Page 58 - Faith: The Way to Happiness

FAITH: THE WAY TO HAPPINESS

secret, he lures them from Allah and religion and even makes them
Their enemy. And, of course, the person's descent into pessimism
and hopelessness at such a moment and the harm he does himself as
a result shows at the same time that Satan has achieved another of
his aims. Allah explains in the Qur'an the reason for the troubles and
d i fficulties people face and describes their erroneous reaction to
these:
We sent Messengers to nations before you, and af f l i c t e d
those nations with hardship and distress so that hopefully
they would humble themselves. If only they had humbled
themselves when Our violent force came upon them!
However, their hearts were hard and Satan made what they
were doing seem attractive to them. (Surat al-An‘am: 42-43)
Allah gives people trouble and difficulties so that they may re-
alize that there is no power other than His in which to take re f u g e
and so that they may find the true path. However, Satan pre v e n t s
people from seeing this divine wisdom and damages them by leav-
ing their hearts bereft of sensitivity. In fact, the troubles people face
are blessings of Allah. In such circumstances, a person should act in
a way which Allah will approve, remember Him right away, ask for
His help and remain patient in the face of the trouble. Allah has told
us that He will come to the aid of those who take refuge in Him.
When Prophet Muhammad (saws) and his companions hid in a
cave to conceal themselves from disbelievers who were pursuing
them, our Prophet's (saws) behavior provided an outstanding ex-
ample for everybody in this re g a rd. In the Qur'an Allah describes
the behavior of the Prophet (saws) as follows:
If you do not help him, Allah did help him when those
who disbelieved drove him out and there were two of them

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