Striver
20-05-2005, 05:48 PM
How can you really know if you are doing well?
How can you really know if you are doing well? Some people believe that pleasant material circumstances are a sign of God’s favor upon a person. The Quran declares this idea to be a shallow misunderstanding:
“When a human being is tried by his Lord, giving him honor and gifts, he says (exultantly), ‘My Lord has honored me.’ But when He tries him by restricting his subsistence for him, he says (in despair), ‘My Lord has humiliated me!’ Not so.”
The ultimate meaning of every good and bad circumstance is that it is a test from Allah Ta'alah:
“I test you by evil and by good as a trial. To Me you must return.”
On one level, every negative circumstance is retribution for a previous act of disobedience to Allah Ta'alah:
“Whatever misfortune happens to you is because of what you have earned with your own hands, and He forgives much.”
But misfortune may be a favor in disguise, a wakeup call that causes a person to re-examine his or her life and make changes:
“And indeed I will make them taste a portion of the lesser Penalty (of this life) before the supreme Penalty, in order that they may (repent and) return.”
The misfortunes a believer in God suffers become an expiation of his sins. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon Him said, “Any trouble, illness, worry, grief, hurt or sorrow that afflicts a Muslim, even the prick of a thorn, will be a means by which God forgives some of his (minor) sins.”
On the other hand, because a person currently enjoys wealth, good health, high status, etc. does not necessarily mean that Allah Ta'alah loves him. A person who puts cheese in a mousetrap doesn’t do so out of love of the mouse. Sometimes when people turn their backs on Allah Ta'alah He may give them everything they want - for a while:
“But when they forgot (the warning) they had received, I opened for them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until, in the midst of their enjoyment of what they had been given, all of a sudden, I seized them, and they were plunged into despair.”
This doesn’t mean that enjoyment of the good of this world is a sign of bad standing with Allah Ta'alah:
“Say: Who has forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of God, which He has produced for His servants, and the things, clean and pure, (which He has provided) for sustenance? Say: They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Judgment. Thus do I explain the Signs in detail for those who understand.”
When Prophet Suleiman was granted a blessing in the form of a miracle, he said,
“This is by the grace of my Lord to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful! And if any is grateful, truly his gratitude is (a gain) for his own soul; but if any is ungrateful, truly my Lord is Free of All Needs, Generous!”
The ancient Greeks used to say that you couldn’t judge a person to have been fortunate until his life was over. They were half right, but the only criteria they had for judgment were worldly ones: Did he die without losing his children, his wealth, his status, his dignity, etc.
The Qur’an provides another criterion for judging success. Allah (God) said:
“Every soul will taste of death, and only on the Day of Judgment will you be paid your full recompense. So whoever is diverted from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have succeeded, for the life of this world is only deceptive comfort.”
-
How can you really know if you are doing well? Some people believe that pleasant material circumstances are a sign of God’s favor upon a person. The Quran declares this idea to be a shallow misunderstanding:
“When a human being is tried by his Lord, giving him honor and gifts, he says (exultantly), ‘My Lord has honored me.’ But when He tries him by restricting his subsistence for him, he says (in despair), ‘My Lord has humiliated me!’ Not so.”
The ultimate meaning of every good and bad circumstance is that it is a test from Allah Ta'alah:
“I test you by evil and by good as a trial. To Me you must return.”
On one level, every negative circumstance is retribution for a previous act of disobedience to Allah Ta'alah:
“Whatever misfortune happens to you is because of what you have earned with your own hands, and He forgives much.”
But misfortune may be a favor in disguise, a wakeup call that causes a person to re-examine his or her life and make changes:
“And indeed I will make them taste a portion of the lesser Penalty (of this life) before the supreme Penalty, in order that they may (repent and) return.”
The misfortunes a believer in God suffers become an expiation of his sins. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon Him said, “Any trouble, illness, worry, grief, hurt or sorrow that afflicts a Muslim, even the prick of a thorn, will be a means by which God forgives some of his (minor) sins.”
On the other hand, because a person currently enjoys wealth, good health, high status, etc. does not necessarily mean that Allah Ta'alah loves him. A person who puts cheese in a mousetrap doesn’t do so out of love of the mouse. Sometimes when people turn their backs on Allah Ta'alah He may give them everything they want - for a while:
“But when they forgot (the warning) they had received, I opened for them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until, in the midst of their enjoyment of what they had been given, all of a sudden, I seized them, and they were plunged into despair.”
This doesn’t mean that enjoyment of the good of this world is a sign of bad standing with Allah Ta'alah:
“Say: Who has forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of God, which He has produced for His servants, and the things, clean and pure, (which He has provided) for sustenance? Say: They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Judgment. Thus do I explain the Signs in detail for those who understand.”
When Prophet Suleiman was granted a blessing in the form of a miracle, he said,
“This is by the grace of my Lord to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful! And if any is grateful, truly his gratitude is (a gain) for his own soul; but if any is ungrateful, truly my Lord is Free of All Needs, Generous!”
The ancient Greeks used to say that you couldn’t judge a person to have been fortunate until his life was over. They were half right, but the only criteria they had for judgment were worldly ones: Did he die without losing his children, his wealth, his status, his dignity, etc.
The Qur’an provides another criterion for judging success. Allah (God) said:
“Every soul will taste of death, and only on the Day of Judgment will you be paid your full recompense. So whoever is diverted from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have succeeded, for the life of this world is only deceptive comfort.”
-