Qura’n and the severe test

The Official Website of Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi

صفحه کاربران ویژه - خروج
Sort by
 
The sign of Grace in hardshipsHardships a means of trial

We now turn towards the Qura’n and read about how this issue has been mentioned in it:

Verse 35 of Surah Anbiya says:

“We shall take your trial through evil and good, and to Us will you be returned.”

Here the meaning of evil and good is vast and it includes all kinds of painful experiences, diseases, hardships, arrests, poverty and also success, health and well being. The point to note that as far as the testing is concerned the evil has been mentioned before the good because the trial is very severe through and vast (but we should not forget that evil is relative)

The term “to Us will you be returned” is a subtle hint about the fact that this is the place of tests and the place of peace (hereafter) is not the place of trials. This verse is the proof about some hardships being a means of test so that the forbearance and courage of men can be gauged and some bounties are also the test for thankfulness.

Verse 155 of Surah Baqarah says:

“And certainly We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, and loss of wealth, lives and fruits but give glad tidings to the patient ones.”

Five things in this verse have been mentioned as the means of trials:

The fear and chaos in the country that is very important.

Hunger

Loss of wealth

Death

Agricultural mishaps that lead to loss of products, grains and fruits. The verse is telling us that in these trials man’s character and forbearance is elevated in the way the pure gold comes out the fire. (It should be noted that loss of fruits may also denote the death of children because they are the children of one’s heart) It is also possible that the meaning may be vast and may include both fruits and children. Some commentaries have defined the word lives to include diseases also.

The best bounties in life are peace, personal strength, wealth and the means of production. God tests the people through these hardships so that this patience and forbearance is evident for all.

The term “with something” is the living example of this interpretation that all chaos, hunger and death are not trials but only on certain fixed times. The man created disasters and mishaps are not included in the trials because otherwise it would lead to men becoming lazy and not working and these should not be so.

Verse 16 of Surah Fajr says:

“But when He tries him by straitening his means of life, he says, “My Lord has humiliated me!”

It is true that this verse is about those who are lethargic in the examination arena and are so incapable that they become proud when they receive the bounties while they become morose when faced with a little hardship. This verse, however, is the proof that some hardships are a means of testing.

Verse 11 of Surah Ahzab says:

“There, the believers were tried and shaken with a mighty shaking.”

This verse speaks about the strange incident of the Battle of Confederates which was a means of a great trial of the true belief in Islam.

This verse speaks about a strange incident in the battle of confederates which was a source of a great trial in the initial days of Islam. A great army of the confederates had attacked the Muslims from above and below and Muslims were surrounded like a stone in a ring. The hypocrites of Medina broke their oath of allegiance and there was chaos everywhere. Qura’n in verse 11 of Surah Ahzab says, “The believers were tried in this situation: they were shaken as by a tremendous shaking.” This was a test from God and the incident confirms what has been said above.

Islamic traditions too tell us the same (that some hardships are a test from God):

We repeat the Hadith which we have quoted earlier in which Amirul Mumineen is reported to have said: “the trials and tribulations are a punishment for the disbelievers and test for the believer” (1)

In one of his sermons Amirul Mumineen praised the Apostles of God by saying: “They were tested through hunger by God and were subject to labor and hardships and they were purified in the event of fear so that they may be successful.”(2)

He describes the commoners in the same sermon by saying: the great God tests his subjects with hardships; He desires from them a worship that has been done through severe labor and He tests them with many unpleasant things.” (3)

 


 

1. Behar-ol-Anwar vol. 64 Pages 235 and 54
2. Nahjul Balagha Sermon 190
3. Nahjul Balagha Sermon 190

 

The sign of Grace in hardshipsHardships a means of trial
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Lotus
Mitra
Nazanin
Titr
Tahoma