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By
Lorna Chepkwony
A student at
AIU (American International
University)
©
Copyright
In calamities, trials, tribulations, pain, disease there lies many
benefits that vary in accordance to the individual and also vary in
degrees of relevance. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala tells us:
Allah burdens not a
person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has
earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned.
Surah Al-Baqarah:286
With the onset of
calamities comes the realization of the greatness of Allah’s Lordship
and His all-encompassing power. All of mankind is in need of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and He is constantly engaged in fulfilling the
needs of the entire creation. He causes rain to fall in one part of
the world and causes another part to experience severe drought – all
this in a bid to test and try mankind to see who indeed will realize
the might and power of the Most High and therefore worship Him alone.
Humans are the slaves of
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and He is our Lord. Servitude entails
humility and dejection, although not all of mankind accepts this
concept, especially not the arrogant and those who wallow in disbelief
and ignorance. It is to this that the saying of Allah aza wa jal,
points to,
Those who, when
disaster strikes them, say, ‘we belong to Allah and to Him will we
return’.
Surah Al-Baqarah:156
They acknowledge that they
belong to Him, that they are but lowly servants of His, that they will
return to Him for judgment and are subject to His decree and
regulation. They know that there is no way of escape from Him nor is
there any refuge except in Him.
When one experiences
hardship, the realization that he or she cannot suppress the hardship
except by turning to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and acknowledging the
fact that there is no one to depend on to remove it except Him, brings
about a sincerity for Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
And when they embark
on a ship, they invoke Allah, making their Faith pure for Him only,
but when He bring them safely to land, behold, they give a share of
their worship to others.
Surah Al-‘Ankabut:65
And when harm
touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you
except Him (Allah Alone). But when He brings you safe to land, you
turn away (from Him). And man is ever ungrateful.
Surah Al-Isra’:67
Ibn Kathir in His Book of
Tafsir as regards the above verse, (17:67) said: ‘Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl
fled from Allah’s Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam at the time
when Makkah was conquered. He rode over the Red Sea to cross over to
Ethiopia, but as they proceeded, a heavy stormy wind overtook their
boat, and huge waves came to them from all sides, and they thought
that they are encircled therein. The people of the boat said to one
another: “None can save you except Allah. So invoke Him (Allah)(by
making your faith pure for Him Alone and none else) to deliver you
safe (from drowning).” ‘Ikrimah said to himself, “By Allah if none
can benefit in the sea except Allah (Alone) then no doubt none can
benefit over the land except Allah (Alone). O Allah! I promise You
that if you delivered me safe from this, I will go and put my hands in
the hands of Prophet Muhammad and surely, I will find him full of
pity, kindness and mercy.” So they were delivered safe (by Allah),
and returned to their seashore and came out of the sea. ‘Ikrimah then
proceeded to Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
narrated his story, embraced Islam (just as he promised Allah), and
became a perfect Muslim. (Tafsir ibn Katheer).
Facing calamities can
cause one to turn to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala in repentance –
‘rushing to do that which would please his Lord, turning back to Him
at every moment and foremost in doing that which He loves’.1
When harm touches
man he calls upon his Lord, turning in repentance to Him.
Surah Az-Zumar:8
Calling upon Allah
Subhanahu wa Ta’ala is a mark of servitude and exemplifies it.
Submissiveness and supplication are a show of a person’s need of Allah
and expresses his inability to change any matter himself or having any
power or ability.
Calamities can also bring
about training in forbearance, the ranking of which differs in
accordance to the magnitude of the calamity. A display of forbearance
at the onset of the severest calamities is ranked highly as far as
attaining the pleasure of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala for this is a
manifestation of being pleased with whatever He, in His unquestionable
Wisdom, has decreed.
The patient and
steadfast will be repaid their wages in full without reckoning.
Surah Az-Zumar:10
The Messenger of Allah sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam said,
None has been given a gift
better and more encompassing than patience.2
Endurance of trials and
tribulations patiently brings about expiation of sins and errors.
Any disaster that
strikes you is through what your own hands have earned and He pardons
much.
Surah ash-Shura:30
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, said,
The believer is not
afflicted with illness or hardship, even if it be a worry that
troubles him or a thorn that pricks him, except his sins would be
expiated as a result of it.3
Blessings are never truly
appreciated until one loses them. Thus when one is faced with
hardship, he attains an understanding of the greatness of blessing of
ease and well-being. The companions of the garden in Surah Qalam lost
their garden, a punishment from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala for their
failure to attribute their possessions as being a blessing from Allah
and thought themselves to be self-sufficient. When they lost the
garden, they turned back to Allah – repenting to Him and hoping that
He would replace it with something better.
Tribulation and hardship
prevents one from evil, vanity, boastfulness, arrogance and
oppression. If Nimrod had been a poor, weak, blind and deaf person, he
would never have argued with Ibrahim concerning His Lord; however, he
was deceived by his sovereignity:
What about the one
who argued with Ibrahim about his Lord, on the basis that Allah had
given him sovereignity?
Surah Al-Baqarah:258
Similarly, Pharaoh declared that he is
the Lord of the Egyptians the Most High, until when he faced the wrath
of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala which came in the form of drowning in the
sea. He uttered as such for he thought himself to be sovereign and he
was only humbled when he faced a dire calamity.
Shaytaan, who was evicted
from Paradise for his disobedience of Allah out of sheer pride, is an
enemy to mankind. He whispers to him, causing weak man to divert from
the obedience of his Lord. If Allah thus guides man, he returns to
Him in repentance, recognizing the attributes of Allah Subhanahu wa
Ta’ala of being oft-forgiving and the Most Merciful. Some of the
salaf used to say, “Indeed I am disobeying Allah! I know this because
of the behavior of my wife and livestock.” When a slave falls into
sin, one of the punishments is that they encourage the Shayateen to
grow bold against the sinner and consequently, they bombard him,
equipped with temptation, whispers, making him afraid and harm him.
They go forward in opposition to him, causing the servant to forget.
His well-being lies within remembering Allah and his destruction will
be the result of his forgetting.
Indeed the enmity between
man and Shaytan is old, commencing from the time that Adam (aleyhi
salaam) was created – from the time he was ordered to prostrate to
him. Shaytaan refused, became arrogant and hence disobeyed his Lord.
His arrogance and pride led him to commit a whole host of sins, it
made him expend every effort in misleading the children of Adam and
made him beautify and embellish sins such that they accepted them and
eagerly committed them. Due to this, Allah aza wa jal, revealed the
Books, sent the Messengers and enjoined His servants to various laws
and admonitions in order to secure them from the evil of Shaytan. Two
groups emerged: the guided and the misguided. The groups who were
guided are the inhabitants of Paradise and the group who were
misguided are the inhabitants of the Hellfire, and Allah aza wa jal
did not create anything in vain.
The above few wisdoms and
benefits behind the creating of evil in general, are some of what
cause mankind to be tried and tested, the highest level of severity
being experienced by the Prophets. They were accused of being insane,
ridiculed and mocked at, called poets and degraded. The Prophets and
the righteous have always faced trials and tribulations, with each
person being tried in proportion to his religion. Some of them would
be sawn in half but this would not cause them to renegade from their
faith. We ask of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala to make us steadfast on
His religion.
Footnotes
1ibn al-Qayyim, Madarij
as-Salikin[1/467]
2Bukhari [#1429] and Muslim
[#1053] on the authority of Abu Said al-Khudri
3Bukhari [#5641] and Muslim
[#2573]
Sources
v
The Noble Qur’an
v
Tafseer ibn Katheer
v
Trials and Tribulations, wisdom
and benefits by al-Imam al-‘Izz bin ‘Abdi-s-Salam with an appendix
from the work of ibn al Qayyim
v
The Decisive criterion between
the Friends of Allah and the friends of Shaytan by Ibn Taymiyyah
v
Sins and their punishments by
Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
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