Saying 93 - Trials and Tribulations [3/3]
Trials and tribulations are a part of life, and inevitable under any circumstance, no matter who the person is!
﷽
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
This is part three of the series. To read part two visit:
Continuing our discussion on Saying 93, we observed that Imām (ʿa) is telling us that no one can escape tests and trials that occur in one’s lives. Imām (ʿa) explains man’s mindset and reaction towards these.
What is really helpful for us and makes us better prepared to deal with anything, is when we know:
that trials are a part of life
that Allah (swt) doesn’t try us more than our capacities
and finally the knowledge that these trials are for improving us, and helping us to reach perfection.
They serve to actualize hidden potentials. Imām ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ʿa) says:
“It is in extreme circumstances that a man’s true mettle shows itself.”
Meanwhile, the presence of animal-like qualities such as anger and lust pose a major obstacle to his purification. It is for this reason that Divine tests are considered a means for the perfection of mankind.
In the military, soldiers are required to perform strenuous activities to build their strength. Likewise, Divine tests are meant to strengthen man’s inner self.
Imām ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ʿa) says,
“Although Allah knows man better than he knows himself, (He tests him) in order to make manifest those actions by which he earns his reward or punishment.”
Sometimes the Test can be Abundance
Sometimes Allah (swt) tests a person by showering him with an abundance of blessings such as power, health, time, and wealth.
Often these blessings deceive a person so much that they threaten to lead to his downfall.
How a person conducts himself during abundance is of utmost importance:
Does he use his influence and power to help the oppressed?
Does he use his days of good health in service of Allah?
Does he value his time and use it wisely, without wasting it and use it while helping Islam?
Does his wealth get hoarded or is it the extra used to help the needy?
Imām ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ʿa) refers to this Qurʾānic truth in the following way:
إِنَّ اللهَ يَبْتَلِي عِبَادَهُ عِنْدَ الاْعْمَالِ السَّيِّئَةِ بِنَقْصِ الَّثمَرَاتِ، وَحَبْسِ الْبَرَكَاتِ، وَإِغْلاَقِ خَزَائِنِ الْخَيْرَاتِ، لِيَتُوبَ تَائِبٌ، وَيُقْلِعَ مُقْلِعٌ، وَيَتَذَكَّرَ مُتَذَكِّرٌ، وَيَزْدَجِرَ مُزْدَجِرٌ
Certainly, Allah tries his creatures in respect of their evil deeds by decreasing fruits, holding back blessings and closing the treasures of good, so that he who wishes to repent may repent, he who wishes to turn away (from evils) may turn away, he who wishes to recall (forgotten good) may recall, and he who wishes to abstain (from evil) may abstain. (Nahj al-Balāghah, Sermon 143)
Why are the Awliyāʾ of Allah Tested?
If what we have said so far is true, then one might wonder why Allah’s Prophets (ʿa), Imāms (ʿa), and saints are tested?
The answer to this question is found in a narration of Imām ʿAlī (ʿa) where he says:
إِنَّ الْبَلاَءَ لِلظَّالِمِ أَدَبٌ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِ اِمْتِحَانٌ وَلِِلاَنْبِيَاءِ دَرَجَةٌ وَلِلأَوْلِيَاءِ كَرَامَةٌ
“The divine test is a form of discipline for the wrongdoer, a test for the believer, a means to increase one’s station for the prophets, and a means of ennoblement for the saints of Allah.”
Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 4, pg. 235, no. 54:
An Example of Tests People Face
If an ill‑tempered person harms his neighbor, he is failing in his test; but at the same time he is providing a test for his neighbor. If his neighbor tries to correct his behavior by his own example, and by persuasion, then he succeeds in his own test, no matter whether his ill‑tempered neighbor changes his attitude or not.
By the way, it is for this reason that Islam expects us to perform our duties towards others, whether they perform their duty or not. After all, as we are undergoing a test, we are like students sitting in an examination hall. No student would like to ruin his answer book just because his class fellow did not write his own test papers well.
A Point That Brings Hope - It Will Pass
No matter how great our sufferings, they are not everlasting. We have a sure knowledge that sooner or later, all this trouble will come to an end because our stay in this world will be terminated one day and we will be transferred to another everlasting world. And as soon as we are transferred from this world, our anxiety and trouble will end provided we have prepared ourselves for it.
Look at this Āyah, Sūrah Āl ʿImrān, verse 140:
إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ ۚ وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَاءَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ
“If wounds afflict you, like wounds have already afflicted those people; and We make such vicissitudes rotate among mankind, so that Allah may ascertain those who have faith, and that He may take martyrs from among you, and Allah does not like the wrongdoers.”
Examples Of When Afflictions Are Punishments And NOT Tests.
Examples of sufferings as punishment may be found in the stories of Pharaoh (Fir'awn), Nimrod (Namrud), people of Prophets Lot (Lūṭ) (ʿa), Shuʿayb (ʿa), Noah (Nūḥ ) (ʿa) and Ṣāliḥ (ʿa). It will not be out of place to mention here that the outright destruction (like that of the people of Lūṭ, Pharaoh and Nimrod) has been removed from the Muslim ummah as a respect to the Holy Prophet (ṣ) who was "a mercy to the universe." But the suffering to warn the transgressors continues.
The Chosen People Facing Trials - Rasūlullāh(ṣ)
the Noble Messenger (ṣ) said:
مَا أُوذِيَ نَبِيٌّ مِثْلَ مَا أُوذِيتُ.
“No prophet was tormented to the extent that I was.”
This complaint of the Prophet (ṣ) refers to this point, for whoever perceives the greatness and glory of the Lord to a greater extent and knows the sacred station of God Almighty more than others, he suffers more and is tormented to a greater extent by the sins of the creatures and their offenses against the Lord’s sanctity.
Also, one who has a greater love and compassion for the creatures of God is tormented to a greater extent by their crooked and wretched condition and ways. And, of course, the Seal of the Prophets (ṣ) was more perfect in all these stations and higher than all of the Prophets and the Awliyāʾ in respect of his degree of excellence and perfection. Hence his torment and suffering was greater than that of any one of them.
Trials that have to be Faced before Zuhoor
قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِاللهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ: يَا مَنْصُورُ إنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ لا يَأْتِيكُمْ إلا بَعْدَ إِيَاسٍ وَلا واللهِ حَتَّى تُمَيَّزُوا وَلا وَاللهِ حَتَّى تُمَحَّصُوا وَلا وَاللهِ حَتَّى يَشْقَى مَنْ يَشْقَى وَيَسْعَدُ مَنْ يَسْعَدُ
Imām Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq (ʿa) said, “O Mansur! Indeed this affair (i.e. the appearance of al-Mahdī (A)) will not come to you except after despair and not, by God, until you have been separated, and not, by God, until you have been purified, and not, by God, until the wretched attain wretchedness and the felicitous attain felicity.”
May Allah hasten the zuhoor of Imām Mahdī (ʿaj), so our intellects reach perfection and while we successfully pass the Divine tests that are part of human life. Ameen.