7 Wisdoms Of Pain And Suffering

Yasir Qadhi

Date:

Channel: Yasir Qadhi

File Size: 14.45MB

Share Page

Episode Notes

Sh. Dr. Yasir Qadhi discusses the 7 wisdoms of calamities, from the perspective of a Believer (Muslim). These are part of a larger list as authored by Al-Izz Ibn Abdus-Salam, a 13th century scholar of Islam. In part II of the khutbah, the people of Al-Ghouta (in Syria) are mentioned, their calamities, Islamic perspective and significance of this land as it is related to the end of times.

Topics:

  • Why is there pain, why is there suffering?
  • What did Allah say to the angels when they asked such a question?
  • How do we approach evil and suffering?
  • If we don’t have humility and faith, we may reject God due to arrogance.
  • By rejecting God due to the existence of evil, you introduce an infinite long list of complex questions you have no answers for.

Seven wisdoms of calamities and pain in this world:

  1. Demonstrates Lordship –  Only Allah is Powerful, no one else.
  2. Appreciation of the fact that we are the servants of Allah.
  3. The religiosity, Iman, Taqwa, Du’a and calling to Allah that comes as a result.
  4. Exhibition of the best Akhlaq in a person.
  5. Allah allows others to demonstrate generosity and test those who are blessed with the worldly benefits and pleasures.
  6. Appreciation of the blessings and ease in our daily life for which we ought to be thankful to Allah.
  7. Blessings of Allah on the Day of Judgment due to pain in this world.

If you don’t believe in day of judgment, you won’t believe the wisdom of pain/evil in this world.

Allah mentions in the Qur’an, “There are those people who worship Allah with a condition. If life is good, he’s happy and will happy with Allah. But if life is not good and a Fitnah happens, then he switches his faith in Allah, he ends up losing this world and the next.” [Surah al Baqarah]

 

AI generated text may display inaccurate or offensive information that doesn’t represent Muslim Central's views. Therefore, no part of this transcript may be copied or referenced or transmitted in any way whatsoever.

AI Generated Transcript ©


00:00:13--> 00:01:03

In Alhambra, Linda, meadow and Esther no one is still fiddle. When are the villa Himanshu Rudy unforseen woman's RTR Medina, Mayor de la dama De La La MaMa Yulin hufa hodja washer to Allah Illa in La la la sharika wa shadow Mohammed an Abu humara sudo yeah you hola Gina amanu taco la helppo Takata y La mattina illa Anta Muslim moon? Yeah yohanna suta Pura vida como la de hakomi nuptse wahida wahala coming has o jaha webasto amin humare Jalan Kathy Romani what topple la la de tous. Alone Avi he will or ham in the law, how can I de como la Kiba. I'm about my dear brothers and sisters in Islam,

00:01:05--> 00:01:25

trials and calamities, problems and suffering, pain and disaster brings about different reactions from different people. And one of my most memorable moments of my own life, one of the most moments that I will always remember 10 years ago,

00:01:27--> 00:01:28

I went on a delegation

00:01:29--> 00:02:18

of American imams to tour the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and to how whereas you know, millions of people were executed in a short period of time. And as a part of the official delegation, because we were coming at a very high level we managed a lot as a wizard blessed us really to meet some of the survivors of Auschwitz into how they have gone now this is 10 years ago, these were 90 year old, 89 9092 year old women, three of them, one after the other in different cities. And it truly was a very amazing sight to hear the stories of the people who had survived those concentration camps. And we saw the tattoos on their arms. He pulled up his sleeve, he showed

00:02:18--> 00:02:24

us that tattoo. We mentioned he mentioned what had happened. And there was one gentleman I'll never forget,

00:02:25--> 00:02:41

who was very severely, obviously tortured, three, four years he was there. And he was of a Jewish background. And I asked him, at the end of his presentation, I said, how has that tragedy affected your faith?

00:02:42--> 00:02:52

What has it caused you to do with your religion, and his face, became bitter and angry. And he said, I am no longer a Jew.

00:02:54--> 00:02:56

I'm no longer a believer in God.

00:02:58--> 00:03:05

Because this is what he said. Because if there were a God, then what happened to me would not happen.

00:03:06--> 00:03:40

And I felt double pain for him a pain that he had gone through so much a pain that he had been tortured and persecuted. And then it's a sense of pity as well, that that suffering had caused him to basically become an atheist and to end up rejecting God. And in fact, do you want more than this and his words were too harsh to repeat on multiple you can imagine the anger that he felt he took it out on his creator, and he simply rejected him. And Subhana Allah, Allah azza wa jal mentions in the Quran,

00:03:41--> 00:03:46

that this is something that happens when minasi menyambut Allah Allah.

00:03:48--> 00:04:46

There are those people who worship a law with a condition. There's a conditional worship of Allah. For instance, Sabah, who hired in its Ma and nebby. If life is good, he's happy and he'll be happy with a law. We're in asaba to fitna, in calibre Allah yg hasira dunya will Akira radico kasana mubin. But if life is not good, if a fitna happens, then he flips around, and he switches his faith in Allah azza wa jal, and he ends up losing this world and the next and that is the ultimate loss. And my dear brothers and sisters, the wisdom of trying to understand the problems of this world, the the rationalization that we as humans are struggling with. Why is there so much bloodshed, Misery,

00:04:46--> 00:04:59

pain, torture, persecution? How can we understand innocence dying around the world all the time, through diseases through plagues, through sicknesses through Civil War through tragedies, some of them we call

00:05:00--> 00:05:48

acts of God like the floods and the tsunamis and earthquakes. And some of them we call acts of men and acts of civil war as what is happening in Syria, in Burma, in Kashmir and all of these lands. This rationalization that we try to do as human beings, as Muslims as believers, is something that every faith tradition has struggled with. It is one of the fundamental problems of theology. When you study theology, in any discipline, in any background, from any religion, there are philosophers and theologians are trying to answer how can we reconcile the belief in God with the suffering of human beings? Why does a law or God or any entity that the religion believes in, allow this to take

00:05:48--> 00:05:54

place? And each religion religion has its answers, each philosophy each tradition,

00:05:55--> 00:06:44

and it is impossible for us humans to fully comprehend? Because in the Quran, we learned that this question of evil, this question of suffering is not something that the philosophers began. It doesn't go back to Socrates and Plato. It doesn't go back to the ancient Greeks. It goes back to even before the beginning of the creation of men. The question of trying to understand why is there pain? Why is there suffering? Why is there bloodshed and evil? This is a question that was asked of a law even before Allah created us. We all learn in certain Bakara. When Allah subhanho wa Taala announced to the creation, he announced to the angels he announced to the world before us

00:06:45--> 00:06:48

that I am creating a new creation called man.

00:06:49--> 00:07:42

And instantaneously the angels asked Allah, the angels when man was described, and when the effects of man were understood, even before man came down to this earth, and actually did anything. The angels questioned orlu attach Alfie Herman you've sudo fi our yes we could deema when a new sub Yahoo BAM de como parte de sudak Why would you do that? This is a question that is not challenging Allah authority. It is trying to comprehend Allah's wisdom. Even the angels ask the same question. Why would you create a new creation? Who's going to cause fitna and facade who's going to shed blood, they're going to kill one another. Innocent people will die. Why would you cause this pain

00:07:42--> 00:08:07

and suffering when we are here, so pure, so wholly praising you all the time? New saburo BMD Coca Cola, we're worshipping you 24 seven, we're never disobeying you. We don't cause any bloodshed. We don't cause any Civil War. There's no pain and misery and suffering in the world of the angels. Why would you do that? Oh, Allah. And again, they're not challenging Allah's power. They're trying to understand the laws wisdom.

00:08:08--> 00:08:15

And the angels, generally speaking, are more intelligent than us. And the angels are pure than us and holier than us.

00:08:16--> 00:09:03

What response did Allah give to those angels? Allah did not rationalize the existence of evil. His answer was not an answer that we would call a an attempt to philosophize and attempt to to, to bring down to the level of the angels understanding and say, Oh, the reason why there's evil is number one, number two, number three, no, a law said to an a species that is more intelligent than us, and more pure than us, and more noble than us, a law said to them in the Atlanta momella tanaman, you're gonna have to trust me, you're gonna have to trust me, because my knowledge is more than your knowledge. And my wisdom is more than your wisdom and you will not understand why there is this pain

00:09:03--> 00:09:04

and suffering.

00:09:05--> 00:09:52

And so from the very beginning of creation, know, even before the beginning of creation, Allah subhanho wa Taala said, you cannot understand fully why there is so much pain and suffering. You want to understand and rationalize why innocence are dying, being killed, starvation, hunger, earthquake, tsunami, it's not even a point to try to rationalize. And Allah in His infinite wisdom, simply said, you're going to have to trust and Subhanallah brothers and sisters from the beginning. Therefore, how you approach the question of evil and the wisdom of suffering. It goes back to who you are as a person. If you're a believer, if you're a believer in a law in a god, even other

00:09:52--> 00:09:59

religions, then you will find wisdom and you will find some type of comfort and rationalize

00:10:01--> 00:10:46

Even if it's not fully there because remember, you're never fully going to understand why there is pain and suffering in this world and the next we will in this world we won't. But if you don't have humility and faith, then when you are presented with evil, you will end up rejecting Allah subhana wa Tada. Like it believes himself did either rejecting Allah's worship or rejecting Allah's existence, if you don't understand, and you don't have humility, and this is a release, why would you choose another creation a belief said I'm better and at least did not have humility about what stack bar he had given. So, the whole notion of understanding pain and suffering, it goes back first

00:10:46--> 00:11:32

and foremost, to how are you approaching the question? Are you approaching it with humility? Or are you approaching with arrogance? And if you have humility, then yes, you will find some wisdoms, some wisdoms. These wisdoms are not going to be watertight, foolproof, these wisdoms are not going to be something that a philosopher will say. Everything is understood No, because the human mind is limited in his capacity to understand the human wisdom and the experience of humanity is limited. And the presumption that we can understand everything is an arrogant presumption. The presumption that everything needs to be rationalized by me before I believe in it is the essence of arrogance.

00:11:33--> 00:12:18

And that's why when the believer approaches the question, the answer is very different than when a person of arrogance approaches the question, and hence brothers and sisters, today's short holds, but I will list some of the wisdoms that one particular scholar of our tradition, a very famous scholar there is in abdus salaam, a great alum of the seventh century, he talked about some of the wisdoms of pain of calamities, and he listed actually more than 20 we don't have time for the all of these in the book, but he listed some of the wisdoms of why this is why human beings experience pain and suffering. And by the way, this is universal. No human being in the world, lives a carefree

00:12:18--> 00:12:18

life.

00:12:20--> 00:13:02

If the pain is not physical, it is mental if it's not mental, it is emotional. If it's not emotional, it is financial, every human being experiences some type of disaster catastrophe calamity every once in a while. Or whether you're on an unknown afternoon I am in Marathi and Omar Ratan don't they see every year we test them with a major test once or even twice a year. This is the son of Allah subhana wa Tada. And this is why this world is not the abode of peace. And before even I list for you, what is the bnab the Salaam said and I will list for you because we don't have time to go into 1020 points. Before even I list what is even abdus salam said,

00:13:03--> 00:13:10

those people who end up rejecting a law because they don't understand why there's pain and suffering.

00:13:11--> 00:13:14

It's not as if by rejecting a law they have found the answer as well.

00:13:16--> 00:13:24

Think about that. This gentleman that I met, he's passed away now. The one who was tortured in Auschwitz and his anger he rejected God.

00:13:25--> 00:14:12

Okay, have you now understood why Auschwitz occurred? Have you understood how humans could inflict these inhumane barbaric tortures on other human beings? Have you understood how 12 million people could have been massacred in three years? No, simply by rejecting God? You have, in fact, complicated the question infinitely more. Because once you reject God, you then create a series of questions that you have no answer for, what is life? Why am I here? Who created us? What's gonna happen after death? How do I live? All of these questions have no answer once you reject God. So you think you run away from one question the question of evil, and you end up running into a long list

00:14:12--> 00:14:50

of infinitely more complex questions that you have no answer for. As for us believers, these difficult long questions we have answers for who created us Why are we here? How do we live with the purpose of life? What happens after death? All of these answered? And one question, how is there evil, we are told you won't fully understand, you're going to have to trust and here are some wisdoms and some how to love which of the two paradigms is more rational. Which of the two is more logical? To be told? This is not something you can fully understand, but there's some things that you might comprehend. And that paradigm answers so many more difficult questions, or to end up

00:14:50--> 00:14:59

rejecting a Holic or rub an Eli a god and then have an infinitely more series of complex questions that you have no answer for those

00:15:00--> 00:15:43

Those who reject God because they don't understand God's wisdoms end up in much more confusion than simply not understanding the wisdom of one aspect of creation. Now, we said the Salaam has a long, detailed section in one of his books. I'm just going to summarize some of his points that he mentioned that why should we as human beings, and as Muslims, understand, and at some level appreciate that life is a life of trial and a life of tribulations. And he mentions, as we said, many, many points of them. He says, that of the wisdoms for the existence of calamities, is to demonstrate robia lordship to demonstrate that there is a rub and you are not God, and you are not

00:15:43--> 00:16:26

all powerful. There is an entity that is all powerful. And that entity is the one who decides not to not mean life is not according to what you want, there must be a rub. And when you have calamities that you don't want, you understand and appreciate, there is an entity that is all powerful, and I am not all powerful. And this leads to the second point he says, The second point is to appreciate we are Abbot of a law. We are not the rub, we are the abbot and Allah says in the Koran law use Allah, Allah whom use alone, no one has the right to challenge a low why he did something rather Allah will ask them why they did what they did. Now use Allah file. We do not nobody will challenge

00:16:26--> 00:17:11

Allah. Nobody will have this app of Allah. We are the ones who said we'll be done. So calamities and disasters, they they show and demonstrate who is the rock and who is the mirboo who is the abbot of the blessings as well and of the wisdoms of these calamities and pains is the religiosity that comes out of them. And that's a long lists that he brings the religiosity, the man the taqwa, the loss, the Inaba turning to Allah subhanho, wa Taala, the do r that comes all of these different points he mentions and he elaborates on when we're in calamity, our heart goes soft, we turn to Allah, we repent of our sins, we raised our hands up to Allah, we feel humble, we feel in front of Allah azza

00:17:11--> 00:17:56

wa jal, that we are nothing we raise our hands up and we invoke we beseech we cry out, and that humility is the essence of a man and it is why we have been created. That is why Allah created us. One Mahara agenda would insert Illa Dr. Boone, I only created managing to worship Me and in that ibadah and in that servitude is our worship, and in that Dora is our worship, and in that calling Allah is our worship. So when a calamity brings us closer to Allah, that calamity is a blessing, because there is no calamity for the one who is attached with a lot. And the worst calamity is to be distanced from Allah subhana wa Tada. So if a worldly pain, if a suffering that is temporary, brings

00:17:56--> 00:18:36

us close to the eternal, then that temporary pain was a blessing in disguise that was meant for us over the wisdoms that Allah mentions as well is to bring out through pain and through internal issues, the best of luck between people as well. And he has another long list over here, a laugh between people as well, the lack of controlling anger, the lack of forgiving the lack of demonstrating patience, the lack of being the better of the two, when somebody does some wrong to somebody does loom to back bites you, then you are the better of the two and that calamity will then demonstrate who is the better of the two. And so there's a long list of personal up as well, that

00:18:36--> 00:19:21

comes out of the of the wisdoms of pain and suffering and calamity as well. Is that through that pain, through that calamity? Allah subhanho wa Taala allows third parties to help out in the calamity. Allah subhanho wa Taala tests people who are not suffering, are they going to get involved with the people who are suffering? This is of the wisdoms. How are we when people are hungry? We are not hungry? We are having food? Are we going to share our food to those who need it? How are we when people don't have money? When don't have shelter? When people need our help? Are we going to help them out? This is of the wisdoms How will illustrate Allah tala reward the one who sponsors orphans

00:19:22--> 00:20:00

when there are no orphans to sponsor, how will a low reward the one who feeds the hungry when there are no hungry to be fed. So of the wisdoms is that Allah subhanho wa Taala tests people with other people and those that are being tested are not the only ones being tested. Those that are not being tested are in fact being tested, but with a different type of test. You see brothers and sisters, every one of us right now is being tested, but in different ways. Some of us are being tested the test of luxury, and others are being tested the test of deprivation. Some of us are being tested this test of access. We have more food, more time, more

00:20:00--> 00:20:39

Money and others are being tested because they don't have that. So of the wisdoms is that everybody's test is taking place, and those that have my share and give and fight and defend on behalf of those that don't have the wisdoms as well, that he mentioned, is the wisdom of appreciating the blessings of Allah subhanho wa Taala. appreciating the blessing of apphia, the blessing of not having any calamities and problems, it is only when we are sick, do we appreciate how blessed we are when we weren't sick. It is only when I have a headache, that I appreciate what it means to not have a headache, it is only when a calamity takes place in my body, that I

00:20:39--> 00:21:19

understand how fortunate I am that that calamity did not take place. And the same goes for if we see another person in trial in suffering in pain, then we are told in the sooner to thank Allah and and learn from that person who is being tested, that you are not being tested. Are you showing thanks for not being tested. Our Profit System said when you see somebody in pain and suffering, then say Alhamdulillah, who has saved me from that pain from that suffering, be thankful to Allah so that thanks is demonstrated, as well as and this is of the wisdom of the pain and suffering as well. And of course and the last point I'll mention there many important points but time is limited. The last

00:21:19--> 00:21:58

point that I mentioned that a prisoner of this Allah mentions is the point of the blessings of Allah in the hereafter. All that will happen in the next world, the punishment of the grave will be lifted off, the light of the grave will be given to those who are patient on Judgement Day, those who are suffering will be in the shelter of Allah Subhana, WA Tada, their hisab will be made easy shefa will be given to them precedents will be given to them in gender so much. So we learn in the Hadith, that when the people who were tortured and persecuted when the people who are patient at the calamities of this world, see the blessings of a law and they see how much love and reward they get. They will

00:21:58--> 00:22:40

pray to Allah Oh Allah, send us back to the dunya and give us more punishment and torture in the dunya so that we can get more reward that we see in the era, they will want to come back and actually have more that right now. Nobody wants it. And of course it's understood. Nobody wants to be in pain and suffering. But when the people of Sabah have patience of a man of taqwa, they see how much Allah has rewarded them in the ark era. On Day of Judgment, they will want to come back to this world and they will want their suffering to be doubled or tripled so that all that Allah has given them will be increased and doubled and tripled. And if you don't believe in an accurate you can

00:22:40--> 00:23:17

never rationalize pain and suffering. It's as simple as that. If you don't believe in a hereafter How can you understand the wisdoms of pain and suffering we believe every person that is suffering, every child that is killed innocently, every mother that dies, a tragic death, we believe on judgment day, there is a man there toccoa will come in handy and they will be far above those who didn't have that pain and that suffering and they will be rewarded for each and every drop of blood and each and every deprivation of hunger, and each and every cry that they could not help as they saw another person in being killed. We firmly believe that in the era, justice will be done in the

00:23:17--> 00:23:58

hero the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked and the and the unrighteous and the evil shall be punished. If you don't believe in an Acura How can you possibly understand the wisdom of this world, the bottom line brothers and sisters, that indeed this world is a world of pain and suffering This world is a world that is not gender, it is gender that is called out to Salam and TAO to Salaam means the Abode where there is no pain, there is no suffering, there is no evil. That is what Salah means the absence of evil. It is Jenna, that is the absence of evil. It is not this world that is the absence of evil. This is the world of empty law of empty handed debug. This is the world where

00:23:58--> 00:24:34

we'll be tested. This is the world where we have to see are we worthy of doubt to set up or not and the way that that test is done, primarily brothers and sisters. The way that the test is done is to see how we react to the evil of this world to the pain and suffering of this world. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the man and the taqwa and the helaas that is needed to overcome all that this world is going to be testing us with barakallahu we're looking for an album wanna find it will be Murphy Himalaya to addicted Hakeem ahora matters my own was still for the Lord ultimately what? What is Muslim in a Muslim festival in Nevada for Rahim?

00:24:44--> 00:24:59

hamdulillah Al Hamdulillah hiwot hadn't had a summit led them yet. What am I good at what am your color Hakuna had Roberto as we're all aware of brothers and sisters, our brethren of Syria. Our Syrian brothers and sisters have been

00:25:00--> 00:25:43

Suffering non stop for the last seven years and we are seeing a new Pharaoh that is wanting to compete with the Pharaoh of the time of Musa it looks like in his vileness and evil and as if the boiling point had not been reached, we are all now seeing what is happening in the city and the suburb of El Horta in outside of Damascus. And as I have said many times before, and so many of us have said, What can we do other than do our and give our money and be appreciative to Allah subhanho wa Taala what we have and help our brothers and sisters for what little help that we can give. And today inshallah tada in our sada, we will do one of the small things that we can do, and that is to

00:25:43--> 00:26:24

make aku the special nazima that our Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would make when a calamity took place, he would make a special note for the people that are suffering that will take place in the second paragraph after the record will make use of Palutena Zilla I just want to point out in a given whole hood was on Syria and you know, my perspective on this and you can listen to them. I want to point out that satellite is very, very troubling and scary for all of us to see that these things are taking place in our lifetime because they have been predicted by the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. The town of volta is mentioned in Hadith. In Muslim Imam Ahmed and Abu Dawood, our

00:26:24--> 00:27:10

Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that for staughton, Muslim Mina, yo Mel, Mel hemmati filho the base or the camp of the Muslims, when the Armageddon takes place, the big battle at the end of times takes place, it is going to be a lot of he mentioned it by name. This isn't tsunami diode, and Muslim Ahmed and other books of Hadith as well. He said, that is where the camp and the base of the Muslim army will be when the big Armageddon between the jar between the jar and between the Muslims will take place, the Muslims and their camp and their quarters and their headquarters will be in an opa. And Allah knows best we hope and we pray, we are not living towards that end of time that we

00:27:10--> 00:27:48

are seeing that the big time take place. Because we don't want to be alive. When that happens. We do not want to be alive in the very end of times and the time of the job and whatnot. Yet still it is very terrifying that we see civil war and we see all of this taking place. Perhaps it could be that Allah azzawajal is testing that land, so that only the best of the best and only the hero to earn and this is what when he says that the people in Sham will be here to live out, they will be the best of all people in this world. Perhaps they are being tested and sifted, so that they're being trained to go rise higher and higher, so that eventually they will be the best people in this world.

00:27:48--> 00:28:25

And if that is happening, then we ask a lot to protect us because we do not want to live towards those times. Nonetheless, brothers and sisters, even if it is not doors that end of times it is something that should cause all of us a sense of dread a sense of fear that indeed we have lived many many years after the time of the Prophet system. There's already the 14th 15th century after the time of the prophet SAW said I'm and Allah knows how much more is left. If you thought about this, or to the side has come has come close to it signs have already come and these are all things that we should be thinking more and more about the end of times and our end of times when we meet

00:28:25--> 00:28:42

Allah subhana wa Tada, Oklahoma in NIDA, Aminu Alabama Tennessee had no museum but he loves a photo with a hammer Illa for Raja whether Dana illa kobita, whether Maria Juan Elijah feta whether I see it on Elijah starter, a llama fildena what is one in Baku Navy man what he

00:28:43--> 00:29:24

did in Amman robina in Nakuru for Rahim Allah who is an Islamic Muslim in Allahumma is an Islamic Muslim in Allah Who is the Islam and Muslim in Olam and Adana out all the Islam almost muslimin to be sued in federal who've been upset. Watch altijd mirabito Beatty Yakubu Aziz about the law in the law hotel of America in better behaved enough say within the America the producer will tell you his name and gender he will insert for called as the man called in Alabama in the law, her woman Aikido usaw Luna Allah nebby Yeah, you have Latina amanu sallu alayhi wa sallam with a slimmer Obama suddenly was certainly more radical and adapt the karasuma Mohammed Ali he was so happy as marine

00:29:25--> 00:29:38

rebels Allah and Allah Tada. Yeah. Anyway, the Cobra Kai will moon carry your belly? Your endocrinol Kuru Kuru La La Lamia Kuru come watch Kuru Kuru la la cabeza Optimus La La