In Islam, grief and sorrow are natural emotions that are acknowledged and addressed. Muslims believe that life is a test from Allah, and difficulties, including loss and grief, are part of this test. The Quran and Hadith provide guidance on how to cope with grief and sorrow, emphasizing the importance of patience, prayer, and trust in Allah’s wisdom.Worldwide, not a day goes without report of horrific stories of humanity. On a more personal level, many of us have been stricken with grief and depression in our day to day lives e.g., a loved one passes away, financial downturn, cheating spouse etc. Why then does God allow bad things to happen to good people? This is a question that people of many religious faiths have struggled with for thousands of years. It is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to faith and has led countless people to disbelieve in God altogether. Some pagans claimed that God hates evil, but He is powerless to prevent it. This idea, however, is rejected in holy Quran, because it questions God’s status as The Almighty (Al-Azeez), The All-Powerful (Al-Jabbaar), The All-Strong (Al-Qawiyy), and The All Capable ( Al-Qadeeir). The holy Quran also refers to God as The Most Merciful (Al-Raheem), The Most Beneficent (Al-Rahmaan), The Most Forgiving (Al- Ghaffaar), The Lord of Infinite Grace (Dhul Fadl al-Adtheem), and the Ultimate Source of Peace and Safety (Al-Salaam). Therefore, the Quran affirms that Allah is both All-Powerful and Most Loving; so how can these two qualities be reconciled, given the fact that the world is full of evil? The Islamic perspective is that God causes “bad” things to happen in order to achieve a greater good. The Quran gives the example of a ship: when the ship is smooth sailing, then the occupants do not remember God, but when the wind threatens to capsize the ship, suddenly the occupants of the ship begin praying sincerely to God. The Quran says: “Your Lord is He that makes the ship go smoothly through the sea for you that you may seek of His Grace, for He is Most Merciful to you. When distress seizes you at sea, you cry to nobody save Him (God), but when He brings you back safely to the land, you turn away (from Him). Most ungrateful is man!” (Quran 17:66-67) This example can be applied to our day-to-day lives.
A person may forget God when his financial situation is good, but if he were laid off from work, then suddenly he’d be invoking God for help. When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) declared God’s Message, it was the poor and the slaves who made up the bulk of his followers. The rich and prosperous leaders of Mecca, on the other hand, continued to live a life removed from God. It is well -known that rich people live the most ungodly of lives. Meanwhile, the meek and needy cling to God more. This means that suffering is not necessarily a bad thing, and prosperity is not necessarily a good thing. Allah says in the Quran: “But it may happen that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you. And God knows and you do not know!” (Quran 2:216) This is all a part of human psychology: we forget God in good times, and we remember Him during times of distress. So God afflicts us with trials and tribulations so that we may turn to Him and seek His Grace. The holy Quran says: “Truly, God loves those who repent.” (Quran 2:222) But what of the one who sins and never seeks God’s Forgiveness? What about the one who continues to sin without any plans to stop? God does not let all sins go unpunished because this would lead people to become negligent and wicked. The enforcement of punishment on these sinners is for their own benefit, just as a father’s enforcement of punishment on his son is for the child’s own benefit. The worldly punishment is a means, not the ends; the goal of the punishment is not to punish, but rather to serve as a strong deterrent. If a father is too lenient with his son and does not say anything when the child puts his fingers in the socket, then the boy will not realize the gravity of what he is doing. He will then keep sticking his finger in the socket until one day he will get electrocuted and die. Likewise, if God does not send affliction down upon His servants, they might not ever realize the error in their ungodly ways until they reach spiritual death.
The Quran declares: “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, ‘We believe’, and that they will not be put to the test?” (Quran 29:2) This concept can be clearly understood if we take the analogy of marriage. A man might love and be loyal to his wife during good times, but when things become difficult, he might abandon her. For example, if she is young and beautiful, he will adore her; but if she gets cancer and thereby loses her physical beauty, the same man might abandon her. This shows that in reality he did not really love her. Similarly, a man should love God and obey Him in not only good times, but also trying times. It is not necessary that calamity is the only way God tests us. God’s testing may also be in the form of blessings, wealth, health, children, family, and the like. What the people do with such blessings is indeed a great test. Many celebrities and rich people are given great wealth, fame, and material goods, but they are not grateful to God for that, and instead live their lives in sin and wickedness. God says: “And know that your (worldly) possessions and your children are but a test, and that it is with God with Whom lies your highest reward.” (Quran 8:28) Therefore, we see that God tests the people through both adversity as well as blessing; but regardless of the type of test, the believers are those who remain grateful to God. The Quran declares: “You shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your lives; and you shall certainly hear much that will grieve you…But if you patiently persevere and be pious, then surely this will be of great resolution.” (Quran 3:186) Prophet Abraham (A.S) and his son, may God praise them both, were both tested in a most severe way. God commanded Prophet Abraham (A.S) to sacrifice his son, Ismail. This command no doubt would have been very difficult for Prophet Abraham (A.S), and he no doubt would have been very saddened by the thought of losing his loved one. But Prophet Abraham (A.S) patiently persevered and obeyed God. Not only this, but even Ismail (A.S), remained steadf ast and obedient and offered himself to be sacrificed.
“Some people deal with pain by turning to bad habits, like alcohol. However, believers find comfort and strength by turning to Allah in worship. When a believer faces a hardship, they should be certain that it holds hidden good from Allah, even if they can’t see it right away.”
This test that God put Prophet Abraham (A.S) through was to test his determination. If Prophet Abraham (A.S) or his son had been weak in faith, they would have both failed this severe test God rewarded them with a great reward on account of their strong faith and obedience to Him; right before Prophet Abraham (A.S) struck his son, a ram appeared and God told him to sacrifice it instead. As a reward, God promised to establish them as leaders on earth. Another example that comes to mind is that of Prophet Yusuf (A.S), holy Quran mentions many details of the trials and tribulations he faced in his life. His father loved him a great deal, which made his brothers very jealous of him. They conspired against him, and finally dumped him in a deep well. A company of travelers passed by the well, and one of them let down his bucket. He said, “Good news! Here is a boy.” And they took him as merchandise. With this, Prophet Yusuf (A.S) was sent to the far off land of Egypt as a slave. An Egyptian governor bought him, and Prophet Yusuf (A.S)dutifully toiled away. As he was in the service of the governor, the test intensified, the governor’s wife, who was very beautiful, tried to seduce Yusuf (A.S). This was a great trial for Prophet Yusuf (A.S), and he resisted her advances with steadfast perseverance. One day, the governor’s wife ran after Prophet Yusuf (A.S), so to seduce him by force, and she tore his shirt, whereupon her husband entered the room. She accused Prophet Yusuf (A.S) of rape but Yusuf (A.S) denied it, and when the governor saw his shirt torn from the back, he asked his wife to repent to God Almighty. She schemed and came up with a plot to have Prophet Yusuf (A.S); she gave him one of two choices, to either approach her or to be thrown in prison. He chose the second and was put in prison for a period of time. When we are struck with calamities, we should think of all the trials Prophet Yusuf (A.S) went through: years of slavery and imprisonment. Yet, through it all, Prophet Yusuf (A.S) remained steadfast to God. It was then—finally, after many years—that God rewarded Prophet Yusuf (A.S) for his steadfastness. It was in that same jail cell that he met a man who had a dream; God gave Prophet Yusuf (A.S) the gift of being able to interpret dreams. And so Prophet Joseph interpreted his cellmate’s dream, telling him that he (the cellmate) would go free and work for the king. Indeed, the prophecy came true and the man did go free to work for the king. One day, the king had a dream. The story is narrated in the Quran: “And the king of Egypt said: ‘Verily, I saw in a dream seven fat cows, whom seven lean cows were devouring, and seven green ears of corn and seven others dry. O notables! Explain to me my dream if it be that you can interpret dreams” (Quran 12:43). Prophet Yusuf (A.S)’s ex-cellmate, who was now in the service of the Egyptian king, immediately remembered Yusuf (A.S). He informed the king about Prophet Yusuf (A.S), and so Yusuf (A.S) was asked to interpret the dream, which he did. Prophet Yusuf (A.S) told the king that there would be seven years of good harvest, after which would follow seven years of drought and famine. He advised the king to store up food during the seven years of prosperity, which could be used during the times of drought and famine.
The king was so pleased by Prophet Yusuf (A.S) that he not only set him free but appointed him to a very high position in the government. And so God established a great deal of good through adversity; had Prophet Yusuf (A.S) never been abandoned in the well by his brothers, nor sold into slavery, nor imprisoned wrongfully, he would never have been found by the king and appointed to a position of such great authority. Indeed, Prophet Yusuf (A.S) had to go through all that tribulation in order to attain that rank. Therefore, when we go through difficult times in life, we should be positive. Prophet Solomon (A.S) was also tested, although in a different way. He was given immense wealth and power; history attests to the fact that wealth and power corrupts. Yet, Prophet Solomon (A.S) was one of the few kings who remained pious and God-fearing. Mus’ab b. Sa’d b. Malik narrated that his father said: “O Messenger of Allah, who are the most tested and tried people in this world? He answered: ‘The Prophets, and then who are simlar to them (i.e. the god -fearing and pious). A believer would be tested and tried according to his/her piety and faith. If the individual has strong faith, he/she would be tested and tried in a severer manner; similarly, if the believer’s faith is weak, he/she would be tested accordingly. A person would be struck by calamities until he/she is sin-free.” (Ibn Hibban #2901) The believer should turn to Allah when a calamity strikes. The Prophet (pbuh) said: “The greatest reward comes with the greatest trial. When Allah loves a people, He tests them. Whoever accepts this, wins Almighty Allah’s Pleasure.” (Al-Tirmidhi). A certain calamity hit Satan (he was “demoted” when Prophet Adam (A.S) was created); instead of thinking that this was something good from Allah, Satan despaired of Allah’s Mercy, and thereupon began his hedonistic lifestyle. Likewise, when calamity strikes some people, they resort to booze and other sinful devices to ebb their pain. However the believers do not fall into despair, rather they turn to Allah in worship. In conclusion, when calamity befalls a believer, he/she should know that in it is much good, even if it is not apparent at first. May Allah grant us strength during trials and guide us towards patience and gratitude. …Aameen
(The authors write regularly on Islamic Topics exclusively for the opinion page of “Kashmir Horizon”. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
