Trials Are the Doors of Gifts

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture delivered in Union, New Jersey on May 18, 2024Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the servant and Messenger of Allah, our master and our Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him, his family and his Companions, and grant them abundant peace. O Allah, we ask You for pardon and well-being in our religion, our worldly life and our hereafter. O Allah, prepare for us right guidance in our affair, bless us in what You have provided us, protect us from the punishment of the Fire, and turn away from us the causes of punishment in this world and the next, by Your mercy and good pleasure, O Lord of the worlds.

In light of the events unfolding, no one can speak of anything else; out of respect for ourselves before Allah, glory be to Him, when He asks us: what did you offer to the oppressed of the earth when they were tried with what you saw before your eyes? On that basis, speaking about Palestine and the conditions there, as one model of the challenges facing da'wah in the Muslim world, gives us many occasions to pause. Among what we should point out is that trials come only with gifts, and that is by the grace of Allah, the Most High; hardships never come except together with gifts, by His grace, glory be to Him.

The Overwhelming Event, Then the Dawn

The evidence for this is simple; it is enough to observe the Qur'an itself. You read, for example, Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah. The ghāshiyah means that you have a great calamity that has overwhelmed everything in the world, and the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, named it "al-Ghāshiyah." But you are surprised that after al-Ghāshiyah comes al-Fajr (the dawn), as if there is no dawn except with the existence of al-Ghāshiyah, just as there is no morning brightness (al-ḍuḥā) except with the existence of the night.^[1] As you walk through the Qur'an and read, if you notice the connection between the sūrahs, you grasp these meanings.

No Prophet Was Spared Harm

Then come, let us cross history and see: which of the prophets of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, throughout all the world, was spared harm from his own people, among whom he was born, lived and grew up? They were his family, his relatives and his kin. You will find no one; indeed, you actually find in the noble Qur'an talk of people who killed their prophets, killed their prophets whom they knew better than they knew themselves, knew as they knew their own sons: ﴿وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًا مِّنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ﴾ ("and indeed a party of them conceal the truth while they know").^[2] Thus said Allah, blessed and exalted.

So the matter of the challenges of da'wah is part of the "package," part of the agreement concluded between us and Allah, glory be to Him, on the day we said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah." When we agreed on that, we agreed on a great number of challenges that come to us in succession without ceasing. And we cite the words of Allah, blessed and exalted: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا﴾ ("O mankind, you are laboring toward your Lord with great exertion").^[3] Until when, my Lord? ﴿فَمُلَاقِيهِ﴾ ("and you will meet Him"); the letter fa' indicates immediate sequence and order, as if there is no rest in between the toil and exertion and the meeting with the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Most High.

We Have No "Victims"

Then we come to the scene from the other side, the side of the people. There are those for whom Allah, blessed and exalted, wanted good, so He hastened them to Himself; whomever Allah wants good for, He hastens to Himself, glory be to Him, the Most High.

And I do not believe that in Islam we have a term called "victim." We speak about the victims in Palestine, and I do not acknowledge this term, and I may be a thousand percent wrong, but I know that we have two terms: either victory or martyrdom,^[4] and I have nothing besides that. We have no victims at all, because the victim is the one whose right has been squandered in this life and the next, right? So who squandered the right of our man in this life and the next? We have a kind of injustice that befalls some people from others, but the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, the Most High, does justice to all creation as He wills, and according to what He knows of their patience, their strength of endurance, their will and so on.

Round After Round

So we have two points. The first point, so far, is that we are inside a "package" that will not end. Whoever thinks that the victory taking place, by the permission of Allah, blessed and exalted, will be the end of the road is mistaken in that thought. For when the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Most High, says: ﴿لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ﴾ ("you will surely cause corruption in the land twice") —^[5] I have a small, very simple opinion on this — "twice" does not mean fixing the number at two; rather it means succession, once and once again, once and once again. You say in English "ups and downs," don't you? Up and down, up and down, up and down. We go up and down until when? Until we meet Allah, blessed and exalted.

For the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, the Most High, made them a thorn in the back of humanity,^[6] and the thorn in the back of humanity remains until all humanity meets its Lord. We are simply between a fall and a rise.

Where Is the Foundation?

The point of the matter and its connection, among the people of faith, is this: if faith is realized in people's hearts, then by Allah, besides whom there is no god, you will not find one of them whose standing rises. And I did not say "you will not find one of them," for they exist until the Day of Resurrection, but I say: you will not find among them anyone whose standing rises; their thorn will dim and be extinguished by all the signs of faith you find among the people of faith.

As for us, we have abandoned the foundation on which victory is built. We want to build a very large building of several floors, but the foundation is not there underneath. You have the wood, you have the materials, you have everything, but the solid ground has not yet been laid underneath, so you cannot do it.

And the Lord of the worlds said in His promise: ﴿لَن يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلًا﴾ ("Never will Allah give the disbelievers a way over the believers").^[7] So if we look at reality, do the disbelievers have a way over the believers or not? I have three possibilities. Either my Lord, glory be to Him, the Most High, did not tell me the truth of the matter, and far be it from Him, the Mighty and Majestic; Allah is exalted far above that. Or they are not disbelievers. Or we are not believers. So choose one of the three. The first is not in our reckoning: ﴿وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ قِيلًا﴾ ("and who is truer than Allah in statement"), glory be to Him, the Most High, and He has told us what we have. The second matter, that they are not disbelievers: all the observations say they are embarking on new disbelief and depravity. So the third remains, and it is the point of concern for me: has there been realized within me, myself, the faith by which the level of enablement and empowerment from the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, rises? Or, if we were victorious while we have such moral conduct and such coordinates of life running through our lives night and day, would we be cheating religion itself?^[8]

Imagine a student in school who does not attend all year, does not do homework even once, and shows up in a hit-and-run manner, and then at the end of the year we find him passing with a hundred percent. Does this represent a model of success? It would tempt even those working in the field of education, so one of them says: if those who do not study have passed, why should I tire myself? So if Allah, blessed and exalted, grants victory to a nation with such conduct, such dealings and such behavior, then the disbeliever is lured by Islam before the Muslim is.

A Lesson From Uḥud

The equations the Lord of the worlds set in the universe to grant empowerment to the believers, He gave us living examples of them. When He, glory be to Him, the Most High, said: ﴿مِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الدُّنْيَا وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الْآخِرَةَ﴾ ("among you are those who desire this world and among you are those who desire the Hereafter"), about whom was He speaking? He was speaking about the people of Uḥud. And the people of Uḥud, in the general perception, committed no disobedience; people were sure that the Muslims had won and that the army had fled, and had it not been for Khālid's cunning and the maneuver he made, the matter would have been settled.^[9] But the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Most High, wanted to train us in what is called adherence to the pure command, and that is a training achieved only by the people of faith.

This shows in prayer. What is your fault if the imam forgets and stands up for an extra rakʿah, or gives the salām before the fourth, or performs a fifth rakʿah? What is your fault? But it is submission (taslīm). That is why we always say that among the most important educational lessons of prayer is that it teaches us the etiquette of soldiering and leadership. It teaches the leader in front of you: I do not insist on my own opinion alone; so if the shaykh, or one of the people behind, says: Subḥān Allāh, reminding me of a mistake... And here another voice rises: I am the leader, I am the imam, how dare you raise your voice? Do not speak...^[10] Then he is told: this is not your right, my dear, calm down and relax; you are the leader and you are honored, but there are rules, there are limits.

At the same time, if your imam makes a mistake, then show good manners, bear this mistake and perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness with him. Or if he stands and insists on the fifth while you sit behind him, and you are certain you prayed four and he is the one in error, then at least you remain seated, for this is the utmost degree of disagreement: that you sit until he finishes and then give the salām. This is an education, a method, a constitution that sustains life, and methods of movement before they are methods of sitting still. And this is what lies before us of the matter.

Count Your Breaths as Offered to God

And before we conclude, the sum of the matter, my brothers, may Allah, the Most High, bless your gathering: I adjure you by the Lord of the heavens and the earth to regard every breath that leaves you as help for your oppressed brothers everywhere. Palestine is not the only land that bleeds. Make every breath that leaves you for God, seeking reward from the countenance of Allah, blessed and exalted: your patience with your wife at home is for Allah, glory be to Him, the Most High; your patience with the people among whom you drive in the street is for Allah; your work beyond its normal hours, five hours or ten or even one extra hour, is for Allah; your remembrance of Allah and your prostration. Offer your life to Allah, so that we may show Allah something good from ourselves when we meet Him in His presence on the Day of Resurrection.

I ask Allah, the Most High, to grant empowerment to truth and its people, I ask Allah to grant empowerment to truth and its people, and to show us such good as will gladden us in our worldly life and our hereafter, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, keep our hearts sound and preserve for us the well-being of our souls. O Allah, grant victory to Your servants in Palestine; O Allah, make them steadfast; O Allah, support them; O Allah, be for them; O Allah, do not be against them; O Allah, do not give anyone power over them, O Allah; O Allah, do not give anyone power over them, O Allah. O Allah, satisfy their hunger and quench their thirst; O Allah, be for them and be against their enemy, by a mercy and kindness from You, O Most Merciful of the merciful. And may Allah bless and grant peace to our Prophet Muḥammad, his family and his Companions, abundant peace.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: In the order of the muṣḥaf, al-Ghāshiyah (88) comes then al-Fajr (89), and al-Layl (92) comes then al-Ḍuḥā (93). The meaning mentioned is the speaker's own reasoning in linking the sūrahs. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The verse is in Sūrat al-Baqarah (146), and its full text is: ﴿الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًا مِّنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ﴾; the speaker said "yaʿrifūnahum" in his own wording and then recited the last part. The verse's context concerns the People of the Book and their knowledge of the Prophet ﷺ, and the pronoun in "yaʿrifūnahu" there refers, in its context, to the Prophet ﷺ; the speaker cited it as evidence of peoples' knowledge of their prophets. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The verse is in Sūrat al-Inshiqāq (6); the speaker paused at "kadḥan," then commented, then said "fa-mulāqīh." ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The speaker may be alluding to the words of Allah, the Most High: ﴿قُلْ هَلْ تَرَبَّصُونَ بِنَا إِلَّا إِحْدَى الْحُسْنَيَيْنِ﴾ [al-Tawbah: 52], but he did not mention the verse in his speech. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: The verse is in Sūrat al-Isrā' (4) and concerns the Children of Israel; the speaker did not mention where it occurs. The opinion on the meaning of "twice" is his personal opinion, as he stated. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not specify the referent of the pronoun in "made them," and it is used in the context of the verse mentioned before it; so, according to the context, those intended are those concerning whom the verse was revealed. ^[7]: Editor's documentation: The verse is in Sūrat al-Nisā' (141) and begins with a wāw: ﴿وَلَن يَجْعَلَ…﴾, whereas the speaker began with "lan yajʿala." His words ﴿وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ قِيلًا﴾ are from Sūrat al-Nisā' (122). The verse of Āl ʿImrān mentioned in the next paragraph is verse 152. ^[8]: Editor's documentation: In the transcript this statement is followed by the sentence "we lure the disbelievers to faith," which is disordered in context and so was not kept in the text; the meaning of the example after it is clear. ^[9]: Editor's documentation: This is what the speaker relayed from the "general perception." The verse itself (Āl ʿImrān: 152) mentions failing, disputing and disobeying: ﴿حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَشِلْتُمْ وَتَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي الْأَمْرِ وَعَصَيْتُم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا أَرَاكُم مَّا تُحِبُّونَ﴾. The Khālid meant is Ibn al-Walīd, who was then with the polytheists. ^[10]: Editor's documentation: The transcript here contains disordered phrases that were not kept, and the distribution of speech between the leader and the follower is uncertain; only what is understood from the context has been kept.