Why Do Bad Things Happen

Why Do Bad Things Happen

Khutbah by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

Opening and Praise

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ الَّذِينَ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولُهُ أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا فَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا كَثِيرًا ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيٌّ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَإِنَّ شَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ صَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

Recitation of Quranic Verses

: يَقُولُ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ الْكَرِيمِ بَعْدَ أَنْ أَقُولَ أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّحِيمِ

"(153) وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَنْ يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ (154) وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرْ ) بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ وَلَكِن لَّا تَشْعُرُونَ (156) أُولئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ( 155) الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ ( الصَّابِرِينَ (157) وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ"

(Quran 2:153-157)

"(٢) (٢٧) يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي (٢٦) وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِي ( ٢٥) وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي ( رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي"

"اللَّهُمَّ ثَبِّتْنَا عِنْدَ الْمَوْتِ بِلا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَاللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بالصبر آمِينَ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ"

Introduction to the Topic

In today's khutbah insha'Allah ta'ala I want to share with you just some things about a very heavy concept in our deen something that is talked about a lot in the Quran and unfortunately at least in my own observation Allah azzawajal knows best in my own observation the average Muslim is very confused about this particular issue that has to do with our faith because it comes up in conversation and it's something that actually a lot of people get hurt by because they don't understand it properly and the subject of the khutbah today really is you know, why bad things happen? why do bad things happen?

Common Misconceptions About Suffering

If we don't understand the issue properly as a matter of faith then sometimes we say things to other people who are suffering from bad things and we end up saying things that can really mess them up like for instance, just recently I was with some distant family and we were talking about our late grandmother and she passed away, rahimahullah and you know, she had some difficulty before she passed away and one of the cousins in the family somewhere thinks you know, she had these difficulties because when she was younger she used to be really mean to some other aunt or somebody and that's why Allah put her through this at the end of her life you know, and they just say these things they just say them but actually these things are very hurtful to say first of all and to speak about the fact that Allah is punishing someone especially someone who's passed away but actually I came to realize that in our conversations among each other we say these kinds of things to each other all the time you know why this is happening to you? because Allah is very angry with you and actually I've even seen sometimes parents use this against their children you know why you fell down the stairs? because yesterday I told you to finish your breakfast you didn't finish because Allah is punishing you this is why bad things happen to you because you didn't listen to me husbands and wives use this against each other they'll use it against each other and these are matters of iman so we have to really properly understand.

Types of Calamities

Now when I say bad things I'm not just talking about small little things right, I'm talking about small things but I'm also talking about big things and I'm not just talking about things that happen to us as individuals because as individuals somebody may have been in a car accident somebody may have been diagnosed with a difficult disease somebody may have had to go for surgery or something somebody may have lost a family member or somebody ended up in the hospital or something or somebody lost a job and their financial difficulty or they lost their house because you know it went in foreclosure or something like that but there are also problems and calamities at the level of communities and towns a flood comes and hits a city you know and the entire city is devastated or an earthquake comes and hundreds of thousands of people are devastated or war breaks out between nations or civil war breaks out and what used to be a peaceful neighborhood is now under fire is completely burnt to the ground you know you wouldn't recognize the place from the day before and the day after so these things are at the level of the individual on a daily basis and also at a higher level.

Personal Blame and Misattribution

Now I want to start at the individual level and probably in this khutbah we'll only really get to talk about the individual level and that's important because even in casual conversation not just about others I've even heard Muslims with my own ears we'll be driving or you know we'll get late for work or something you know Allah is just in a bad mood with me today Allah is putting me through some you know I don't know what I've done and Allah is just angry at me and people talk like this about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you know you didn't get up early enough you took the wrong highway you didn't listen to the news report about there's an accident on this highway and now you get to blame Allah azza wa jal for what's happening to you.

Understanding the Word "Musiba"

So now in this regard first of all it's a complex issue second of all there are tons of ayat not one or two ayat there are literally dozens of ayat on the concept of al-musiba al-musiba and I'll describe what that is I think Urdu speakers here assume they know what it means musiba is like a calamity or a terrible thing that happens we use the word in the similar meaning in Arabic this is a big disaster there's a calamity but in old Arabic actually let's start with the definition of this word musiba comes from the Arabic verb asaba and asaba is to hit a target when you hit the target perfectly then that hitting of the target and hitting exactly where it was supposed to hit is called sawab which is why another word for correct in Arabic is sawab, sahih, right? so hitting the correct target is the act of isaba now the word musiba is something that hits you and hit you exactly where it was supposed to hit you.

Divine Precision in Calamities

So the first thing we learn from Allah azza wa jal using this term to describe what happens to us it's a karitha it's a haditha it is a waqia it is something bad that happened something terrible that happened su happened Allah doesn't use those terms most of the time He uses the term al-musiba why? because Allah is describing that as far as His qadr is concerned as far as His planning is concerned this was like an arrow that was shot and it was supposed to hit you exactly when and where and how and how deep and how badly it was all decided it is perfect hit perfect hit then the term murbuta also at the end of this word we don't say musib we say musiba by adding the term murbuta it adds the concept of al-hadath meaning every single issue every single thing you know how you think well first thing that happened was my transmission went bad then the next thing that happened as a result was I was late to the meeting then the next thing as a result of being late to the meeting I lost my job then as a result I got divorced then as a result then as a result and as a result.

Individual Nature of Each Trial

There was a brother I met not too long ago who had some issue with his passport and as a result of his issue he lost his passport as a result of that he got he lost his job and as a result of that he got into arguments with his wife and he blames the passport company or the people that applied for his visa they cost me my marriage they cost me my job they cost me everything so they tie all of these strings together all of it is because of this one thing and we do this too but Allah azzawajal is calling each and every difficulty each and every difficulty individual they are not a result of each other they are a result of Allah's allowance Allah azzawajal allows every single one of those events to happen there are people who go through exactly the same situation as you but the same things don't happen that chain of events doesn't happen Allah decrees something else for them so that's the first thing to note about the word musibah it is specific it is targeted to you.

The Congratulation for Sabr

The two ayaat of the dozens of ayaat the two ayaat we should never ever forget about the word musibah Allah azzawajal first of all says in these ayaat that I recited to you in Baqarah He says:

"وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ"

Congratulate the people who have sabr what strange language Allah azzawajal uses when you and I have a difficulty we are suppose to have sabr you don't have sabr when you are happy you are suppose to have sabr when you are upset when something is wrong when something goes badly you were suppose to graduate and got delayed you didn't pass the class you suppose to have a little bit of sabr you got sick you suppose to have sabr some bad thing happened and you are suppose to have sabr now you tell me you and I when we speak to each other and somebody is in a situation when they are suppose to have sabr like you are in a situation or I am in a situation Where the advice is I should have sabr. You don't go to that person and say congratulations You know, it doesn't make any sense It doesn't make any sense. Akhi, I feel terrible about what happened. I pray Allah gives you sabr. You don't smile at them You don't congratulate them.

Understanding Allah's Perspective on Sabr

Now when do you congratulate someone? You congratulate someone when there's a happy occasion when things went according to plan You applied for the job and the job came through and you got the job you applied for a raise and you got a raise You were looking to get married and the thing is settled when things work out Then you congratulate each other. Look at the language of Allah Azza wa Jal. He says:

"وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ"

Congratulate the people who have sabr Subhanallah, why? Because for a believer the attitude is entirely different Maybe the whole ordeal, the entire trouble you are going through The goal of it all was one thing so you could have sabr because if you can have sabr you are worthy of congratulations We think the goal was this thing you were going to get in dunya. Maybe I thought the goal was to get the job Maybe I thought the goal was to make the sale But maybe to Allah the real goal is you were going to learn sabr That's a bigger goal than anything else. Subhanallah. And if you got that goal, you should be congratulated So we have goals in our head that we think we want to accomplish. We have things in our heart We want to accomplish and Allah says there's something much more valuable in your heart If you accomplish that you don't even realize what it's worth and I will tell you what it's worth. It's worth congratulations.

The Immediate Response of Believers

And then After right after this congratulations Allah Azza wa Jal says:

"الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ"

Who should you congratulate these patient people who whenever a specific target calamity difficulty hits them The first thing that comes out of their mouth, qaloo, not even faqaloo, not even thumma qaloo No, no, no, no, no, not then they say if this happens or when this happens then they say there's a there's a when and there's A then there's not even time for a then in the ayah. There's not even a faqaloo It's not there. Why not because it's supposed to be an immediate response You know how you have in in physics or even in medicine in biology You're supposed to have action and reaction Right and for a doctor that checks your physical reactions, they'll tap your knee and the leg kicks up a little bit, right? They check for these reflexes This ayah is teaching us that when difficulty comes to you and when difficulty comes to me There is supposed to be a reflex and in a reflex you don't delay it just happens It just comes out and what comes out:

"إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ"

No doubt about it. We belong to Allah No doubt about it. We belong to Allah wa inna ilayhi raji'oon and no doubt about it We are only going to be returned to him meaning we are going to be returned to our owner.

The Wisdom Behind "Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raji'oon"

Why why is this statement important when something difficult happens? We have to think about the hikmah of why different when the difficult thing comes Why do we say inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon when you hear about some bad news on the phone? Why is it the first time the moment you say inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon first of all understand that if you do that There's a real gift in it for you in the Quran. There's a gift in it for you First I want to share this gift with you You know what that gift is in this ayah Allah azza wajal in the ayah before when I told you he commanded to congratulate the believers al amr fil mufrad la wa bashshiru al sabireen qal wa bashshiris sabireen fil mufrad It's singular Congratulate the ones who have sabr and That congratulations is singular when Allah commands in the singular It is actually a direct amr direct command to Nabi Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Meaning Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam from his mouth is supposed to congratulate those who have sabr and Allah azza wajal now and by the way after this ayah whoever says inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon They may Allah make us of them when we are standing on yawm al qiyamah Maybe we we be among them who