Your heart sinks… you check both your front and back pocket and don’t feel the lump of your phone or wallet.

You have four options, what do you do?

A) Panic
B) Start crying
C) Get angry and automatically assume someone must have stole it
D) Take a deep breath, regroup your emotions and retrace your steps. Next, you remember to recite a dua you saw on a site called MyIslam.org.

The answer is D as I am sure you guessed, but the natural reactions most of us have are A, B, and C.

Our minds are biologically wired to assume the worse case scenario to protect our being. It’s the self-preservation mechanism we have built in us. Unfortunately for many the mind naturally jumps to the worse possible thing.

We can inherently understand how this does not help remedy the situation but yet when tragedy strikes we tend to react in the same manner every-time.

Realize the next time you lose something to take a quick breather and have an inner optimistic dialogue as it will assuredly move you closer towards finding a solution. Acting with extreme emotion in anything often makes matters worse.

Allah (SWT) has said, “And be patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are the patient” (Surah Al-Anfal – Ayat 46)

So again, remain calm. Take a deep breath. Don’t jump to conclusions.

Now that you completed that step, here’s a dua you can recite to ask Allah to help you find the missing item.

A Dua to recite to find lost thing.

Transliteration: Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un
Translation: We indeed belong to ALLAH, and we indeed toward Him are returning.

You’ve likely heard this Dua before but probably in a different context. This is commonly recited by Muslims when a person experiences a tragedy in life, most typically heard upon news that a person has past away. The phrase also applies in situations that involve risk of any sort.

Does this really work?

This forum user claims, “it works everytime” I would argue that it doesn’t work every time, but it is important to remember Allah in times like these.

There is a hadith that says Allah is “near to the thought of my servant as he thinks about me, and I am with him as he remembers me. And if he remembers me in his heart, I also remember him in my heart” (Sahih Muslim #2675)

Here’s another dua you can recite that may help find the missing item.

Anta tahadi min al-daula

How To Deal With The Loss

There is no guarantee that Allah will grant us what we want. This is where the forum user was wrong. At the end of the day Allah alone knows what is best for us and we have to believe that He will give us the best.

This may be a test to practice our patience, to see how we respond. Do we lose trust in Allah just because we lost some object that he had given us?

Sometimes we may not even understand the true impact of the situation. It could be a blessing in disguise, a way for Allah to protect us from what we do not know.

The best way I have personally been able to deal with losses is to enjoy material comforts as they’re there, but don’t miss them if they are gone.

To treat the things you don’t have as nonexistent.

Reality is when you feel you have lost something it’s your choice how you want to react, its your choice to feel a certain way.

The reason we feel hurt or pain is because we have attached meaning to these items and when it’s gone we feel we lost a piece of what makes us, us.

Think about that… If you dropped a penny on the floor how much sleep would you lose once you realized it was gone? My guess would be not a lot.

The reason you sleep pretty knowing of the loss is simply because the penny has no real significance or meaning to you. You don’t feel as though you have lost something and since you have no emotional attachment you don’t really think twice about it.

This is harder to do when it’s an iPhone or even a $20 bill. But remember you’re powerful, you get to control the narrative and that’s freedom.

For some remembering that this life on earth is temporary helps. Muslims understand the main goal is Jannah which can help deal with coping.

“If Allah knows [any] good in your hearts, He will give you [something] better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” Surah Anfal verse 70

Related Post You May Find Interested: Dua Before Driving Car

Another great tactic is to break down the item of desire strictly in the materials used to create it. After all what is an iPhone but a device that was scraped together using metal, plastic, and glass bound together by some screws. This can help to re-evaluate your desire for the item and stop you from over glamorizing it.

Try this, get a piece a paper and write down the components that make up the thing you lost. You’ll see how silly it really is to get upset over few metal scraps.

Islamic Ruling When You Are The Finder Of A Missing Item

Let’s reverse the roles and say you are the finder of the missing item. You may have found a Samsung SMART TV on the sidewalk or more realistically money on the ground. What does Islam say you should do?

The first is to never try to conceal or hide the item found. You may think you’re getting it for free but you’ll end up paying for it.

Narrated Abu Hurayrah: The Prophet (pubh) said: He who hides a stray camel shall pay a fine, and a like compensation with it. Sunan Abi Dawud 1718 Sahih (Al-Albani)

Next, you must do all you can to ensure it finds it’s rightful owner.

Narrated Ubai bin Ka’b: I found a purse containing one hundred Diners. So I went to the Prophet (and informed him about it), he said, “Make public announcement about it for one year” I did so, but nobody turned up to claim it, so I again went to the Prophet who said, “Make public announcement for another year.”

I did, but none turned up to claim it. I went to him for the third time and he said, “Keep the container and the string which is used for its tying and count the money it contains and if its owner comes, give it to him; otherwise, utilize it.” The sub-narrator Salama said, “I met him (Suwaid, another sub-narrator) in Mecca and he said, ‘I don’t know whether Ubai made the announcement for three years or just one year.’ ” (Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 42, Number 608)

The finder should not take the item unless he is certain that he can be trusted to keep it. He must be able to make the necessary announcements until he finds the owner. Whoever does not feel that he can trust himself to do should pass on responsibility to someone who will.

In today’s social media world making announcements can be easier than in Prophet Muhammad’s time, peace and blessing upon him. You can join Facebook groups for your city or state and announce that you found this item. If found in Masjid or public place you can leave it with staff and allow them to make the necessary announcement.

Conclusion

Remember the next time you lose something to stay calm and do not get emotional.
Take a deep breath and recite the Dua for lost item. Allah remembers those who remember him.

If after some time you can’t find the item, take a break and try again later. If all hope seems lost, remember this world is temporary and not to be to invested in material items. Allah may be testing your patience or protecting you from that you do not know.

To deal with loss it helps to break down the item to the materials that make it up. This allows us to stop glamorizing the product and to see it for what it truly is. Often just metal, glass, and plastic.

Before you leave, please check out post we put on regarding the 99 Names of Allah We wrote an extensive guide explaining each name in details.

I will leave you with one last story from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):