Grief.
In the space of around a year and a half, I lost two people in my life. This led all sorts of questions in my mind-why do bad things happen to people? Why does God allow this? These are questions that all religions have struggled with for hundreds of years. Grief is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to anyone’s personal faith in a God. It also led me to become scared, as both deaths were totally unexpected. During those dark months, life, university, enjoyment meant nothing because I was scared of how fragile it all was.
The first thing that a believer should realise is that the grief is from God. The Quran declares:
“All things (good and bad) are from God.” (Quran 4:78)
Once we realise that it is from God, we should realise that God is the Most Loving (Al-Wadud) and the Most Kind (Al-Barr). Therefore, there is some good in whatever God has decreed for us, even if we do not immediately see what it is. God Almighty says:
“Perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not.” (Quran 2:216)
Suffering causes us to remember Allah — it is human psychology. We sometimes tend to forget God when we are happy and prosperous, but when grief hits us we turn back to him on our prayer mats with our hands open and our eyes full of tears. When our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ delivered his message to the people of Mecca, the majority of his followers were made up of the poor, needy, mistreated and slaves. The rich leaders of Mecca continued to live their lives in ignorance of the divine message. Sometimes, suffering is not necessarily a bad thing.
Suffering also purifies the soul. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul (i.e. God), no believer is stricken with fatigue, exhaustion, worry, or grief, but God will forgive him for some of his sins thereby — even a thorn which pricks him.”
The act of grieving itself is physically exhausting. Whilst grieving, many people feel unpleasant physical affects to their bodies, migraines and aching limbs etc. These effects represent Allah washing away some of a believer’s sins as a mercy towards them. Consequently, the person won’t be punished for those sins in the Akhirah.
We need to remember that life can end at any time, we are on a constant balance of this temporary Dunya and the true destination, the Akhirah. For that reason, we should never forget to keep asking God’s forgiveness for our sins. God forgives those who seek His Forgiveness, and this is because He loves those believers who humble themselves before Him, those who seek penitence from Him, and those whose hearts cry because they disobeyed Him. The Quran says:
“Truly, God loves those who repent.” (Quran 2:222)
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “whoever turns to Allah asking for penitence will be forgiven, even if his sins are numerous as grains of sand in the desert.
A believer must never despair in God’s Mercy; he should not think that God will never get him out of this suffering. Raise your hands to Allah and ask for forgiveness and it will be granted to you. Allah reassures His creation:
“By the Glorious Morning Light, and by the Night when it is still! The Guardian-Lord has not forsaken you nor does He hate you. And verily the Hereafter will be better for you than the present. And soon will your Guardian-Lord give you that where with you shall be well-pleased.” (Quran 93:1–5)
Glad tidings be upon you,
-She wrote
