Stress Management in Islam: The Quranic Perspective
Islam has provided us with many effective ways to prevent and cure stress.
Stress used to mean only pressure on the body, but gradually it came to mean any physical or mental tension. Finally, in the twentieth century, it was used to mean nervous pressure, and now it somehow refers to all the pressures one goes through in life.
Not all stress is harmful as a certain amount of stress is necessary for life.
Scientists consider two types of stress: good and bad. Good stress is pleasant and produces good results, such as stimulating activities and personal creativity. Falling in love, getting married, and having a baby cause stress that is positive and helps to increase one's willpower and tenacity to achieve a goal. But bad stress happens when you feel you have no control over the situation that is causing you stress.
In the Holy Quran, words like "khauf" refer to the concept of stress. Khauf is a kind of fear that makes one restless.
How can one confront (bad) stress? Islam has offered us good ways and solutions to prevent and cure stress.
The most important solution introduced by the Quran to confront psychological pressures is having faith in God. Faith in God cures both stress (khauf) and depression (huzn).
God says in Verse 112 of Surah Al-Baqarah: “However, one who accepts Islam in submission to God and does good, will have his reward with God. Such people will have nothing to fear nor to grieve about.”
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According to Quran interpreters, khauf is the fear of the future and huzn is the sorrow of the past.
Faith in God calms one's mind both about his past (because he knows that God will forgive him for his past mistakes) and about his future (because he knows that all future events are in God's power and that whatever happens will be in his interest).
