al-Ibtilaa'

All praise naturally and rightfully belongs to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. We seek His Help and Forgiveness; we are penitent to Him. We seek refuge with Him from the evil within our selves and from the evil of our actions. Whomever Allah guides , none can misguide and whomever Allah misguides , none can guide. I bare witness and testify none is worthy of worship except Allah and I witness and testify that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His last Prophet and Messenger.

Among the severest matters in this life, which a day does not pass except we are confronted with them, are the matters of ibtilaa’. Al-ibtilaa’, a concept appearing in word and in theme numerous places throughout the Book of Allahu ta’ala, is an Arabic term that is moreorless translated into English to mean “tried” or “tested”. Ibtilaa’ is indeed a Sunnah of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala whose purpose serves to remind us of the reality of this life and purpose of our creation, our existence. To worship Him, our Lord, through gratitude, patience and adhereing to that which He has Commanded. “Wama khalaqtu al-jinna wa’l insa illa liya’budun.” (I have not created the spirits and mankind except to worship Me)

This dunya (world) is but testing grounds. It is neither a reward nor a punishment. It does not contain absolute goodness nor does it contain absolute evil. Rather it contains but examples and constant transitions of both by which we all are tested by our Lord. With the good of it, our sukr (gratitude) to Him is tried. With the bad of it, our sabr (i.e. patience, steadfastness) is tested. And in both cases it is our overall sincerity towards Allah that is being tried. Allah says that which means:

“Every soul shall taste death and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial and unto Us will you return.” –Surah an-Anbiya’ ayah 35

Ibn Abbas, radiallahu ‘anhu, said concerning this ayah: “We will test you with hardship and with ease, with good health and with sickness, with wealth and with poverty, with the halal and with the haraam, with obedience and with disobedience and with right guidance and with misguidance - in order that we may establish how you have shown gratitude (for the “profitable” tests) and how you have remained steadfast (in the face of the “bad” tests). ‘And unto us will you return’ - so that Allah will reward each and every soul according to their actions.

It is only with perfect reason, in both timing and nature, that Allah tests us. And we should always be patient with those calamities with which we have no control over; complaining only to Allah, burdening no one else, unnecessarily, with our troubles. (The exception, of course, being of those calamities we can possibly control, such as an injustice afflicted upon us from others, we should do whatever physically or verbally possible to either prevent or combat this evil action to protect ourselves. Silence or passive non-resistance in these cases is in itself sinful.)

Great scholar and Tabi, al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyaad, rahimahullah, put it simply: "Whoever complains about a calamity which comes his way it is as if he has complained against his Lord.”

And Shuraih al-Qadhi, rahimahullah, explained thoroughly to a close friend he observed complaining to others about his problems: "Beware of taking your troubles to other than Allah. For the one to whom you confide can only be either a friend or an enemy. If he is a friend, then you will make him sad for you and he cannot benefit you anyway. If he is an enemy, he will be pleased and take some advantage over you. Look at this eye of mine. By Allah, I have not seen any person or the way to go with it for fifteen years and I have never told anyone about it until this moment. Have you not heard the statement of the righteous slave, Ya’qub: "I only raise my distress and my grief to Allah"? So, make Allah the one to whom you take your troubles and your grief when anything bad happens to you. He is the most gracious of those who are asked and the closest of those who are called.”