My fiancee`s father passed away two months ago from cancer (allah yirhamu). Three weeks later, the kitchen in their house burned down and a few weeks after that their house got robbed.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
As-salam alaikum,
My fiancee`s father passed away two months ago from cancer (allah yirhamu).
Three weeks later, the kitchen in their house burned down and a few weeks after
that their house got robbed. I just need some guidance on what to do and why
this is happening - I`m not questioning God`s will. I just need advice and
guidance. Thank you
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confidentiality.)
Answer:
Trials from Allah
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran in Chapter 67 Surah Al Mulk verse 2:
He (Allah) created
death and life that He may test you, to see which of you is the
best in deeds.
Allah Subhanah created man on
this earth, and puts man through good and evil conditions to test him whether
one is obedient, patient and grateful, or is impatient, strives to deny the
Will of their Lord and is ungrateful.
He puts man through good and/or bad conditions to see what is his
reaction is in those given conditions.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verses 155-157:
155 Be sure We shall test you with something of
fear, and hunger, some loss in goods, or lives, or the fruits (of your toil);
but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.
156 Who say when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah we belong and
to Him is our return."
157 They are those on whom (descend) blessings from Allah and Mercy; and
they are the ones that receive guidance.
Thus, the life of this transient world is merely a
testing period and a place to do deeds;
only in the life of the Hereafter the real results will be declared by
the One Who is All Knowing and Well-Aware of everything. Neither is this world a place for full
rewards, nor is this world a place for
complete punishments; but a place for
doing deeds.
At times, when one does evil deeds, Allah Subhanah may, if He so Wills, warns them with a punishment in this world, so that he may realize his mistake and amend
his conduct; and at times Allah
Subhanah, if He so Wills, punishes a whole community so they may serve
as a warning to mankind, and at times He
extends the ‘rope’ of the evil-doers and does not punish them in this life at
all, so that they may get a full
recompense for their evil deeds only in the Hereafter.
And at times Allah Subhanah also
puts hardship and trials in the path of his devout and obedient believers, so that He may test them and thus increase
their reward in the Hereafter.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah
Ale-Imraan verses 185-186:
185 Every soul shall have a
taste of death! And only on the Day of
Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the fire, and admitted to the Gardens will have
attained the object (of life): for the
life of this world is but goods, and
chattels of deception.
186 Ye (O Believers) shall
certainly be tried and tested in your possessions, and in your selves; and ye shall certainly hear much that will
grieve you from those who received the Book before you (Jews and
Christians), and from the ‘mushriks’
(those who worship many gods). But if ye
persevere patiently and guard against evil,
then that will be a determining factor in all affairs.
Allah Says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imraan verses 185-186:
141 Allah's
object also is to purge those that are true in faith, and to deprive of blessing those that resist
faith.
142 Did ye
(O Believers) think that ye would enter
heaven without Allah testing those of you who strove hard (in His
cause) and remained steadfast?
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 214:
214 Or do ye (O
Believers) think that ye shall enter the
Gardens (of Bliss) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away
before you? They encountered
suffering, and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the
Messenger and the believers who were with him,
cried out: "When (will come) the help of Allah?" Ah!
Verily the help of Allah is (always) near!
The Sunnah (or way) of Allah
Subhanah is that the more pious and God-fearing the person, the more he/she is
tested by Allah Subhanah! If one just
simply studies the tests and tribulations that Allah Subhanah put on His
Prophets like Nooh (a.s.), and Ibraheem (a.s.), and Moosa (a.s.), and Isa
(a.s.), and Ayyub (a.s.), and Yunus (a.s.), etc., and above all, on Prophet
Mohamed (saws), one would realize that a normal human being would absolutely
break down under these conditions and the weight laid upon them as tests by
Allah Subhanah! These pious and
righteous slaves of Allah Subhanah were tested beyond comprehension, but under
the guidance of Allah Subhanah, they always remained patient and steadfast on
the Path commanded to them by their Lord!
The more pious one is, the more
he is tested by Allah Subhanah; so that He may raise them in status and honor
in the life of the Hereafter! Allah
Subhanah Knows Who amongst His servants can bear His tests, and who
cannot. Therefore one should never
volunteer or challenge Allah Subhanah to test him, but rather follow the Sunnah
of the Prophet (saws) and always pray to the Merciful Lord to not test him
beyond his capacity, or lay upon him the severe trials and tribulations that He
laid upon the people before him; but when put in a trial and affliction
according to the Plan and Decree of Allah, one should pray for Mercy and
patience, and stay steadfast
on the Straight Path.
Sahih Al-Bukhari
Hadith 7.548 Narrated by Abu
Huraira
The Messenger of
Allah (saws) said, "If Allah wants
to do good to somebody, He afflicts him with trials."
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith
1562 Narrated by Sa'd
When the Prophet
(saws) was asked which people suffered the greatest affliction, he replied,
"The Prophets, then those who come next to them (in Taqwa), then those who
come next to them (in Taqwa). A man is afflicted in keeping his religion. If he
is firm in his religion his trial is severe, but if there is weakness in his
religion it is made light for him."
Ibn Mas'ud said:
"I visited the Messenger of Allah (saws)while he had a fever. I exclaimed:
'O Messenger of Allah! You have a high fever! ' He (saws) said: 'My fever is as
much as two amongst you [might have].' I
asked: 'Is it because you have a double reward?' He (saws) replied: 'Yes, that is right. No
Muslim is afflicted with any hurt, even if it is no more than the pricking of a
thorn, but Allah wipes off his sins because of it, and his sins fall away from
him as leaves fall from a tree'."
Whatever written of
Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever
of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows
Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan