"Why do bad things always happen to me?" "Why do I always have to suffer?" "Why do difficulties and calamities exist in this world?"
Do these questions sound familiar? Did they ever cross you mind?
Well as Muslims we should know why people suffer and go through hardships. There are many Islamic lectures and websites that explain the answers to these questions.
I decided to compile all the answers and put them into this article. :)
Difficulties and Sufferings
In this life, we will face many different kinds of problems and hardships.
And it's completely normal. We are supposed to go through some tough times here and then.
"If the world was free of problems, paradise would lose it's value.” - Mufti Menk.
"So what if this life isn't perfect? It's not Jannah,"- Nouman Ali Khan
First we have to understand that as human beings, we are inherently limited. Humanity is a limited creation. So, human beings can never fully understand or completely comprehend 1) Allah (swt) Himself and 2) the rationale that Allah (swt) has for doing what He does.
Human beings are limited and Allah (swt) is Limitless.
We believe there are certain virtues to trials, tribulations, and sufferings. But we also believe there are certain causes.
Causes of Hardships
1) It was from the Qadr of Allah. The difficulty was supposed to happen.
64:11 "No disaster strikes except by permission of Allah . And whoever believes in Allah - He will guide his heart. And Allah is Knowing of all things."
The difficulty you are going through was supposed to happen to you. It was already decreed. So we shouldn't say "if this happened," or "i should have done this instead" because whatever happened was already written down in our Qadr. This calamity or difficulty was "like an arrow that was shot and was supposed to hit you exactly when, where, how deep and how badly, it was already decided. It is perfect hit." -Nouman Ali Khan
2) Difficulty hits you because of what you did:
Sufferings can be as a result of our actions. Our mistakes tend to bring on difficulties onto ourselves. When we make a mistake, the residual effect of that mistake is another mistake. You have to take responsibility for your actions.
For example, if you drive extremely fast and then get a speeding a ticket, that's your fault.
Or if you didn't study and then get a 50 on the final exam, it's because you didn't study.
We have to acknowledge the fact that we were the ones that messed up.
Our acts can also have affect on our Ummah and our community. We can be the source of societal difficulties as well.
**When things happen to you that are out of your control, they are from Allah. (i.e. flood, car hits you, diagnosed with disease). When things happen within our control, we have to take responsibility.
3) Our misdeeds and sins tend to bring on difficulties onto ourselves.
Allah (swt) will test the one who committed sins and acts of disobedience with calamity by way of recompense and immediate punishment (i.e., in this world).
4:79 "What comes to you of good is from Allah , but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself. And We have sent you, [O Muhammad], to the people as a messenger, and sufficient is Allah as Witness."
Reasons for Suffering and Hardships
1) Allah (swt) is testing you. By going through this pain and suffering and not finding the relief, it may be that this is a test from Allah (swt).
2:155 And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient,
29:2 Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe" and they will not be tried?
2:214“Or think you that you will enter Paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with severe poverty and ailments and were so shaken that even the Messenger and those who believed along with him said, ‘When (will come) the Help of Allah?’ Yes! Certainly, the Help of Allah is near!Calamities and hardships test the strength of our Imaan (beliefs) and our patience.
2) Allah (swt) loves you. When Allah (swt) loves you, He does something to bring you closer to Him.
If Allah intends good for someone, then He afflicts him with trials. Source: Sahih Bukhari 5321,
The prophet (saws) said, "When Allah loves someone, He will put him into difficulties," (Tarmidhee)
3) When Allah afflicts you with some kind of hardship, it's actually good for you. During times of difficulty, you tend to make more Du'a. By consistently making Dua to Allah, you're getting closer to Allah (swt). Your levels of sincerity become so high and you become a better Muslim.
“The greatest reward comes with the greatest trial. When Allaah loves a people He tests them. Whoever accepts that wins His pleasure but whoever is discontent with that earns His wrath.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2396) and Ibn Maajah (4031); classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi
What To Do During Difficulties
1) Say, Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi Raji un إِنَّا للهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ
2:156 "Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: "Truly! To Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return."
When a calamity hits you, the first thing you should say is" Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un."
Saying "We belong to Allah" reminds us that Allah owns us. How can we complain about anything because we're not the owner of anything; Allah owns us. We deserve nothing, we didn't earn anything. We take our eyes, our nose, our tongues for granted, but we didn't pay for it; it doesn't belong to us. It belongs to Allah.
Then we say, "We will return to Allah." This reminds us that our problems are not permanent. Whatever problem you're having right now isn't permanent; whether it's money problems, emotional struggles, health problems, family problems, it's temporary.
Because
"you and I aren't permanent, how can our problems be permanent? This problem is nothing, forget the problem, I will leave. Not only will this problem not be around, I wont be around. I will be returned back to Allah." -Nouman Ali Khan.
2) Have sabr (patience). When something bad happens, have patience. For a Muslim, the attitude should be entirely different. Maybe the goal of the entire trouble you are going through was so you could have sabr. The real goal was to learn to have sabr. 3) Stay positive. At least the tribulation was in this dunya and not your deen. that it could be worse than it is, that it's in your worldly matters and not in your deen.You got tribulation in this dunya, but not in your deen. For example, you lost your job, but at least you didn't miss your prayer; you lost your wealth, Alhamdullilah you didn't lose your Imaan.
The Prophet
said:“Whoever is mainly concerned about the Hereafter, Allah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place. But whoever is mainly concerned with this world, Allah will make him feel in constant need of others and will make him distracted and unfocused, and he will get nothing of this world except what is decreed for him.” [Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2389; classed as Saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6510].
Benefits of Sufferings
1) Expiation of sins- When you go through a difficulty and bear it with patience, inshAllah your sins will be cleared out.
The Prophet (saws) said, “How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2999).
2) It makes your path in the next life easy. The difficulty in this life acts as a accelerator for someone's ease in the next life.
Muslim reports from 'Abdullaah ibn 'Amr (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said "The poor of the Muhajireen will enter Paradise forty years ahead of the rich". (Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 2/663, no. 5235)
Since poor people went through so much difficulty in this life, Allah will remove the difficulty from their path in the next life.
3) When we go through difficult times, we learn to devalue this dunya. This dunya is nothing compared to the Hereafter. Your Imaan is directly related to how convinced you are that this dunya is dust. When you view this dunya in a way that's not important, then all of a sudden, your hardships and trials are less damaging.
4) You only appreciate light when you've been in the dark. You only appreciate ease when you've been in pain. When Allah gives you a trial, you begin to appreciate the absence of trial.
5)You worship Allah in times of good and bad. When we get too much comfort, we become apathetic. This dunya is not meant to achieve the ultimate comfort or pinnacle of comfort.
6) We will be introduced to the hills of difficulty so that the valleys of ease become much sweeter and so that we don't lose focus of our relationship with Allah (swt) when we're in the valley of ease.
Suffering enhances our joy.
Things are put into perspective. Putting things in perspective makes you worry about what really matters. When you don't put things in perspective, you can focus on the wrong thing.
Copyright Muslim and I Know It
