The Prophetic Guide to Overcoming Trials

By: Fatimah Murad

Human beings have a propensity to view trials and tribulations as roadblocks or bumps on what they expect to be the smooth path of life; every hardship is an obstacle to success or happiness. We seek to remove those obstacles, or wait for an end to times of distress because we feel that our real life is the smooth and easy one we have envisioned in our daydreams. Thus, trials and hardships become the catalysts for disillusionment, despair, and dissatisfaction. Moreover, in times of spiritual weakness, we tend to conflate trials with the disfavor of the Almighty, feeling that Allah SWT may be punishing us or depriving us of His ultimate blessing.

A simple look at the lives of His prophets and messengers, especially of his final prophet our beloved Rasulallah SAW will show us that this is not the case. If anything, the greatest trials were faced by those who Allah SWT assured were the highest in His favor.

Ibrahim AS, the father of prophets, the one that Allah SWT called His Khalil, or friend, lived an incredibly itinerant, unsettled life. He was cast out of the place of his birth, with his own father threatening him with death. He spent the prime of his life childless, and when he did become a father, his loved ones were scattered across great distances. Any one of these experiences, not counting the sacrifices Allah SWT explicitly asked of him, could have created anxiety or bitterness in an average person. However, he remained steadfast, carrying himself with a serene contentment in the will of his Creator, and treating even the worst of creation with mercy and forbearance.

There is an entire surah in the Qur’an outlining the many trials faced by Yusuf AS and his father Ya’qub AS. It started with a painful separation engineered by members of their own family, and spanned enslavement and imprisonment on false charges. Musa AS was once a hunted fugitive and later dealt with one of the most contentious group of followers in history, while also challenging one of the most powerful empires in history. Long before them, Nuh AS preached for centuries and yet most of his people, including his own wife and son, ridiculed and rejected him. Though there were times of comfort and prosperity in their lives, much of their time on this earth was defined by trial and hardship.

This is especially true of the life of Muhammad SAW, most beloved to Allah SWT of all His creation. Orphaned before birth and then passed from caretaker to caretaker for the duration of his childhood, he had what anyone would consider a tragic and unstable upbringing full of economic hardship. Upon receiving revelation, he was ridiculed and socially ostracized by his people. Over the course of his life he buried two wives, including Khadijah RA, the unequivocal love of his life, and all but one of his seven children. He fought multiple battles against people who were in a sense his extended family and lost many dear companions. Any random combination of a fraction of these experiences could be enough psychological trauma to break a normal person. These are the kinds of life histories we find in the pasts of juvenile delinquents or the kind of events that serve as openings for a movie starring a vengeful antihero. They are used to, if not justify, at least qualify a person who is distrustful, withdrawn, or resentful towards others.

Yet our Prophet SAW was none of these things. He remained open and welcoming to all. He was the most trusted person in his society, a position he retained even as society rejected him as Prophet. He showed more concern and compassion for his enemies who persecuted him than some people show to their own family. He retained a sense of humor with his wives and companions. He made time to play not only with his own grandchildren but other children around him as well. Despite all of the loss he suffered in his life, his companion Abdullah ibn Al-Harith ibn Hazm RA said, “I have never seen anyone who smiles more than the Prophet does.”

How was this possible? Can we ever hope to compare to reach such a level of perseverance and serenity? Not entirely. Allah SWT’s prophets are truly a class apart from the rest of humanity, with a spiritual strength and level of faith no ordinary human can acquire. And, while Allah SWT tested them with hardship, He also privileged them with direct revelation and the company of angels. Yet they are still meant as our role models. Their experiences exist so that we may learn from them, and there is one essential aspect of their mindset that we can cultivate which can help through our own tribulations.

In a hadith found in the Sahih of Imam Bukhari, the esteemed companion Abdullah ibn Umar RA narrated “The Messenger of Allah SAW took me by the shoulder and said, ‘Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.’”

Ibn Umar RA elaborated on this by advising the following: “In the evening do not expect [to live until] the morning, and in the morning do not expect [to live until] the evening. Take [advantage of] your health before times of sickness, and [take advantage of] your life before your death.” In accordance with this explanation, this hadith is often presented as a call to action, reminding us not to waste our time on this earth, and a warning against becoming attached to the allures of this world.

However, this same attitude, when cultivated correctly, serves as a great comfort in times of hardship. Our Prophet SAW and all the prophets before, upon them be peace, recognized the transience of this life. Every trial they encountered served to remind them not to become attached to this illusory, temporary world when a much truer and permanent one awaited. The transience of this life made its every difficulty easier to bear, and every trial became a means to earn a higher station in the hereafter. This world did not have the power to break them because they were not beholden to it.

While we can never reach a prophetic level of patience, we are also not tested by prophetic levels of hardship. Allah SWT has promised us in the closing verse of Surah Baqarah that He “does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear…” and the promise of the Almighty is ever true. Allah SWT knows what we can handle better than we ourselves do, and that should give us motivation to face every difficulty with fortitude. This does not mean that we should desire hardship or that we should not pray for ease and prosperity for ourselves and our loved ones: our Prophet SAW instructed us to always ask for the best of this world and the next. We should, though, develop in ourselves, as well as in our families, the prophetic perspective regarding both realities. We should strengthen both our faith and our character so that we can rise above the ups and downs of this life and look to our permanent abode in the next for the fulfillment of our dreams.