By: A. Mohamed
There are a number of reasons why God decrees hardship and adversity to befall people. Even the genuine believers experience hardship and adversity at some stage in their lives in accordance with God's wisdom and divine plan.
1- It is God's design to subject people to various tests entailing hardship and adversity so as to test their faith, their resolve and their trust in God:
Did the people think that they would be left to say, "We believe", without them being tested? 29:2
We have tested those before them, and indeed, God knows the truthful ones and He knows the liars. 29:3
also:
We will surely test you through some fear, hunger and shortage of money, lives and crops. So give good news to the patient ones. 2:155
To pass the test, the human must maintain his belief in God, and also his conviction that only God can relieve his hardship. The believer will always maintain his prayer and call unto God:
Who is the One who responds to the distressed when he calls upon Him, removes the adversity and makes you successors on earth? Is there a god with God? Rarely do you remember. 27:62
2- Hardship and adversity are also decreed by God to cleanse the people of sins they have already committed. Some of the bad things that happen to us are a direct result of sins we have committed:
It can also be said that God, being the Most just, would not punish us twice for the same sin. This means that the punishment we are given in our worldly life cleanses us and no further punishment is due in the Hereafter.
The concept of cleansing the human from sins in this life is a Quranic truth. It can be achieved through experiencing hardship and adversity (as 42:30). It can also be achieved through the giving of 'sadaqa' (charity) for the specific reason of cleansing the soul from sins which have been committed:
Take a 'sadaqa' (charity) from their money to cleanse and purify them with it and support them. Your support provides them with tranquillity. God is Hearer, Knowledgeable. 9:103
3- Suffering through hardship and adversity is also a reminder for people who tend to take God's blessings for granted. Despite all the blessings given to the human by God, the human being is unappreciative. A little reminder in the shape of hardship or adversity may hopefully remind the human not to take God's blessings for granted:
If you were to count God's blessings, you could not encompass them all. The human being is indeed transgressing, unappreciative. 14:34
The worldly life is no more than the enjoyment of delusion. 3:185
And do not walk arrogantly in the earth, for you cannot bore through the earth, nor can you be as tall as the mountains. 17:37
If any harm touches the human being, he implores Us on his side, sitting down or standing up. Then, when We relieve the harm from him, he carries on as if he had never implored Us about a hardship which had touched him! What the excessive ones used to do was thus adorned for them. 10:12
6- Hardship and adversity are decreed by God in order to serve as deterrents against sins and unrighteousness. Once the human being is touched with hardship, illness, or any kind of adversity, the human being has time to think of what befell him. It is hoped that the adversity a person suffers will act as a deterrent, not just for him who suffered it, but for those around him so as to deter them as well from committing sins and violating God's law:
As mentioned, deterrents are for the purpose of further sinning and also are intended as signs for people to revert back to God and to His Straight Path:
We shall let them taste the lesser punishment before the greater punishment so that hopefully they will revert. 32:21
7- Finally, hardship and adversity can be blessings in disguise. At the time of those happening, the human being who does not see the bigger picture perceives them as hardship and may wonder why does God inflict such suffering upon him. This perception is due to the inability of the human being to see the divine purpose. God who can see the bigger picture may have decreed such suffering as a blessing in disguise.
It may be that you hate something when it is good for you, and it may be that you like something when it is bad for you. God knows while you do not know. 2:216
We have a number of examples in the Quran of events that entailed suffering and hardship to those upon whom they were decreed. However, it was shown subsequently that they were in fact blessings in disguise:
1- In the story of prophet Joseph we see a good example. Had the brothers of Joseph not thrown Joseph into the well, which at the time would have been a horrible experience and cause of suffering for Joseph, he would not have been bought and sold to a master in Egypt, leading to his imprisonment, then finally to him becoming the second man in power after the King of Egypt.
2- In the early days of the Quranic revelation, prophet Muhammad was driven out of his hometown, leaving behind his people and family and his possessions. Undoubtedly, these events caused the prophet great suffering. He was forced to flee to Medina in order to escape the persecution of the disbelievers:
If you do not support him, God has already supported him when those who disbelieved drove him (Muhammad) out. 9:40
How many a village that was more powerful than the village that evicted you have We annihilated and they had no supporter? 47:13
While he was still in Mecca, he and the small number of believers who followed him were harmed and persecuted by the disbelievers:
For those who have emigrated, and were evicted from their homes, and were harmed for striving in My cause, and have fought and got killed, I will surely wipe out their bad deeds and admit them into Gardens beneath which rivers flow; a reward from God. God has the best reward. 3:195
At the time this was happening it may have seemed like great hardship and adversity. However, being driven out of his hometown was the turning point in his life. In Medina, his followers increased manifold so did his power. After a few years, he was able to form a powerful army and retake Mecca and destroy all the stone idols at the Kaaba.
3- The third Quranic example is found in the story of prophet Moses.
Around the time Moses was born, the Pharaoh had issued an edict to have all male newborns killed. The Quranic narration tells us that the mother of Moses was inspired by God to throw her newly born infant (Moses) into the river:
After the mother of Moses threw her baby into the river, she must have been filled with fear not knowing what happened to him. However, God blessed her again by arranging that her baby is returned to her and that she would succkle him. That was to make the mother of Moses know the following:
1- Her baby was safe and will be given a grand upbringing in the household of the Pharaoh.
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