Page 49 - Faith: The Way to Happiness

The Unhappiness of the Society of the Ignorant

Another error which people make is worry about failing to un-
derstand what is good and bad for themselves and suffering as a re-
sult. Since a person's intelligence and judgment are limited, so long
as he does not depend on Allah's guidance he cannot fully under-
stand what is good and what is bad for him. He may make the mis-
take of regarding an occurrence which appears negative as actually
being negative. This is a mistake because Allah tests people with
both good and evil. Allah tells believers this secret in the verse, " . . .
We test you with both good and evil as a trial. And you will be re -
turned to Us." (Surat al-Anbiya: 35)
For a person who believes in this truth and acts in accord a n c e
with Allah's will, every event he meets with is an opportunity for a
happy ending. In another verse, Allah points out to us that He has
created every event with a great deal of wisdom whether people can
see this or not:
… It may be that you hate something when it is good for
you and it may be that you love something when it is bad
for you. Allah knows and you do not know. (Surat al-
Baqara: 216)
As we see in this verse, everything, whether a person likes it or
not or enjoys it or not, conceals at bottom a benefit for them because
whatever happens to people it has been planned by Allah Who
knows everything. Of course, our Lord Who created humanity
knows what is good and bad for people. Thinking contrary to this
means failure to accept Allah's decree and causes people nothing but
loss and unhappiness. Because of this what a person needs to do is
direct himself always towards good and submit to the fate Allah has
determined for him.
People who are incapable of grasping the fact that everything
that happens to them is a test and that Allah has created everything

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