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The first exercise is for us to consciously realize that God knows. Whatever grief we go through, whatever hardship we endure, we must understand that we are never alone. Even if we feel abandoned by the world and those closest to us, God is there. He reminds us in the Quran: {Fear not. Indeed, I am with you [both]; I hear and I see.} (Ta-Ha 20: 46)
As long as we begin by recognizing that God is with us and He is close to us, there remains a solution to our inner worries. There are things we need to know in order to develop our relationship with God. Then there are things we need to do in order to maintain that closeness to God. And finally, there are things we need to aspire for to achieve the ideal relationship with our Lord. We pray that by the end of the series, we will all have developed a stronger relationship with God.
In July 2006, I was watching the news report on Israel’s devastating attack on Lebanon. As I saw the images of severed bodies and heard the cries for help, the frustration and helplessness I felt was overwhelming. So I decided to pray while reciting from the Quran. As I was reading, I arrived at the verse:
{Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, ‘When is the help of Allah?’ Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.} (Al-Baqarah 2: 214)
And that was the answer. As human beings, we will be tested. But this doesn’t mean that we are going to live our lives in perpetual hardship, because ‘unquestionably, the help of God is near.’ So what does it mean when we are going through hardship? Is God angry with us? What if there is no way out?
Whenever we go through hardship, there are things we need to know with certainty. God tells us in the Quran:
{[…] Allah will bring about, after hardship, ease.} (At-Talaq 65: 7)
Certain hardships are so consuming that we cannot focus on anything but the difficulty. But we have to remember that if we were to enumerate the blessings of God, we would not be able to count them. Reminding ourselves of the other blessings in our lives helps us to see the test within the context of the grand scheme of things. Just the fact that you can make prostration, and call out, “O Allah!” is a blessing that surpasses all others.
There is a purpose behind the trial, and this purpose corresponds to our internal state and our relationship with God. God has 99 Names, and it should suffice us to know that He is the most merciful, the most just and the most wise. Your test is not being put upon you by a random being, but by God, who is closer to us than our jugular vein.
Tests are a way to purify us. The Prophet said: “No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that,” (Al-Bukhari).
Our ultimate aim is to earn God’s pleasure and paradise, and all of us fall short in truly worshiping God as He should be worshiped. Many of us fail to ask for forgiveness regularly, or to reflect on our state and return to God. These tests, as burdensome as they are, ease our burden on the Day of Judgment, if we respond with patience.
Trials also have a way of reminding us of our purpose. If we are far from God, the test is usually to bring us close to Him. Whatever heedlessness we are engaging in, the test should make us realize we have no one, no one at all, but Him.
If we are close to God, it is to test our resilience. Are we only close to God in times of ease, or does our trust extend to the times of hardship? When we are tested, do we leave the good deeds that we used to do? God describes such people in the following verse:
{And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face [to the other direction]. He has lost [this] world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss.} (Al-Hajj 22: 11)
This may seem counter-intuitive, but tests are also out of God’s love. The Prophet said: “When Allah loves a servant, He tests him,” (At-Tirmidhi). In a sacred hadith God tells Jibreel to delay the response to the du`a’ of a servant because Allah loves hearing his voice (At-Tabarani).
Sometimes the answer to a test is that need for God, those long hours spent in the night, and the tears of sincerity.
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This article first appeared at Suhaibwebb.com. It is republished with slight editorial modifications.
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