Dealing with Trials & Tribulations - Sheikh Zakaullah Saleem
By Sheikh Zakaullah Saleem | 2026-07-06T18:43:22.917706+00:00 | Topic: Trials
Khutbatul Ḥājah — Opening of the Sermon
أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.
I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from the accursed Satan — from his incitement, his blowing, and his whispering.
Verily, those who say, "Our Lord is Allah," and then remain steadfast shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. They are the dwellers of Paradise, abiding therein as a reward for what they used to do.
The State of the Ummah and the Whispers of Satan
The state of the Ummah — the Ummah of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him — the state of this Ummah is that it is going through trials and tribulations that we all are facing. The oppressions and difficulties that we are going through — when we consider all these trials, Satan whispers into our minds: "What is the point of staying Muslim? What is the point of practicing the Deen of Islam when we Muslims throughout the world are being oppressed? People make fun of us. So what is the point of practicing the Deen, performing five daily prayers every single day? What is the point of growing a beard? What is the point of wearing hijab and niqab for our sisters?" This is the whisper that Satan plants into our minds.
And if we continue following the whispers of Satan, then we tend to lose hope in the mercy of Allah. And as a result of this, many of us give up practicing the Deen. We have seen many brothers who, after they have practiced the Deen for a couple of months or even years, give it up — they abandon the Salah, although they used to attend the Fajr prayer in the first row. But they give up, and this is all because of the whisper of Satan, which leads to losing hope in the mercy of Allah.
My dear brothers and sisters, we as Muslims all believe that the Prophet, peace be upon him, was sent as a mercy for the whole universe. And our own Prophet, peace be upon him, knew that his Ummah would be going through very difficult times. And out of his mercy, peace be upon him, he instructed us what to do in those difficult times — and this is the point that many of us miss when we follow the whispers of Satan.
My dear brothers and sisters, in today's khutbah I would like to share with you some of the glad tidings that the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave to us — to his Ummah, to those who believe in him, to those who came after him, not just the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him. These glad tidings were given to us by the Prophet, peace be upon him. And if we bear in mind those glad tidings, then we can boost our Iman, stay firm and steadfast, and continue practicing the Deen of Islam — no matter what happens to the Ummah, or what happens to us on an individual level.
First Hadith: Hasten to Good Deeds Before the Trials
But before I share with you those glad tidings, I would like to mention a very famous hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, reported by Imam Muslim and many other Muhaddithin. The Prophet, peace be upon him, talks about the time of trials, tribulations, and difficulties:
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 118)
The Prophet, peace be upon him, says: "Hasten towards performing good deeds before the Fitan — before the trials and tribulations come. The Fitan that will follow one after another like the patches of the dark night. Hasten towards performing good deeds, try to perform as many good deeds as you can before those trials and Fitan, those difficult times, hit you."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, says: "The time will come when a person will wake up in the morning as a believer, but by evening he will turn to a disbeliever. And in the evening, one will go to his bed as a believer, but by morning he will turn as a disbeliever."
And then the Prophet, peace be upon him, continues guiding us. He says: "The one who sits down in those difficult times, in those trials, tribulations, and Fitan — the one who sits down is better than the one who stands up. And the one who stands up is better than the one who walks in those Fitan. And the one who walks in those Fitan is better than the one who runs in those Fitan."
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, said this to his companions, they asked him: "So what do you advise us, O Messenger of Allah? What should we do in those difficult times?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Become the old mat of your houses." Meaning: when a mat or a rug becomes old in your house, you cannot give it as a gift to anyone, you cannot even sell it — you tend to keep that mat within your house. So the Prophet, peace be upon him, advised us to try to avoid, as much as we can, involving ourselves in those Fitan and trials.
The Advice of the Prophet to Uqbah ibn Amir
One of the servants of the Prophet, peace be upon him, called Uqbah ibn Amir, may Allah be pleased with him — who used to serve the Prophet, peace be upon him. There were some companions who were known as servants of the Prophet, peace be upon him, such as Anas ibn Malik, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and one of them was Uqbah ibn Amir, may Allah be pleased with him.
Uqbah ibn Amir, may Allah be pleased with him, says: I asked the Prophet, peace be upon him:
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2406)
"What is the salvation, O Messenger of Allah? How can we save ourselves and safeguard ourselves from falling into Fitan and trials?"
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Amsik alayka lisanak — hold on to your tongue, do not let your tongue speak without any necessity. And let your house accommodate you — try to spend your time within your house as much as you can in order to avoid involving yourself in the Fitnas and trials. And wabki ala khatiyatik — try to cry on your mistakes, on your sins, as much as you can." This is the advice of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to us.
Second Hadith: The Days of Patience and the Reward of Fifty Companions
Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates a hadith reported by Imam Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah, may Allah have mercy on all of them. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4341; Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 3058; Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 4014)
"Indeed, ahead of you are the days of patience. Soon you will be facing the days of great patience. The one who holds on to what you — my companions — are on today, then he will have the reward equivalent to fifty amongst you."
Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, says the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked: "Yā Nabiyyallāh, awa minhum am minnā? — O Prophet of Allah, is it fifty from among them (the people of those future times) or fifty from among us (the companions)?"
The Prophet, peace be upon him, repeated three times: "Fifty from among you — my companions."
My dear brothers and sisters, is it not enough glad tidings for us — for me and you — that if we stick to the Deen of Allah in these Fitan, in these trials and tribulations, we will get the reward equivalent to the good deeds of fifty companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him? And this is an authentic hadith. And there are many other glad tidings.
So my dear brothers and sisters, the point is that we do not need to despair of the mercy of Allah. We do not need to lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Rather, we need to stay firm and steadfast on the Deen of Allah and try our best to practice the Deen of Allah and to follow the true and pure teaching of our Prophet, peace be upon him. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability.
Becoming a Stranger for the Sake of Islam
My dear brothers and sisters, yes — when you practice the Deen, people make fun of you. It is true. Let alone those who do not believe in the Messenger of Allah — even amongst the Muslims, within families, even parents make fun of the son who starts practicing the Deen. They try to make fun of their own daughter who starts practicing the Deen.
And my dear brothers and sisters, again there is a glad tiding for you. Because by practicing the Deen and following the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, you become a stranger — within your family, within your relatives, within your community, within your society. You become a stranger. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)
"Indeed Islam began as a religion of the strangers, and it will turn stranger as it began. Glad tidings for the strangers!"
Muhammad, peace be upon him, was well known amongst the people of Mecca as al-Ameen — the trustworthy — and al-Sadiq al-Masduq — the truthful, the one who is believed. He was well known. But when he started preaching the Deen of Allah, Allah makes mention of the statement of the disbelievers in the Quran, in Surah Sad:
When the people of Mecca heard the message of the Prophet, peace be upon him, they said: "Indeed this is a very strange thing." Although the Prophet, peace be upon him, was well known amongst the people of Mecca.
And this is the reality, my dear brothers and sisters. As soon as you start practicing the Deen of Allah, you will become a stranger amongst your own family members. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: indeed Islam began as a stranger, and it will turn stranger as it began. Glad tidings for the strangers! Glad tidings for the strangers! Anyone who faces the mockery and has people make fun of him or her — they have become a stranger, and there is a glad tiding from the tongue of Muhammad, peace be upon him, for you.
My dear brothers and sisters, may Allah give us tawfiq and ability to stay firm and steadfast on the Deen of Allah, and may Allah place the Iman in the depth of our hearts so we continue practicing this Deen until the last moment of our life and we meet Allah on that state. And this is what the Prophet, peace be upon him, used to remind us in Khutbatul Hājah — in his khutab: do not die except you are Muslim. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to understand the Deen of Allah.
Third Hadith: Worshipping Allah in Times of Great Tribulation
My dear brothers and sisters, I mentioned some of the ahadith in which the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave us glad tidings to those who practice the Deen and follow the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the true teaching of our Nabi, peace be upon him, in the times of Fitan, trials, and tribulations. Let me present some more ahadith.
One of them is reported by Imam Muslim, may Allah have mercy on him, on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2948)
"Worshipping Allah in the time of great massacre — in the times of great murder, when murdering is going on every day and night, every single moment — is equivalent to making Hijrah to me in Madinah."
This is a great glad tiding for me and you, my dear brothers and sisters. Worshipping Allah in this time — the times of great Fitan and trials and tribulations — when people are being murdered not on a small scale, but where within one day we sometimes hear the news that over a thousand people are killed. And obviously these types of Fitan hit your heart. And as I said at the beginning, when you come to know these types of trials — especially the Muslim Ummah is going through — when you hear these types of news, Shaitan whispers into your mind: "What is the point of staying Muslim if this is the state of the Ummah?" But we should bear in mind the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him: if you continue worshipping Allah in these days, then you will get the reward of your worship equivalent to the reward of making Hijrah to the Prophet, peace be upon him.
And what is the reward of making Hijrah to the Prophet, peace be upon him? Again, reported in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: the one who makes Hijrah for the sake of Allah solely and purely, he will have his sins forgiven completely — all his past sins are forgiven.
So if we combine both ahadith, we come to know that worshipping Allah on a daily basis — every single day — in the times of trials and tribulations, in the times of Fitan, you will have your sins forgiven every single day. This is a great reward.
Fourth Hadith: The Prophet's Wish to Meet His Brothers
Another glad tiding that the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave to those who came after him. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, says that the Prophet, peace be upon him, once said:
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 249)
"I wish I could meet my brothers."
The companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked him: "Are we not your brothers, O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Rather, you are my companions. I refer as 'brothers' to those who will come after me — and they never saw me. I, Muhammad, peace be upon him, wish to meet those brothers."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, had the wish to meet you and me, my dear brothers and sisters. If this is the case, if this is the status that Allah has given us, then what is the need for giving up practicing the Deen of Allah?
Fifth Hadith: Those with the Strongest Love for the Prophet
And the Prophet, peace be upon him, also said in another hadith reported by Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him:
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2832)
"The strongest in love for me from amongst my Ummah are the ones who will come after me. Those people will have the strongest love for me. They will wish — if only they could see my blessed face — by sacrificing their own families, their relatives, and all their wealth."
My dear brothers and sisters, I believe every single true believer and Muslim has this wish within his heart — I wish, and you also wish, that we could see the blessed face of Muhammad, peace be upon him. And if this is the case, then this is a glad tiding for you: that you are amongst those with the strongest love for the Prophet, peace be upon him. And if you have this love for the Prophet, peace be upon him, then the Prophet, peace be upon him, had the wish to meet you.
My dear brothers and sisters, there are great glad tidings for us. So there is no need to give up practicing the Deen of Allah.
Du'ā: Asking Allah for Firmness and Steadfastness
And lastly, we need to beg Allah all the time — day and night — to keep us firm and steadfast on the Deen. And this is what the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, used to say in his night prayers:
"O the one who turns the hearts, keep my heart firm and steadfast on Your obedience."
And the Prophet, peace be upon him, has also taught us a very great du'ā:
(Sunan al-Nasā'ī, Hadith 1304; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 18351)
"O Allah, I ask You for firmness and steadfastness in my affairs in the Deen. O Allah, I beg You for perseverance on guidance. O Allah, I ask You to allow me to be thankful towards Your blessings and favours that You have bestowed on me. O Allah, allow me to worship You in the best manners. O Allah, I ask You for a truthful tongue and a pure heart. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil of what You know but I don't know. O Allah, I ask You for the goodness of what You know but I don't know. And I ask for maghfirah and forgiveness for those sins that I have committed unknowingly, but You know — indeed You have the knowledge of all unseen."
Closing Du'ā
"O Allah, we have wronged ourselves, and if You don't forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be among the losers."
May Allah keep us firm and steadfast on the Deen. May Allah allow us to stay Muslim. May Allah enable us to practice this Deen until the last moment of our life. O Allah, grant us victory. O Allah, we ask You for guidance and righteousness. O Allah, we ask You for health, prosperity, honesty, and good manners. O Allah, guide us to the best manners — only You guide us to the best. O Allah, guide us to the best manners — only You guide us to the best.