I know this is quite a famous question; one that we might have asked ourselves or out loud. I find this question to reflect quite a shallow concept of Allah to be honest although it is still interesting to talk about. So yes, why is this world so difficult to live in with all sorts of problem that we go through? One might say if God is really there, then why are there so much pain and hardship in this world? Classic question. Why didn't He just make us all agents of peace and obeyed His commands flawlessly and thus achieve a life of happily ever after?
First and foremost, let me just be clear when I say behind everything and anything that happens.. there is indeed a reason. The reason(s) might be beyond our comprehension, but they're reasons nonetheless. Most importantly, let us ingrain the fact that only Allah knows about everything and His decrees are much too brilliant that most times we can't figure out why something happens. So, as much as I want to be eloquent in an attempt to refute this 'why has God created so many problems for us' question, ultimately the best response would be 'Allah Maha Mengetahui' and we simply do not deserve to question Him. But allow me to share my thoughts anyway.
The fact that we live in a difficult world; one that has been through countless numbers of war, recession, injustice, inequality, racism, religious intolerance, terrorism, discrimination, other political, economic and social problems.. does not diminish my faith in Allah at all. Because I simply do not see how imperfect this world is as a reflection of His magnitude. Surely His creations and designs are flawless as illustrated by some visible to the naked eye such as nature, etc and the latter such as our body system, etc. When I am talking about imperfect world, I'm referring to the misfortunes that we see or go through ourselves. So yes why do we live in such imperfection?
Allah defines perfection. He is One and Almighty. The fact that we are convinced of how flawless He is inclines us to willingly submit ourselves to Him. Would you be willing to accept something or someone that is flawed as your God? Probably not right? So anyway if we were created in perfection in every aspect; (appearance, personality, attitude, behaviour, capability etc) what would distinguish The creator and His creations? How would a perfect form worship another form of perfection? If we were perfect in a sense that we encounter no or little problems in life, why would we seek another form of perfection and in this context Allah?
Significantly, Allah creates problems for us because He wants to test us. It is a test of faith when we are faced with calamity and hardship. It is probably much easier to blame someone when we find ourselves in severity but just think about it for a little while. If you believe in the Hereafter, in places called Paradise and Hell.. the descriptions you have read in the Quran.. doesn't the former sound incredibly blissful and the latter sounds extremely horrifying but both seem to be beyond our imagination. So yes, Allah speaks about Paradise.. it's really the place to be, isn't it? MasyaAllah.. that is the reward for the believers. It is eternal, it is the best place to be as described by Allah.. so.. don't you think to get to such a place requires a 'certificate' or shall I say 'qualification'? When we long for something good i.e. a good grade in an exam or a successful marriage, etc, do they happen without effort? It applies here too, [just an infinity more WORTH (when speaking of Paradise)] don't you think? It requires EFFORT to DESERVE Jannah! So, it is through hardship and challenges Allah provides us platforms to be closer to Him, to enhance our faith in Him, and to ultimately pass the test of faith. He doesn't create problems for you to make you suffer, He creates them despite of that, He loves you and wants you to learn and be strong and stronger and by which we do so by seeking Him. Isn't that beautiful? MasyaAllah, Allah is indisputably the Best Teacher.
Rasulallah S.A.W. said "Verily if Allah loves a people, He makes them go through trials. Whoever is satisfied, for him is contentment, and whoever is angry, upon him is wrath." He loves us. He tests us through trials; to see whether would we stay with Him or would we run away? You know, when things get hard someone would bail out on you and then it is only when someone sticks around after difficult times, you know that friend is true.
I probably don't have much substance to say this but as far as my observation and/or experience goes, one is more likely to seek Allah during bad times and when good times roll, one is probably enjoying life far too much to remember His creator. It is a bad quality of ours, but that is our weakness, one that we are trying to counter, insyaAllah. But yes, so problems are there to remind us of Him; that we can always return to Him in any circumstance. He reminds us by giving us hardship.. that we are weak human beings.. to never lose hope or faith in His mercy. He enhances our humility as a weak servant of His.. pain and hardship have the ability to moderate us, don't you think? In retrospect, reflect back on your experience thus far, has it not? What has been said so far can only exist as my perspective or "theory", and can only be validated by your own experience.
What about patience? I don't think this quality is an inate characteristic.. it is earned. No one says a baby has patience, because they don't. Because they haven't gone through anything in life in order to obtain this quality. It is through challenges and hardship that we have the ability to develop patience and perseverance. When a calamity strikes you, what do you do? I mean, do you attempt to defy it? How? You can't. So you are only left with the option to deal with it. And ofcourse this requires patience. Since then, one can probably apply patience to his daily life. From being patient in waiting in the longest queqe to being patient when somebody wrongs you. To choose patience over anger, conflict and depression. Thus patience is inarguably a blessing from Allah.
"Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods, lives, and the fruits of your toil. But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. Those who say, when afflicted with calamity, 'To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.' They are those on whom descend blessings from their Lord, and mercy. They are the ones who receive guidance." (2:155-157)
It's like.. nothing I can say will defeat that verse above. Only Allah can come up with such depth in 2 ayats.
Comfortingly, hardship is inflicted upon us to atone for our sins, that is if we emerge from them as believers. Rasulallah S.A.W. said "worry, anxiety, pain, fatigue, sickness, or even a thorn that pricks him - when a believer is afflicted with any of these, Allah grants him pardon for some of his sins (through or because of those afflictions)." So this even strengthens the point of which pain and hardship are blessings in disguise; we may not like something that is good for us but like something that is bad for us as Allah says.
And just to emphasize this point more. Rasulallah S.A.W. illustrates the best example, yet again, masyaAllah. We know that Allah loves him, he is described as kekasih Allah, how do you get any closer to Him than that? He was the closest thing to be called a perfect human being. Rasulallah S.A.W. was an exceptional human being; he was Allah's Messenger yet he lived moderately - he truly devoted his life to Allah's causes. Did he live a perfect life though as in no problems, hardship, challenges, etc? That couldn't be further from the truth; this man experienced hardship from the start of his life from being born without a father to losing his mother at 6 and then continously losing the people he loved after that. Not to mention, what he went through in order to preach people about islam and the teachings of Allah.. he was constantly targetted for assassination, etc. Rasulallah S.A.W. wasn't a wealthy man too; he certainly knew the real meaning of hunger and he did not even want to burden anybody of it so much so he put a cloth containing small stones around his stomach to withold his hunger. I wouldn't compare Rasulallah S.A.W. to anyone, no but take him as an example as he should be.. he was immensely loved by Allah and just learn about his life, in which you will find immense struggle and hardship inflicted upon him.. yet he was unscathed. what more us; how can we be not humbled by acknowledging this alone?
Yes, life is difficult. Surely, it feels helpless to watch or experience a variance in degree of hardship and pain from losing a parent to failing an exam to knowing the world being threatened by terrorism to reading about people live under injustice in Iraq, Rwanda, Palestine, etc to standing by idly whilst other people struggle through natural disasters... but one thing that should be maintained here is that Allah is the Best Planner. He created every inch, every bit of any form of existence, shall we not surrender to believe that He has infinite ability to sustain everything according to what He regards as best? Ultimately, we should place our trust in Allah and only then, our faith will not waver, insyaAllah. And it's definitely easier said than done; to be patient and fully accepting whatever comes our way, but insyaAllah He will ease things for us.. there is relief after every hardship Allah says. He never intends anything bad for us.. never; as He had said in the Quran kami sendiri yang menzalimi diri kami.
Okay that was probably a challenge to get through so I thank you for your time! Excuse me for whatever wrong I might have written for which they are derived from my own inadequacies and everything that was good definitely came from none other than Allah Azza Wajalla. InsyaAllah mudahan Allah will continue to guide us towards His righteous path and cleanse our hearts in order to improve our submission to Him. Amin.
First and foremost, let me just be clear when I say behind everything and anything that happens.. there is indeed a reason. The reason(s) might be beyond our comprehension, but they're reasons nonetheless. Most importantly, let us ingrain the fact that only Allah knows about everything and His decrees are much too brilliant that most times we can't figure out why something happens. So, as much as I want to be eloquent in an attempt to refute this 'why has God created so many problems for us' question, ultimately the best response would be 'Allah Maha Mengetahui' and we simply do not deserve to question Him. But allow me to share my thoughts anyway.
The fact that we live in a difficult world; one that has been through countless numbers of war, recession, injustice, inequality, racism, religious intolerance, terrorism, discrimination, other political, economic and social problems.. does not diminish my faith in Allah at all. Because I simply do not see how imperfect this world is as a reflection of His magnitude. Surely His creations and designs are flawless as illustrated by some visible to the naked eye such as nature, etc and the latter such as our body system, etc. When I am talking about imperfect world, I'm referring to the misfortunes that we see or go through ourselves. So yes why do we live in such imperfection?
Allah defines perfection. He is One and Almighty. The fact that we are convinced of how flawless He is inclines us to willingly submit ourselves to Him. Would you be willing to accept something or someone that is flawed as your God? Probably not right? So anyway if we were created in perfection in every aspect; (appearance, personality, attitude, behaviour, capability etc) what would distinguish The creator and His creations? How would a perfect form worship another form of perfection? If we were perfect in a sense that we encounter no or little problems in life, why would we seek another form of perfection and in this context Allah?
Significantly, Allah creates problems for us because He wants to test us. It is a test of faith when we are faced with calamity and hardship. It is probably much easier to blame someone when we find ourselves in severity but just think about it for a little while. If you believe in the Hereafter, in places called Paradise and Hell.. the descriptions you have read in the Quran.. doesn't the former sound incredibly blissful and the latter sounds extremely horrifying but both seem to be beyond our imagination. So yes, Allah speaks about Paradise.. it's really the place to be, isn't it? MasyaAllah.. that is the reward for the believers. It is eternal, it is the best place to be as described by Allah.. so.. don't you think to get to such a place requires a 'certificate' or shall I say 'qualification'? When we long for something good i.e. a good grade in an exam or a successful marriage, etc, do they happen without effort? It applies here too, [just an infinity more WORTH (when speaking of Paradise)] don't you think? It requires EFFORT to DESERVE Jannah! So, it is through hardship and challenges Allah provides us platforms to be closer to Him, to enhance our faith in Him, and to ultimately pass the test of faith. He doesn't create problems for you to make you suffer, He creates them despite of that, He loves you and wants you to learn and be strong and stronger and by which we do so by seeking Him. Isn't that beautiful? MasyaAllah, Allah is indisputably the Best Teacher.
Rasulallah S.A.W. said "Verily if Allah loves a people, He makes them go through trials. Whoever is satisfied, for him is contentment, and whoever is angry, upon him is wrath." He loves us. He tests us through trials; to see whether would we stay with Him or would we run away? You know, when things get hard someone would bail out on you and then it is only when someone sticks around after difficult times, you know that friend is true.
I probably don't have much substance to say this but as far as my observation and/or experience goes, one is more likely to seek Allah during bad times and when good times roll, one is probably enjoying life far too much to remember His creator. It is a bad quality of ours, but that is our weakness, one that we are trying to counter, insyaAllah. But yes, so problems are there to remind us of Him; that we can always return to Him in any circumstance. He reminds us by giving us hardship.. that we are weak human beings.. to never lose hope or faith in His mercy. He enhances our humility as a weak servant of His.. pain and hardship have the ability to moderate us, don't you think? In retrospect, reflect back on your experience thus far, has it not? What has been said so far can only exist as my perspective or "theory", and can only be validated by your own experience.
What about patience? I don't think this quality is an inate characteristic.. it is earned. No one says a baby has patience, because they don't. Because they haven't gone through anything in life in order to obtain this quality. It is through challenges and hardship that we have the ability to develop patience and perseverance. When a calamity strikes you, what do you do? I mean, do you attempt to defy it? How? You can't. So you are only left with the option to deal with it. And ofcourse this requires patience. Since then, one can probably apply patience to his daily life. From being patient in waiting in the longest queqe to being patient when somebody wrongs you. To choose patience over anger, conflict and depression. Thus patience is inarguably a blessing from Allah.
"Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods, lives, and the fruits of your toil. But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. Those who say, when afflicted with calamity, 'To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.' They are those on whom descend blessings from their Lord, and mercy. They are the ones who receive guidance." (2:155-157)
It's like.. nothing I can say will defeat that verse above. Only Allah can come up with such depth in 2 ayats.
Comfortingly, hardship is inflicted upon us to atone for our sins, that is if we emerge from them as believers. Rasulallah S.A.W. said "worry, anxiety, pain, fatigue, sickness, or even a thorn that pricks him - when a believer is afflicted with any of these, Allah grants him pardon for some of his sins (through or because of those afflictions)." So this even strengthens the point of which pain and hardship are blessings in disguise; we may not like something that is good for us but like something that is bad for us as Allah says.
And just to emphasize this point more. Rasulallah S.A.W. illustrates the best example, yet again, masyaAllah. We know that Allah loves him, he is described as kekasih Allah, how do you get any closer to Him than that? He was the closest thing to be called a perfect human being. Rasulallah S.A.W. was an exceptional human being; he was Allah's Messenger yet he lived moderately - he truly devoted his life to Allah's causes. Did he live a perfect life though as in no problems, hardship, challenges, etc? That couldn't be further from the truth; this man experienced hardship from the start of his life from being born without a father to losing his mother at 6 and then continously losing the people he loved after that. Not to mention, what he went through in order to preach people about islam and the teachings of Allah.. he was constantly targetted for assassination, etc. Rasulallah S.A.W. wasn't a wealthy man too; he certainly knew the real meaning of hunger and he did not even want to burden anybody of it so much so he put a cloth containing small stones around his stomach to withold his hunger. I wouldn't compare Rasulallah S.A.W. to anyone, no but take him as an example as he should be.. he was immensely loved by Allah and just learn about his life, in which you will find immense struggle and hardship inflicted upon him.. yet he was unscathed. what more us; how can we be not humbled by acknowledging this alone?
Yes, life is difficult. Surely, it feels helpless to watch or experience a variance in degree of hardship and pain from losing a parent to failing an exam to knowing the world being threatened by terrorism to reading about people live under injustice in Iraq, Rwanda, Palestine, etc to standing by idly whilst other people struggle through natural disasters... but one thing that should be maintained here is that Allah is the Best Planner. He created every inch, every bit of any form of existence, shall we not surrender to believe that He has infinite ability to sustain everything according to what He regards as best? Ultimately, we should place our trust in Allah and only then, our faith will not waver, insyaAllah. And it's definitely easier said than done; to be patient and fully accepting whatever comes our way, but insyaAllah He will ease things for us.. there is relief after every hardship Allah says. He never intends anything bad for us.. never; as He had said in the Quran kami sendiri yang menzalimi diri kami.
Okay that was probably a challenge to get through so I thank you for your time! Excuse me for whatever wrong I might have written for which they are derived from my own inadequacies and everything that was good definitely came from none other than Allah Azza Wajalla. InsyaAllah mudahan Allah will continue to guide us towards His righteous path and cleanse our hearts in order to improve our submission to Him. Amin.
No comments:
Post a Comment