I Am Enjoying Being A Muslim
What is my weakness? What is it that gets me down? And what is it that makes me question everything around me?
Allah tells us in the Quran that as a matter of fact that we will be tested, that every person will be tested in some capacity.
The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, described the life of man as this line across a box, and he drew this rectangle box with a line extending outside the rectangle, and he said that this is the hopes of man - referring to the line, and he said that this rectangle box is his lifespan - meaning his hopes in life always extend pass the actual date of his death, how much actually be allotted to him or her.
No matter who we are or what age we pass away, we will always feel that there's something that was left on the table that we have hopes that extends beyond our allotted lifespan.
So this is man's hopes and this is his lifespan, and the prophet drew a bunch of small lines around a person and he said that these are tests, they are hindrances - referring to tests as hindrances, these are things would hinder us; one of them snatches us and the other one misses us.
Meaning that there are some people that are not tested in health, but they are tested with their family. And there are people who are not tested with their family, but they are tested with their health. And there are people who are not tested with their family nor their health, but they are tested with their career and their wealth. And there are people who are not tested with their wealth nor their health nor with their family, but they are tested with their reputation. But there are people who are not tested with anything of those things, but they are tested with their religion.
The point is every person has a unique set of tests that they are going to go through in life and many times when we see other people going through tests when the nature that we feel confident and overcoming. So maybe Allah is testing someone else in a way that we feel like we would be able to overcome the nature of that test, maybe our weakness is different from that person and they do have a certain weakness and at some point when we're put to the test, suddenly these things that are concepts and theories and principles that we often preach and talk about, suddenly these things come into play, and at that point, it's not about the text, it's about how much you've absorbed of the text. It becomes purely experiential at that point.
There are people who probably don't read anything about charity and don't know much about the Quran and Hadith regarding charity, but they are naturally generous people. They already have the quality of generosity. And so when they are put in a situation, they give, and their generosity overtakes them.
There are different people and they have different qualities. There are people who are tested with different things, and when they are tested, suddenly all of the things that we think that we had down are not as prominent in our character as we would have hoped they would have been.
Suddenly we feel like we're reeling. We thought maybe that we'd be able to handle these types of tests, but the tests came and our faith struggled and it could not hold us up. We thought we had patience. We learned about patience, but then something happens to us and we are not patient.
At the core of that issue is that people tie their faith to so many different things, to circumstances, and to so many different people that when that circumstance changes or when that person changes or when that aspect of their life changes, suddenly the faith starts to wither away and disappear. And that's what Allah says in [Quran 22:11]:
[quote]"وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ حَرْفٍ"
"Some people worship Allah on edge"[/quote]
They worship Allah literally on a cliff. If something's happened that's good to them that they deem good, then they are grateful, they say we love this faith and we're good with everything. But the minute that something bad happens to them that they deem bad, then they are like a person that's jumping off of the cliff of faith, suddenly it starts to wither away.
How many people do we see that weren't so "religious" before a devastating loss of health came to them, but then through that disease they found faith, and they found that wake-up call, and they turned back to their Creator.
Whereas so many people that were "religious", but once they are put in that circumstance, it doesn't hold up, because the learned is not like the absorbed, and the preached about is not like the experience. It has to go back to your own fundamental experiences.
The prophet, peace be upon him, said that whoever does not thank Allah for the little things in life is not going to be grateful for the big things in life.
Whoever is not patient with the small things that are going to happen to them, how are they going to truly find patience with the major things that happen to them in life? If we can't have patience with someone cutting us off on the side of the road and hold ourselves, if we can't have patience in an argument, how are we going to have patience when we are facing a disaster in life? The experienced is not like the learned.
[big]The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that knowledge is through seeking knowledge, and patience and forbearance is through practicing patience and forbearance.[/big]
We have to constantly make sure that those qualities are well established in our hearts and our character. So when those things and tests come, we know how to deal with them. our faith actually holds up.
The prophet, peace be upon him, taught us many prayers in this regard - That it's not just knowledge, but it's actually making sure that we stick to that knowledge, and that Allah gives us firmness.
The prophet taught us to say .. O Allah, keep me guided and firm.
Allah tells us in the Quran that as a matter of fact that we will be tested, that every person will be tested in some capacity.
The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, described the life of man as this line across a box, and he drew this rectangle box with a line extending outside the rectangle, and he said that this is the hopes of man - referring to the line, and he said that this rectangle box is his lifespan - meaning his hopes in life always extend pass the actual date of his death, how much actually be allotted to him or her.
No matter who we are or what age we pass away, we will always feel that there's something that was left on the table that we have hopes that extends beyond our allotted lifespan.
So this is man's hopes and this is his lifespan, and the prophet drew a bunch of small lines around a person and he said that these are tests, they are hindrances - referring to tests as hindrances, these are things would hinder us; one of them snatches us and the other one misses us.
Meaning that there are some people that are not tested in health, but they are tested with their family. And there are people who are not tested with their family, but they are tested with their health. And there are people who are not tested with their family nor their health, but they are tested with their career and their wealth. And there are people who are not tested with their wealth nor their health nor with their family, but they are tested with their reputation. But there are people who are not tested with anything of those things, but they are tested with their religion.
The point is every person has a unique set of tests that they are going to go through in life and many times when we see other people going through tests when the nature that we feel confident and overcoming. So maybe Allah is testing someone else in a way that we feel like we would be able to overcome the nature of that test, maybe our weakness is different from that person and they do have a certain weakness and at some point when we're put to the test, suddenly these things that are concepts and theories and principles that we often preach and talk about, suddenly these things come into play, and at that point, it's not about the text, it's about how much you've absorbed of the text. It becomes purely experiential at that point.
There are people who probably don't read anything about charity and don't know much about the Quran and Hadith regarding charity, but they are naturally generous people. They already have the quality of generosity. And so when they are put in a situation, they give, and their generosity overtakes them.
There are different people and they have different qualities. There are people who are tested with different things, and when they are tested, suddenly all of the things that we think that we had down are not as prominent in our character as we would have hoped they would have been.
Suddenly we feel like we're reeling. We thought maybe that we'd be able to handle these types of tests, but the tests came and our faith struggled and it could not hold us up. We thought we had patience. We learned about patience, but then something happens to us and we are not patient.
At the core of that issue is that people tie their faith to so many different things, to circumstances, and to so many different people that when that circumstance changes or when that person changes or when that aspect of their life changes, suddenly the faith starts to wither away and disappear. And that's what Allah says in [Quran 22:11]:
[quote]"وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ حَرْفٍ"
"Some people worship Allah on edge"[/quote]
They worship Allah literally on a cliff. If something's happened that's good to them that they deem good, then they are grateful, they say we love this faith and we're good with everything. But the minute that something bad happens to them that they deem bad, then they are like a person that's jumping off of the cliff of faith, suddenly it starts to wither away.
How many people do we see that weren't so "religious" before a devastating loss of health came to them, but then through that disease they found faith, and they found that wake-up call, and they turned back to their Creator.
Whereas so many people that were "religious", but once they are put in that circumstance, it doesn't hold up, because the learned is not like the absorbed, and the preached about is not like the experience. It has to go back to your own fundamental experiences.
The prophet, peace be upon him, said that whoever does not thank Allah for the little things in life is not going to be grateful for the big things in life.
Whoever is not patient with the small things that are going to happen to them, how are they going to truly find patience with the major things that happen to them in life? If we can't have patience with someone cutting us off on the side of the road and hold ourselves, if we can't have patience in an argument, how are we going to have patience when we are facing a disaster in life? The experienced is not like the learned.
[big]The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that knowledge is through seeking knowledge, and patience and forbearance is through practicing patience and forbearance.[/big]
We have to constantly make sure that those qualities are well established in our hearts and our character. So when those things and tests come, we know how to deal with them. our faith actually holds up.
The prophet, peace be upon him, taught us many prayers in this regard - That it's not just knowledge, but it's actually making sure that we stick to that knowledge, and that Allah gives us firmness.
The prophet taught us to say .. O Allah, keep me guided and firm.
