In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
The Almighty Allah SWT is all powerful, He is Omnipotent. He is the Creator and anything other than Him is His creation. When we testify our faith, we say, “I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, the One alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammed SAS is His servant and Messenger” . We, human beings, are the servants or slaves of Allah SWT. This is the only slavery that frees us from every other slavery.
In our lifetime we go through good times and bad times, easy times and difficult times. This is all coming from Allah SWT. “No calamity befalls unless God dispenses. He guides the heart of whosoever believes in God; and God has knowledge of everything.” (64:11) Why Allah puts us into difficult situations? Most of the time we believe that it may be a punishment for our bad deeds. This is possible, but if we take it positively, we can also think that Allah SWT is testing us by bringing us into a difficult situation. When Allah SWT loves someone or wants to bring someone closer to Him, He will put that person to a test. We have several examples in Qur’an which shows that Allah tests human beings and particularly those whom Allah SWT loves the most, such as prophets and saints. Let us refer to the Qur’an for some guidance:
When his Lord tested Abraham with certain words and he fulfilled them, He said, ‘I am making you the Imam of mankind…. (2:124)
It is He who has created death and life to put you to the test and see which of you is most virtuous in your deeds. He is Majestic and All-forgiving. (67:2)
Do the people suppose that they will be let off because they say, ‘We have faith,’ and they will not be tested? Certainly, We tested those who were before them. So Allah shall surely ascertain those who are truthful, and He shall surely ascertain the liars. Do those who commit misdeeds suppose that they can outmaneuver Us? Evil is the judgement that they make. (29:2-4)
And We will surely test you with some fear and hunger, and with paucity of wealth and lives and crops; and give glad tidings to those who patiently endure. (2:155)
Or do you think that you will enter Paradise before Allah tests those of you who fought (in His Cause) and (also) tests those who are As-Sabirun (the patient)? (3:142)
The first verse is about Prophet Ibrahim AHS when Allah tested him and found him successful, Allah rewarded him with the position of the Imam for the mankind. On the other hand, Allah tested Jews on the day of Sabath and found a group of Jews as disobedient. Ultimately, they were punished. (7:163). Prophet Muhammed SAS is narrated to have said, the extent of the reward will be in accordance with the extent of the trial. If Allah loves a people, He tries them, and whoever is content will have contentment, and whoever is angry will have anger.
In fact, whatever happened on the night of Mi’raj seems to be a test of Muslims to see how much they were steadfast in Allah and His Messenger SAS when they heard the details of this night from Prophet SAS. When Quresh (non-believers) went to Abu Bakr RZ and told him what Prophet SAS has said, Abu Bakr RZ said “I truly believe in it if told by Prophet Muhammed SAS”. This was the level of faith Abu Bakr RZ had in Prophet SAS and he was awarded with the title of Siddique.
A Naql is narrated in Hashia Insaaf Nama (Naql # 216), “Imām MahdiAHS is narrated to have said, “A thousand seekers of Allah SWT performed tark-e-dunyā (renunciation of the world) and took to the path of Allah. Allah SWT commanded the angels to decorate the world, such as it was, and show it to the seekers. They did as commanded. In other words, the seekers began to get futuh (charity) in abundance. Nine hundred of the thousand opted for the world. The remaining one hundred persons were still on the path of Allah. Then again Allah SWT commanded the angels to show the aakhirat (the Hereafter), as it was, to the remaining hundred saliks. Ninety of them opted for the Hereafter. Only ten continued on the path of Allah SWT. They said, “We do not want this world or the Hereafter. We are the seekers of Allah.” AllahSWT commanded the angels to inflict troubles on the remaining ten. Prophet Muhammad SAS has said, ‘Verily Allah SWT tests mumins (believers) by inflicting troubles on them, as any of you tries to test gold by heating it to know its purity. ‘THE LOVERS BORROWED THE TROUBLES OF BOTH THE WORLDS, /AND THEY NAMED IT ISHQ-BAZI (AMOUR).’ Eight of the remaining ten seekers ran away for fear of the troubles. Thousands of troubles are inflicted upon the person who claims to be in love of Allah SWT. If the lover is honest and truthful, he will bear the brunt of the troubles. But if he is a liar and not a true lover, he will run away. Only two of the seekers remained on the path of Allah SWT. A divine voice asked, ‘With whose help or guidance have you reached Us?’ One of the remaining two said, ‘With the help or guidance of the kamilan (the perfect).’ An unknown hand gave him a blow and threw him into the asfal-as-safilin (the lowest Hell). The last salik was addressed by the divine voice. He said, “I have reached Your door by Your inayat (bounty and kindness) and by the wastah (intercession) of Prophet Muhammad SAS. He reached Allah SWT. He was the only one seeker who remained on the path of Allah (to the last) out of a thousand seekers.”
May Allah SWT shower His blessings and bounty on us and with the intercession of Prophet Muhammed SAS and Imamuna Mahdi AHS, make our journey easy. Aameen.