Don’t become depressed to the degree that you begin to question Allah. People say: “Why is Allah testing me? He doesn’t like me…”
Well if that’s the case, He didn’t like anyone on earth because everyone is tested. Even Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who is the most beloved to Allah, the best of creation, the highest of all, he’s been through more tests than you and I, and it’s a sign of the love of Allah.
So, one might ask: how is it the sign of the love of Allah?
Let me tell you. So a man is born into a wealthy home, he’s lucky, he’s powerful, he has authority, he’s got everything from a young age at school, he’s the big shot, he graduates, he comes to university, he passed, he got degree, he become whatever, a big title before his name, everything is proper… but guess what… he’s never tasted hardship.
He Saved you from a Bigger Harm
So Allah says my worshipper, I love you too much, I need you to get closer to Me before you die, you need to come closer to Me, you need to cut your bad ways, your habits, you need to cut your previous life.
So what I will do… I will inflict you with something really big, so you go to car crash… the car was damaged beyond repair and you were saved, your family members were saved.
That’s test number one.
Nothing happened to your body but something happened to your wealth. And you’ve been saved from bodily harm.
So, you woke up and said Alhamdulillah, “O Allah I thank you”.
Allah says He loves you enough to give you something else, because you still haven’t come to us.
The second way of doing things to say Alhamdulillah. you rush to the masjid and pray 2 units and you thank Allah, you say Allah thank you for having saved me and my family, O Allah, my bad ways, my habits… I will quit them… I will not miss my prayers from today.
Are Tests Punishments?
This is why when you have a test in your life, ask yourselves, has your life changed positively? If yes, it was not a punishment. It was just a tapping from the love of Allah.
But if you become despondent, depressed, you begin to question Allah, you hate it, you become more arrogant, nothing has happened in terms of positive change in your life. It might just be a punishment, wait for another.
You haven’t yet changed so next time you lose your son. Now what happens? You’re stressed, your mind is not in its place, you start praying, asking question, you start wondering what happened?
Allah says, “look first time you didn’t turn to us, we’re turning you now.” That was a gift of Allah.
This is why sometimes the death of a close family member is our ticket to paradise. It’s just a wake up. It’s a reality check Allah is telling you, hang on, you are in the fast lane regarding the dunya, we want you to get on to the fast lane regarding the hereafter.
So this is how we’re going to do it. It’s Allah’s plan.
I’m only giving you examples. Allah is the only one who chooses what’s going to happen in your life.
(From Discovering Islam archive)