Hardship is Coming

Hardship is Coming

Sh. Navaid Aziz | iLEAD 2017

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

The Story of Loss

So this session is entitled, Hardship is Coming. And I want to start off by sharing a story with you. Of an individual who was studying with me at the Islamic University of Medina. And he was on the verge of graduating. And he's planning his future of what it's going to be like in Canada after he graduates.

So he's thinking about, I'm going to get involved in the Masjid. I'm going to start doing community work. I'm going to get politically involved. And he has this huge vision of what he has planned. And before he's coming back to Canada, he says, You know what, let me go make Umrah one last time. He takes his family, a wife, three kids, and they go and perform Umrah.

And on their way back to Medina now, he's driving on the road. And as he's driving on the road, he notices that there's a truck behind him. And this truck behind him is swerving all over the place. It's going left, it's going right. And it's just not focused. Now this brother starts to panic.

What should he do? Should he speed up? Should he slow down? Should he pull over? What should he do? Amidst of making a decision, he makes no decision at all. And he just continues as he is. And at that time, as the truck came next to him, it swerved literally right into him.

And sent his car tumbling over. And I want you to imagine, with each tumble in the car, someone is passing away. Someone is dying. The oldest child passes away. The youngest child passes away. In fact, the brother himself, he too, passes away.

And the only ones that are left are the mother and the middle child. Now, you look at the mother. She comes out of the car. She doesn't have a scratch on her. Not a single scratch. But she has amnesia.

She can't remember where she is, who she is, what just happened. And at the same time, the middle child has been taken to the hospital, to the ICU. So now, this mother is in the hospital for two weeks, trying to get her memory back.

She has no recollection of anything. And eventually, after two weeks, the hospital discharges her. And says, you know what, there's nothing further we can do for you. You're just going to have to take care of yourself at home.

So Hamza, there were a couple of sisters from the university that said, let us take this sister home. So they take the sister home.

They take her to one of the sister's houses to have lunch. And while they're having lunch, they start telling the sister, hey, this is who you are. This is what happened. You were in an accident. Your husband died. Your oldest child died. Your youngest child died. And your middle child is still alive. And as soon as she heard that, her maternal instinct turns on and just kicks in.

She's like, if my child is still alive, why am I here? I want to go to the hospital right away. So they take her to the hospital. And I want you to imagine that she's walking into the room. And perhaps, her child is maybe just a couple of feet away from her. And with each step she's taking, she doesn't realize this. But the angel of death is there.

And as she gets about a foot span away from her middle child, the middle child too passes away in front of her eyes. And I want you to think about that. Going from planning a bright future to losing everyone alive and then not even remembering it.

These are tests and trials. Now you may be thinking to yourself, Subhanallah, what a poor sister. Oh, I feel so bad for her. But part of what's happening right now is that somewhere inside you're saying, Alhamdulillah I didn't have to experience that. Or Alhamdulillah, my problems aren't as big. And that is what the human experience is all about.

It's very relative, very subjective. But what we need to understand is sooner or later we're all tested in various, various ways. Some people are tested through ease. Some people are tested through difficulty. But you are going to be tested. And this is the meaning of the verse where Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى( He says:

Does mankind think that they will be left to say, we have believed and not be tested. Meaning you surely will be tested without a shadow of a doubt. Now I know that story that I began off with is very, very dark. And I'm telling you, the year I experienced that and you know heard this story, I was perturbed for a very, very long time.

A Story of Sibling Rivalry

But the reality is you can't live like that always. So I want to share a story that is funny and tells us how to deal with problems as well. And this is a story of me growing up.

Now, alhamdulillah Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى( blessed me with an older sister. She's four years older than me. And growing up, we were like arch nemesis. It's like, I want you to think of like, you know, Batman and the Joker. Obviously I'm Batman and she's like the Joker. And we did not get along at all.

And she used to abuse her privilege over me so much that anytime a friend of hers would come over, she'd kick me out of the house. I couldn't stay in the basement, I couldn't stay on the main floor. I would literally have to leave every single time, you know, one of her friends came over.

So what used to happen was, you know, you can only play basketball so long, you can only play video games at your friend's house for so long. You actually need to get homework done as a teenage kid. So I used to go over to my aunt and uncle's house regularly.

So as I'm at my aunt and uncle's house, they too have a daughter that is about six months younger than me. And even though we were cousins, we developed like a sibling rivalry. And what that looked like was she got a bicycle, I had to get a better bicycle. I got a laptop, she had to get a better laptop. And this is how things continued. And every year, like three or four times a year, there's like a dagger that's like stabbing me in the heart.

And that is when we would get our report cards. Because I would come home and I'm like, mama, baba, alhamdulilah, I did amazing in school. They're like, what'd you get? And I'm like, I got an A in this, a B in that. And they're like, mashallah, that's great. But how did your cousin do? And that was like their top priority. How did you do compared to your cousin? And obviously, you know, mashallah, she was really smart.

And she's like actually doing her PhD right now. So she would beat me in everything. And I would always try to justify it. I'm like, mom, dad, you don't understand. You know, she's a practicing Muslimah that wears hijab and jilbab. She has no social life. Obviously she's gonna do better in school. And that's how I was justifying it. But as is the sunnah of Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى every weak and oppressed nation will have their moment of victory.

The Muslims had their battle of Badr. And I too will have my battle of Badr. And when did that battle of Badr come? The day we got our driver's license.

The Driving Test

So, I want you to imagine that day, she's gone for her driving exam first. And I have no idea how it went. She comes home and I see tears in her eyes.

And I'm thinking, are these tears of happiness and joy because she passed the first time around? Or are these tears of joy because she failed miserably? And she's starting to talk and she can barely talk. And she's like, mama, baba. And I'm like, what is she gonna say? And then she goes, I'm so sorry but I failed.

And from the back of the house you hear, Takbeer! Allahu Akbar! That when you celebrate, you know, that vividly at the failure of your cousin in their driving exam. That means you gotta step up to the plate and represent. So I had the pressure of like every man on his shoulders, how am I going to do on my driving exam? So I want you guys to experience this with me.

So I get into the car and the instructor is like, Mr. Aziz, welcome to your driving exam. I would like you to reverse out of the spot. So I was like, no pressure man, easy.

Put my seatbelt on, adjust my mirrors, turn the car on and I put the car in reverse and I'm going back, I'm going back, I'm going back. Boom! Something hits you. Now I want you to think about what's the first word that comes out of your mouth.

Don't say it out loud, we're at a Muslim conference. You know, you gotta be a good example for the people. But the reality is for a lot of us, it's a word we shouldn't be saying, right? Our natural reaction is Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى( tells us is that we should be saying:

That when the believer is struck by calamity, he should be remembering Allah. He says, indeed to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. So now, I want you to imagine something. Imagine I tell you this whole story again and we do this driving exam again and I go, boom! What word are you going to say now? Some of us are going to shout Allahu Akbar, some of us are going to shout La ilaha illallah, some of us are going to shout Subhanallah.

How did you guys know to remember Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى ? Because you were prepared for it, you knew what was coming. And that's the message I wanted to share with you. That as mankind, Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has told us we need to live in a state where you're prepared for trials because that is the nature of life.

And when you're prepared for trials, you're not going to be caught off guard. When you're not caught off guard, how do you actually prepare for those trials? Well, let us take the example of Umar Ibn Khattab )رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ Umar Ibn Khattab )رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ as he reported in some of the narrations, he says, we as the Sahaba were grateful to Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى for three things when we were tried.

Being Grateful in Trials

We were grateful to Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى for three things when we were tried:

1. We were grateful that the trial was not as great as it could have been.

2. We were grateful that the trial was not in our faith.

3. We were grateful that Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى allowed us to be patient and keep our composure.

Now I want you to understand the wording of this statement. We were thankful for our trials. How does a person reach a station of gratitude while they're being tested? Well, you have to realize that there's something beyond the test itself that you have to be grateful for. That is something that we come to see. So learn to be grateful for your trials.

Why? Because nothing happens in this life except that it is a manifestation of Allah's love, mercy, and justice.

What is that based upon? The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ defines our relationship with Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى(. He says, Allah Arhamu bi'ibadihi min hadhihi biwaladihah that Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is more compassionate, more loving, more caring towards His slaves than the mother is towards her child.

So everything that happens in our life is a manifestation of that love, justice, and mercy from Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى(. Anything and everything. So you have to understand that in that moment of calamity, you may not realize it, but some sort of miraculous act of love is taking place you just don't perceive.

So you are being grateful to Allah )سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى(. But what do you do to take it a step further? Well from within that trial, you realize that things can always be worse. An individual that loses his wallet should be grateful that they didn't lose a limb. An individual that lost ten dollars should be grateful they didn't lose a thousand. Things can always be worse. So make it a matter of perspective.

Alhamdulillah, things could have been worse but they weren't that bad. Number two, that the trial was not in our faith. The worst form of trial, my sisters and brothers, that you can go through is a trial in your faith.

A trial where you're either overwhelmed by desire that you'd be willing to sacrifice your faith, or a trial where you're conflicted with doubt that you no longer believe. And this is why the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ used to actively make dua:

That oh Allah, try us, but don't try us in our faith. Because that is a trial that is very difficult to navigate your way out of. So they used to be grateful that their trials weren't in their faith. And then number three, that Allah )جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ( allowed them to be patient and keep their composure.

Why? Because as long as you're able to be patient, then your ajr is written for you. Your sins have been forgiven, your ranks have been raised, your ajr is there. But if you lose that patience, if you lose that composure, if you lose the pleasure of Allah )جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ (then not only did you go through that trial where you lost something, but you didn't even get anything out of that trial.

So if Allah )جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ allows you to be patient, then that is something to be grateful to Allah )جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ ( for.

Five Things to Embrace in Trials - Ibn Qayyim

Now adding to this, one of the great scholars of Islam, Ibn Qayyim )رَحِمَهُ اللهُ he adds five things that we can actively engage in to help us be more prepared for our trials. And two, actually, you know, embrace them.

Embrace your trials. What can you do? Well, the first of them is understanding that it is a purification of your sins. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says, the son and daughter of Adam are not pricked by a thorn except that Allah )جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ( is forgiving their sins.

So the greater the trial, the greater the forgiveness. So embrace it that when these trials come, these are opportunities for your small sins that you have committed to be forgiven by Allah )جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ

Number two, is that these trials remind us of our greater purpose of creation. Why we're actually on this earth. And I want you to think of the example of a young elementary school child. The favorite time of day for this elementary school child is recess. They love going out and playing with their friends.