Should I look at the hut beside the palace or at the palace beside the hut? Should I I look at my bad shoes or at my good feet which are in the bad shoes? Should I look at the bounty of Allah or at divine punishment, or at both ? Not all famines are God-made: many famines are man-made. And even when we know that this famine was man-made we should not sit idly by and wait for people to die.
Allah says: "He brought you forth from the earth and hath made you husband it." (11.61) If man was appointed a viceroy in the earth, what about me who am not only a man, but on top of that a believer? I have, if I can, to make the world a better place on my own little level. Those things in this world I think are not so perfect, I should try to make them perfect. I should be positive; I should be a good citizen or a good resident. I should do better than those who came before us. Allah says: "Then We appointed you viceroys in the earth after them, that We might see how ye behave." (10.14) "And be thou kind even as Allah hath been kind to thee, and seek not corruption in the earth." (28.77) "So give full measure and full weight and wrong not mankind in their goods, and work not confusion in the earth after the fair ordering thereof. That will be better for you, if ye are believers." (7.85) The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “To judge justly between two people is a charity. To help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it, is a charity. And the good word is a charity. And every step that you take towards the prayer is a charity, and removing a harmful object from the road is a charity.” A companion asked the Prophet (pbuh) which action was best. Then asked: ‘If I cannot afford (it)?’ The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Then help a labourer or work for one who is disabled". The companion asked: "If I cannot do (it)?" The Prophet (pbuh) said: "You should restrain yourself from doing wrong to people, because it (serves as) charity which you bestow upon yourself". If I can’t do good, for one reason or another, I should at least restrain myself from doing wrong to people. If I can’t clean those dirty places in the city, at least I cleanse my heart and mind. At least I try to be one the "men who love to purify themselves. Allah loveth the purifiers." (9.108) "Truly Allah loveth those who turn unto Him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness." (2.222) Generation after generation, Allah gives us a chance to show our humanity. Like in an exam, in a workshop, or on stage, we are tested. We are in a prize competition. The aim is to improve our conduct. The aim is (for us) to make the world a better place. The criteria are the same : genuine faith, plus good deeds. They may be hard competitions at times, but that’s how gold is made. It must go through fire to be usable gold, to become tempting jewels. It’s fire, but it’s good fire. Think of cooking.
I once saw TV images of the Australian forest. I wished I could go there and
see the forest with my own eyes. But then a huge blaze swallowed the
beautiful forest. I said to myself you’re lucky you weren’t there! And then the
forest started to grow again, much more beautiful than before. The commentator
in the film said that it’s this natural destruction by fire that made the soil
richer and the next vegetation more luxurious than the one before. The little
"fire" meant for us, human believers, in the form of trials,
hardships and loss, is not meant to destroy us. Allah says: "O ye who
believe! Squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity, except it be a trade
by mutual consent, and kill not one another. Lo! Allah is ever Merciful unto
you." (4.29) Allah is Merciful. Allah does not want us to kill ourselves
or one another. He says: "Whosoever killeth a human being for other than
manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all
mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the
life of all mankind." (8.24) Allah wants us to revive our souls and, if we
can, the souls of our loved ones too. That little fire is meant for us to
discover ourselves and to discover Allah through ourselves. Through our trials
we learn endurance and trust. Besides, who can be patient without Allah’s help?
Allah says: "Endure thou patiently (O Muhammad). Thine endurance is only
by (the help of) Allah. (…) Lo! Allah is with those who keep their duty unto
Him and those who are doers of good." (16.127-128) And yet, if I just try
to be patient, if I have good intentions, if I trust Allah, Allah says to me:
"Say: O My bondmen who believe! Observe your duty to your Lord. For those
who do good in this world there is good, and Allah's earth is spacious. Verily
the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint." (39.10) "Allah
loveth the steadfast." (3.146) But what do we do, we humans? Very
often we are arrogant, pretentious. We think we know enough to solve our
problems all by ourselves. It is only when our wells run dry, our dams become
empty, our rivers unnavigable, our forests ash and dust, that we raise our eyes
to the heavens. Allah says no, "...and of knowledge ye have been
vouchsafed but little." (17.85) If man knew it all, no civilisation, no
empire, no kingdom would have become just a thing of the past, just a few
chapters in a History book. If I am a good believer I should know that
"every nation hath its term, and when its term cometh, they cannot put it
off an hour nor yet advance (it)." (7.34) So I wouldn’t even rely on what
my state or government could do for me. Only those who reflect, those who
meditate, would understand what Allah means by "He directeth the ordinance
from the heaven unto the earth; then it ascendeth unto Him in a Day, whereof
the measure is a thousand years of that ye reckon." (32.5) When I reflect
I realize how weak man is. Everybody is vulnerable, sooner or later. Even if
you were a ruler for life or a megabillionnaire, old age would make you
vulnerable, illness would make you vulnerable. And yet, when I realize how weak
I am, in the Kingdom of Allah, and put myself in the hands of Allah, my
vulnerability and precariousness become my strength. Because what I want to do
Allah will help me do it -with His knowledge and His strength. He says: "O
mankind! A similitude is coined, so pay ye heed to it: Lo! those on whom ye
call beside Allah will never create a fly though they combine together for the
purpose. And if the fly took something from them, they could not rescue it from
it. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought! They measure not Allah His
rightful measure. Lo! Allah is Strong, Almighty." (22.73-74) Just see what
this tiny virus called Covid-16 has done to humankind!
Those "on whom ye call beside Allah" may be the state, the government, the people I vote for, the worker union representatives, the insurance company, my family, my friends…. What could those do that Allah can’t? Or could any of them change my fate? If Allah "cometh in between the man and his own heart," (8 .24) and "Unto Him belongeth whosoever is in the heavens and the earth" (30.26), how can my will prevail over His will? If I don’t believe in this, time will prove it to me. "Say: Have ye thought, if Allah made night everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah who could bring you light? Will ye not then hear? Say : Have ye thought, if Allah made day everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah who could bring you night wherein ye rest? Will ye not then see?" (28.71-72)
Who can today say the earth is flat? Nobody. But we all forget that we’re sitting/walking/ sleeping on a small planet in a galaxy in a world of a billion (or more) galaxies. We all run from fire, from floods, from the gun… We all fear for our lives. But where do we run when ordeal is marching on us like an invincible army, like a volcano, like a river bursting off its banks, like a tsunami? Allah says: "Therefor flee unto Allah." (51.50) "If Allah touch thee with affliction, there is none that can relieve therefrom save Him, and if He touch thee with good fortune (there is none that can impair it); for He is Able to do all things." (6.17) "O mankind! Ye are the poor in your relation to Allah. And Allah! He is the Absolute, the Owner of Praise. If He will, He can be rid of you and bring (instead of you) some new creation." (35.15-16) Allah honoured me and preferred me (and all mankind) above many of those whom He created "with a marked preferment." (17.70); it’s up to me to accept or reject that honour. Shall I lecture you on strong drink and games of chance and the damage they do to man? When Allah says "O ye who believe! Strong drink and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an infamy of Satan's handiwork. Leave it aside in order that ye may succeed." (5.90), it’s because He wants you and me to live a life of noble character, to be better than many people who live like cattle, as the Quran says. "Or deemest thou that most of them hear or understand? They are but as the cattle - nay, but they are farther astray". (28.44) When Allah says "Wealth and children are an ornament of the life of the world. But the good deeds which endure are better in thy Lord's sight for reward, and better in respect of hope." (18.46), it’s because He wants you and me to earn our money and beget our children in a dignified way. If Allah says: "Lo! We have placed all that is in the earth as an ornament thereof that We may try them : which of them is best in conduct." (18.7), it’s because He wants you and me to be sensible persons who enjoy life in a dignified way. We eat, we drink, we work, we play, we do whatever we do in a dignified way, as civilized persons.
Let me give you this little example. Many people thought they chose just the
right partner. Then they divorced. See? You turn and turn and then you go back
to square one. We rely on our own data. We forget or want to forget that Allah
has all the DATA. Can anyone really know all the data about one’s partner
living with one under the same roof? Can we really know what our partners feel
towards us or think about us or do behind our backs? If partners knew all that "data"
about one another, would there be such a worrying number of divorces? Allah
says: "O ye who believe! Lo! among your wives and your children there are
enemies for you, therefor beware of them. And if ye efface and overlook and
forgive, then lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Your wealth and your children
are only a temptation, whereas Allah! with Him is an immense reward. So keep
your duty to Allah as best ye can, and listen, and obey, and spend; that is
better for your souls. And whoso is saved from his own greed, such are the
successful. If ye lend unto Allah a goodly loan, He will double it for you and
will forgive you, for Allah is Responsive, Clement, Knower of the Invisible and
the Visible, the Mighty, the Wise." (64.14-18)
