Mercy Of Allah : Ability To Change

Why Does Allah Test Us

 A lot of times we connect hardship to punishment or wrath. We always associate hardship with negativity; we are programmed to think that way, that ease is a good thing and hardship, by definition, is a bad thing.  

Every single human being on Earth, will go through hardship. So, the question we have to ask ourselves, is why – why do we go through hardship? And what is the mercy behind hardship?

Allah (SWT) tells us in the Quran

ِAllah (SWT) is saying to us, 'Do you think that you will enter (Jannah) Paradise without such trials as came to those who passed before you?'

'They encountered suffering and adversity'

'And they were so shaken'. The work for earthquake in Arabic is 'زلزال', here the word 'وزلزلوا' is from the same root word (زلزال) – 'they were so shaken (in spirit)'.

'That even the Messenger (PBUH) and those who believed along with him said, 'When will the help of Allah come?"

And then Allah (SWT) ends this Ayah by saying, and giving us hope

'Indeed, the help of Allah is near!'

The beginning of this Ayah is for us to realize that we are not the first people to ever be tested. We are not the first people to ever suffer.

Sometimes when we are going through something difficult, we feel like we are the only people in the world who feel that way: You're the only one in the world who is going through what you're going through. Although everyone experiences things differently, are we the only ones in the world who suffer?

What happens sometimes, by feeling that way, is that we become isolated because we feel that 'I am alone in my pain' or 'I am alone in my hardship'. This isn't true.

We are not the first to be tested, to suffer, and we are not the last. While we are going through our hardship, others are also going through hardships.

Allah (SWT) after telling us this – that we are not the first, it is not unique what we are going through and that it is not unique that we are going through hardship – Allah reminds us that even those who came before us were people that were so tested, and they were so shaken, that even the Messengers and those who believed with the Messengers, cried out. In the same way that we sometimes cry out when things become really hard.

Our heart is asking (متى نصر الله), 'When will the help of Allah come?' And then Allah (SWT) answers that question (الا ان نصر الله قريب), 'Indeed, the help of Allah is near!'

Not only is this comforting, but it also tells us that we are not alone. We are not the first, and we are not the last, to go through hardship. And it assures us that Allah's help is near.

There is something amazing about this life, it is the reality or truth of this life, that causes us pain sometimes. But it is also the same reality, and truth, that gives us comfort: the reality that nothing lasts.

Nothing in this life lasts. Everything passes away.

Sometimes this reality causes us pain; we have something we love, and then it goes away, it passes away, it ends. So we get sad. But that same reality is also a comfort, because when you're going through hardship, that too won't last forever.