Life is a test

Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

Auto-generated transcript:Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. My dear respected brothers, sisters, elders. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent his anbiya alayhi salam not only as guides for how to worship him, but as guides to lead our lives in a way that is wholesome, harmonious and beneficial in this life and a means of forgiveness and reward in the life of the Akhirah, inshaAllah. Islam, therefore, is a deen. It's a complete way of life. It's not just a set of rituals of worship. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, having sent this deen, also tests us. Allah said, Ahasiban nasu an yutraku an yakulu amanna wahum la yuftanoon. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, Do people think that if they simply say, whether once they say, we believe, amanna, that they will not be tested, that they will be left alone without being tested? Now, this is a fundamental principle of life. If you say in school and college, for example, if you say that you are ready, you are given a test to go to the next class. In organizations, if you say you are ready, then you are tested before you are given a promotion. And so on and so forth. So, we continuously pass tests after tests. The benefit of passing a test is that it makes you stronger, more confident, because after the test... After the test... After the test... After the test, you know that you have learned something. So, also in deen, with the benefit, additional benefit in deen, that when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests, he helps the person to succeed. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala promised to test us. And he said, وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيِّمْ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالصَّبَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَسَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّنْ رَبِّهِمْ بَرَفَةٌ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُخْتَدُونَ In Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, We will definitely test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property and life and crops. Give good news and glad tidings to those who patiently, patiently endure, who, when faced with a disaster, they say, surely to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we belong and to Him we will return. They are the ones who will receive Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's blessings and mercy. And it is they who are rightly guided. Everyone will be tested, but those who turn towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and behave with dignity and patience, they will receive, they will receive Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's reward and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is witness for their faith. Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that nobody was tested more than the Abiyyah alayhimus sallam, than the prophets. And that he sallallahu alaihi wasallam was tested the most among the prophets, which means that he was tested most among all the human beings. Ibrahim alayhi wasallam's life, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, mentioned in the Quran, was a series of tests. Among the most serious of these tests was when he was commanded by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to take his wife, our mother Hajar alayhi salam, and their newborn baby Ismail, and leave them in the valley of Bakka, later to be called Mecca. Imagine what's happening here. When you go home, look at, go to Google and see a map. Ask for a map from Jerusalem to Bakka. He is in Jerusalem. He started from there. And then, while he's there, and before that, after decades of making dua for a child, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted him a son. And this is not any ordinary dua. It's a dua of Khalidullah. Dua of one of the greatest of the Anbiya and Rasul, who was later to be the father of the prophets. His dua took decades. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him a son. And then he gets this command to take his son and his newborn baby, while his mother is still nursing him, and take them to a place that he has never seen before, and leave them there and return to Palestine.