CALAMITIES/SUFFERINGS/HARDSHIPS IN LIFE- OUR UNDERSTANDING AS A MUSLIM WITH SOME Dos
and SOME Don’ts
(Source: Talks by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan)
Reference Surah AlBaqrah Ayaah 153 to 156.
Sometimes we say in daily conversations that this bad thing happened to him/her because he did that to
someone. Spouses say to each other, parents talk to their kids, or someone had a car accident someone
says this is because Allah was angry so that is why it happened. We should not say that. We do not have
the right to say that to someone. We need to look and judge ourselves first.
The word “Al Museebah” has been used for difficulties/calamities from root word Osauba. Souaab
meaning hitting the right target. So these difficulties, or tests that come upon us are already timed for a
specific person, at the right time to hit on that time. We are not to judge that this was because of a
“chain reaction” that we think sometimes. For example. His car broke. So he got late to work. He lost his
job because of that and then he got divorced after an argument with his wife. So he complains of that
this happened because of his car and job. But this is not true. This was supposed to happen.
In everyday life we do not congratulate anyone if he/she goes through a difficult situation. But this
difficult situation could be something good for him/her and he doesn’t know. So look at Allah’s
language, Subhanallah, that he is actually congratulating (“Bashr”) those who are going through this so
called “hardship” by doing Sabr (being patient). So what are we supposed to do when we are tested?
We should do Sabr. Be patient. Why? 1- So we become better believers. We have more strong Faith in
Islam and Allah. Like in Surah Ale Imran Ayaah 173, the believers were told in the Battle of Ohud that to
fear from the bigger army. That was a big difficulty for them but instead fearing, their faith increased. 2There is a gift for us in doing Sabr is that we are going to be congratulated. In the Ayah 155 Surah
AlBaqra, the word Bashr is singular, and in the context of the Holy Quran, Allah (swt) is commanding our
beloved Prophet PBUH to congratulate the people who are patient, who are saabareen. So as we like to
be congratulated by the Principal of the school, or boss at our work, so being congratulated by our
Prophet PBUH is not less than an honour and gift.
Like everything in life has a reaction, a response. If we get into hard times, instead of start cursing or
complaining, as Muslims, we should make a habit to say always, right away, as a reflex, “No doubt we
are Allah’s and no doubt we shall return to Him.” (Surah AlBaqra Ayaah 156). So make it a reflex. A
habit. So in the 1st part of this Ayaah, we, as Muslims, are already saying that we are His. So we already
do not own what we have. He is the owner of our possessions and body already. Whatever we lost was
His already from the beginning. And in the last part we are already saying that we are going to return
back to Him. We believe already that this a temporary world and we will go to Him, one day. So in other
words, the hardship, calamity is also temporary and is not permanent. So we should do sabr and try to
increase our faith during that time, instead of blaming someone or something, stop praying etc.
So there are 2 kinds of Ayaah in the Quran regarding “Museebah”. 1-One is those hardships that are pre
destined from Allah to come at specific time, targeted at a specific person for a reason that we may not
know. We don’t have control over them. No difficulty will hit us unless it is “for” us (in Quran the word
“for” is used not “against” us). But we should do sabr and try to increase our faith. These may be some
tests.
2-Other hardships, difficulties that could be because of us. For example a man knew that the car gas
tank needed to be filled with gasoline and he didn’t filled it and got late to work, or doctor is warning a
patient to stop smoking 4 packs a day because he may end up with a disease and when he gets the
disease he thinks oh this is from Allah or an Engineer was told not to use the material in constructing a
building and he keeps using the same material and that building collapses and he says that this is from
Allah. In Surah Ale Imran Ayaah 165, 168 when the believers were winning the battle of Ohud, they left
their position and they lost the battle and they started complaining and Allah clearly mentions that was
because of their actions. In other words we are not supposed to put everything on Allah. We have to
take responsibility for our actions also.
In Summary
Dos:
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Do believe, as Muslims, that some difficulties that are pre destined from Allah to come at
specific time, targeted at a specific person for a reason that we may not know. We don’t have
control over them. No difficulty will hit us unless it is “for” us
Do sabr and try to increase your faith to become a better believer and get congratulated for
being patient
Make it a habit, a reflex to say and believe in the meanings of end of Ayaah 156 Surah AlBaqra
whenever you go through a difficulty
Don’ts
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Don’t put everything on Allah. Take responsibilities for your actions
Don’t say bad things/judge people. We don’t have the right to do so
Do not start complaining to Allah something you lose or taken away from you, because that was
not yours to begin with
The speaker also explains that Allah is our “Rab”. He is the creator and He has both Authority and
Ownership. We are His slaves. For example we have a car that we may have ownership over it. We own
it but we don’t have authority over it. We still have to drive it at a certain speed limit according to state
laws. We have to get it insured, inspected. We cannot ignore those things. But Allah has both Authority
and Owner ship. Now there is a compensation and a gift. Our pay check is a compensation. We work for
it. And we can argue for it if we do not get the pay check. But a gift is not ours to begin with and if it is
taken away from us we should not complain. But we forget that all the blessings of Allah are actually
gifts from Him. And if He takes back something from us (like a child, house, land, a hand, money because
of theft, eye sight etc.), we start complaining. A Father is eating ice cream and his 4 year old son asks his
Dad that can he have some. The Father says no first but then gives it to his son and tells to give him back
after 2 bites. The son takes 2 bites and then doesn’t return the ice cream back to his Dad, he forgets that
the ice cream was not his from the start. And if the dad takes it back from him, the kid starts crying.
Same way all these blessings are Allah’s and He can take them back and we should not start complaining
and lose faith and imaan. In Surah Al Hadid Ayaah 23 Allah says, “So you may not grieve over things
you lose and you may not become over joyed over things you gain.”
Summarized by Ashaur Azhar