Understanding Allah's Tests: Patience And Gratitude

Jumu'ah Khutbah — Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and the Messengers, and upon his family and all his companions.

Allah, the Exalted, has said in the book of His revelation — after we seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. The great truth is Allah's.

My dear respected brothers, respected elders, sisters in Islam — السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ.

This World Is a Test

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has sent us all into this world for a test and a trial. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will judge between us on the Day of Judgment. He is the Mālik Yawm al-Dīn — He is the Master of the Day of Judgment.

And this test and trial takes many shapes and forms. Sometimes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests us with blessings — with health, wealth, and prosperity. This is also a test from Allah. This is an easier test. The test being: do we express our gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Are we among the shākirīn — those who express shukr to Allah? Do we utilize the blessings in a manner pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Do we attribute and make nisbah of the blessing to Allah rather than to ourselves?

We follow the path of Sulaiman alayhis salam, who said — regarding this kingdom, this power, this little hudhud bird who brought him the news of Bilqīs of Sabā', the queen of Sabā', and the member of his court who brought her unrivaled and unparalleled throne in the blink of an eye, such that it was right in front of him — what did he say? When he saw the throne in front of him, he said:

This is the faḍl of my Rabb — this is the grace and bounty of my Lord. But the purpose is to test me: will I be grateful for His blessings, or will I be ungrateful? There are two paths Allah has opened up for us — two ways — whether we are grateful or ungrateful for His blessings. So this is the test of shukr.

The Test of Sabr

And then there is another test — the test of sabr. And this is when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes something away from us — when we are expecting it and when we are not expecting it. This could be the loss of a loved one, the loss of health or wealth, or any type of tragedy. This is something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala already forewarned us about. He told us, in very clear, unambiguous terms — in fact, with emphasis, emphatically He mentioned:

Most definitely We will test you — this is a lām of taqīd and a nūn of taqīd which adds further emphasis. "Most definitely We will test you" — which is quite sobering, but it is something that we are being informed of. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala turns it down a notch by saying bishay'in — with a little bit. Meaning, in the infinite treasures of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, many even more severe tests exist. He is not opening the floodgates upon us and submerging us in those tests that He has with Him. He is only giving us a little bit.

What type of test? Khawf — fear of life, apprehension, worry, anxiety. Wal-jū' — hunger. Wa naqṣin min al-amwāli wal-anfus — loss of wealth and life. Wal-thamarāt — loss of fruits and profits. But then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us a glad tiding and says: wa bashshir al-ṣābirīn — "Give the glad tiding to those who will remain patient."

Global Calamities and Local Grief

There are, subhanAllah, tragedies that are happening all the time at a global level — whether it was the earthquake recently in Turkey and Syria, thereafter the earthquake for our dear brothers and sisters in Morocco, and then the dams breaking in Libya, with tens of thousands of people — up to 20,000 or more — who may have died in the floods. SubhanAllah. The mind cannot even comprehend the numbers and the extent of the loss of life.

If a person kills one individual — actual murder or homicide — Allah ta'ala speaks about that crime and says:

Whoever takes someone's life — bighayri nafsin, not in retaliation, and not as a punishment or qiṣāṣ after a court judgment, but rather an innocent person — it is as if he has committed a crime against all of humanity. That is how severe it is — the loss of one innocent life. And here it is not one individual, or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand — it is ten thousand, twenty thousand. We really cannot even begin to fathom what is going on. It may take years of wars to reach such numbers of casualties as happen in just a few moments.

This has already been promised by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And at a very local level, within our own Dar-us-Salam family, one of the mothers of our dear brother passed away yesterday. We also have other members of our community who have had the loss of children recently — babies who have passed away, miscarriages, different accidents. All kinds of tests and trials are coming, left and right.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Give the glad tidings to those who will maintain sabr during these times — those who, when they are afflicted with any calamity, say: Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rāji'ūn — "We all belong to Allah, and towards Him we are returning." Upon them descend special mercy from their Lord, and they are the rightly guided ones.

The Prophet's Own Grief: The Death of Ibrāhīm

Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam showed us by example — he had tragedies in his own life too. His young child Ibrāhīm passed away in his lap, breathing slowly and slowly, until there was the final breath — that final inhaling and exhaling when the soul comes out. People who sit next to individuals when they are passing away have all reported this. In Arabic there is a specific verb for it. In English it is known as a "death rattle," and in Arabic it is called the ghargharah:

This is a unique phenomenon known as onomatopoeia in English — the word has a resemblance to the actual sound in nature, like the phone "rings," or bees "buzz." Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used this very word in a hadith. What is the hadith?

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 3537; also reported in Musnad Aḥmad)

Verily, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala always looks forward with great expectation and anticipation for the tawbah of His slave and is ready to accept the repentance of His slave — until the ghargharah. That is the final breath escaping — the trachea collapsing so that sound can no longer come out, just like a snoring sound when a person is in deep sleep. That is called the death rattle. Until that very moment, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is ready to accept repentance.

So this death rattle happened in the lap of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — of his own son. Bear in mind, his first son Qāsim had passed away. Then Abdullāh, who was also called Ṭayyib and Ṭāhir, passed away. So he had no living son. And in his lifetime, Zaynab radiallahu anha passed away — attacked by the Quraysh during the Hijrah; they threw a spear at her, she was wounded, suffered a miscarriage, and died from those wounds. An unborn grandchild of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was killed. Then Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthūm passed away in his lifetime too. And the mother of all of them, Khadījah radiallahu anha, passed away in the 10th year of his Nubuwwah — Āmul Ḥuzn, the Year of Grief. And then only Fāṭimah radiallahu anha remained at the end of his life.

But now here, Ibrāhīm passes away — Ibrāhīm ibn Rasūl. We go and say salām to him in Jannatul Baqī, where his grave is. Any death is a tragedy. But in the back of our minds, we expect that elders will pass away first — grandparents, then parents, then myself, then my children, then my grandchildren. The order we came into the world, we naturally expect that is the order we return. First come, first go. But when the order is reversed, it is an even greater tragedy. A father hopes and dreams that his son will bury him — he never wishes to bury his own son.

So when Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam experienced this tragedy, he was crying and tears came from his eyes. When a companion asked him — "You are crying?" — he was asking in the sense of: is this objecting against the will of Allah? Is it permissible? How does sabr permit this? What does sabr mean and what are its limits? He didn't articulate all of that, but that was the spirit of the question.

So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam explained in very beautiful, comprehensive words. He said straightforwardly:

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 1303)

Verily, the heart is filled with grief. Verily, the eyes are shedding tears. But we do not say anything except that which pleases our Lord. And indeed, O Ibrāhīm, we are grieved by your parting. So at a human level — as a bashar, he was a bashar, khayrul bashar, the best of all mankind — this was a natural human response. But coupled with that is ihtisāb: bearing the loss with the expectation of reward from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

True Sabr: At the First Blow

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam once passed by a woman who was crying at a grave. He said to her: "Have taqwā of Allah and have patience." She did not recognize him — she was so engrossed in, overwhelmed by her grief — and she said, "Na'ūdhu billāh — you have not been afflicted with what I have been afflicted with, so you do not know my pain." Afterwards, people told her: that was Muḥammad ibn Abdillāh, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. She became filled with worry and regret — what have I done? What have I said? And she went to apologize to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

She mentioned as a side comment: when she went to visit him, famā wajadtu 'indahu bawwāb — she found no guard at the gate. She had been expecting a bawwāb — a guard standing at the gate. This is because, in the Masjid al-Nabawī, there is an area called Ustawwānat al-Ḥaras — the pillar where the guard of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to stand — among the famous pillars of Riyāḍ al-Jannah, the area between the noble grave and the minbar of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, which is a garden from the gardens of Jannah. You now need a ticket on the app to enter. There is the pillar of the guard (Ustawwānat al-Ḥaras), the pillar where he would meet delegations (Ustawwānat al-Wufūd), and the pillar of Tahajjud (Ustawwānat al-Tahajjud), where he would pray Tahajjud salāh.

Initially there was a guard there. Then Allah ta'ala revealed the āyah:

In this āyah, Allah ta'ala says to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: balligh — propagate the message that you have been entrusted with. And if you do this effort of tablīgh, of propagation, then you will have divine protection. WaAllāhu ya'ṣimuka min al-nās — and Allah will divinely protect you. This is a promise of divine protection from Allah ta'ala to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So when this āyah was revealed, after the nuzūl al-waḥy ended, the Prophet went out and told the guard: you are dismissed. "When should I return to duty?" No — permanently. He literally said: that's it. Yani, I don't need you anymore. Because Allah ta'ala said, waAllāhu ya'ṣimuka min al-nās — Allah will protect you.

So she said, famā wajadtu 'indahu bawwāb — and that, by the way, is a jumlah mu'tariḍah, a parenthetical remark. I didn't find a guard there. Then I said: Yā Rasulullāh, please forgive me. I pledge that I will remain patient.

What did Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say? Typically you would think he would encourage her — say, wow, that's great, may Allah reward you. But he also said:

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 1283; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 926)

That's great — you're going to be patient now. But the true reward of patience is 'inda al-ṣadmati al-ūlā — when the calamity first strikes. That is the test. You have to control yourself at that very point. Because eventually, everyone comes to deal with the loss. We know of the five stages of grief — shock, denial, and so on, until finally acceptance. The mu'min is the one who accepts at the first stage. We begin to accept and say: this is the qaḍā' al-Qāḍī. Anā rāḍī bi-qaḍā' al-Qāḍī — I am pleased with whatever my Rabb has decreed.

The Gift of Innā Lillāhi — and the Patience of Umm Salīm

This is the condition of the ṣābirīn. Wa bashshir al-ṣābirīn — give the glad tidings to those who remain patient. Those who, when they are afflicted with any calamity, say:

Special mercy of Allah descends upon them, and they are the rightly guided ones.

This āyah — إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — is a specific gift for this ummah. Even Ya'qūb alayhis salām, despite being a prophet of Allah, when he was crying over the grief of his lost son Yūsuf, and then on top of that the separation from Binyāmīn alayhis salām, he said:

Oh my grief over Yūsuf! — and his eyes became white, he lost his sight, from excessive crying. But he did not say إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ, because this āyah was revealed as a gift specifically for this ummah.

It means: Innā lillāh — I belong to Allah, we belong to Allah. Wa innā ilayhi rāji'ūn — we are all returning back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Rāji'ūn means we are returning. Someone returned earlier and we will return later, but we will all end up in the same place. The plural form indicates that we are all on the same journey — some are in the carriages ahead, we are in the middle, some are behind us, but we are all going in the same direction.

And the word rāji'ūn is not dhāhibūn. Dhāhibūn means going somewhere for the first time — with a level of apprehension, uncertainty. But rāji'ūn means you are returning. We came from there, we came from Allah, and we are going back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So do not worry, do not be afraid. Wa innā ilayhi rāji'ūn.

This is how Umm Sulaym radiallahu anha conducted herself when her husband Abū Ṭalḥah radiallahu anhu came back from a campaign. She had beautified herself, prepared a beautiful meal. He came, ate, and then she fulfilled his physical need. Afterward, as he was going to make ghusl, she asked him a question — notice how carefully she introduced the topic.

She said: "O my dear husband, are you satisfied? Everything — the food, the rest — you are calm and relaxed?" He said yes. Then she posed a hypothetical: "If someone gives you an amānah, a trust, and then later wants to take it back — does he have the right to do so?" He said: "Absolutely — it belongs to him." She confirmed: "You are sure?" He said yes. Then she said: "Someone had entrusted you with a trust while you were away on the journey, and he has taken his trust back." He said: "Really? Which trust?" She said: "Allah had entrusted this baby to us, and Allah has taken the baby back." "When?" "Today."

The baby's body was there in the home. And Abū Ṭalḥah was in a state — he had just fulfilled his needs, ghusl was now obligatory upon him — he was overwhelmed. She said: "I did not want to break the news the moment you came home."

And on both ends we have this problem — we don't enter the home smiling; we enter with all the anger and frustration from work. And the wives also, when the husband comes home, they don't receive them smiling; they have the frustration from the children. Everyone is frustrated at everyone else. But here was such a calamity in the home — and this was the pinnacle of sabr of the women of this ummah, Umm Sulaym radiallahu anha.

Then Abū Ṭalḥah got himself ready, performed ghusl, performed ghusl for the baby, and they buried the child. He went and informed Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam of what had happened, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made du'ā':

May Allah put barakah in your night. And from that night, another child was conceived who had so many descendants — all great ulamā of this ummah.

Closing Du'ā

May Allah ta'ala grant us the ability to make sabr and realize that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will grant us the greatest reward if we remain patient. What is that reward? His ma'iyyah:

Indeed, Allah is with those who are patient. May Allah ta'ala give us patience at the time of these trials.

Wa ākhiru da'wānā anil-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabb il-'ālamīn.

Announcements

Please come closer inshāAllāh, fill in all the gaps, and perform the sunnah prayers.

Please pass the donation boxes and donate generously. Ṣadaqah tadfa'ul balā' — charity repels calamity — and draws the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The ṣadaqah given on the day of Jumu'ah carries greater reward than on any other day.

Regarding parking — there is a new concern: some brothers are parking in the condos as well. Na'ūdhu billāh. Please do not do that. We have received notices from the condo management that musallis are parking there. Please use only the assigned parking of the masjid and its extensions.

Please save the date for the annual Seerah Conference — covering different aspects of the life of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. This year it will be on October 13th (Friday night) and October 14th (Saturday).

We have our Girls' Youth Ḥalaqah — a specific program conducted by our seminary's ālimah students for young girls, on the topic of the dangers of peer pressure and how to maintain our Muslim identity. Bi-weekly Sisters' Youth Ḥalaqah, ages 13 to 21, in the Seminary Sisters' Prayer Hall, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Saturday Fajr Program — tomorrow morning after Fajr at 5:45 a.m. Seerah continues on Tuesday nights after Maghrib.

Sunday School registration is open. Please join us — this is the bare minimum for our children's Islamic education. We have the seven-year program (Takbīl), the one-year program (Tanwīr), the two-year program, and Maktab five days a week. But the bare minimum is once a week on Sunday. Ages 6 to 16, boys and girls. All teachers are ulamā or students of knowledge. There are still openings in the program.

At the Community Center: Tuesday women's basketball 8–10 p.m., Wednesday men's volleyball 8–10 p.m., Thursday men's basketball 8–10 p.m., and Friday jujitsu 7–8 p.m. There will also be a students' gathering between Maghrib and 'Ishā' — Da'wah and Tablīgh program — and the gym will be available for students from 5:30 p.m.

There is a request for du'ā' al-maghfirah for Muhammad Nandolia, who has passed away, and for our dear brother Nāṣir Bey — his mother tragically passed away from a burn accident. May Allah ta'ala save her and all of us from the fire of Jahannam. Āmīn.