> Allah only tests those He loves?

[Hayaa]

AssalamuAlaykum

My fave Aayat and hadeeth regarding this subject:

And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirun (the patient)".

[2:155]

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"Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning.''
[39:10]

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"Seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer). Truly, Allah is with As-Sabirun (the patient).''
[2:153]

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Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "When Allah intends good for His slave, He punishes him in this world, but when He intends an evil for His slave, He does not hasten to take him to task but calls him to account on the Day of Resurrection.''
[At-Tirmidhi].


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"O you who believe! be patient and excel in patience and remain steadfast, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, that you may be successful."
[3:200]


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"What is with you passes away and what is with Allah is enduring; and We will most certainly give to those who are patient their reward for the best of what they did."
[16:96]

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"And those who were given the knowledge said: Woe to you! Allah's reward is better for him who believes and does good, and none is made to receive this except the patient."

[28:80]

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Allah's Apostle (SA) said,"No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn."
[Sahih Bukhari]


However, I then came across this:

24:55
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the rebellious sinners.


The brother was talking about our brothers and sisters in Palestine and how it is because of their wrongdoings that they are not yet victorious....SubhanAllah

What are your veiws? I know from experience that many non-Muslims have a problem with the idea that Allah (swt) only tests those He loves and that He is the Most Merciful, they say that if that was the case, why would he allow for so much suffering and bloodshed in the world....

Input appreciated....

WassalamuAlaykum

[PK_Aali]

What are your veiws? I know from experience that many non-Muslims have a problem with the idea that Allah (swt) only tests those He loves and that He is the Most Merciful, they say that if that was the case, why would He allow for so much suffering and bloodshed in the world....

It's not only non-Muslims that have that view.

[IbnAbdulHakim]

assalamu alaikum

the way i see it is that this dunya isnt worth the wing of a mosquito to Allah, had it been worth that he would not allow a single disbeliever a single drop of water. Allah loves and cares about his believers and he knows that the exchange is small (suffering in this dunya for jannah), he wants to show the kafirs and the believers themselves that they have earned Allahs mercy to enter jannah (as only mercy can help us enter jannah), so we go through tests so as to build up a profile, a record for which Allahs mercy will envelop us and we can hope for jannah better.

When the anbiya' were tested Allah had simply built up a record of good deeds and elevated their status, and for each case the taghut were degraded (firawn, nimrud etc).

people simply cant see the clear picture, ad-dunya isnt for the believers



i end with:

ad-dunya sijnul mu'min wa jannatul kafir

[Hayaa]

AssalamuAlaykum

JazakAllah khayr bro and sis, I think the most blessed of Mu'mins is he who has 100% faith and hope in Allah's mercy and deliverance from worries and troubles, if not here then definately in the Aakhirah, Insha'Allah....

But yeah....I mean, I can understand what you said bro, but is that how you would explain to a non-Muslim? My atheist teacher once asked how such a merciful and benevolent God could allow for a Tsunami to take the life of so many innocents....

...But recently I was listening to somebody, not sure who...Bilal Philips I think, and he said something interesting, He was saying that obviously everything happens for a reason, and if Allah chooses to take a life, it may be that the future of that person was going to be bleak, that he/she would live a life of sin....and in taking that life, Allah actually did them good...SubhanAllah, I really do think that its difficult for atheists to grasp why a Loving and Benevolent God would cause suffering....Alhamdulillah for being Muslim!

WassalamuAlaykum

[IbnAbdulHakim]

Originally Posted by Haya

But yeah....I mean, I can understand what you said bro, but is that how you would explain to a non-Muslim? My atheist teacher once asked how such a merciful and benevolent God could allow for a Tsunami to take the life of so many innocents....

Wa Alaikum Ussalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh

to a non-muslim i would be quite plain and simple.

"Do you NOT have free-will? Then do NOT put your blame on Allah. You see mr atheist you dont understand the concept of justice. Justice is to allow pain and mercy to take place with each other. For example if someone was to rape your sister you wouldnt expect God to be purely merciful to the rapist and not punish him, the brother of the raped one will surely appeal and take it as injustice. On the day of judgement when people march to hell they will be asked by God "Have i been injust to you", and they will say "No by Allah you have been just!" because they have been shown an account of their rebellion and Allah knows best. So God is all-merciful but he is also all-wise so he is not about to let the rapist get away as he is all-just. As for why the rape took place, my belief is that it was an oppression commited by the desires of a one person over another for which he will be answerable on the day of judgement. Yes belief plays a strong part in everything, but belief comes easily with reflection."

i hope you understand what im getting at...

[Hayaa]

AssalamuAlaykum

JazakAllah khayr, but now Miss.Atheist says...

God let so many innocent children die, He may have wanted to punish the grown-ups for some sin, but why the children? Why did the All-Loving God take so many lives when there are people in the world without children? Why does He allow for so much suffering? And if things are already predetermined ... Is the rapist really to blame? (I know thats sidetracking but...)

Hmm...Now at the rapist part and things being predetermined... (at this point I think atheist was trying to say...how can you blame the rapist for what he did since everything he will do has already been decided anyway?) Now I dont think I'd be able to answer this as well as I'd like to but...I'd say...

All humans, whether they like it or not; are influenced and have their behaviour determined by environmental, psychological, biological or any other factors mainly relating to childhood... for example, there was once the case of a child who murdered two other children, this was put down to a violent childhood...HOWEVER! Although determining factors are present, it is not to say that we do not have freewill...Allah knows of the events that caused a person to do what he did...but that doesnt mean Allah forced the person to do it...Not everybody with a bad childhood turns out that way...same with rapist...there may have been factors influencing him to do as he did...but he still had a choice..

Anyway I'm going off on a tangent here...But thats the rapist thing...I guess its easy for those who have faith to believe and trust in the wisdom behind everything that Allah does, its simple for those with sight to see that sometimes pain and hardships are good...I find it difficult to explain to atheists though...

WassalamuAlaykum

[Qatada]

asalamu alaikum warahmatulahi wabarakatuh



this is a good link by bro steve:

http://seemyparadigm.webs.com/fourdimensionalism.htm



kinda related to this issue..

[Hayaa]

Wa'alaykum Salam Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

JazakAllah khayr Akhee, will take the time soon to read through insha'Allah

WassalamuAlaykum

[Qatada]

asalamu alaikum warahmatulahi wabarakatuh



it basically says that just because Allah knows the future [because He is outside of time] - it doesn't mean that we as humans don't have the right to freedom of choice.


The issue of freedom of choice then implies that we have the choice to do good or bad, the good is legislated in Islam and the bad is forbidden in Islam (Allah's Shari'ah.) Therefore the evil-doers are warned of a punishment for doing evil, and given the good news of reward if they are obedient to Him.


The good that He has given us should be used for good, i.e. feeding orphans and children etc. This is when our freedom of choice comes into it - if we don't feed these hungry children, then we will be responsible in the court of Allah as to why we never fed these needy people.



Since we don't know our ending destination (Paradise or Hell), we have to strive to do good [by obedience], if we don't attempt good or obedience - then without a doubt, there are evil consequences for that - because of the evil the person did i.e. by being ungrateful to Allah for all His blessings, and not using them for the good which He had made us responsible for (i.e. helping the needy etc.)



So we see how everything's linked up, since Allah has given us a great deal of control and power on this earth - then we have responsibility for this in the sight of Allah. And the consequences of our choices will be shown on the Day of Recompense where no-one will be dealt with unjustly, and every soul will know what it strived for.

[Hayaa]

AssalamuAlaykum

JazakAllah khayr...

...And just because Allah knows does not in any way mean that we are being coerced into making decisions, and we can then go on to say that we have been told to trust in Allah [since He knows everything so we trust Him to take care of us] but also to tie our camels right? Basically that we do have the freewill to decide how and in what way things happen to us although Allah is aware of it before we actually do it...Hmm I'm sounding confused.

Humans are not like angels, we have been given freewill, and if we didnt have freewill, gone would be the idea of judgement on the Last Day...

WassalamuAlaykum