Lightening Pains During Tribulations

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

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Let the pain of tribulation be lightened for you
by knowing that it is He Most Glorious who is making trial of you;

For Him from whom you are faced with the blows of fate
is He who has accustomed you to His choosing well.

[Hikam Ibn 'Ata Illah]

Difficult times are opportunities for us to get to know Allah through His Majesty. When Allah sends a difficult time it is a reminder to us about our neediness of our Lord. It spurs us to Him. When it does that, then it is something good because anything that spurs us to Allah is good for us. We believe that hidden in the difficulty is something good for us although we may not understand what it is.

When Allah sends us difficulties, we should remember all of the favors that He has lavished upon us. We should remember the blessing of our health; we should remember the blessing of our limbs (eyes, feet, hands, fingers, toes...); we should remember the blessing of living in a place where no bombs are being dropped next door; and countless other blessings which Allah has bestowed upon us. So, you can infer that there is goodness in the tribulations because He has accustomed you to His choosing well for you.

This may be understood with respect to your relationship with your mother. You know that your mother did not spare anything looking after you since you were born, spends her money on you, and making all the many sacrifices a mother would do for their children. When your mother tells you to do something that you might feel difficult or unpleasant and if you are thinking logically and reasonably, you can conclude, from your experience with her, that she is making you do it out of love for you and wanting what's best for you, not out of dislike for you.

If we reflect upon Allah’s generosity in lavishing His blessings upon us, then it is easy for us to think the best of Allah in difficult times and lighten our pain.

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Allah the Most High said, ‘I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly greater than it. If he draws near to Me a hand’s length, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

When something bad happens to you, your thinking there is good in it will make good in it. How? Least of all, by your patience and your good opinion of Allah in this difficult time will be your good deed on the Day of Judgment.

If you think that this is bad and you get frustrated, and accusing that Allah always done the worse for you, so that is what's happening to you. Because by your lack of patience and your ingratitude, your experience will become something that will become your bad deed in the Day of Judgment.

Sayyid Qutb (may Allah have Mercy upon him) said: “As for the believers whose hearts are connected to Allah, whose souls are close to Him, who experience His constant bounty – they do not despair of the Mercy of Allah even if they are surrounded on all sides by disaster and severe hardship. The believer is in the mercy of the shade of his faith, the pleasure of his connection to his Lord, and the tranquility of his confidence in his Guardian even when he is in the throes of hardship and disaster.”

He (may Allah have Mercy upon him) also said: “The believing heart assumes the best of its Lord, and always expects the best from Him. It expects good from Him in times of ease and times of hardship, and it believes that Allah wants good for him in either situation. The secret of this is that his heart is connected to Allah, and the flow of good from Allah is never cut off. So, whenever the heart is connected to Him, it touches upon this fundamental reality and experiences it in a direct and sweet way.” [Fi Dhilal al-Qur’an]

The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Let none of you die except having the best opinion of Allah.” [Muslim]

May Allah increase us in imaan (faith in Allah) and not make us die except in complete submission to Him. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazak Allahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam