Orland Park Prayer Center

The Prayer Center of Orland Park

As-Salaam: the ultimate source of peace. It is one of the 99 names of Allah SWT revealed that is among the most known by us. However, anxiety and fear are emotions every single one of us has felt at one point or another. At the January GPS program, Hassan Elwan taught us the power and importance of our connection with As-Salaam and how it helps us find peace.

“If we are not in peace, we can never give peace. And if we are not close to the source of peace [As-Salaam/Allah SWT], we can never be in peace.” These are wise words spoken by Hassan Elwan. It is unrealistic to think that for us to be peaceful and happy there have to be no stresses in life and no problems around us. We have to learn to find our peace DESPITE the stresses and problems that occur in life. Life is a test. This world is meant to be imperfect. If we learn to find our peace through that, it all becomes much easier to deal with. As Hassan said, “Sailing with Allah in this life does not mean we encounter no waves, but it means you are sailing in a boat that cannot be wrecked.” Even our beloved prophets, the best of creation, were afraid or stressed at times. The difference between us and them is that they did not run away from their problems and had faith that Allah SWT is always with them. We are afraid of uncertainty, but they knew that they had the best of planners on their side. The remembrance of Allah SWT is how we find our peace. This does not mean that we will not encounter hardship; it means that we can make the most amazing acts of worship happen while we are in hardship.

May Allah SWT give us the strength and faith to look towards Him to find inner peace, even when there is chaos occurring on the outside. Hassan Elwan gave us plenty of pointers on how to achieve that. Please feel free to watch the full lecture on Facebook @GPSOPPC and enjoy!

GPS is a monthly program for college students and young adults that is held at the Orland Park Prayer Center every third Saturday of every month. Thank you to Hassan Elwan for coming out all the way from California to give us such practical and needed advice. May Allah SWT reward you. And may He SWT give every one of us the ability to implement the tips we received in order to find our peace and spread peace.

By Aydah Nofal

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