Episode 18 - God's Kindness in Tribulation

Allah's Gentleness in Affliction

We contemplated Allah's wisdom, His affection, His aid, His mercy, and His forgiveness when we spoke about Allah's forgiveness and how we must turn our regret into a driving force to rectify our situations. We continued by discussing the conversion of negative feelings in general into a driving force that preserves our good opinion of Allah, glorified and exalted be He.

We mentioned turning whispers of doubt into certainty, and turning the pain over the situation of Muslims in Syria and elsewhere into a driving force to put an end to what displeases our Creator and Beloved, glorified and exalted be He. I would like to conclude this part of the series, which is contemplating the names and attributes of Allah, by discussing two attributes of your Lord, glorified and exalted be He, that you contemplate during affliction, before moving on to a second pillar of loving Allah, glorified and exalted be He. These two attributes are Allah's gentleness and His covering of the sins of His servants.

Allah's Gentleness

Today, with Allah's permission, we will speak about Allah's gentleness. My Lord, glorified and exalted be He, said, "Allah is gentle with His servants." No matter how severe your affliction is, you must see gentleness from your Lord, glorified and exalted be He, in it if you have a good opinion of Him.

Allah's Gentleness with His Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him

Contemplate Allah's gentleness with His prophet and His beloved Muhammad, peace be upon him, during the most difficult moments of his life. What were these moments? When he returned from Taif, where the nobles of Taif had mocked him and the fools among them had pelted him with stones. He was now on his way back to Mecca, where he was awaited by malice, denial, and oppression. The loyal and affectionate Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, had died, as well as Abu Talib, who had protected the Prophet, would have sacrificed himself for him, and his children. The pain was intensified by the fact that Abu Talib had died as a disbeliever.

All of this happened after ten years of the mission. Ten years of the mission in which his companions were tortured, scattered, and killed, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not know how long this suffering would last. These were the most difficult moments in the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and he described them in the agreed-upon hadith: "I departed while I was distressed, and I did not come to my senses until I was at the horn of the gazelles." The horn of the gazelles is an area about 35 kilometers from Taif, which the Prophet, peace be upon him, walked in the heat of the sun and the desolation of the desert without feeling it due to the intensity of his distress.

So, where was Allah's gentleness with His prophet during these moments? Look at Allah's gentleness, glorified and exalted be He, at this moment, as if Allah had put all the disbelievers in a cage of accusation and gave His messenger absolute freedom to judge, to execute the judgment he wished upon them. In the continuation of the agreed-upon hadith that we mentioned, he, peace be upon him, said: "I raised my head and there I was under a cloud that had shaded me. I looked and there was Gabriel, peace be upon him, in it. He called me and said, 'Allah has heard the words of your people to you and what they have responded to you with, and He has sent to you the angel of the mountains to command him as you wish regarding them.'"

The angel of the mountains called me and greeted me, then said, "O Muhammad, Allah has heard the words of your people to you, and I am the angel of the mountains. My Lord has sent me to you to command me as you wish. Whatever you wish, if you wish, I will bring the two mountains together upon them." Glory be to Allah! The Prophet's heart was overwhelmed by what he had endured from the people of Mecca and Taif, and his feet were still bleeding, yet Allah, glorified and exalted be He, placed His beloved in the position of a ruler with the authority to command, while the disbelievers were as if they were chained and humiliated, awaiting the Prophet's judgment. Two angels were waiting for a word from the Prophet's lips to end the suffering, heal the heart, and remove the anger. So, he, peace be upon him, said to the angels with the utmost human nobility and greatness: "But I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins those who will worship Allah alone and associate nothing with Him." By his father and mother, peace be upon him.

Is this not a great gentleness from Allah with His prophet, to hand him the reins of power and make him the decision-maker? Then the Prophet, of his own accord, chooses to be patient with their harm, not out of helplessness but out of greatness and mercy. Instead of feeling oppressed and helpless towards these obstinate people, he becomes like a father who chooses to be patient with these disobedient children. It is narrated in the books of history that a Christian boy named Adas embraced Islam at the hands of the Prophet during this journey as well.

Allah's Gentleness in Affliction

When you are afflicted, my brother, contemplate how your affliction could have been more severe, then contemplate the faces of Allah's gentleness with you. When your companion was afflicted with imprisonment, Allah opened for him the contemplation of the faces of divine gentleness, so he wrote at the beginning of his imprisonment a list entitled "Matters that lightened the affliction," in which he reached thirty-seven matters with which Allah lightened this affliction, then he discovered many others afterwards.

Allah lightens your burden with meeting a man who was afflicted before you and endured, with a smile you see on your brother's face, with Allah's care for your family and those who are dear to you, with the love of noble people for you and their support for you, with a book you read, with a beautiful memory, with hope for relief that arises in your heart, with a beautiful image of the future that is depicted in your mind, with Allah's expansion for you in another aspect of your life other than the aspect that has become narrow for you, with exposing you to a lesser affliction before the affliction that trains you and prepares you for patience, with revealing to you what is appropriate for your share, and many others.

And among the subtleties of divine gentleness is that you may be in an affliction that you find difficult, then another affliction comes to you that increases your distress even more, and how many afflicted people have endured and calmed themselves with a gentleness that is not in your calculations and does not occur to you before it usually happens.

Where is the Gentleness in Severe Afflictions?

You may say to yourself: But there are afflictions in which we do not see gentleness, so where is the gentleness in what is happening to our brothers in Syria, where their sanctities are being violated, they are being tortured, burned, and buried alive? The answer is: Indeed, the greatest manifestations of gentleness we see are in their affliction. Yes, the greatest manifestations of divine gentleness we see are in their affliction, which is their steadfastness in faith during moments of their torture and killing, instead of dying in disobedience.

A person who is about to depart from this world and travel to his Lord, glorified and exalted be He, does not need the affliction to be lightened but rather multiplied so that the reward may be multiplied and the burden may be reduced, because he is about to leave work and close the book of good and bad deeds. Most of our brothers in Syria and elsewhere, who have mixed good deeds with bad deeds like our case, and whose faith has fluctuated between activity and lethargy, what greater gentleness is there than that Allah protects them from the evil of their evil deeds and casts into their hearts a faith that they proclaim with the two testimonies and expressions of entrustment to Allah: "There is nothing for other than You, O Allah, there is nothing for other than You, O Allah," while many others die in their homes and palaces on their beds, a death of evil, and do not succeed in uttering such expressions.

Abu Nu'aym narrated in Hilyat al-Awliya' that Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "I do not love for the pangs of death to be lightened for me, for they are the last thing that expiates the sins of the Muslim."

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ibn Qayyim said: "Be sincere with Allah and live between His affection and His gentleness, for His affection protects you from what you fear, and His gentleness satisfies you with what He decrees."

Summary of the episode: No matter how severe the affliction is, have a good opinion of Allah and you will see forms of Allah's gentleness in it. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.