Dealing with TOUGH TIMES - Mufti Menk

Dealing with TOUGH TIMES - Mufti Menk

Opening

We praise Allah. We send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) his household, his companions.

We ask Allah to bless them, to grant every one of us goodness. My brothers and sisters, if you were to look at the reason behind the creation of mankind, Allah mentions a few things primarily.

The Purpose of Creation

He says:

I have not created mankind and jinn except for them to worship me, for them to worship Allah.

Primarily, that's the purpose of creation. Now, people might have questions. Those questions will be answered by Allah the day we meet him.

What I know, what you know is I am here now, and I did not choose to be here. Someone put me here. None of us chose to be here.

Someone put us here. We will also not choose to die. He will take us back when the examination is over because one of the other purposes is to be able to worship Allah through the tests that he puts us through in our lives.

This is why nobody's life ever has been free of tests. You need to think about what I just said. Listen to what Allah says:

Does man think that it's sufficient for him to just say that, you know, we are believers or for mankind to say we are believers, and then it's okay.

I say I'm a believer and I'm not going to be tested. Allah says, does man think we're not going to test him? We will definitely test him just like we tested those before him in order to distinguish who has passed the test, who was truthful and who was not truthful. You say you believe, okay.

We're going to give you things. Do you still believe? Has it humbled you? Has it brought you closer to us? If it has, alhamdulillah, good for you. Nothing was decreased from the kingdom of Allah.

Hadith on Allah's Kingdom

In one hadith, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) says:

(Sahih Muslim Hadith 2577)

If everybody had to ask Allah whatever they wanted from the beginning of mankind to the end of mankind, and Allah was to give every single person, every single thing they asked for, it would not displace from the kingdom of Allah except that which a pin displaces when it's thrown into the ocean.

That's Allah. So what did Allah lose? Nothing.

What did Allah gain? Nothing. It's you and I who are gaining or losing. Similarly, you need to know another thing.

The Certainty of Tests

Allah says:

We will definitely test you. If you look at the wording of that verse in Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah says, we will definitely indeed, very very confirmed and stressed. When I say stressed, I mean Allah has actually said it in a very strong way.

He has given it great significance. He says, we will definitely test you. With what? Number one test, fear.

(الْخَوْفِ) What type of fear? Not necessarily one type of fear, all types of fear. You're worried about your health, you're worried about your food, you're worried about your drink, you're worried about your safety, you're worried about security, you're worried about the enemy, you're worried about animals, you're worried about electricity, you're worried about water, you're worried about eco cash, you're worried about everything else. Allah says, we will test you.

It's a worry, it's a concern. It's definitely a worry. In this country, we're going through difficulty, but I want to let you know, it's not the only country.

The most developed countries at this juncture are going through great challenges, huge challenges of a different nature. Subhanallah. Allah says, we will test you with fear.

What are you worried about? Someone asks you, what's your greatest fear? You have a long list of things to say. I'm worried about this, that. How long have you been worried for? I promise you, the last 20, 30 years, right? Who carried you along? Allah.

He carried you along. I promise you, you are in a better condition. You are, you know, you are in a better condition today than you were in the past.

And we're still worried. Subhanallah. When we had nothing, we were worried. Now we've got something, we're more worried. Why is it? Because the reliance is now on what we have, no longer on Allah. That's where the problem is.

You see what we're saying? Rely on Allah. Allah says, don't worry. You don't have, the next Mosul, we will give it to you.

But that test of Allah is supposed to be bringing you closer to Allah. He tells you in Surah Al-Baqarah. He didn't even say it later on in the Quran. Right at the beginning, Surah Al-Baqarah. He's saying, we're going to test all of you, every one of you, with what? With a little bit of fear. You'll be scared sometimes.

I explained to you all sorts of different types of fear. When (الجوع) and hunger, you can understand that on your own, hunger. Sometimes you will be hungry.

Sometimes there may not be food. Sometimes there will be famine. Sometimes there might be money and no food. And sometimes there will be food and no money. And sometimes there will be neither food nor money. That's Allah.

Subhanallah. (الْجُوعِ الْخَوْفِ) and (الْخَوْفِ) and (وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ) You will suffer loss. When you suffer loss, do you say, Alhamdulillah, (لا إله إلا الله). Allah says, you will suffer loss of wealth.

(نَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ). Your money, boom. Suddenly one day someone stole it.

There was a fire. There was a robbery. There was an earthquake.

What's all this about? Allah says, that's the whole reason why we sent you onto the earth. Man, don't be fool. You know, people say, you came onto the earth just enjoy.

And when you have a lot of money and a nice house and everything is smooth, it means Allah is happy with you. Not at all. No way.

Allah says, we need to test you. Look at your school. Your school, to start with.

How many of us are educated here? We'll put up our hands, all of us. Even the little ones will say, we go to school. What's school all about? Exams, tests.

Do they become easier or more difficult? They become much more difficult as you become closer and closer, higher and higher, you know, to the end. Much more difficult. You're writing O-level.

You can't take a kid and put them right up there because you know, that's going to be a difficult exam. But when you go through it, what do you say? You come out of the paper, you say, Alhamdulillah, it was easy. MashaAllah.

Thank Allah, it could have been worse. So Allah says, we sent you to test you. Nobody can deny that.

Nobody. People say, how could Allah send us here to test us? I tell you, I'm not here by my own will. I'm here by the will of Allah.

I'm not your brother because I chose to be there. Allah chose it for me. I'm not in your community and meeting you here today because I wanted it.

No, Allah wanted it primarily. Then perhaps He gave me the ability to a certain extent. So, there is going to be a challenge as you grow older.

Once or twice a year, you get ill, you have a cough, you have a headache, you have, you know, something wrong with yourself, an allergy, whatever, whatever. It's part of the test of Allah. It proves to you that what Allah is saying is right.

Types of Tests

(وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ) Allah says, we will take away the life. The life of what? Of who? People around you, whom you love perhaps. People around you, whom you see and witness.

Family, community, whoever else. However, we want to take it, we will take it. People say, why are innocent children dying? The one who gave them the life loves them more than the people who gave birth to them.

Remember that. The one who gave them the life loves them more than those who gave birth to them. People say, the mother's love is the highest.

Actually, Allah's love is higher than that. So, why did they suffer? That's a question. I tell you, go back to the reason of creation.

You will know, it's part of the test. Allah is testing you who remain behind. Do you understand Allah's plan? They might be the means of your entry into Jannah.

If Allah knows that there is a little child who's going to grow up to suffer beyond a certain degree, Allah may take them away earlier. If Allah knows that there is a child who's going to grow up and make someone else's life a misery, perhaps the parents life a misery, Allah might take them away earlier in a car crash where they may not have died in a way I would have liked or you would have liked but they died in a way Allah wanted and if you bear the patience, you pass your test, you walk out of there, you might be sad but Allah will give you Jannah because you were patient. And had they remained and had they been given life, perhaps you would have said, Oh Allah, look at my son, he's hassling me, he's troubling me, help me, I'm really depressed.

Subhanallah. Allah says, we will always do you a favor, you don't know the future, we know the future. The knowledge of Allah is so powerful.

Allah's Supreme Knowledge

Allah knows that which was, that which will be, you know, the past, the present and future, those three Allah knows. But the fourth category of knowledge that is the most supreme, that is only for Allah. You

know what it is? Try to understand what I'm saying.

Allah knows what will not happen in the future if it were to happen, how it would have happened. Subhanallah. Say you don't have a child, Allah knows that if you had one and you're not going to have one, what would have happened had you had one? He will show you that one day if you want to see it perhaps.

That look, we didn't give you because of X, Y and Z. Not only that, even if it's a business deal, sometimes there is a million dollar deal and it's so close to you and it didn't come to you. Sometimes you want to get married to someone so desperately and you think everything is smooth and this person is blocking. No, no, no, no.

Allah knows that which is not going to happen. If it did happen, how it would have happened? That's what Allah knows. We read Surah Al-Kahf every Friday, a lot of us.

I promise you in that Surah, there is something very powerful regarding the meeting of Musa A.S. and Al-Khidr. When Al-Khidr decided to kill the little boy, later on there was an explanation to say, had he been given life, he would have been so disobedient to his parents. Allah said, take that life away, don't worry.

We will replace him with a better child. Subhanallah, the child never ever grew up. So Allah knew this child is not going to grow up.

But if the child had grown up, which didn't ever happen, was never going to happen. Allah says, we know what would have happened. Allahu Akbar.

It's a little bit too deep. You need to think about what I'm saying. This is why, The affairs of a believer are amazing.

The Real Definition of Success

The reason why I'm repeating this type of topic is because we're going through a lot of hopelessness on earth. People don't realize, why am I not coming right? Well, nobody is coming right actually. So what is coming right? If you could read salah that day, you have come right.

If you have obeyed Allah, you have come right. If you have thanked Allah against all odds, you have come right. That's what is right.

Right is not about your food and your money and everything else which everyone thinks. Today, when you ask someone house things, they will tell you very tough. What are they talking about? They're talking about materialism only.

But the true answer is, Alhamdulillah, today I read salah. Today I managed to get up for tahajjud. Today I did fajr.

Today, mashallah, I did this. Those are the real answers. I managed to read Quran.

I managed to obey Allah. I thank Allah. He gave me one avocado, subhanallah, on my tree.

La ilaha illallah. Where are those? That's why on the day of qiyamah, there will be a caller who is going to call أَيْنَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يَحْمَدُونَ اللهَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ Where are those who used to thank Allah in tough times and in good times? Bring them, come forth, VIPs. When you had a tough situation, instead of saying any bad words, you said, Alhamdulillah, it could have been worse.

It's just like that exam I told you about, just now, O level. You walked out. What did you say? Hey, it was alright.

It could have been worse. The same happens with us. You have a massive accident.

It's your test. You walk out with one broken limb. Say, Alhamdulillah, it could have been worse.

I could have lost an eye. You lost one eye. I could have lost both eyes.

That is a mu'min. It's a believer. Allah says, you are here to be tested.

Don't become despondent because of one or two challenges in your life or a hundred or a thousand challenges and you need to know another thing. The prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says the more Allah loves you, the more tests He puts in your life. Something you think, what just happened here? You cry.

Allah says, I love those tears. Why? You are now relying on Me alone, no longer on anything else. I told you when we didn't have, Wallahi, our reliance on Allah was greater than now that we've got a little bit.

Allahu Akbar. This was the condition of the Sahaba radhiallahu anhu. They thanked Allah.

They were thankful. And yes, it's a test of Iman. That's why we are here to talk about it regularly.

The Tests of Previous Believers

The Sahaba radhiallahu anhu used to ask, when is the help of Allah coming? The messengers of Allah used to ask, when is the help of Allah coming? Allah says, we'll shake you to test you. What is your limit? Then we will take you across to Jannah.

Another beautiful verse.

Allah said, do you think you're going to go to Jannah just like that, without a test? You know, how are we gonna test you?

The example and the tests that we had tested those before you, have not yet even come to you. And you think you're going to go to Jannah without those type of tests? So you might ask, oh Allah, what type of tests did they have? You know what Allah says, They were tested with hardship, with difficulty, with war, warfare. And they were shaken.

زلزلوا says Allah. زلزلوا is actually an earthquake. They were shaken until the messengers and the believers asked Allah, When is the help of Allah going to come? Allah's testing us right to the limit, right to the

extent.

Allah says, We know the help of Allah is very near.

Don't lose hope. That's what Allah says. The messengers were shaken, the believers with the messengers, meaning the companions were shaken.

Who are we? Our Iman will be tested. Don't lose your faith. Come back to Salah.

The Solution: Patience and Prayer

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا That is an honor for those who believe only. Allah says, Oh you who believe, that's an honor. Only those who believe will say, Yes, Oh Allah, what are you saying? You know, when I call you by your name, if I say, Hey rich man, the poor people won't look back, right? Right? If I call you by your name, Muhammad, there are 5, 10 Muhammad.

Muhammad, 5, 10 of them will look, the rest of them won't look. If I say, Oh you who believe, everyone who believes supposed to say, What is it? Something very important. So Allah says:

You need to say, What is this? Seek assistance. Seek help through what? Patience and prayer. You don't pray, you're going to complain. I can't cope.

You're not patient, you're going to complain. I can't cope. Allah says, If you seek help through patience and prayer and you complain to us alone, and you thank us for what we've given you.

You know, in the negatives, there are positives. Yesterday, I received an email from someone who said, Allah has let me down, abandoned me, forgotten about me. I don't have anything.

And I'm thinking you're sending me an email. Subhanallah. Are you not looking at your eyes, your nose, your breathing, your ears, your whatever else? How can you say Allah abandoned you? Just because He took 20 things away from you.

One time, you think He's forsaken you. He wants to tap you to say, come close to us. Come to sabr and salah so that you get jannah.

That's the true answer of the question we are asking you right now. We're giving you the answer. We're testing you.

It's a question to say, right, take this, take this, take this, take this. What are you going to do? It's our test. The answer is sabr and salah.

There's neither sabr nor salah. You're getting the wrong answer. That's why you can't cope.

There's sabr and salah. Bear patience one year, two years, no matter how long, 20 years, a lifetime. If you lose your life while bearing patience, you still have Allah with you.

Never mind. You died with hope. It's better to die with hope than to die hopeless.

You know, what's a mu'min? A mu'min when he's sick and ill and when he's right at the end of his life, he always has hope. One of two things. Either I'm going to get better, I will say alhamdulillah.

Or I'm going to meet my maker. Alhamdulillah. What did I lose? Why must I get depressed? If you hold the mattress tight, you're still going to die.

May Allah forgive us. And if you let go of that mattress and say alhamdulillah, you're still going to go when your time is up. So Allah says, we're going to test you.

And Allah says even produce, there will be loss of produce, maybe no rain. So the problems are compounded one after the other. Right at the end Allah says:

Give good news to those who bear patience, those whom when calamity strikes them, they say ultimately as it is, we're all going to return back to Allah.

This is just a passing phase. May Allah make it easy for us. My brothers and sisters, we're going through a lot of challenges.

Understanding Tests vs Punishment

It's Allah punishing us. The bigger the reward, or should I say the bigger the test, the greater the reward. The bigger the test, the greater the reward.

The more Allah loves you, the more He tests you. We're going to be tested every day. In fact, if you're not tested, you need to be worried.

I want to end off by making mention of one quick point. When something happens in your life, that is a big problem according to the world, major disaster according to the world. How do you know whether it is a test or a punishment? Quite simple.

If you take it in your stride, it's a test. Which means, if you're calm about it, yes, it will hurt you, it might shake you a little bit, but if you calm about it, if it brings you closer to Allah, if it drew you towards Allah, it made you more humble, it made you a better person, it's a test, it cannot be a punishment. A punishment does not bring a person close to Allah.

It destroys them. So say a big thing happened and you came to the masjid, or you started reading salah, or you started seeking forgiveness. Allah says that was a test.

We loved you so much, we put a test so that you come close to us. But if something drives you away from Allah, makes you question Allah, makes you angry, makes you upset, makes you so, so angry and upset and hopeless, perhaps it's a punishment. Don't lose hope.

No matter what you lost, never mind. Allah will give you better. This is why many people who've lost their entire businesses, I am telling you from my experience, a lot of them, in a short space of time, if they bore some of them, Allah gives them back 10 times more, 10 times more.

Go and study, go and check. Write down the names and see the people, in your own communities, in our own communities. People who've lost things, and after if they were sabr and salah, a few years later, they got so much back, they can't even believe, they will never, if their forefathers were alive, they would say, how did you get all of this? It was through sabr and salah.

Closing

May Allah keep us happy, make us humble, make us love one another, respect one another. Remember, your rizq is written from Allah. The solutions to your problem with Allah, not with anyone else.

I say these words and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad.