Tribulation

106734

When asking Allah for ease in this life, is it wrong to expect difficulty? When thinking of the verses and Hadith where Allah tells us that we will go through hardship, it can sometimes confuse me that should I expect hardship or ease?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 10 months ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Perhaps the way to understand asking for ease is that we ask for ease in those things that can be made easier for us without compromising what is really good for us. That is that we make things unnecessarily difficult for ourselves through numerous mistakes and miscalculations and so we ask Allah to mitigate those difficulties that are out of a lack of wisdom. But test and difficulty are a part of the development of an Islamic personality rooted in faith and those with higher capacities can be tested with more extreme difficulties. That difficulty can be whilst being surrounded by material ease, and it is through those difficulties that a higher form of ease is found. When a person is needless of all except God, they are at ease despite whatever circumstance they find themselves in.

May you always be successful

95221

Tribulation . Ahl al-Bayt . Prophet Muhammad

Why are there sayings of the Prophet (s) and the Imams (a) having a positive attitude towards hardship and sickness? Did they seek hardship instead of wellbeing and, if so, for what reason?

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. While the traditions from the Infallibles (as) encourage a positive attitude towards sickness and all types of trial, that does not mean that they sought those difficulties and didn't seek well being. Rather, Islam is a religion in which all types of well being are encouraged, and there are plenty of hadith supporting supplicating for good health and the prevention and removal of calamities as well as prescriptions for good health and wise maxims to help a person navigate their lives as effectively as possible. A Muslim is successful in this world and the next, attaining well being in both. Even if their situation is difficult, a Muslim should develop their personality such that they are always in a good state even if the world is falling apart around them.

So the encouragement to have a positive attitude is not the same as seeking problems or having a defeatist attitude. Rather, it is to build a Muslim to be able to progress in every state. For more on the philosophy of test see these short podcast episodes:

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-75-51-261-263-Ordea...

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-76-51-264-268-Ordea...

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-77-51-269-276-Ordea...

May you always be successful

91549

Life . Hereafter . Faith (Iman) . Tribulation

Is it true that the more faith someone has the more God afflicts him with trials and hardships? And is it true that the more one struggles in this life the more reward one will receive in the hereafter?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 1 year ago

The believers are purified by hardships and tests to remove their errors and raise their degrees in Paradise. The Hadeeth says: More tests come with more faith كلما زيد في ايمانه زيد في بلائه

More hardships and tests make the believer more remembering Allah and seeking His help and avoid the believer the feeling of pride or arrogance.

There are many Hadeeths that the the believer who struggles in this life for noble cause, will be more rewarded in the hereafter. We read in Quran: Those who face the hardships with patience (Sabr) for the sake of Allah will have countless reward (Sura 39, verse 10).

We also have Hadeeths that the status of Sabr ( patience) from Faith is like the status of the head from the body.

Wassalam.

95329

God (Allah) . Mankind . Tribulation

Are the afflictions we face from God or because of our own actions and those of other humans?

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. The answer is all three although the believer is never in a situation that is not good for them. Sometimes afflictions are a recompense for our sins which we face in this world rather than the next. At other times we face difficulties because of the actions of others, but in these kinds of tests if we are faultless then our patience is rewarded. And at times we face tests from God in order to raise us to levels that we cannot achieve with our own actions. To understand the philosophy of trial according to our scriptural sources please see these short podcasts:

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-75-51-261-263-Ordeals-part-1-of-3-eb0tbj

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-76-51-264-268-Ordeals-part-2-of-3-eb29it

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-77-51-269-276-Ordeals-part-3-of-3-eb3rb7

May you always be successful

85614

Life . Du'a (Supplication) . Divine Justice . Tribulation

I prayed that someone get compensated for a harm they suffered but the Dua wasn't answered. Why do such things happen in life, especially to good people, when all they have done is good and yet hardship befalls them time after time?

Allah (SWT) has promised in Quran to respond to the Du'a (supplication) and there is no Du'a with out response. (Your Lord said: Seek from me, I will respond to you) وقال ربكم ادعوني أستجب لكم(Sura 40, verse 60).

We do not know how and when the respond will come. Allah (SWT) knows the best time and best way to respond to any Du'a. Our expectations are according to what we know, but Allah (SWT) knows everything and He is The Most Merciful, The Absolute Wise, so we should leave it to Him. Our mercy on the oppressed can never be more than Allah's mercy on them. He will definitely compensate them in the best way in the best time.
'Wassalam.

84024

Divine Justice . Tribulation

Is it true that some people will live in well-being, die in well-being and get resurrected and go to heaven in well-being while others suffer many trials and afflictions? If so, how is it fair?

Bismilla

Thank you for your question. Both well being and difficulty are types of ordeal that a person is tested with, in the same way that wealth and poverty are both tests but in different ways. While difficulties require patience, well being requires thankfulness (which means not only being thankful with the tongue but using their opportunities to fulfill the goals Gid has set out for a human). Those that do fulfill this responsibility will be rightly rewarded in the next life, in the same way that those who are patient through their trials will be rewarded.

The difference in trial is decided by God, who will only put a believer in the best situation for their progression. Fairness here is not that everyone has the same trial, but that everyone is given the best opportunity according to their constitution. A person tested with difficulty may succeed where they would have failed with ease, and vice verca. However, what is more usual in life is that people are tested with a variety of circumstances some of which are difficult and some of which are easy. A person that has no difficulty in life whatsoever is perhaps one who is lead astray, as another function of well being is to distract those with a bad end.

For a deeper look into the philosophy of trial please see these podcasts:

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-75-51-261-263-Ordeals-part-1-of-3-eb0tbj

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-76-51-264-268-Ordeals-part-2-of-3-eb29it

https://anchor.fm/zoheir-ali-esmail/episodes/Episode-77-51-269-276-Ordeals-part-3-of-3-eb3rb7

May you always be successful