Believer’s Response To Hardship
For Muslims, now is a time of turmoil. Sometimes, it’s difficult not to feel despair. Everywhere we turn, we see Muslims suffering, struggling all over the world. Many of us are wondering, why is this happening to us?
While all these thoughts are natural, we need to look beyond them. We need to look through the illusion for a moment, into the Reality that stands behind it. We must refocus our sight, if we are to see the Truth beyond this hologram.
That truth is one of the most oft-repeated lessons in the Qur’an and prophetic teachings. That fundamental truth is this:
Everything in this life is a test.
Allah says in the Qur’an: “It is He who created death and life in order to test you, which of you are best in deeds. And He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.” (67:2)
Here we are told that the very purpose for which life and death were created: to test us. Think for a moment about an emergency siren. What is its purpose? The siren is an indication and a warning that something harmful is coming. If we hear it, we naturally panic. But what happens when they need to test the siren? What happens when it’s just a drill to see how we will react? The test siren sounds exactly the same, but it is “only a test.” Although it looks, sounds, and feels real, it is not. It is only a test. And we’re reminded of that again and again throughout the test.
This is exactly what Allah tells us about this life. It is going to look, sound, and feel very, very real. At times it’s going to scare us. At times it’s going to make us cry. At times it’s going to make us flee, instead of standing firm—even more firm—in our places. But this life and everything in it is only a test. It is not actually real. And like that test of the emergency broadcast system, it is training us for what is real. It is training us for the Reality beyond the test siren.
- Yasmin Mogahed
(Read full article in her blog, it's amazing)
