ENDURING GRIEF AND HARDSHIP IN LIFE AS MUSLIMS
BismilLaahir Rahmaanir Raheem.
As human beings, I am sure each and every one of us has, at some point in our life, been visited by grief, tragedy, or tremendous loss, emotionally or materially. It may have been a serious illness or accident or death of a loved one, or we may have failed an important examination, or we may have seen a business or professional career which has grown and prospered over many years, finally come to disaster. Losing to marry our loved ones etc.
To those who have suffered such a loss, their feelings are hard to describe adequately. There is a sense of utter despair, emptiness etc. It can become so intense that one actually questions the whole purpose and meaning of life.
However, many people are unable to come to terms with sudden catastrophic loss, and therefore, we often hear of someone being so overcome with grief that they have taken leave of their senses, they suffer prolonged and repeated bouts of deep depression, a complete change of personality. In extreme cases, some victims of hardship lose all inclination for life at all and they commit suicide astaqfirulLah. I write many at times on this topic or similar bcs many Muslims today lose faith in Allah to the extend of abandoning Islam due to hardship in life and a lady once told me what's the point of worshiping Allah in this suffering of mine astaqfirullah just bcs she has been divorced but failed to question her attitude in her marriage.
How should we Muslims deal with intense personal suffering and grief? How should we comfort a friend or relative who is in distress? Alhamdulillah we have a source of guidance in Quran and Teachings of our beloved Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Don't miss the rest of the reminders for how to handle such ways of life.
In Súra Al-Baqara, verses 155-157, Allah subhanallahu ta’ala reminds us:
"Verily, Allah will test you with something of fear and hunger; some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil) but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. Who say when afflicted with calamity:
"Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhir raji-oon"
"To Allah we belong and to Him is our return."
They are those on whom (descend) blessings from Allah and Mercy and they are the ones that receive guidance."
From these verses we can see that in a Muslim’s life, hardship and suffering should never come as a complete surprise. In fact, Allah promises us some hardship as a certainty, somewhere during our lifetime. It is a test of our eeman, our faith in Allah, and we should not despair, because there are lessons to be learnt from every situation, especially from misfortune. To a true Believer, good fortune and misfortune are merely two sides of the same coin of life. Although we do not welcome hardship, we know that even in the noonday of life, we live in the shadow of death; in the peak of our prosperity, we are just a few short paces away from poverty and in the prime of our good health, illness lurks in the shadows nearby.
In a Hadith narrated by Abu ‘Abbas ‘Abdullah, says:
"Remember Allah in times of ease, and He will recognise you in times of distress. What hit you could not have missed you, what missed you could not have hit you. Remember that victory comes with patience.
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
"verily in the Messenger of Allah we have the finest of examples"
Even he, Prophet Muhammad sallal-láhu ‘alayhi wasallam also endured much pain and hardship, especially in his youth, with extraordinary patience and perseverance. He was an orphan, cared for by milk-mothers, grandfather, and uncles. During the early years of his mission, he was jeered, taunted, threatened, reviled and persecuted by his own tribe, the Quraish of Makka. Many of his followers were killed for their acceptance of Islam. In the 63 years of our prophet Muhammad’s life, he experienced every human hardship from loss of father, mother and grandfather to loss of dear friends, personal wealth and rejection from his tribe. Because of his unswerving devotion to Allah, he was granted success in this world, and in the hereafter. History has witnessed his achievements. …
Whatever personal grief, suffering or loss we might encounter in our lifetime, it would be appropriate to remember Suuratul Doha quran 93:1-11. This Sura addresses Nabi Muhammad directly, but it also applies to all Muslims indirectly, in all times and all circumstances. Let's always say Alhamdulillah Alaa kulli khaal that's Praise be to ALLAH in all situations in life.
We ask ALLAH to protect our eemaan for better for worse till Jannat. AMIN
