3) Allah may make us go through tests and trials to test our حسن الظن بالله.
Will we think good or bad about Allah? This is another test.
E.g. The Shaytan whispers and tells you there's no way of repentance. You've been committing sins for years and years and now you want to repent?! Do you really think Allah's going to forgive you now?
And Allah says in (39:53):
No matter how great your sins are - if you return to Allah in remorse, regret, with a sincere resolve never to go back to the sin, and increase in obedience to Allah, Allah will forgive you.
Why?
Because "إنه هو الغفور الرحيم"
Don't forget this verse.
E.g. You invoke to Allah to relieve you of your distress. The Shaytan whispers, "See, you've been calling Allah and yet your problem has been going on for years and years and Allah still hasn't responded"
And Allah says in (27:62):
This is Allah. He answers the call of the distressed person - even if that distressed person is a disbeliever. He'll respond, remove the hardship, as long as you call while being fully sure that no one can help you except Allah.
So if Allah responds to the disbeliever, do you not think, that you as a believer will invoke Him, and He won't respond to you? This is bad thinking of Allah. Think positive and expect good from Allah, that whenever you raise your hands asking Him, He will respond - because He promised to in the Qur'an.
In (2:186):
So what should I do?
1) Respond to Allah
2) Believe in Him
Bear in mind, it's a good thing if your distress is prolonged. Receive the glad tidings. It means that Allah is elevating your ranks with Him. What do you want? Your distress to be removed immediately, or to meet Allah on the Day of Judgement with high ranks in Paradise? The more you show patience, the more reward you'll get. Repel the whispers of the Shaytan by telling this to yourself.
E.g. Ya'qoub stayed waiting and invoking Allah to rejoin him with Yusuf for 35 years. In (12:86):
He knew that his invocation would not go in vain, that Allah would remove his distress sooner or later. This is what made him have hope in Allah, and not despair of His mercy.
Both Yusuf and Ya'qoub stayed patient for 35 years, until they were reunited. They thought and expected good of Allah, and didn't let their hearts turn to other than Him. Allah mentioned their story in the Qur'an for us to take them as role models.
What makes us think evil of Allah? We don't understand the actions of Allah, or how to explain the pre-ordained decrees. We don't understand how it works..
The Qadar in brief:
1) We are not compelled. We have free will to take an action.
Evidence: In (18:29):
2) Nothing occurs in this world without the permission of Allah. And the will of Allah is based on His knowledge + wisdom. He knows the right time, the right place, the right person, the right amount.
3) a) Allah knew in advance about all what's going to happen until the Day of Judgement - because He is العليم. His knowledge encompasses everything: the past, present, future. He knows about everything in detail
b) 50,000 years before the creation of the heavens and earth, Allah wrote everything that will happen in the world until the Day of Judgement in the Preserved Tablet. Everything down to a falling from the tree, your cells being renewed, etc. has been written.
c) Now, everything happens according to Allah's will and permission. And this all occurs without me having a choice - E.g. Distresses befalling me, sicknesses, etc. This isn't something I chose for myself; Allah willed it for me.
In (57:22):
Whatever happens in this world of killing, hurricanes, floods, or in my personal life of afflictions and sicknesses, it's already written. Allah knew about it, wrote it, and now it's occurring as a test. What will I do?
d) - This is my response to the test. Allah created in me the strength and ability to take an action in response to that decree. He gave me senses, a heart,a mind, to react - and I'm responsible for this reaction.
In (91:7-10):
E.g. I am a married woman and don't have children. This is a Qadar of Allah - I didn't choose this for myself, Allah chose this for me.
Then comes my action towards this test:
a) If I am content, pleased, and believe that whatever Allah willed is good for me, I passed the test with Allah.
b) If I'm discontent, displeased, blame Allah, I've failed the test
There are people who say, "Allah put me in a bad family, I didn't choose this for myself. He wants to throw me into hellfire"
They're thinking evil about Allah. Yes, Allah decreed for you to be born in a non-Muslim family, but He showed you the truth. So it's up to you whether you decide to follow it or not.
In (64:11):
If you believe it's a test from Allah, and that He won't write except good for you, Allah will guide your heart. He'll make you feel good, put rest in your heart, although the problem may still exist. He'll keep you firm on the right path. You won't grumble or be ungrateful.
If you pass the test -> The next Qadar will accordingly be good
If you fail the test -> The next Qadar will be bad
E.g. The People of Saba
Allah gave them the blessing of gardens with fruits, running rivers, as a test. They didn't choose this for themselves - Allah gave it to them. How did they react towards this blessing?
They showed ungratefulness and felt bored. Allah made the distance of traveling easy for them, but they wanted the distance to be longer because that were sick of short travel. They wanted hardship upon themselves.
Our children do the same. The table is spread out with food and they complain that they have to eat it everyday. They're getting bored with the blessings of Allah.
Because the people of Saba reacted with ungratefulness, the next Qadar was that Allah sent a flood, destroying the gardens, such that it bore thorny trees and had no rivers.
Who is responsible for that? They are. This happened because of their ungratefulness, so Allah punished them. Whenever you feel like your life is miserable, you don't have anyone to blame except yourself.
In (14:7):
In (4:147):
Allah doesn't like you to suffer, He wants good for us. But we are failing in our tests.
The moment we blame Allah, we become like Shaytan. In (15:39):
In a nutshell: Allah presents trials to us throughout our lives, one after the other, as a test. I need to:
1) Beware of committing sins with my heart (of arrogance, pride, hypocrisy, etc.)
2) Avoid turning or attaching my heart to other than Allah
3) Think good of Allah
If we do this, we'll be of the متقين. And Allah loves المتقين, He prepared Paradise for them.
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