Imagine being in a place of pure happiness and joy.

A place where we never get ill, tired, or

hungry. A place where we dont suffer from the hardships of life whether they are small or
great. Imagine a place where age has no ill effect on our bodies like weakness or causing
painful joints and body parts. Were loss of beauty and health never occur and the function
of our mind is never adversely effected.

When Allah loves his worshipper he test them

According to a saheeh hadeeth (authentic narration): "The greatest reward

comes from the greatest trial. When Allaah loves people, He tests them, and

whoever accepts it gains the pleasure of Allaah and whoever complains earns

His wrath.

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2396;and Ibn Maajah, 4031; classed as saheeh by

Shaykh al-Albaani.

For calamities to befall the believer is better than punishments being stored

up for him in the Hereafter. How can it be otherwise when he is raised in

status and his bad deeds are erased thereby? The Prophet (peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When Allaah wills good for His slave,

He hastens his punishment in this world, and when He wills bad for His slave,

He withholds his sins until he comes with them on the Day of Resurrection."

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2396; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.

The scholars have explained that the one from whom calamities and trials are

withheld is the hypocrite, for Allaah withholds [his punishment] in this world,

so as to bring him with all his sins on the Day of Resurrection.

It is a fact that Allah sends test to all His worshippers, both believers and disbelievers. There
response to their tests will either earn them the anger of Allah or his pleasure. Many will
earn his anger for being ungrateful worshippers of their Creator, their only God: while some
will gain the pleasure of Allah, recognizing that he is the only one who created them and the
only who can sustain them and help them in their time of hardship and trials and that to Him
they will return after this temporary life is over.

Examples of peoples response to the tests of Allah can be found in many places in the
Quran and the sunnah or the Messenger of Allah. The believer who regularly read the Quran
and the authentic narrations of the Messenger of Allah are remaindered or the realities of
life and how a true worshipper of Allah should face their tests in life as the believers of the
past did, and how not to wrongly deal with test from Allah and the disbelievers and
hypocrites did.

With regards to the disbelievers Allah ( ) says:

Mushrikeen believe; Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) punishes, averts

punishment and grants mercy: And when harm touches you upon the sea,
those that you call upon besides Him are lost from you except Him (Allah
alone). But when He brings you safely to land, you turn away (from Him).
And man is ever ungrateful. [Ref: 17:67]

(67. And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him.
But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away. And man is ever ungrateful.)

When Harm befalls Them, the Disbelievers do not remember

anyone except Allah

Allah tells us that when harm befalls people, they call on Him, turning to Him and sincerely beseeching

Him. Hence Allah says:







(And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him.)

meaning, everything they worship besides Allah disappears from their hearts and minds. Similar

happened to `Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl when he fled from the Messenger of Allah after the conquest of

Makkah, and headed for Ethiopia. He set out across the sea to go to Ethiopia, but a stormy wind arose.

The people said to one another: "None can save you except Allah Alone.'' `Ikrimah said to himself, "By

Allah if none can benefit on the sea except Allah then no doubt none can benefit on land except Allah.

`O Allah! I promise You that if You bring me safely out of this, I will go and put my hand in the hand of

Muhammad and surely, I will find him full of pity, kindness and mercy.''' They came out of it safely and

were delivered from the sea. Then `Ikrimah went to the Messenger of Allah , and declared his Islam, and

he became a good Muslim, may Allah be pleased with him.

(But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away.) means, you forget what you remembered of

Divine Oneness (Tawhid) when you were on the sea, and you turn away from calling on Him Alone with

no partner or associate.

(And man is ever ungrateful.) means, by nature he forgets and denies His blessings, except for those

whom Allah protects.

This is the examples of the Mushrikenn of Mekkah who would worship Allah when they were
in a time of great need, knowing that Allah was the supreme. but at the same time would
also negate their worship by associating partners with all during times of ease.
When they really felt they need help the worshipped Allah Alone to save them from the
trials they were facing, knowing that they could only be helped by Allah the creator of the
evens and earth.

When things became easy they began to forget about Allah leaving that pure worship of him
and turning back to the life they lived before, being neglectful of their duty to be true
worshippers of Allah, they began following their false desires being preoccupied with the
worldly life and turned to associating partner with Him. About them Allah says :

For those whom Allah sees good in their hearts, their reactions to the trials and tests they
face is that it strengthens them in every way and is the means of drawing them closer to the
true worshipping of their creator, the Lord of Mankind. The examples are many throughout
the Quran and the books of the sunnah of our beloved Messenger, Mohammed ( ).

Al Kabab bin Aratt ( ) one of the first generation of believers to follow the guidance of the
Messenger of Allah and one of the greatest of the believers. After publically declaring his
belief in the early days of dawah in Mecca, he greatly angered the mushrikeen of Mekkah by
following the Messenger of Allah and sending an example to others to defy the way of life of
the people of mekkah and accept Allah as their only true God and remain steadfast on the
religion of Mohammed, which was Islam.

They chose to make an example of him and other believers like him, to try and turn
away anyone who might be thinking to follow the guidance of Allah. Sometime a
believer may feel it is hard to deal with the test of being a Muslim, but the believer
should reflect on how difficult it was for the first generation f believers, who were
only a handful of Muslims on the face of the earth at their with almost all of the
world of mankind and jin practicing disbelief, they lived in a time were a vast part of
the world around them was opposed to islam.

Ibn Sad narrated that Umar (r.a), during his caliphate, inquired of him about the
detail of his sufferings after embracing Islam.

So he (Khabbaab Bin Aratt) showed him his back.

Seeing this, Umar remarked I have never seen such a back as this before.

He (Kabbab) said My body was dragged over heaps of smouldering charcoal, and
the blood and fat coming out of my back put out the fire.

His back hand been left with large burnt ditches in it from the burning coal. It was a
great trial he faced, and he remained strong on the religion of Islam. As a believer he
was raised to a high position during the life the Messenger of Allah, his patience
during his great suffering only made him stronger. As life become easier latter on he
was a great example of how one should be steadfast on the truth and work hard to
 worship Allah and follow the guidance of Islam, and not be distracted by the
deception of the life on this world.

How sever was his torture in mekkah? In Al Bukhari it is narrated that Qais said:

I came to Khabbab who had (also) been branded with seven hot iron brands over his
Abdomen, and I heard him saying, "If the Prophet: had not forbidden us to invoke
(Allah) for death, I would have invoked Allah for it."

Khabbab bin Al-Aratt:

We complained to Allah's Messenger (( )of the severe persecution inflicted on us

by the infidels in mekkah) while he was sitting in the shade of the Ka`ba, leaning over
his Cloak. We said to him,

"Would you seek help for us? Would you pray to Allah for us?"

He said, "Among the nations before you a (believing) man would be put in a ditch
that was dug for him, and a saw would be put over his head and he would be cut into
two pieces; yet that (torture) would not make him give up his religion. His body
would be combed with iron combs that would remove his flesh from the bones and
nerves, yet that would not make him abandon his religion......but you (people) are
hasty.

They the disbelievers and the misguided chose to make an example of him and other
believers like him, to try and turn away anyone who might be thinking to follow the
guidance of Allah. But their efforts only made them stronger believers and the
religion stronger. Through these trials these believers grow stronger and stronger in
Emaan. They were more focused on pleasing Allah by following the guidance of the
Messenger of Allah unlike before their trials. Through these trials Allah took them
from the darkness of misguidance to the light of Islam, the brightness and joy of
being true slaves of Allah, humble in worship and seeking his forgiveness for their
sins, and seeking His help in times of need, knowing that only Allah can help them.

Allah preserved their life and examples for the believers to learn from, so follow
their ways. Turn to Allah day and night and ask Allah for forgiveness for all your sins.

Your past sins your future sins the sins you know of and the sins you have forgotten
your major sins and your minor sins.

The two reasons are mentioned together in the hadeeth of Aaishah (may

Allah be pleased with her), according to which the Prophet (blessings and

peace of Allah be upon him) said: Nothing befalls a believer, a (prick of a)

thorn or more than that, but Allaah will raise him one degree in status

thereby, or erase a bad deed.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5641) and Muslim (2573).

Suffering Ungrateful to Remember

Allah for all Allah
that he has
given you
Cant enjoy life Reject the next Detached from
life this life
In pain Focus on the
next life
Overcome by Reduce in the
fear disobedence
of Allah
Loss of image Increase in the
and status obedience of
amongst the Allah
people of
duniyah
Felling sad Pray with
more sincerity
Angry toward
Allah