By Babatunde Jose
From Allah we come, and to Him is our return
All Praise is due to Alláh, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Alláh, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Alláh, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, sws, is His servant, and His messenger.
There is no doubt we all encounter affliction. Some people argue that if God is Love, if Allah is All Merciful, then why are we afflicted with the death of loved ones, such as children, spouses and siblings? Why are there so many earthquakes, floods, volcanoes; so much warfare, hunger and disease: Why do innocent men, women and children have to endure unspeakable pain? Why do the real sinners seem to get away with their crimes? Sometimes we hear people say, “How can I believe in a Merciful and Loving God when He allows so much suffering?”
Yet, there is God! We have all been there before. Sometimes the problem of theodicy pushes man to the warm embrace of atheism.
Some people take the existence of suffering as proof that God doesn’t exist, or if He does exist, then He doesn’t deserve to be worshipped, because He appears to be so unjust. How do we deal with such arguments?
First, we must be clear that every human being, without exception, will at some time or other have to endure hardship, pain, loss and death.
Says the Holy Quran; “Every soul will taste Death.”(29:57)
The same Quran also poses the rhetorical question: “Or do ye think that ye shall enter the Garden (of Bliss) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Apostle and those of faith who were with him cried: “When (will come) the help of Allah?” Ah! Verily, the help of Allah is (always) near!!” (Quran 2:214)
Allah’s help is always near! It’s much nearer than we think! Allah wants us to really feel and experience our desperate need for Him. He wants us to persevere, patiently. He wants us to repose our complete trust in His mercy, so that we can set ourselves apart from those who disbelieve, those who stand against faith.
How blessed we are, we who believe in the Lord, and who have absolute certainty, of our Day of meeting with Him! How miserable and lonely, how futile and pointless the life of those without faith, who live from day to day, without any hope and without longing for what lies beyond death!
We know that suffering is a test for us, a test of our patience. We know that peace and prosperity is also a test, a test of our gratitude to Allah. Those who see suffering as a “problem” are really saying that they believe they have a right to a life of uninterrupted happiness, with no discomfort, no pain and no grief. But that’s not what this earthly life is all about! We still have to earn the right to enter Allah’s garden!
When believers suffer hardship and experience the death of a loved one, they say, ‘Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un’ (Quran 2:156), “From Allah we come, and to Him is our return.” Also known as Istirja (Arabic: ٱسْتِرْجَاع, ʾIstirjāʿ)
