This is my first time writing a reflection (that serves as a reminder for me too) with the basis of Al-Quran and Hadith. So, as a non-religious person, I plead to anyone who read this to remind and correct me if I made any mistake in quoting an ayah (verse), translating it, or interpreting it. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
We all know that as humans, we're always faced with trials and hardships at some points of our lives. Muslims even believe that we are being tested in every situation we are in. You lost something that you love the most? That's a test. You got something that you love the most? That can be a test too.
The Purpose of Tests
كُلُّ نَفۡسٖ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۗ وَنَبۡلُوكُم بِٱلشَّرِّ وَٱلۡخَيۡرِ فِتۡنَةٗۖ وَإِلَيۡنَا تُرۡجَعُونَ
"Every living being shall taste death and We shall subject you to ill and good by way of trial, and to Us shall all of you be eventually sent back." [Quran Surah Al-Anbiya Ayah 35 (21:35)]
Life tests through adversity and affluence are actually given by Allah to exalt us. It is a sign of love by the Almighty. First thing first, tests are a mean to judge us. Allah inflicts adversity upon us to see wheter it makes us low-spirited and down-hearted; or patient and tawakkal. On the other hand, Allah gives us affluence to see if it makes us arrogant, cruel, and slaves of our lusts; or makes us grateful and reminded of Allah's greatness.
People with strong faith face everything in moderation. So, when they get something, they say 'Alhamdulillah' and when they lose something, they also say 'Alhamdulillah'. Alhamdulillah, be grateful always, for there's a hikmah in every situation. Not to mention that, there will always be a worse situation that we could be in. Who knows?
Wisdom Behind Tests
Assuming a person is a faithful servant, a calamity is a call from Allah to seek forgiveness, patience, and acceptance—the core traits of Imaan (faith). It is Allah's mercy that a calamity befalls upon us so that we can get closer to Him. From my personal experience, as someone who is far from religious (but yes, spiritual), it was only when I got nothing left in this dunya, that I got closer to Allah. This is not something that I'm proud of because we're obligated to remember Allah everytime, not just when we're sad and low. But truly, it is the moment when we understand that no one can help us, when we have no hope left, that we will be strongly reminded that 'to Our Creator shall we return'. So we will pray to Allah more (in quality and quantity) in those moments. Isn't it Allah's love that got us closer to Him and strengthen our faith?
Some say that when Allah misses us, He gives us trials, sometimes so hard, that we have no other choice than to return to Him. To make salah and du'as (prayers). To do dhikr (remembering Allah). To repent for our sins. Isn't it such an honour to be tested so hard, then? Maybe if we were never being tested, we'd be drifting further from Allah, becoming slaves of our lusts, and being arrogant servants. Isn't it a loving move from Allah to give us the chance to be reminded in this dunya while we're alive, instead of just letting us fall into the beauty of this worldly matters and punishing us in the akhirah (hereafter)?
From the tests given, Allah will see who the true believers are. Allah also sees who among those who believe is just full of deceit and lies. Once again, every test has a measure, for Allah will not burden a soul more than it can bear. Allah is never be wrong in choosing someone to face a certain hardship because He is the most knowing of His servants' capacity. The 'level' of the test is adjusted to the abilities of each of His servants, so we don't need to complain or even fall into despair. The question is to what extent we are prepared to face the tests.
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَاۚ
"Allah does not burden any soul beyond than it can bear ..." [Quran Surah Al-Baqarah Ayah 286 (2:286)]
The Higher The Faith, The Harder The Test
أَحَسِبَ ٱلنَّاسُ أَن يُتۡرَكُوٓاْ أَن يَقُولُوٓاْ ءَامَنَّا وَهُمۡ لَا يُفۡتَنُونَ
"Do people think that they will be let go merely by saying: 'We believe,' and that they will not be tested?" [Quran Surah Al-Ankabut Ayah 2 (29:2)]
The meaning of this verse is that Allah will always test His servants who have faith according to the level of faith they have had so far. That being said, the higher the faith, the harder the test. This is as found in a sahih hadith:
It was narrated from Mus’ab bin Sa’d that his father, Sa’d bin Abu Waqqas, said: "I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, which people are most severely tested?’ He said: ‘The Prophets, then the righteous, then those following them in degree. A person is tested according to his religious commitment. If he is steadfast in his religious commitment, he will be tested more severely, and if he is frail in his religious commitment, his test will be according to his commitment. Trials will continue to afflict a person until they leave him walking on the earth with no sin on him.'" [https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:4023]
Even the Prophets faced many steep roads, unbearable calamities, and hateful people in carrying the message of Allah. However, they always teach an open and optimistic life. We as believers shouldn't be narrow-minded and negative in the face of adversity and problems. Apart from the Prophets, pious people also cannot escape the test of Allah.
أَمۡ حَسِبۡتُمۡ أَن تَدۡخُلُواْ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأۡتِكُم مَّثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ خَلَوۡاْ مِن قَبۡلِكُمۖ مَّسَّتۡهُمُ ٱلۡبَأۡسَآءُ وَٱلضَّرَّآءُ وَزُلۡزِلُواْ حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ ٱلرَّسُولُ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مَعَهُۥ مَتَىٰ نَصۡرُ ٱللَّهِۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ نَصۡرَ ٱللَّهِ قَرِيبٞ
"Do you think that you will enter Paradise without undergoing such trials as were experienced by the believers before you? They met with adversity and affliction and were so shaken by trials that the Prophet of the time and his followers cried out: 'When will Allah's help come?' (Then they were comforted with the good tidings): 'Yes, Allah’s help is near.'" [Quran Surah Al-Baqarah Ayah 214 (2:214)]
The verse and hadith above give an impression to every believer that this life is actually a test relay. After Allah has given one test, then another test is waiting after another for His faithful servant. Surely, Allah has tested many before us.
The Real Test
So I came across one Instagram Reel that was so eye-opening for me. It changed my view on how we should see and react to a test from Allah.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4yMnWbxM67/?igsh=MTZoemMxbzRqcTBqYQ==
Let me do a transcript of the video for you: "The test is not if you can suffer. Sometimes I hear from people like, 'Okay, well maybe I'm not getting this job, or I'm not getting married, or this thing isn't working out for me: this is my test, and I just have to be patient.' The test is not if you can just sit around and suffer. That is not the test. It's actually relatively easy to suffer. You know what to do when you're suffering? You just endure, you're just trying to exist through the suffering. What is the test is, can you have faith in better? Can you have faith in overcoming? Can you have faith in getting to the thing that you want even if you fail time and time again. The test is can you have faith? Can you keep believe? Can you keep moving? Can you keep asking Allah? Can you keep praying for a child when you're an old age? Can you keep hoping that your people will come to Allah, listen to your message, when no one has responded? Can you believe that there will be a safe place for you to go when you're being oppressed? Can you hold on to your faith, keep moving towards the goal that you want, when it is not happening. That is the test. The test is can you keep going until you actually achieve what the desire is on your heart. Not 'My test is just to sit here and suffer and not get the thing that I want.' No."
MasyaAllah. The reason why this simple video is so eye-opening is because I have a totally different mindset before. The first thing that comes to my mind when people around me, or me, face a hardship was, "How can we accept this calamity and let go?" Because I know that acceptance is something that I need to work hard on. I thought my test was just "How can I accept the things we cannot control?" "How can I surrender to Allah's plan?"
With the calamity that I'm currently facing, which I believe is the hardest hardship that I would have never imagined, it's relatively easier to just be patient, endure, and suffer. The real test is actually not stopping there, it's beyond that. As the video said, it's about how we keep our faith for the better things that is prepared by Allah. And that is the hardest thing to overcome when we're in the middle of desperation, for sure.
We cannot predict when, where, and how the test will come to us. However, the most important thing to do is to prepare ourselves by always asking Allah Ta'ala for salvation, strength, and patience to face the tests that Allah gives us. And of course try to 'enjoy' the process.
As a bonus, let me 'spill' my prayers everytime I'm facing any kind of calamity:
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