• Thanksgiving: Prostration in gratitude to God
You have mentioned in the past that there is no prayer of thanksgiving in Islam, but one prostration is the method of thanking God for a happy event. Could you please give us some evidence supporting that from the Qur’an or the Sunnah.
A single prostration, or sajdah, is recommended when a person receives some happy news or when some evil is averted. It is reported that "When the Prophet, peace be upon him, received something pleasant or was given some happy news, he would prostrate himself in gratitude to God." (Related by Abu Dawood, At-Tirmithi and Ibn Majah.)
Abdurrahman ibn Auf, the Prophet’s companion, reports that one day he followed the Prophet, peace be upon him, until he saw he prostrated himself. "His prostration was very long, until I feared that he might have died. I went in to find out, and he lifted his head and said, "What is the matter, Abdurrahman?" I told him what I feared. He said: "Gabriel came and conveyed to me that God has promised to bless anyone who prays Him to bless me, and will give peace to anyone who asks Him to grant me peace. I prostrated myself in gratitude to God for His grace." (Related by Ahmad and Al-Hakim who says that this is the most authentic Hadith he knows on the subject of thanksgiving.)
The prostration of thanks, or sajdat al-shukr, was practiced also by the Prophet’s companions. There are reports of many of them offering it on different occasions. The best known report is that of Ka’ab ibn Malik when he was given the happy news of God’s forgiveness of his offense of not joining the Prophet, peace be upon him, on the expedition to Tabuk.
• Therapy through being more religious
From my early years I was troubled by day-dreaming and fascinations. Now I am middle-aged with heart disease. I have been consulting a psychotherapist, but with little results. He has recommended deep thinking, but when I do I feel that I should think about God the Almighty. I do not precisely know what to think and how. Some people suggest to be more religious, but again I do not know how to do that. I attend to my religious duties but I do not know how to be more religious. Please advise.
I fail to see the connection between what you have described of your condition and your consultation with psychotherapists on the one hand, and your heart trouble on the other. As you have said in your letter, the latter is a physical condition for which you need the help of a cardiologist. But it seems to me that you are troubled by your day-dreaming, which is most probably caused by a combination of a sensitive nature and an aspiration to better living conditions. All people have daydreams when they are young, but as they grow older this is tempered by the realities of life. In your case, you may still be troubled by a deep sense of lack of fulfillment. Perhaps you feel that life should have offered you more than you have actually got. I am only speculating because I do not have sufficient details.
If this is the case, then my advice to you is that you should start nurturing a sense of contentment. You should look at yourself and what you have achieved in life and compare it to what others are going through. You will realize that whatever your situation is like [it could be worse], there are people who suffer worse conditions through no fault of theirs. This may lead you to ask: "What is then the purpose of life? Is it suffering?" The answer to this is that this present life of ours is a test. There are as many versions of this test as there are human beings. Each single one of us must prove that he or she is worthy of God's grace and eternal happiness in heaven. We do that by accepting what God has given us, realizing that His blessings bestowed even on the most miserable human being outweigh by far the difficulties he goes through. Therefore, we have to believe in God, the One, the Eternal, the Most Fair and offer what little gratitude we can to demonstrate this.
People advise you to be more religious. I concur with their advice, but that does not merely mean that you should offer more voluntary prayers or voluntary fasting, or give more to charity, etc. It means that you should develop a better understanding of Islam and know why you believe in God and why you worship Him. That comes through study and a realization that Islam provides a complete code of living. As you begin to develop this understanding of your faith, you will find that you are better able to cope. Your better sense of your faith will tell you that there is much more that you can do in your time than spending hours day-dreaming. You need to fill your time with useful pursuits. Try to have as little time alone as possible. All this may be of help. I pray that you will soon be able to sort out your problem.
Is it sufficient to use toilet paper after urinating, if the washroom where water is available is unclean?
If trying to use the water is likely to cause getting dirty clothes, or you are not sure whether there is an impurity in the area, then it is far better not to use it. Cleaning oneself with toilet paper after passing water is sufficient.
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