Path of Salvation Goes through Hardships
Sometimes those with weak faith lose hope in God and His Power.
God says in verse 94 of Surah Al-A’raf: “We sent no Prophet to a village but seized its inhabitants with misfortune and adversity in order that they might be humble in supplication.”
This verse refers to a divine Sunnah (rule) based on which whenever God sends a prophet to a people, He prepares the ground for the people to accept the prophet’s invitation.
Hardships and adversities pave the ground for accepting prophets’ mission, because as long as man is in comfort, he may fail to remember God and His blessings but when he confronts adversities, he pays attention to God spontaneously.
After a messenger is sent by God to a people, they either accept his mission or reject him. If the latter happens, the adversities and hardships are removed after some time and another divine Sunnah comes to play, which is called Istidraj (allowing time).
Verse 182 of Surah Al-A’raf explains about this Sunnah: “We gradually lead those who have called Our revelations mere lies, to destruction. Their destruction will be such that they will not even notice how it seized them.”
So those who refuse to have faith, even though they are in comfort, they will gradually move toward decline and destruction without even knowing it.
Hence, we should realize that not every blessing or comfort is a sign that God is satisfied with us. On the other hand, sometimes hardships and adversities are divine blessings for us. Sometimes God may be testing our faith. And those who fail to become faithful may receive more blessings and this could be the beginning of a path whose end is destruction. In verse 95 of Surah Al-A’raf we read: “We then replaced their misfortune with well-being until they were relieved and began saying, ‘Our fathers had also experienced good and bad days.’ Suddenly, We struck them (with torment) while they were all unaware (of what was happening).”
When a faithful person is in welfare and comfort, he should not become carefree and forget that God may be testing him. He should pray that God’s blessings be His favor to him not a means of punishment. On the other hand, if the faithful person faces adversities, he would not lose hope in God but would remember that God may be testing him to raise his spiritual status.
