Modern Stress And Its Cure From Qur'an
written by Shahid Athar , M.D. Stress is the most common aliment of modern age.
It has been implicated in the causation of peptic ulcer disease, coronary heart disease, depression, auto immune disease, hypertension, diabetes and even cancer. In milder form it manifests in form of unrest, violence, at work, school and home. Common medical problems like tension headache, insomnia, and obesity are also attributed to unusual stress.
None of us are free from stress but some deal with it better than others. Stress results from the following factors:
a. Fear of the unknown and trying to see through and control the destiny.
b. Losses in our life of people and things dear to us and our inability to recover those losses.
c. Inner conflict between our heart and mind between what is known to be the truth and our failure to accept it as truth. Acceptance of truth may require changing our habits and way of life which we may adhere to for some reason like pleasure, joys, taste, pride in race or heritage etc.
Let us examine how Quran deals with such situations. Our losses are a trial for us: "Be sure we will test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives, but give glad tidings to those who are steadfast, who say when afflicted with calamity: To God we belong and to him is our return. They are those on who (DESCEND) blessings from God and mercy and they are the once that receive guidance.
2:155 Thus in Islam, we do not have concept of the ownership of goods and life. Everything belongs to God and returns to him. So if we don't own that thing why mourn our loss? a. Our destiny is predetermined.
We do not have control on that part. What we have control over is a limited free will, that is our actions, our choice to do good or bad, to believe in God or not to believe in Him, but we have no control over tomorrow's event not related to our actions i.e. whether my wife will have a son or daughter, whether his/her eyes will be brown or black, or whether I will have an accident or not tomorrow. WorTying over such things is of no use. b. Rejection of faith in Quran is called a disease. This denial of truth is due to arrogance. "In their heart there is a disease and God has increased their disease and grievous is their penalty because they lie to themselves." 2:10 Therefore after lying to ourselves, we set up an inner conflict - between heart and mind. In order to contain that conflict the mind sends signals to glands for secretion of harmones like adrenaline which leads to rapid heart rate, perspiration, tremor, the basis of lie detector test.
This lying conflict could be due to "SMALL" crimes like theft or adultery, or big crimes like rejection of God. 3 stages of spiritual development of soul age a. Nafsul Ammara: -The Passionate soul "I do not absolve myself Lo the (human) soul is prone to evil, save that whenever my Lord has mercy. Lo, Lord is forgiving; merciful." 12:53 (Surah Yusuf) This soul inclines toward sensual Pleasure, passion and self gratification , anger, envy, greed, and conceit. Its concerns are pleasure of body, gratification of physical appetite, and ego. Hadith "your most-ardent-enemy is your evil self which resides within your body" (Bukhaii). If this evil soul is not checked wiR lead to unusual stress and its resultant effects. -
b. Nafsul Lawanunah (The Reproaching Soul). "Nay, I swear by the reproaching soul" 75:1 This soul is conscious or aware of Evil, resists it, asks for God's grace, and pardon, repents and tries to ammend and hopes to achieve salvation. "And (There are) others who have acknowledged their faults. They mix a righteous action with another that was bad. It may be that Allah will relent toward them. Lo! Allah is relenting, merciful." 9:102 Hadith "These are two impulses within us. One spirit which calls towards good and confirms the truth. He who feels this impulse should know that it comes from Allah. Another impulse comes from our enemy (Devil) which leads to doubt and holds untruth and encourages evil. He who feels this should seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil." This soul warns people of their vain desire, guides and opens the door to virtute and righteousness. It is a positive step in spiritual growth. c. The satisfied soul (Nafsul Mutmainnah). "O (you) soul in (complete) rest and satisfaction. Come back to your Lord, will pleased (yourself) and will pleasing unto him. Enter you then among my devotees, enter you in my heaven." 89:27-30 This is the highest state of spiritual development. satisfied soul is the state of bliss, content and peace. The soul is at peace because it knows that inspite of its failures in this world, It will return to God. Purified of tension, it emerges from the struggle with obstacles blocking the peace of mind and heart. What should we do in panic and despair? In panic non-believers behave differently than believers. They have no one to return to, to ask for mercy and forgiveness, their life is this life, which they cannot control, thus get more depressed and increase in their state of wrong doing. Then we will see that if they are used to casual drinking will start drinking more and become alcoholic, or a barbital criminal.
On the other hand a believer should do the following:
a. Increase dhikr (Remembrance of God) "who have believed and whose heart have Rest in the remembrance of God. Verify in the remembrance of God, do hearts find rest." 13:28 b. Increase their prayer. "O you who believe, seek help with steadfastness and prayer. For God is with those who are steadfast." 2:153 c. Ask forgiveness "And I have said: seek forgiveness from your Lord. Lo He was ever forgiving." 71:10 In addition to above we are also asked to continue to struggle to up-grade ourselves. " surely God does not change the condition in which a people are in until they change that which is in themselves." 13:11 In summary, I conclude that stress results from lack of inner peace due to conflicts within us and leads to external disturbances in our behavior and health.
Inner peace can only be achieved by believing in God, the All Mighty, and remembering him frequently and asking for his help and forgiveness in times of difficulties.
I have created a dairy of my weekly progress so that I can monitor how well my investigation is going and have merged my weekly diary with my candidate record so that I can demonstrate exactly how I have organised my time in order to meet tasks.
Diary entry form 27th August-24th Septemer
August 27th 2009
My learning goal of the week:
I plan to read thoroughly the EPQ Specification 2007 and to create a detailed brief which I will look at to keep the content of the project relevant to the brief as possible. Also, to come up with an appropriate brief I need a project research title.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have looked at many psychology websites at A level stage to help me gain an understanding of the subject so that I know exactly what signs and codes to look for in case study or any relevant research which will tell me what psychological problems there are which at the current stage my investigation question is: “Analyze ways in which eczema can effect aspects of Childs development”.
Time these activities have taken:
I have set this stage to run over the next few weeks, however so far it seems like the research is in time. I plan for this stage to take four weeks and so, I have found so far, about a few psychological approaches which I can use to help support my investigation.
3rd September
This week was first week of school so I have decided too spend this week for preparation for A2 level.
10th September
My learning goal of the week:
This week I intend to start setting myself goals such as what I want to gain from this project in order to stay motivated. I am also going to design a brainstorm with all the psychological approaches I can investigate that is appropriate to the project. It will be designed to can develop ideas for my investigation.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
Firstly I have informed my supervisor of important decisions made so that my teacher can inform me of whether the project investigation topic is appropriate.
To motivate myself I often asked myself how this project will benefit me. So I would often tell myself how it would benefit me both at an academic level and at home in my own environment.
It is relevant to me as the project revolves around my personal experience as well as the population as it is common.
The skills that I will acquire from studying this is how to control my own emotions and what triggers cause these outbreaks, I hope that the knowledge that I will acquire from research will help me control scratching. I also look forward to to learn how to be an independent learner and want to rely upon myself to get work done on time without depending on teachers to remind me of deadlines. I hope to find different methods to tackle possible problems. I hope to further develop my creative thinking skills. I aim to realise and create realistic goals in order to succeed. And finally, I expect to be able by the end of my project to keep stress levels down in order to manage emotions and have realistic goals.
17th September
My learning goal of the week:
I will create a project plan this week where I will follow this set structure throughout the whole project. I will also set objectives and the outcome of the project generally.
As psychology is a broad subject I will list ways the question can be researched using points for each and then I will select the most relevant.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have stuck to my plan to read books and find out a bit more about eczema, research different psychological effects and select a few to find deeper analysis and to help support investigation. I have accessed and search the Internet, read text books
I have considered that research currently is very broad and can include any information closely relating to the question.
I have designed a brainstorm and come up with more detailed titles.
Create a plan with Gantt chart format and drawn out a critical path analysis diagram to see exactly how much float I have if any.
24th September
My learning goal of the week:
After participating in a workshop with Westminster University on reflecting on all sections I have learnt a method which will help me with my investigation during a peer group activity. In this activity one of the people had to tell the rest of the group of a journey in their life and the others comment of the feeling and emotions expressed. However I am going to use the same process but analyse taking a psychological approach.
Using the same method used in the workshop I will interview a child aged 14 who suffers from atopic eczema to find out about her experiences.
I had made the important decision that I will be analysing her psychologically, and so it was important for me to tell the person I was investigating of my decision as it is her right to know.
There are different forms of psychology that I can explore as seen in my brainstorm image.
I also intend to produce a production plan in a table format.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
Unfortunately, my client can’t be interviewed as she doesn’t want to be revealed and she wants to remain anonymous, and so I have decided that later I will interview her and many other people so that I don’t have to rely on one interview to create a case study to focus on. I have decided to use the method learnt in the workshop but to start making questionnaires for the case studies later on when I’m actually design the content to the magazine.
Instead this I have produced a well thought out production log so that I can organize my time so that I achieve a productive project. I have realized that maybe a week is too much time just to produce a production log, however I know that this would be changed many times as I like to think things through and understand that it is possible to achieve in the times that I set. With the spare time left over I have decided to produce a Gantt chart which is developed from production log.
Time these activities have taken:
It has taken me longer then I had first believed and so it was a wise decision to set this task for a week as now I am still on time of the schedule.
How will I know that I have been successful?
By the end of the project I will know I have been successful as my projects life cycle would follow most of the initial plan or explain changes to the plan which has made a positive impact on the investigation.
Diary entry from 1st October - 19th November
1st October
My learning goal of the week:
Using the same method used in the workshop at university of Westminster my aim is to interview children and teens aged 11-19 who suffers from atopic eczema to find out about their experiences.
I will choose the most effective interviewee (which I will find out after handing then my questionnaire) to be analysed psychologically, and so it was important for me to tell the person I was investigating of my decision as it is her right to know.
There are different forms of psychology that I can explore as seen in my brainstorm image.
I will explore further:
Stress, bodily response and source of stress, physiological psychology, behaviour approach and touch upon the social psychology area.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have created questionnaires in order to find out who I can use in my magazine, making sure that they realise that I want to use images and personal information. I also reassure them that some of the case studies are anonymous people stories and so if they prefer then I can put them in that category instead.
Time these activities have taken:
This has taken a lot longer than anticipated and so I have decided to keep this task open so that I can approach it when necessary in the investigation. For example I will not need to create a case study until I get a better understanding of the subject an so I cant typed up all that she has told me in the style of a case study about her experience of eczema. Following, I have taken notes in detail showing her possible feelings and emotions and I will “Describe the psychological interferences there are for the sufferers of eczema in children and adolescence”. However latter on in my project I can closely analyse my findings.
In order to succeed in this investigation it is required of me to work closely with the person willing to share their story.
How will I know that I have been successful?
I will know that I have got a successful range of candidate information in when I have formed a winning case study. I will also have deeper understanding for the investigation and create many case studies of a child eczema sufferer including me.
8th October
My learning goal of the week: interview people
Originally I planned to do the interview stage in this week where I was planning to Interview children from ages 6 (their parent’s views on their children of this age) to teens below the age 19. I will need to find out a bit about them realizing that I am asking personal questions I will leave the name of the interviewed person unanimous (unless they agree that I can share their name).
Here I will also plan to regularly update my blog so that it will help me follow what work may need to be done and also this will be like a second diary which will track my progress.
I am going to do a write up of all of the information drawn from research for eczema explained page which will include stress information.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have asked specific people who I have now found out who have eczema and given then questions from my questionnaire. I have also considered using other perspectives such as parents/guardian authority to tell me about the younger children suffering from eczema.
I need to:
From these case studies I will investigate accordingly to form my investigation answer which will be put in the magazine. However I have decided to do this at a later stage where I will have more time to do this when I have to do this kind of research when designing the main product.
15th October
My learning goal of the week:
To put together possible information for a page on social and emotional effects eczema has and again do a write up of all the information gathered from research after interviews and from recourses.
I have decided after doing my research that this won’t have such dominating content in the magazine as most of the magazine will have aspects of this throughout and so I don’t want to make a specific page on this subject.
22nd October
My learning goal of the week:
I aim to have a written version of all the research gathered on the subject of how someone with eczema has an impact on family. This will probably include information from interview from a parent.
29th October
My learning goal of the week:
I aim to have a written version of all the research gathers on the subject of how someone with eczema has on my life, sleep and others etc.
5th November
My learning goal of the week:
I am half way through my project now and I have completed all the information that I will have in my magazine and have made final conclusions of all the research that I have gathered, I have also researched on ways to structure my magazine I have interviewed a few people around the age range in which I am investigating and I have updated my blog.
I have done all the necessary research which needed to be done and have made master templates for which I have designed to put all the content of the magazine in so that all the pages are consistent and flow to follow the house style and my magazines professionalism.
Identification of your own skills:
Currently I am on schedule looking back at my production log/planning schedule and so I believe that my project management skills are working effectively despite the changes to the timing of tasks.
Diary entry form 27th August-24th Septemer
August 27th 2009
My learning goal of the week:
I plan to read thoroughly the EPQ Specification 2007 and to create a detailed brief which I will look at to keep the content of the project relevant to the brief as possible. Also, to come up with an appropriate brief I need a project research title.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have looked at many psychology websites at A level stage to help me gain an understanding of the subject so that I know exactly what signs and codes to look for in case study or any relevant research which will tell me what psychological problems there are which at the current stage my investigation question is: “Analyze ways in which eczema can effect aspects of Childs development”.
Time these activities have taken:
I have set this stage to run over the next few weeks, however so far it seems like the research is in time. I plan for this stage to take four weeks and so, I have found so far, about a few psychological approaches which I can use to help support my investigation.
3rd September
This week was first week of school so I have decided too spend this week for preparation for A2 level.
10th September
My learning goal of the week:
This week I intend to start setting myself goals such as what I want to gain from this project in order to stay motivated. I am also going to design a brainstorm with all the psychological approaches I can investigate that is appropriate to the project. It will be designed to can develop ideas for my investigation.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
Firstly I have informed my supervisor of important decisions made so that my teacher can inform me of whether the project investigation topic is appropriate.
To motivate myself I often asked myself how this project will benefit me. So I would often tell myself how it would benefit me both at an academic level and at home in my own environment.
It is relevant to me as the project revolves around my personal experience as well as the population as it is common.
The skills that I will acquire from studying this is how to control my own emotions and what triggers cause these outbreaks, I hope that the knowledge that I will acquire from research will help me control scratching. I also look forward to to learn how to be an independent learner and want to rely upon myself to get work done on time without depending on teachers to remind me of deadlines. I hope to find different methods to tackle possible problems. I hope to further develop my creative thinking skills. I aim to realise and create realistic goals in order to succeed. And finally, I expect to be able by the end of my project to keep stress levels down in order to manage emotions and have realistic goals.
17th September
My learning goal of the week:
I will create a project plan this week where I will follow this set structure throughout the whole project. I will also set objectives and the outcome of the project generally.
As psychology is a broad subject I will list ways the question can be researched using points for each and then I will select the most relevant.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have stuck to my plan to read books and find out a bit more about eczema, research different psychological effects and select a few to find deeper analysis and to help support investigation. I have accessed and search the Internet, read text books
I have considered that research currently is very broad and can include any information closely relating to the question.
I have designed a brainstorm and come up with more detailed titles.
Create a plan with Gantt chart format and drawn out a critical path analysis diagram to see exactly how much float I have if any.
24th September
My learning goal of the week:
After participating in a workshop with Westminster University on reflecting on all sections I have learnt a method which will help me with my investigation during a peer group activity. In this activity one of the people had to tell the rest of the group of a journey in their life and the others comment of the feeling and emotions expressed. However I am going to use the same process but analyse taking a psychological approach.
Using the same method used in the workshop I will interview a child aged 14 who suffers from atopic eczema to find out about her experiences.
I had made the important decision that I will be analysing her psychologically, and so it was important for me to tell the person I was investigating of my decision as it is her right to know.
There are different forms of psychology that I can explore as seen in my brainstorm image.
I also intend to produce a production plan in a table format.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
Unfortunately, my client can’t be interviewed as she doesn’t want to be revealed and she wants to remain anonymous, and so I have decided that later I will interview her and many other people so that I don’t have to rely on one interview to create a case study to focus on. I have decided to use the method learnt in the workshop but to start making questionnaires for the case studies later on when I’m actually design the content to the magazine.
Instead this I have produced a well thought out production log so that I can organize my time so that I achieve a productive project. I have realized that maybe a week is too much time just to produce a production log, however I know that this would be changed many times as I like to think things through and understand that it is possible to achieve in the times that I set. With the spare time left over I have decided to produce a Gantt chart which is developed from production log.
Time these activities have taken:
It has taken me longer then I had first believed and so it was a wise decision to set this task for a week as now I am still on time of the schedule.
How will I know that I have been successful?
By the end of the project I will know I have been successful as my projects life cycle would follow most of the initial plan or explain changes to the plan which has made a positive impact on the investigation.
Diary entry from 1st October - 19th November
1st October
My learning goal of the week:
Using the same method used in the workshop at university of Westminster my aim is to interview children and teens aged 11-19 who suffers from atopic eczema to find out about their experiences.
I will choose the most effective interviewee (which I will find out after handing then my questionnaire) to be analysed psychologically, and so it was important for me to tell the person I was investigating of my decision as it is her right to know.
There are different forms of psychology that I can explore as seen in my brainstorm image.
I will explore further:
Stress, bodily response and source of stress, physiological psychology, behaviour approach and touch upon the social psychology area.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have created questionnaires in order to find out who I can use in my magazine, making sure that they realise that I want to use images and personal information. I also reassure them that some of the case studies are anonymous people stories and so if they prefer then I can put them in that category instead.
Time these activities have taken:
This has taken a lot longer than anticipated and so I have decided to keep this task open so that I can approach it when necessary in the investigation. For example I will not need to create a case study until I get a better understanding of the subject an so I cant typed up all that she has told me in the style of a case study about her experience of eczema. Following, I have taken notes in detail showing her possible feelings and emotions and I will “Describe the psychological interferences there are for the sufferers of eczema in children and adolescence”. However latter on in my project I can closely analyse my findings.
In order to succeed in this investigation it is required of me to work closely with the person willing to share their story.
How will I know that I have been successful?
I will know that I have got a successful range of candidate information in when I have formed a winning case study. I will also have deeper understanding for the investigation and create many case studies of a child eczema sufferer including me.
8th October
My learning goal of the week: interview people
Originally I planned to do the interview stage in this week where I was planning to Interview children from ages 6 (their parent’s views on their children of this age) to teens below the age 19. I will need to find out a bit about them realizing that I am asking personal questions I will leave the name of the interviewed person unanimous (unless they agree that I can share their name).
Here I will also plan to regularly update my blog so that it will help me follow what work may need to be done and also this will be like a second diary which will track my progress.
I am going to do a write up of all of the information drawn from research for eczema explained page which will include stress information.
Activities that I have done to achieve this goal:
I have asked specific people who I have now found out who have eczema and given then questions from my questionnaire. I have also considered using other perspectives such as parents/guardian authority to tell me about the younger children suffering from eczema.
I need to:
From these case studies I will investigate accordingly to form my investigation answer which will be put in the magazine. However I have decided to do this at a later stage where I will have more time to do this when I have to do this kind of research when designing the main product.
15th October
My learning goal of the week:
To put together possible information for a page on social and emotional effects eczema has and again do a write up of all the information gathered from research after interviews and from recourses.
I have decided after doing my research that this won’t have such dominating content in the magazine as most of the magazine will have aspects of this throughout and so I don’t want to make a specific page on this subject.
22nd October
My learning goal of the week:
I aim to have a written version of all the research gathered on the subject of how someone with eczema has an impact on family. This will probably include information from interview from a parent.
29th October
My learning goal of the week:
I aim to have a written version of all the research gathers on the subject of how someone with eczema has on my life, sleep and others etc.
5th November
My learning goal of the week:
I am half way through my project now and I have completed all the information that I will have in my magazine and have made final conclusions of all the research that I have gathered, I have also researched on ways to structure my magazine I have interviewed a few people around the age range in which I am investigating and I have updated my blog.
I have done all the necessary research which needed to be done and have made master templates for which I have designed to put all the content of the magazine in so that all the pages are consistent and flow to follow the house style and my magazines professionalism.
Identification of your own skills:
Currently I am on schedule looking back at my production log/planning schedule and so I believe that my project management skills are working effectively despite the changes to the timing of tasks.
A touching story sent to me via email
True Story of A Brother
Since I was born I suffered from Exema on my hands and arms and now I am 19 years of age and still suffering from such disease. Alhamdulelah it goes for a while but it comes back infected and inflamed.
I always looked around me and saw other people's hands and arms in perfect condition and I would go back home and cry so much that my tears would fill a bucket. I was bullied so much in Secondary School because of my Exema and I was treated like dirt and abused because of my belief in Islam. One day in class I cried for over an hour my eyes stung because of the class saying abusive things to me and the teacher did NOTHING because he hated my faith which was apparent.
...
I feel so alone sometimes. I suffer SO much that I cannot go outside unless my sleeves of my shirt cover most of my hands. I cannot make Salat in the Masjid without worrying that someone is going to look at my hands and not want to shake them or that they will give me a bad look. I cannot eat outside or be with my friends without feeling worried that they are going to see my hands.
When I do Wudu with water, my hands sting so much I cry. After Wudu I will make my Salat trying to blot out the pain that I am going through with my hands...
About three year ago I was sinking into severe depression. I was suffering so much and everything was just sinking deeper and deeper. I would stay up every night just worshipping Allah, begging him for mercy and help.
I really thought that Allah abandoned me and hated me.
Then one summer was a summer I would never forget. For six weeks in a row I had dreams that words would never be able to describe in 100% detail....
Since I was born I suffered from Exema on my hands and arms and now I am 19 years of age and still suffering from such disease. Alhamdulelah it goes for a while but it comes back infected and inflamed.
I always looked around me and saw other people's hands and arms in perfect condition and I would go back home and cry so much that my tears would fill a bucket. I was bullied so much in Secondary School because of my Exema and I was treated like dirt and abused because of my belief in Islam. One day in class I cried for over an hour my eyes stung because of the class saying abusive things to me and the teacher did NOTHING because he hated my faith which was apparent.
...
I feel so alone sometimes. I suffer SO much that I cannot go outside unless my sleeves of my shirt cover most of my hands. I cannot make Salat in the Masjid without worrying that someone is going to look at my hands and not want to shake them or that they will give me a bad look. I cannot eat outside or be with my friends without feeling worried that they are going to see my hands.
When I do Wudu with water, my hands sting so much I cry. After Wudu I will make my Salat trying to blot out the pain that I am going through with my hands...
About three year ago I was sinking into severe depression. I was suffering so much and everything was just sinking deeper and deeper. I would stay up every night just worshipping Allah, begging him for mercy and help.
I really thought that Allah abandoned me and hated me.
Then one summer was a summer I would never forget. For six weeks in a row I had dreams that words would never be able to describe in 100% detail....
Questionnaires given out
Questionnaire
this was the questionnaire that was given out and below is one of the filled out questionnaires which will be used in my magazine.
Questionnaire Til
this was the questionnaire that was given out and below is one of the filled out questionnaires which will be used in my magazine.
Questionnaire Til
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