Hardship does not last forever. Everyone experiences difficulty, events in life that may seem insurmountable. The believer must be confident that the difficulty will pass and that he/she will be rewarded for patience.
Allah Himself has promised; and what better guarantee do we need than that?
{Then, surely with hardship comes ease. Surely, with hardship comes ease.}
These verses in the Holy Qur'an give glad tidings to every man, woman, and child in pain of any form. The dark cloud will soon pass, and great things await us.
Experiencing problems in life serve as a test of our faith in our Creator, a test of our patience. Will we remain grateful for the countless blessings we have in our lives or will we complain and forget to thank Allah? Will we work hard to find solutions to our problems or will we simply give up and stop trying? Will we turn to Allah and pray to him to help us, or will we turn away from Allah? Will we help others despite our own problems or will we become so selfish and submerged in our own problems that we abandon those who need us?
Hardships can be an opportunity to learn and they can refine our character. “The human condition guarantees that each life will encounter natural and largely unpredictable trauma. Leadership, by its very nature, is entwined with adversity,” wrote psychologists Jack Gilligan and Chuck Stoner in their book on leadership.
Research shows that difficulty plays a crucial role in the making of exceptional leaders.
None is immune to difficulties and challenging times, not even the prophets.
Our own Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was no exception; he was dealt one harsh blow after another from his community when he began to call to the worship of one God.
The disbelievers in Makkah ridiculed, mocked, slandered, and threatened him. Once, he (peace be upon him) was praying in the sanctuary of the House of Allah, in front of the Holy Kabah. While he was kneeling in prostration, a group of Makkans collected a disgusting pile of camel intestines and threw it on his back. The Prophet (peace be upon him) remained still in prayer; his young daughter crying and removing the filth off of her father's back.
The disbelievers' harassment of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Muslims worsened. Rotten garbage was placed at the Prophet's doorstep every day. The weak and the poor were physically tortured. The businessmen of Makkah enforced severe sanctions upon the Muslims. None was to trade with the Muslims, not even sell them food or milk, and even social visits, marriages, and verbal contacts were cut off from Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his followers.
During this siege, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) suffered the loss of two people whom he loved dearly and who had supported and protected him. His uncle, Abu Talib, died. Only two months later, the Prophet (peace be upon him) lost his wife, Khadijah, marking that year: ‘the year of grief'.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) deeply mourned the death of Khadijah. She had been his wife, confidant, supporter, and friend.
As the persecution of the Muslims intensified, the Muslims' resolve, faith, patience, and perseverance increased as well. It is as if the hardships they endured served only to strengthen their faith, increase their resourcefulness in calling others to Islam, and to perfect their character and love for one another.
After the harsh sanctions were imposed in Makkah, living in poverty and hunger, and after the year of sorrow, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) set out, on foot, to Al-Taif. He (peace be upon him) hoped to call the people of Al-Taif to Islam and to garner their support. To his disappointment, they did not welcome him, they jeered at him, drove him out of their town, and had children laugh at him and throw stones at him until his feet and ankles bled.
Fleeing from the village, he came to a vineyard where he sat down to rest. He called out to his Lord, “O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affairs? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favor is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”
And just as Allah has promised his Prophet and has promised the believers, surely with hardship comes ease. After such immense difficulties, ease will finally come. Allah had something great in store for the Prophet (peace be upon him).
It took place in a month like the one we are in now, the month of Rajab. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was led on a miraculous night journey, the Israa and Miraj. One night Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sleeping near the Kabah, when Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) came to him, woke him up and led him to an amazing horse with wings, called Al-Buraq. This creature carried the Prophet (peace be upon him) from Makkah to Jerusalem.
There, in Al-Aqsa Mosque, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) met all the noble prophets, and he led them in prayer.
Led by Angel Jibreel, the Prophet (peace be upon him) began his ascent through the seven heavens, where he saw the other prophets, he saw the Hellfire and he saw Paradise and its beauty and luxury. He was bathed in the magnificence of the Divine Presence of Allah, which filled and soothed his heart, gave him the strength to continue on his mission, and replenished his energy that had been drained from the hardships he had suffered on the hands of Quraysh. And there, in the Heavens the obligatory prayers were ordained.
Trials and tribulations, patience and perseverance, and faith in Allah, had led the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to this miraculous journey, and then later to establishing a new home in Madinah and finally victory in Makkah.
We too will be rewarded for our patience. Enduring difficulty, illness, death of a loved one, poverty, and family problems may not take us on a miraculous night journey, but ease will definitely come. Greatness will definitely come, if we learn to grow in character.
We too can experience relief, and that is by being sincere, fully aware, and humble in our five daily prayers.
We can cope with our hardships. It is under extreme pressure and intense heat that a piece of coal is transformed into something brilliant and illuminating, a diamond.
“A diamond is a chunk of coal that is made good under pressure,” said Henry Kissinger.
