Problems! Problems! Problems! There is no end to them. If it seems that I have no problems, do not worry, just wait a little while and one will surely come. It is either something bothering me, a family member, a friend, or the world at large. Can I ever be free of them? Or at least can I solve them instead of ignoring them, grumbling about them, or making them?

The next question is, what should we do once we find the cure? I know lots of people who have a certain problem and grumble about it and actually find a kind of joy in the attention they get from complaining. So in this way it is not so important to them that the problem is solved because they get happiness from complaining! I also know people who try to solve their problems without the help and guidance of Allah the Almighty and so actually end up making more problems. It is like a man who wants to renovate his home but he does not have the knowledge and expertise to do this. So he fumbles along, happily thinking he is doing a fine job only to discover in the end that he has destroyed more than he has fixed! Such a person may even blame his failure on his tools, the materials, other people, and a mountain of other flimsy excuses instead of admitting that he was acting without knowledge.

Allah the Almighty gave us the knowledge to live our lives in the right way, to have sources to refer to in order to solve problems—instead of trying to fix them ourselves using our limited knowledge and experience and allowing ourselves to be controlled by our desires.

When we find ourselves in a problem, we should turn to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace be upon him) because in these we will find the solution to every problem we might face in life. For example, many problems in life are found in marriage where the couple juggle what they think is each other's rights and obligations. They can argue about their opinions all their lives without coming to a workable solution. However, if they only referred to the sources of Islam, they would find everything clearly mapped out for them in the spirit of tolerance, generosity, and forgiveness. It's as simple as that. The problem, then, is not knowing what the solution is, but actually putting the solution into practice. The challenge is actually aligning our lives with the teachings and principles of Islam.

As another example we can look at how many problems and strife come from squabbles over inheritance. Again, so many people try to grasp as much wealth as they can without thinking or caring about the others. Such situations can destroy the relations between people—just because of some wealth! If only the people involved referred to the sources of Islam, all their troubles would disappear. If they did so, the inheritance would be shared out fairly and everyone would be content knowing they were following Allah's way and would have barakah.

The knowledge is there for the taking, but first of all we have to acknowledge that whenever man tries to solve his problems using his limited mind and insatiable desires, things usually get worse. Look at the world today and all the problems, turmoil, and strife that have come about because of man's waywardness, greed, and manipulation.

Allah the Almighty tells us to establish peace and justice, to speak the truth, to help the poor, to be kind to our neighbors, to take care of our families, and to generally be a source of love and goodness wherever we are and whomever we are with. Follow these guidelines and see how good, kind, happy, and peaceful the world will be!

But all this means putting Islam into practice—not just arguing and debating over its principles and reading it in theory. It means really doing what it says because Islam is the cure of all the ills that man suffers from. It is the way to guide us through the problems and difficulties of life. It shows us the way to be close to the Creator and how to earn His pleasure and reward. It guides us to fulfill our potential as individual human beings and to come to the stage that when we leave this earth, we will leave a trail of goodness and positive action behind us.

So no doubt, life is full of problems and troubles. But what makes me wonder is that there are so many Muslims in the world today and yet there is still so much trouble and strife. Surely, if all the Muslims were standing up for peace, equality, and justice, and spreading piety wherever they are, the world would calm down and be more stable and happy! So what has happened?

We have the cure (the Qur'an and the Sunnah) and Muslims all over the world recite the Qur'an in Arabic and even hold competitions for recitation. So what is missing? I think it is something like this: