Suffering:Reasons

kashif_nazeer

kashif_nazeer

~~~Alhamdulillah~~~
:salam2:

I hope this post finds everyone in the best of health and iman inshaAllah.The other day I was wondering about the reasons behind sufferings of human beings in this world and was pondering over what reasons Islam gives for them.
These are the points which I concluded,please correct me if I am wrong and please provide a few more if you can think of more,:jazaak:

1. Test: Allah sent us adversities so that He could test us and He does not test us beyond what we can bear.
These are the verses which support my this thought:

And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient,(2:155)

Do you think that you will enter Paradise before Allah tests those of you who fought (in His Cause) and (also) tests those who are As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.)?(3:142)

And We divided them throughout the earth into nations. Of them some were righteous, and of them some were otherwise. And We tested them with good [times] and bad that perhaps they would return [to obedience].(7:168)

Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.(21:35)

Verily, Allah knows those who believe, and verily, He knows the hypocrites [i.e. Allah will test the people with good and hard days to discriminate the good from the wicked (although Allah knows all that before putting them to test)].(29:11)

Now when hurt toucheth a man he crieth unto Us, and afterward when We have granted him a boon from Us, he saith: Only by force of knowledge I obtained it. Nay, but it is a test. But most of them know not.(39:49)

So,all the troubles and adversities are in fact a form of test for us.

2) Expiation of sins:This I concluded after I read a hadith:

Abu Sa`id and Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) said: "Never a believer is stricken with a discomfort, an illness, an anxiety, a grief or mental worry or even the pricking of a thorn but Allah will expiate his sins on account of his patience".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Also,
If a wound should touch you - there has already touched the [opposing] people a wound similar to it. And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people so that Allah may make evident those who believe and [may] take to Himself from among you martyrs - and Allah does not like the wrongdoers -

And that Allah may purify the believers [through trials] and destroy the disbelievers.(3:141)

I think it is much better to go through trials in this world than to suffer in the hereafter.If some adversity comes to us in this world we should remember that it is for our own good and there is always khayr in what Allah does.

3)Punishment for wrongdoers:I concluded this after reading quite a few verses about disbelievers being stricken with sufferings and being punished.
One of the main one is:

And that Allah may purify the believers [through trials] and destroy the disbelievers.(3:141)

And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we will never believe you until we see Allah outright"; so the thunderbolt took you while you were looking on.(2:55)

But those who wronged changed [those words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them, so We sent down upon those who wronged a punishment from the sky because they were defiantly disobeying.(2:59)

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."(2:286)

We ask Allah to forgive us and we seek refuge in Him from His punishment.Ameen.


:wasalam:
 
A

Aapa

Mirajmom
Assalaam walaikum,

We suffer because we are unable to understand that blessings come to us as a bitter fruit sometimes. We suffer because we put our needs first. I want this candy bar and I do not get the candy bar I am going to be mad.

The pious are not attached.

Islam tells it to us short and simple: sabr and salat.

What would life be without experiences. How can you know pleasure if you do not know pain. Each life is an individual experience in creation.

We need to understand our dependence on Allah.
 
P

Precious Star

Junior Member
Aapa said:
Assalaam walaikum,

We suffer because we are unable to understand that blessings come to us as a bitter fruit sometimes. We suffer because we put our needs first. I want this candy bar and I do not get the candy bar I am going to be mad.

The pious are not attached.

Islam tells it to us short and simple: sabr and salat.

What would life be without experiences. How can you know pleasure if you do not know pain. Each life is an individual experience in creation.

We need to understand our dependence on Allah.
Click to expand...

I'm not certain I agree with this.

A woman is raped. Is that a bitter fruit in the guise of a blessing? A child is born disabled. Hidden blessing? The boys who have been run over by Assad's army in Syria - oh the suffering of their parents!

No, we suffer because that is that is the nature of life on earth. It is not utopia. I don't know if we really need to over-analyze the issue. But Allah has created us, and He has created us with emotions. He has created us with the urge to laugh, cry, be sad, be happy. If we did not suffer when adversity hits us, we would not be human. Understanding and appreciating our dependence on Allah does not change the fact that we suffer; it may change the nature of the suffering, but not the suffering itself. Yes, we have to keep "sufferings" in perspective -- i.e. recognize that not getting the candy bar is not a big deal -- but different trials mean different things to different people.

The BOTTOM line is that this world is NOT utopia. We do not get what we want. In fact, we often don't get what we want and many times the OPPOSITE of what we want. As humans, we feel sadness over this. As believers, we understand that there will be happiness in the hereafter.
 
hayat84

hayat84

I'm not what you believe
"fa inna ma'a l 'usri yusra"
Allah tested us since our birth with many trials.I see the the matter by a personal way:when I was a chlid I suffered the loss of affection from my father:how I wished to have a kiss from him,a hug...he often had humor changing and I feared him because of his violence.in my heart I wished him to change because somewhere I hoped to reach his heart,even if he saw me as a devil...Allah wanted to test me,I wasn't muslima,but a prisonner of my sufferences.when I felt in love for the first time,it was my actual husband,a muslim boy who showed me Islam...little by little I understood that behind the suffrance there is the ease,for everybody.it must exist the faith to Allah and He will show how to get better:ma::wasalam:
 
kashif_nazeer

kashif_nazeer

~~~Alhamdulillah~~~
Aapa said:
Assalaam walaikum,

We suffer because we are unable to understand that blessings come to us as a bitter fruit sometimes. We suffer because we put our needs first. I want this candy bar and I do not get the candy bar I am going to be mad.

The pious are not attached.

Islam tells it to us short and simple: sabr and salat.

What would life be without experiences. How can you know pleasure if you do not know pain. Each life is an individual experience in creation.

We need to understand our dependence on Allah.
Click to expand...

Wa alykumassalaam warahmatullah,
Indeed sister,sabr and salat can get us through anything.Alhamdulillah for everything,even in case of suffering a believer benefits since his/her sins are expiated if that person bears patiently in case of an affliction.Alhamdulillah for that.

Precious Star said:
A woman is raped. Is that a bitter fruit in the guise of a blessing? A child is born disabled. Hidden blessing? The boys who have been run over by Assad's army in Syria - oh the suffering of their parents!

No, we suffer because that is that is the nature of life on earth. It is not utopia. I don't know if we really need to over-analyze the issue. But Allah has created us, and He has created us with emotions. He has created us with the urge to laugh, cry, be sad, be happy. If we did not suffer when adversity hits us, we would not be human. Understanding and appreciating our dependence on Allah does not change the fact that we suffer; it may change the nature of the suffering, but not the suffering itself. Yes, we have to keep "sufferings" in perspective -- i.e. recognize that not getting the candy bar is not a big deal -- but different trials mean different things to different people.

The BOTTOM line is that this world is NOT utopia. We do not get what we want. In fact, we often don't get what we want and many times the OPPOSITE of what we want. As humans, we feel sadness over this. As believers, we understand that there will be happiness in the hereafter.
Click to expand...

Sister,you are right sufferings are a part of life,but any affliction suffered is not without a reason.There is something hidden behind them.We as muslims know that if we bear patiently if an affliction befalls us Allah might forgive our sins on account of our patience.Also it is one of Allah's ways to test us as it says in Surah Mulk that Allah created life and death in order to test us.So everything we experience in life sufferings or blessings ,they are a form of test until we return to our Lord.Now the tests are there,what lies beyond the test is much more beautiful,as there is a saying,"That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger".Also,when we bear patiently it helps us gain strength and expiate our sins and makes it easy for us in the hereafter.For this world is worth nothing!Nothing at all!
We are bound to feel sad when we don't get something we like,but as it says in the Qur'an that there might be something we like but there is bad in it for us.So Allah is al hakim,He knows whats best for us,even his sufferings are a form of blessing for us,if not in this world then in the hereafter.
hayat84 said:
"fa inna ma'a l 'usri yusra"
Allah tested us since our birth with many trials.I see the the matter by a personal way:when I was a chlid I suffered the loss of affection from my father:how I wished to have a kiss from him,a hug...he often had humor changing and I feared him because of his violence.in my heart I wished him to change because somewhere I hoped to reach his heart,even if he saw me as a devil...Allah wanted to test me,I wasn't muslima,but a prisonner of my sufferences.when I felt in love for the first time,it was my actual husband,a muslim boy who showed me Islam...little by little I understood that behind the suffrance there is the ease,for everybody.it must exist the faith to Allah and He will show how to get better:ma::wasalam:
Click to expand...

Alhamdulillah sister I am happy that you found Islam and you made a good point.There is not only suffering for us but also time for ease,Allah tests us with both good and bad times,things and people etc.It is how we come through these tests that matters.

Bottomline is it's not the test it's what beyond that should be kept in mind and one should never lose hope even for a moment because Ar Raheem is always covering us with His mercy.
I was recently reading about the two names of Allah Ar Rahman and Ar Raheem,what I read made me feel so peaceful and comfortable and tranquil.I read that these two names of Allah,when Allah created womb he derived a name for it from one of His names,calling it 'rahm'.Such a beautiful thing!So the mercy of Allah is covering us,nurturing ,us protecting us and caring for us every moment of our life.We should never lose hope in His mercy,no matter what.
 
P

Precious Star

Junior Member
hayat84 said:
"fa inna ma'a l 'usri yusra"
Allah tested us since our birth with many trials.I see the the matter by a personal way:when I was a chlid I suffered the loss of affection from my father:how I wished to have a kiss from him,a hug...he often had humor changing and I feared him because of his violence.in my heart I wished him to change because somewhere I hoped to reach his heart,even if he saw me as a devil...Allah wanted to test me,I wasn't muslima,but a prisonner of my sufferences.when I felt in love for the first time,it was my actual husband,a muslim boy who showed me Islam...little by little I understood that behind the suffrance there is the ease,for everybody.it must exist the faith to Allah and He will show how to get better:ma::wasalam:
Click to expand...

Sister, your story is nice. But I don't want anyone to be mislead. Sometimes the "ease" does not come in this world.
Similar to your sstory, when I was growing up, and a teenager,then into my 20s and 30s, I always told myself that I will NOT have a family like the one I grew up in. Where my father uses a lot of swear words, and I always feared him because he was very strict and would become very mad at me or at my mother for the slightest little thing. I witnessed my mother crying on so many occasions, and months would go by where my father wouldn't talk to either of us, and he would be very rude and unkind.. He is still that way and it really hurts me. I always hoped that when I became an adult, I would be devoted to having peace in my family, with a loving, soft-spoken husband who never put me down, and we would always speak kindly to each other, and I would never treat my children the way my father treated me.
Well, here i am 40 years later and that never happened. Because my parents are old now, I have to spend a lot of time catering to their needs. So, I got the opposite of what I prayed for. Instead of a nice family of my own, I am stuck with the family that I wanted to escape from.
So you see, not everyone has a prince to rescue them. It is great that that happened to you. But I also read sura Al-Inshirah and it hasn't come true for me.
 
hayat84

hayat84

I'm not what you believe
@precious star,everybody has his experiences,I'm none to say something that may make somebody disagree.I tried to find a match between my initial unluky life and my actual one:to whom is due that,if not to Allah?nowdays,I'm more friend with my father than before,and since I started talking to him about Islam I see him very calm and he often laughs with me.do tou know why?because one day I decided to face my fears:I fell into depression because of his fear,but I took the courage and when he came to visit me,I said him all what of bad he made me pass and how I regretted my past without a good word.at first he remained in silence,but time by time I saw him more disposed to the dialogue because I defeated my fears and told to his face what was burning me.now,he's obliged to stay at home because he had an accident while he was driving:it's 3 years since it happened and since that day he changed his behaviour.now he's proud of me of my new family."if you want to sleep,Allah will help you to sleep,if you want to work,He will help you to work".:wasalam:
 
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