, albanithe Arabic and its grading
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.