Celia Ford from Vox News:

In 2023 alone, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) poured $1.25 billion into research studying how mental illness manifests in the brain. People are prescribed more psychiatric drugs now than ever, while talking openly about depression, anxiety, and ADHD isn’t just becoming less stigmatized — online at least, it’s almost cool.

Almost cool, referring to romanticized versions of depression and mental illness that you almost wish you had. It’s just like what a Pharmacist I knew who would see the commercials for Valtrex on TV, showing an attractive girl taking a walk on the beach. His words were priceless and stick with me to this day:

“Man, that commercial is so good it makes you want to have herpes.”

Back to the article, and the lies about psychiatric medications:

Despite the popular framing of mental illnesses as being fundamentally caused by electrochemical imbalances in the brain, a pile of evidence decades in the making suggests the truth is much more complicated. It’s the biggest open secret in neuroscience — psychiatric medications often don’t work.

Just read the first paragraph of this article to see Psychiatry’s Grand Confession.

The chemical imbalance theory was mainly spread by the Pharmaceutical companies, which should not be a shock to anyone.

Do some of these medications work for patients some of the time? Of course they do, but you could say that about a lot of things. You could throw a pill at a problem, and it could work for a lot of people, but at the same time harm the other half of the population that it is not working for:

If drugs that alter chemical signaling in the brain are capable of silencing auditory hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, then brain chemistry must somehow explain mental illness, at least in part. But while medications like antidepressants and antipsychotics make many people feel a lot better, they make just as many — or more — feel the same or even worse. (Prescribing the right meds for the right condition is mostly a guess, and the wrong match can accidentally shoot someone into a manic episode, for example.)

People have been ignoring their fitra for so long, and they have been avoiding what matters most: their connection with Allah. While medicine in general does have its place, nothing can bring that peace and tranquility like the remembrance of Allah:

ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ ٢٨

Those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah. Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort. (Surah Rad - 13:28)

The moment we were waiting for had finally arrived.

It is always an emotional scene for many including myself, but I was not sure how my kids would react. The 7yr old was just not feeling well and I didn’t expect much of a reaction from her, but my 10 and 12 yr olds were old enough to appreciate what we were about to lay our eyes on.

They were also quite tired and jet-lagged over the past week of activities in Madinah, so I was not really sure how they would react when seeing the Ka’ba for the first time. 

When that moment finally came, and my two oldest children lifted their heads up to finally get a glance at the Ka’ba, they immediately started tearing up. 

Subhan Allah. 

It was a pleasant surprise for me and also made me a bit more emotional, because I realized that my wife and I are doing something right. 

We have done something right in order to make them feel emotionally attached to the house of Allah.

All those years of teaching the kids about who Allah is, His magnificent status, and how He is deserving of all worship, the Seerah lessons, etc, it all was worth it. 

It is one of my most prized memories that I will ever have when going for Umrah.

It gives me comfort in knowing that they are attached to Islam, but also it gives me the drive to keep on treading forward. 

Shaytan wants me to take it easy, but I will not take it easy. 

Au contraire mon frére.

This minor victory is a victory, but it is not a license to become complacent. 

Just like when Rocky Balboa was getting plummeted by Ivan Drago, and it seemed like the fight was over, Rocky finallythrew a right hook and cut the Russian giant, shattering his confidence, and allowing Rocky to gain huge momentum.

Rocky didn’t stop at that one punch, but that punch exposed the fallible nature of the Russian giant, and made Rocky go all out for the victory in the end.

Even better, when the Prophet ﷺ freed the Arabian Peninsula from idol worship, they Muslims didn’t stop there.

They kept going and doubled down on spreading Islam!

Every victory you see from your child’s manifestation of Islam should be a motivational tool to make you double down on your quest for knowledge and teaching that knowledge to your children.

Complacency is not an option.

Complacency is never the option.

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P.S. On a side note, not everyone reacts the same way emotionally during circumstances like this one (seeing the Ka’ba for the first time). Some people don’t feel that overwhelming emotion until after they start making tawaf, or even days later. People are different, and crying at first glance vs not crying at first glance does not necessarily mean one is more or less pious. 

Yet another reason not to be complacent.