So do not become weak [against] your enemy, nor be sad… (Quran 3: 139)

And grieve not over them, and be not distressed because of what they plot. (Quran 16: 127)

Be not sad, surely Allah is with us. (Quran 9: 40)

Referring to true believers, Allah informs us that: Upon such shall come no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Quran 2: 38)

Sadness enervates the souls will to act and paralyzes the body into inactivity. Sadness prevents one from action instead of compelling one towards it. The heart benefits nothing through grief; the most beloved thing to the Devil is to make the worshiper sad in order to prevent him from continuing on his path. Allah, the Exalted, says: *Secret counsels [conspiracies] are only from Shaitan [Satan], in order that he may cause grief to the believers. (Quran 58: 10)

In the following hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) said: “In a company of three, it is forbidden for two to hold secret counsel to the exclusion of the third, since doing so will be a cause of sadness for him.”

Contrary to what some believe (those who have an extreme ascetic bent), the believer should not seek out sadness, because sadness is a harmful condition that afflicts the soul. The Muslim must repel sadness and fight it in any way that is permissible in our Religion.

There is no real benefit to sadness; the Prophet (PBUH) sought refuge from it in the following supplication: “O Allah, I seek refuge in you from anxiety and grief.”

Grief is coupled with anxiety in this hadith. The difference between the two is that if a bad feeling is related to what is going to happen in the future. Then one is feeling anxiety. And if the cause of this feeling concerns the past, then one is feeling grief both weakens the heart, causing inactivity and a decrease in will power.

Despite what has been mentioned above, grief may sometimes be both inevitable and necessary. When they enter Paradise, its dwellers will say: All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has removed from us [all] grief. (Quran 35: 34)

This verse implies that they were afflicted with grief in this life, just as they were afflicted with other forms of hardship, both of which were out of their control. So whenever one is overcome by grief and there is no way to avoid it, one is rewarded, because grief is a form of hardship, and the believer is rewarded for going through hardship. Nonetheless, the believer must ward off grief with supplication and other practical means.

“Whatever befalls the believer in terms of anxiety, hardship, or grief, Allah will remove his sin.”

It indicates that grief is a trial with which the believer is afflicted, and through which some of his sins are atoned for. However, it does not indicate that grief is something to be sought after; the believer should not seek out means of finding grief, thinking that he is performing an act of worship.

And as for the alleged hadith, “Verily, Allah loves all sad hearts,” the chain of its narrators is unknown, so it is not an authentic hadith, especially in view of the fact that the basic principles of our religion are contrary to it.

In this verse, Allah says of his Prophet Israaeel (Israel): And he lost his sight because of the sorrow that he was suppressing. (Quran 12: 84)

Here we are informed of his grief over losing his beloved son. Simply informing about something does not in itself signify either approval or disapproval of that thing. The fact is that we have been ordered to seek refuge from sadness, as it is a heavy cloud that hangs above its victim, and is a barrier that prevents one from advancing to higher aims.

There is no doubt that sadness is a trial and a hardship, and is in some ways similar to sickness. However, it is not a stage, level, or condition that the pious should actively seek out.