Calamity is a Lesson in Tawheed, Faith and Trust in Allâh طائلة

Once a Sahaabi came to Rasulullah (ﷺ) and said:
“O Rasulullah (ﷺ), you are dearer to me than my life, my wealth and my family. While I am within the confines of my home, I begin to think of you and become restless. My restlessness does not end until my sight falls upon you. O Rasulullah (ﷺ), death is inevitable. After death, you will be in a high, exalted position as you are a Nabi and Rasul of Allâh Ta’ala, whilst I will be distant from you. O Rasulullah (ﷺ), perhaps I may not be blessed with the honour of seeing you. Whenever I think of this separation between us which will be caused through death, I become extremely saddened and grieved.”
Rasulullah (ﷺ) observed silence over this until Hadhrat Jibra’eel (عليه السلام) descended with the following verse of the Qur’an:

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّـهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـٰئِكَ رَفِيقًا ﴿النساء: ٦٩﴾ ذَٰلِكَ الْفَضْلُ مِنَ اللَّـهِ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّـهِ عَلِيمًا ﴿٧٠﴾

“Whosoever obeys Allâh Ta’ala and the Messenger (ﷺ), then they will be amongst those whom Allâh Ta’ala has favoured from the Messengers, the Siddeeqeen, the Martyrs and the righteous. They are the best of company. Such is the bounty of Allâh Ta’ala, and Allâh Ta’ala is sufficient as being the All-knower.

The word trust contains an ocean of meaning, but underneath it all is the sense of responsibility, the sense of having to appear before Allâh and to account for one’s actions.

Having had sight to this story I was awe inspired:

“I have a friend who was hospitalised due to Covid. Alhamdulillah, he has recovered quite well and will be discharged from hospital within the next few days.
However, a conversation I shared with him from his hospital bed touched me so deeply and profoundly that I thought it should be shared as widely as possibly.
Hospitalised Covid patients experience death in a much more personal and direct manner than the rest of us. They are part of a stream that strongly rushes towards the jaws of death. Day after day, they witness their fellow patients being wheeled off to ICU units after greeting family and loved ones.
In those units death operates at a +80% efficiency rate. The psychological impact on survivors is huge and deep.
The health department arranges for survivors to have counselling with medical professionals. My friend received counselling from two Doctors. One was an agnostic. He asked, “What are your fears?
Is it death that you fear, or Covid?”
My friend looked the Doctor straight in the eye and said, “I fear neither Covid nor death. The One I fear is the Master and Creator of Covid.”

The Doctor’s face turned red.
“Why is it that whenever I ask this question of Muslim patients, 99% of them give this very same answer?”
He then remarked, “I must certainly look into this religion of Islam. What is it that makes Muslims who they are?
What is it that gives them this deep sense of certainty and conviction?”

A number of things came to mind as I received this story from my friend.

Firstly, the truth of what our Nabi (ﷺ) said about the life of a believer. No matter what befalls him, the believer turns it to his own advantage. If it is prosperity he turns it to his advantage by thanking Allâh for it.
If it is adversity he perseveres with patience, which is again to his own advantage.

Secondly, the nature of Da’wah. You don’t need to knock on doors armed with leaflets. You simply need to live your life, express your convictions and uphold your Deen. As our history has consistently shown, the phenomenon of Living Islam is dynamic enough for the rest to follow automatically.

Thirdly, despite the deep acrimony of recent debates in our broader community, the faith of our Muslim patients’ is doing us, as a community proud. We Thank them for representing us, and our great Nabi ﷺ, so brilliantly.

I am sure our Nabi ﷺ is equally proud of them, Insha’Allah.”

Calamity is a lesson in Tawheed, Faith and Trust in Allâh. Ibn al-Qayyim said:
Were it not that Allâh treats His slaves with the remedy of trials and calamities, they would transgress and overstep the mark. When Allâh wills good for His slaves, He gives him the medicine of calamities and trials according to his situation, so as to cure him from all fatal illnesses and diseases, until He purifies and cleanses him, and then makes him qualified for the most honourable position in this world, which is that of being a true slave of Allâh (‘Uboodiyyah), and for the greatest reward in the Hereafter, which is that of seeing Him and being close to Him. (Zaad al-Ma’aad, 4/195)

So what is Trust in Allâh?
“If you desire the good of this world and the next, the blessing of pardon and mercy, deliverance from the Fire, entrance into the Garden, give up disobedience toward Allâh and abide strictly by the command of Allâh, for Allâh loves those who put their Trust in Him.”

One asked “Explain to me how to Trust in Allâh, how to seek His protection and How to ask His help.”

The response: “If anyone clings to anything, trusts in it, relies upon it, or stays himself upon anything except Allâh, he is not one who Trusts.
Trusting is the resting of the heart, the lower self, mind, spirit, inner soul, and external and internal parts upon Allâh to the exclusion of everything except Him, and seeking protection with Allâh, clinging to Him, going to Him for shelter, and doing so from necessity.
So be careful to seek protection with Allâh lest you see any power of your own, will, judgement or resolve in anything, upon anything, from anything or for anything. Then, as for seeking help with Allâh, one should not take knowledge as a means, or the author of knowledge as a means, or a knowledge of the First and the Last, or the power and position one holds. But submerge everything in the divine knowledge, power, will, and word as the Prophet (ﷺ) and blessed Companions submerged this world in the next, the next in pre-eternity, the pre-eternity in the decree (hukm), and the decree in the eternal knowledge (Al-‘ilm al-azali).

As for giving up (Hijran) disobedience, give up until you forget. Real giving up is forgetting the thing given up. This is in the image of perfection. If you have not reached that point, then give up disobedience with struggling and fighting, for He will not allow those who perform good works to lose their reward.

If anyone would abide strictly by the command of Allâh, let him do it by remembrance, reflection, promptness, and submission to the command of Allâh. Whenever some fault, deficiency, diversion, or act of forgetfulness befalls you, seek pardon of Allâh for wrong done to yourself, and for your evil conduct through your great ignorance, for if anyone commits evil or wrongs himself and then seeks pardon of Allâh, he will find Allâh to be forgiving and merciful.” – [Extracts from Ibn al-Sabbagh’s Durrat al-Asrar wa Tuhfat al-Abrar].

Faith is like a muscle. It must be exercised to grow strong. Repeated experiences of having to Trust what we can’t see and repeated experiences of learning to Trust that things will work out, are what makes our faith muscles grow strong.
Allâh gave us the Prophet (ﷺ) because He loved what we might become.
Trust in Allâh is the state of the Prophet (ﷺ) and earning in his Sunnah; whoever maintains his state will never abandon his Sunnah….
May we be amongst those who are steadfast on the Sunnah of the most beloved to Allâh, so as to become steadfast and truly sincere in our Trust and ultimate love of the Supreme being