Testing, Affliction and Calamities

EVERYTHING HAS BEEN PREORDAINED

Allaah سبحانه وتعالى preordained everything for us including our sustenance and our life spans. Allaah سبحانه وتعالى says in Surah az-Zukhruf, verse 32:

نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّعِيشَتَهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا

{…It is We Who portion out between them their livelihood in this world...} [az-Zukhruf 43:32]

Our sustenance and livelihood are preordained with clear and certain measures. Illness is preordained, one’s welfare is preordained; everything in this life is preordained. So a person should accept what Allaah has preordained for him and should not hate, dislike or feel discomfort regarding the preordainments of the Almighty and All-Wise. On understanding that a certain test is a part of the decree of Allaah, one should submit his affair to Allaah and know that whatever befalls him could not have missed him and whatever misses him could not have befallen him.


HOW THE BELIEVER DEALS WITH TESTS AND TRIALS

Whosoever wants their life be monotonic (always according to his wishes and without trials), it is as if he wants the pre-decree of Allaah to be in accordance with his desires. This is wishful thinking. No matter what pre-ordinance or test occurs it a matter that is good for the believer. However, this is conditional upon the believer’s gratefulness to Allaah for His favours and his being patient during times of trial.

It is reported in Saheeh Muslim that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “Amazing is the affair of the believer. His affair for him is all good, and this is for none except the believer. If he is touched by something good and he gives thanks, then it is good for him. And if he is touched by a calamity or hardship and he is patient then this is good for him.”[3]

Allaah سبحانه وتعالى stated in Surah an-Nisaa’, verse 19:

فَعَسَى أَن تَكْرَهُواْ شَيْئاً وَيَجْعَلَ اللّهُ فِيهِ خَيْراً كَثِيراً

{…it may be that you dislike a thing through which Allaah brings a great deal of good.} [An Nisaa’ 4:19]

And in surah al-Baqarah, verse 216:

وَعَسَى أَن تَكْرَهُواْ شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَعَسَى أَن تُحِبُّواْ شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَّكُمْ وَاللّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

{…and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allaah knows but you do not know.} [Al-Baqarah 2:216]

One should recognize that Allaah is the One who tests him and also the One who bestows favours upon him. He should also know that not all that he dislikes is to be disliked in reality, and likewise, not everything which he desires is in reality beneficial for him. {Allaah knows and you do not know}.

Some of the Salaf رحمهم الله said “If you are afflicted by a calamity and you are a patient, then your calamity is one. But if you are not patient, then your calamity is doubled - losing the reward and losing the beloved one, the Hereafter (Paradise).” This saying of some of the Salaf is in relation to what Allaah سبحانه وتعالى mentions in Surah al-Hajj, verse 11:

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ عَلَى حَرْفٍ فَإِنْ أَصَابَهُ خَيْرٌ اطْمَأَنَّ بِهِ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ فِتْنَةٌ انقَلَبَ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةَ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْخُسْرَانُ الْمُبِينُ

{And among mankind is he who worships Allaah as it were upon the edge (i.e. in doubt): if good befalls him, he is content therewith; but if a trial befalls him he turns back on his face (i.e. reverts to disbelief after embracing Islaam). He loses both this world and the Hereafter. That is the evident loss.} [Al-Hajj 22:11]

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