Allah does not impose on any self any more than it can stand. For it is what it has earned; against it, what it has merited. Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake! Our Lord, do not place on us a load like the one You placed on those before us! Our Lord, do not place on us a load we have not the strength to bear! And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy on us. You are our Master , so help us against the people of unbelievers. (Surat al-Baqara, 286)
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Allah has revealed in the Qur’an that He will test Muslims in various ways until the end of their lives. But there is one important secret on this subject that believers need to know: If someone encounters a difficulty, or something that is hard to deal with, that means that Allah has also given them the strength to overcome the matter and succeed in the test. Knowing from the outset that this is a law of Allah and believing in that law is one of the most important pieces of information that can permit a believer to overcome that test.
If someone believes when he encounters an event that he is too weak to overcome it, that it will be very difficult to beat it with his own means and knowledge, then he will also lack the strength with which to strive against it. It is in any case impossible to observe such a way of thinking in any believer who genuinely believes in and fears Allah, who believes in the Hereafter, who knows that everything is created within destiny and who “compete to do good deeds.” That kind of false logic can be seen in people who act according to the perspective of the society of the ignorant. When such people encounter difficulties, troubled situations they have to work hard to overcome, they immediately fall prey to weakness. Their first words are always ones of weakness and despair, ones that complain of the situation they find themselves in. Their beliefs resemble their words, and through this indoctrination they inflict on themselves they shape their own behavior and make themselves utterly helpless.
One of the greatest errors of people who behave in this way is that they either fail to properly appreciate Allah or else forget Him. They spend their lives imagining that they do everything themselves. The fact is, however, that even the worst difficulties, the gravest situations are events that can be resolved in an instant if Allah so chooses. Allah is mighty enough to do what He wishes at the moment He wishes and is greater and mightier than human beings can even imagine. For that reason, if Allah so wishes, it is very easy even for situations that rise up like mountains before one to be straightened out. The important thing is for one to realize this and spend one’s life with that faith.
Someone who dedicates every moment of his life to Allah and lives in submission to Him will display the same submission, trust in Allah and calm in the face of difficulties. No matter what the trouble, difficulty or complexity of the situation confronting him, the believer knows, right from the outset, that they will be easy to overcome for someone who has faith. He places his complete trust in Allah, knows that he draws his strength from that of Allah, and confronts the situation with faith and the moral values of the Qur’an.
A second truth on the subject from which believers draw strength is that Allah makes difficulties easier for those who truly believe. This immutable law of Allah is revealed as follows in the Qur’an:
For truly with hardship comes ease; truly with hardship comes ease. So when you have finished, work on, and make your Lord your goal! (Surat al-Inshirah, 5-8)
We will ease you to the Easy Way. (Surat Al-A‘la, 8)
Another secret revealed in the Qur’an is that while difficulties are made easier for believers who adopt these moral values, it is also easier for those who regard themselves as self-sufficient and oppose such moral values to encounter the wrath of Allah:
there is a vast difference in your striving. As for him who gives out and has taqwa (awe and fear for Allah) and confirms the Good, We will pave his way to Ease. (Surat al-Layl, 4-7)
But as for him who is stingy and self-satisfied, and denies the Good, We will pave his way to Difficulty. (Surat al-Layl, 8-10)
Allah has shown the moral values that bestow ease in this world and the Hereafter, what is true and easy, and how to live amid blessings and happiness. He has explained why people cannot be freed from difficulties and troubles, and why they remain weak, unhappy and without answers. He has said that there is always a solution for people who believe and have a profound love and respect for and a genuine fear of Allah. For a believer to live without forgetting this important secret and to know that he will draw strength from Allah in the face of all difficulties and that all doors will be opened for him when he submits to Allah is the only solution that can provide peace, comfort, happiness and blessings in this world and the Hereafter.
