Why Hardships and Calamities?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Whenever we go through hardship or whenever we see or hear a calamity, there are things we need to know with certainty.

سَيَجْعَلُ ٱللَّـهُ بَعْدَ عُسْرٍ يُسْرًا ﴿٧

... Allah will bring about, after hardship, ease. (7)

[Qur’an At-Talaq 65:7]

Certain hardships or calamities are so consuming that we cannot focus on anything but the difficulty. But if we were to enumerate the blessings of Allah Almighty, we would not be able to count them. Reminding ourselves of the other blessings in our lives allows us to see the hardship within the context of the grand scheme of things. Just the fact that you can crawl out of bed this morning and pray, and call out, “O Allah!” is a blessing that surpasses all others. This is the time to develop our relationship with Allah Almighty.

There is a purpose behind hardships, and this purpose corresponds to our internal state and our relationship with Allah. Allah has 99 Beautiful Names, and it should suffice us to know that He is the Most Merciful, the Most Just and the Most Wise. The hardships are not put upon us by a random being, but by the Almighty Allah, who is closer to us than our jugular vein.

Tests are a way to purify us. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam, 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.

[Bukhari].

Our ultimate aim on this earth is to earn Allah’s love and mercy, and in the next life, the highest Paradise and His Noble Countenance. All of us fall short in truly worshiping Allah as He should be worshiped. Many of us fail to ask for forgiveness by day and by night, or not even after each prayer, or to reflect on our state and return to Allah. These trials, as burdensome as they are, ease our burden during the test and on the Day of Judgment, if we respond with patience, for Allah is with the patient.

Just the fact that we lack the certainty of His promise that He does not burden a soul more than it can handle, by our lack of patience with the hardships or calamity, is a shortcoming.

Allah Almighty says,

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّـهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity...

[Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:286]

Trials and difficulties also have a way of reminding us of our purpose. If we are far from Allah, 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 Allah. So turn to Him, and cry your heart out for Him.

If we are close to Allah, it is to test our resilience. Are we only close to Allah 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? Don't be like those people for Allah describes those people as someone who has lost everything.

Allah Almighty says,

وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَعْبُدُ ٱللَّـهَ عَلَىٰ حَرْفٍ ۖ فَإِنْ أَصَابَهُۥ خَيْرٌ ٱطْمَأَنَّ بِهِۦ ۖ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ فِتْنَةٌ ٱنقَلَبَ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِۦ خَسِرَ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلْخُسْرَانُ ٱلْمُبِينُ ﴿١١

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. (11)

[Qur’an Al-Hajj 22:11]

Tests are also out of Allah’s love. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam, said, "When Allah loves a servant, He tests him,” [Tirmidhi]. In a hadith qudsi (a hadith relating the words of Allah, Allah tells Jibreel to delay the response to the du`a’ of a servant because Allah loves hearing his voice [Tabarani]. Sometimes the answer to a test is that need for Allah, those long hours spent in the night, and the tears of sincerity.

So don't despair. It's only a test. We are not going to live our lives in perpetual hardship, because 'unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.'

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ خَلَوْا۟ مِن قَبْلِكُم ۖ مَّسَّتْهُمُ ٱلْبَأْسَآءُ وَٱلضَّرَّآءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ ٱلرَّسُولُ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ ٱللَّـهِ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ نَصْرَ ٱللَّـهِ قَرِيبٌ ﴿٢١٤

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. (214)

[Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:214]

May Allah make us of those who constantly turn to Him, in hardship and ease. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Please make du'a for the crew and passengers and their families of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 that disappeared yesterday. Jazakum Allahu khairan. May Allah send them relief and grant them patience. Ameen.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam