Responding to Calamity with Faith | Shaykh Dr. Ahsan Hanif | Jumu'ah Khutbah

Responding to Calamity with Faith

One of the ways in which we are told to have that taqwa of Allah — which means piety and God-fearingness, and being conscious and mindful of Allah — is that we are told that we should have the ability to remember Allah each and every single day. No matter what the circumstances or which situation arises, the first thing that should come to our minds in many of the issues that arise is Allah.

And that is why in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah, and in the example of our Messenger ﷺ, we are shown how the Prophet ﷺ and how his companions رضي الله عنهم أجمعين — the remembrance of Allah would never be far from their minds and their tongues. If it was something that pleased them, something that was a happy occasion, they would praise Allah. And if it was something which amazed them, they would glorify their Lord.

And if it was some calamity that struck them, then they would also remember Allah. And this is how the believer is meant to be. No matter what your situation, one of the signs of taqwa and piety and fearing Allah is that you have the remembrance of Allah never far from you — from your mind, from your tongue, and from your actions.

The Verse of Patience and Calamity

It is one of those statements that I want to put before us in this Khutbatul Jumu'ah. Allah in Surah Al-Baqarah tells us how the believer should behave in one of those situations — what should be the first and natural reaction of the believer in times of hardship and calamity. Whether that be a personal calamity, whether it be a calamity that strikes the ummah.

"In surety We shall test you with fear and with hunger, and with the loss of wealth and life and provision, and glad tidings be to those who show patience — those who, when they are struck down by some calamity, some hardship, some difficulty befalls them, they say: To Allah do we belong, and to Allah do we return."

This is an amazing verse, with many, many benefits and lessons. But from those benefits and lessons, Allah is telling you and I as believers how we should respond. It is a fact of life that at some point we will be struck with some calamity, some hardship.

And if we're not struck down by calamity in our own personal lives, we will see it in those around us — our family members, our neighbors, our friends. And if we don't see it amongst them, then as an ummah, from time to time we experience calamities. As a nation, as a united force, we see calamities that strike this ummah.

The believer — the first thing that they should do is that they should remember their Lord. And these statements that we're told to make in the Shari'ah, like this one and others, all of them revolve around the tawheed of Allah. They speak about different aspects of our belief in Allah. They speak about glorifying Allah, or praising Allah, or mentioning some attribute of our Lord and Creator — because that gives you strength in your iman. It tells you perspective. It makes you grounded, no matter what the situation, because you know that all of these affairs belong to Allah and they are in the hands of Allah alone.

The Two Parts of Al-Istirja'

The statement إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — or, as it is known in the Arabic language, al-istirja' — comprises two parts. Each one of them is important.

Part One: إِنَّا لِلَّهِ — To Allah Do We Belong

The first part — we say إِنَّا لِلَّهِ: to Allah do we belong. All of us. You and I. Ourselves. Our lives. Our bodies. Our health. Our families. Our children. Our wealth and what we own. All of it belongs to Allah.

What you have is because Allah gave it to you. What you enjoy is because Allah gave you those blessings. And what you don't have and what you don't enjoy is because your Lord and Creator withheld it from you. As the Prophet ﷺ used to say in his du'a:

"None can withhold that which You give, O Allah, and none can give that which You withhold."

That is our iman. Everything belongs to Allah. You and I — we are just custodians of what Allah gave to us. It is a test from the tests of Allah. And no doubt there are efforts that we make, because that is the way that Allah has determined that these things come to pass. But they belong to Allah. It is not because of our own genius, our own intelligence, our own efforts alone that we achieve what we achieve.

How many people are extremely intelligent and capable, but they live a life of poverty? And how many people have not an ounce of intelligence, but they are from the wealthiest and most powerful of people? That is rizq — that is provision that Allah gives to whomsoever He wills. So no matter what the situation, we belong to Allah. Everything we have belongs to Allah. So when a calamity befalls and strikes — you lose something, Allah takes back something, something that you wanted isn't given to you, or you see some harm coming — you know that Allah is the One who decreed that. All of it belongs to Allah.

The Hadith of Umm Salama

In the hadith of Sahih Muslim, narrated by our mother Umm Salama رضي الله عنها, she said that she heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 2127)

"Not a single person was struck down by some calamity — you lose a child, you lose a parent, you lose someone close to you, Allah decrees that a time comes upon you when you lose your wealth, you become destitute and bankrupt, some calamity strikes you down in your health, you are struck down by disease, or you see in the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ problems and tribulations — so you say: إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — not a single Muslim is struck down by a calamity, he said ﷺ, and they remember Allah and they say: 'To Allah we belong, to Him we shall return. O Allah, reward me in this calamity of mine, and give me something better in its place' — except that Allah will reward them in that calamity and give them something better in its place."

That is iman. Umm Salama رضي الله عنها goes on to say that when her husband Abu Salama رضي الله عنه passed away — and Abu Salama was from the major companions, from the early Muslims — when he passed away, she made this du'a with iman, believing in Allah, having certainty in these words that she heard. But she thought to herself: who could possibly be better than my husband Abu Salama? But Allah replaced him with someone better — because she married our Prophet ﷺ.

And that is why it was the position of some of the scholars of tafsir that this statement — إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — is from the khasa'is of this ummah, from the special things that Allah gave exclusively only to this ummah.

The Statement of Sa'id ibn Jubayr

Sa'id ibn Jubayr رحمه الله — from the Imams of the Tabi'een, from the scholars of tafsir, a student of the likes of Ibn Abbas, 'A'ishah, Abu Hurayrah, Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنهم, and many others besides, the Imam of Mecca of his time — he said concerning this verse in the Quran that Allah didn't give this statement to any ummah before this ummah of the Prophet ﷺ. Because had Allah given it to the other ummahs, we would have found it in the stories of the Quran.

Because often the stories of the Quran speak about the challenges, the trials, the calamities that befell the Prophets of Allah. And he says we would have found it in the story of Ya'qub ﷺ, when he lost his two sons Yusuf and Binyamin and was told about their loss. What does he say? Allah tells us in the Quran:

He turned away from them and said: "Woe to me for the loss of Yusuf." Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: had he had this statement, had it been known to him, he would have said this instead. Either way though, it shows us the importance of this statement.

Allah can take from you what He pleases, and Allah can give to you what He pleases. But how we respond is what Allah looks at. It is a sign of taqwa and iman that when you have some difficulty, some hardship in your life, some calamity that befalls you or those around you, you show your love to Allah. You demonstrate your iman in Allah through your patience, through your submission to Allah, through accepting what Allah has decreed for you, through a continuation of worship and good deeds.

The Hadith of the Palace of Praise in Jannah

The Prophet ﷺ told us in the hadith of Al-Tirmidhi narrated by Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Jami' Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1021)

When Allah chooses to take away the child of one of His servants — and I have no doubt that sitting in this masjid today there are people who have lost children, people who have had miscarriages, people who have had stillbirths, people who have lost those extremely close to them. It is from the greatest of trials that a person could lose what is the most precious thing that they have — their child.

The Prophet ﷺ told us that if Allah decrees the death of the child of a person, Allah says to His angels: "Have you taken the soul of the child of this person?" And they say: "Yes, O Allah." And then He asks them: "Have you taken away from him the delight of his heart — that which gave him happiness and joy in this dunya?" And they say: "Yes, O Allah."

So then He asks them: "How did that person respond?" — that woman, that man, that believer, that Muslim. And the angels reply to Allah: "That person, when they had this calamity before them, they praised You and made istirja'."

They said الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ — all praise is for Allah. Allah gave and Allah takes. And if Allah took a blessing, He gave many more. And if Allah took it, it is because there was a greater wisdom. Perhaps we don't know, we don't understand, but we have the iman in our Lord that Allah only does for the believers that which is best for them. They praised You, O Allah. And then they said: إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — to Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.

So Allah says to His angels: "Build for My servant a palace in Jannah, and call it the palace of praise" — because they praised Allah. That is the reality of the dunya. Everything that we have belongs to Allah.

Part Two: وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — And to Him We Return

Because we belong to Allah, the second part of this statement is equally important: وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — our return is back to Allah as well. When that return will be, no one knows. But everything will go back to our Lord. This dunya and everything within it belongs to our Lord, and when He decrees, all of it will go back to Him.

You, I, everything we have, every person that we know — we will stand before our Lord and be judged. As Allah says in the Quran:

"And that to your Lord is the final end."

And so we know that everything that Allah gives is temporary. And what Allah takes away is temporary. But what is permanent and everlasting is the life of the hereafter. That is what you work for. That is what you strive for. So when Allah takes away something from you or calamity befalls you, you know that it is a temporary state. There are times of happiness in the dunya but there are also times of sadness. There are times of ease and there are times of hardship. But ultimately, through iman and through righteous deeds and through the worship of Allah, you reach a life and a state that will be everlasting, permanent bliss as Allah has promised for the believers.

The Reward of Remembering Allah in Calamity

This statement is amazing because it contains so many lessons. Sometimes we only say it when we are reminded. And sometimes we only say it when we hear of the death of a person. But it is not only restricted to one or two situations. Every time you see something that is grave, that is a calamity, that is hardship, the first thing that we should do is return to our Lord — remember Him, ask Allah for His help, for His assistance. Ask Allah for steadfastness and guidance. That Allah helps us through this difficulty and this challenge.

Allah has promised those people who turn back to Him and remember Him — and say this dhikr — an amazing reward. Allah says:

"Upon these people are the salutations of their Lord, and upon them is the mercy of Allah, and they are from the guided."

It is reported from Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه that he used to say concerning this verse that these are two amazing rewards and it is an amazing ending.

Allah sends His salutations upon you. Some of the scholars of the Tabi'een said the salat of Allah — for you and I, for His creation — is that Allah mentions those people by name with the highest and noblest of companies. Allah speaks of you and Allah names you. Just as in that hadith that I mentioned — when a person loses their child, Allah is speaking about you and addressing you with the angels that are with Him. Because Allah acknowledges the difficulty that you are in, and then Allah praises you for the response that you made.

Then Allah sends upon you His mercy. No matter what the difficulty, or the hardship, or the challenge — you come through it. Allah gives you the strength to come through it. You find a way through iman and righteous deeds to get to the other side. That is from the mercy of Allah — that Allah allows you to continue, and you don't just stop. You don't just give up. You don't enter into a state of despair.

And these are the people of guidance — because they know the reality of the dunya. They know the challenges that Allah will put in their way, and they know what is pleasing to their Lord in dealing with and facing those challenges.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah that He makes us from the people of iman and guidance. That Allah gives us strength in times of difficulty. And that Allah makes us the people of remembrance and dhikr. And that Allah, in times of hardship and calamity, makes us from amongst those who turn to Him and make du'a to Him and worship Him and increase in our servitude of Him.