When the World is Against You - What To Do?

What do you do when everyone is working against you or trying to bring you down? 

Here’s a lesson from the Iran/Israel conflict to help you live your best life for this new Islamic year 1447. 

For over 40 years Iran has been targeted with sanctions by mainly Western countries. Sanctions imposed on the country itself, firms and individuals, these sanctions targeted its economy, financial system, technology, travel, trade and military defense – pretty much every aspect of their existence. The goal was to isolate Iran from global trade, restrict their growth and undermine their progress, and force regime change.

In addition, today more and more its is being observed that Nethanyahu has been campaigning for decades – 33 years by some accounts – that Iran is “this close” to having a nuclear bomb. And yet, during the conflict, many key stakeholders admitted that was a false narrative – there was no evidence by inspectors that this was the case.

What was Iran’s response? They didn’t spend time complaining about it, crying victim or fighting their aggressors. Instead, they found ways to survive and in some ways thrive. They found countries they can trade with and deepened those relationships; they found workarounds for the sanctions, and they developed what they called the resistance economy to replace imports with locally produced goods.

There’s a lesson here for when you are being sabotaged by other people. One is that some people will anything they can to break you down – lie, undermine, agitate and excite others to act against you, if they don’t like you, if they see you as a threat, and will do everything, by any means necessary, to bring you down.

The Quran tells us in 3:186 "And you will certainly be tried in your property and in yourselves."

You can spend your time thinking and talking about how unfair it is, but if you do this this is exactly what they want – to cripple you or handicap you or slow your progress. Instead, if you focus on building yourself and achieving your goals – using what you have, doing what you can, and working towards what you want to achieve, you will see your own progress and they will lag behind.

We are told in the Quran chapter 73:10-11 to have patience with what they say, and leave Allah to deal with them, and bear with them for a little while.

Also we are told in the Quran chapter 94:7 When you are free (from your immediate task), still work hard, still keep striving.