Lord’S Ways To Humble His Slaves

[FADIA BINT ISMAIL]

Allah swt has created us with shortcomings as a trial in life and he has given us means to overcome this incompleteness in our souls. this is part of mujahada (struggle) every human has to perform in life in order to perfect his faith.

Imperfections In Humans

 

Default Weakness: Allah SWT has created every individual with some form of default weakness and he is supposed to struggle against it until he overcomes it. Examples of these weaknesses could be stinginess, anger, laziness etc.

 

 

Ignorant: Allah SWT says in the Quran:

 

Surah Al Ahzab, Chapter 33

 

 

 

Surely We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to be unfaithful to it and feared from it, and man has turned unfaithful to it; surely he is unjust, ignorant; [Verse 72]

 

Weak: Allah SWT created humans to be weak physically, emotionally, spiritually, their ability to think, comprehend, and achieve hence no human can claim perfection. Only Allah SWT is perfect; we are in constant need of Him, whereas He does not need anything from anyone.

 

Surah An Nisa, Chapter 4

 

 

God wants to lighten your burdens: for man has been created weak. [Verse 28]

 

Anxious & Hasty: Humans are by nature anxious and hasty.

 

Allah SWT tells us in

Surah Ma'arij, Chapter 70

 

 

Surely man is created of a hasty temperament; being greatly grieved when evil afflicts him.

 

Man is in need of moral strength for endurance, lacks courage and strength of purpose and will, and unduly swayed by grief. He is selfish and he is only concerned with his own advantage to the exclusion of regard for others.

 

Argumentative (Jadl):

Surah Al Kahf, Chapter 18

 

 

And certainly We have explained in this Quran every kind of example, and man is most of all given to contention [Verse 54]

 

Allah SWT has expounded and oriented His revelations in the Quran to circumstances and requirements and has expressed many parables to bring the infidels to their senses but man has always been known to raise captions and frivolous objections about most things and tries to find fault unfairly and without good reason.

 

Disputes & Denies:

Surah An Nahl, Chapter 16

 

 

He has created man from a sperm-drop; and behold this same (man) becomes an open disputer! [Verse 4]

 

Humans are created with a drop of sperm and yet they are more ready to argue than to obey. They bring forth reasons against Allah with strong, capacious and argumentative minds.

 

Hastiness:

Surah Al Isra, Chapter 17

 

 

The prayer that man should make for good, he makes for evil; for man is given to hasty (deeds). [Verse 11]

 

If Allah SWT allowed humans complete autonomy over their affairs, they would ruin themselves because most of them act hastily based on emotions without rational thinking and wisdom. It is a mercy of Allah SWT that He decides our affairs and gives us only what is good for us.

 

Stinginess:

Surah Al Isra, Chapter 100

 

 

Say: "If you were the ones possessing the vaults of my Lord's mercy, you would have held back for fear of spending. And man was always stingy!" [Verse 100]

 

Fakhr (Pride):

Allah SWT gives us the examples of Qaroon, Hamaan, Nimrud and others from earlier generations who exulted and believed in themselves over Allah SWT because of their materialistic status. Allah SWT tells us of their horrible end and goes on to explain what pride is in the following verse:

Surah Hud, Chapter 11

 

 

But if We give him a taste of (Our) favors after adversity has touched him, he is sure to say, "All evil has departed from me:" Behold! he falls into exultation and pride. [Verse 10]

 

Take example of a man who has been afflicted by some calamity and he cries to Allah SWT to alleviate it from him. Allah SWT listens to his prayers and removes the calamity; but instead of showing gratitude and dedicating himself to his Lord, the person forgets about Allah SWT and goes back to self exultation.

 

Another form of pride is when a person receives blessing from his Lord, he believes it to be his right and gloats about it. But if Allah trials him, he becomes ungrateful and complains. Allah SWT says in

 

Surah Fajr, Chapter 89

 

 

And as for man, when his Lord tries him, then treats him with honor and makes him lead an easy life, he says: My Lord honors me. But when He tries him (differently), then straitens to him his means of subsistence, he says: My Lord has disgraced me. [Verse 15 & 16]

 

This shows that a person lacks humbleness and humility to receive the decree of Allah and be content with it. Allah gives whom He wills and takes from whom He wills and a slave has no right to question his Lord as we mentioned earlier in the article.

 

Rebellious:

Rebellious against destiny and the decree of Allah in both giving and taking. Allah SWT says in :

 

Surah Alaq, Chapter 96

 

 

Nay, but verily man is rebellious

[Verse 6]

 

Surah Isra, Chapter 17

 

 

And when We make life pleasant unto man, he turns away and is averse; and when ill touches him he is in despair.[Verse 83]

 

Ingratitude:

Surah Ibrahim, Chapter 14

 

 

And [always] does He give you something out of what you may be asking of Him; and should you try to count God's blessings, you could never compute them. [And yet,] behold, man is indeed most persistent in wrongdoing, stubbornly ingrate! [Verse 34]

 

Jahood: Denial of truth after bearing witness to it

All the creation of Allah SWT points towards His existence. The perfect structures of the atom to the perfect harmony of galaxies prove the perfection of their Lord, SWT. But it is only the humble can actually see and recognize this truth whereas the arrogant are veiled from it.

 

Surah Ibrahim, Chapter 14

 

 

Most surely man is ungrateful to his Lord

[Verse 6]

 

Surah Yunus, Chapter 10

 

 

And when affliction touches a man, he calls on Us, whether lying on his side or sitting or standing; but when We remove his affliction from him, he passes on as though he had never called on Us on account of an affliction that touched him; thus that which they do is made fair-seeming to the extravagant. [Verse 12]

 

Surah Az Zumar, Chapter 39

 

 

And when distress afflicts a man he calls upon his Lord turning to Him frequently; then when He makes him possess a favor from Him, he forgets that for which he called upon Him before, and sets up rivals to Allah that he may cause (men) to stray off from His path. Say: Enjoy yourself in your ungratefulness a little, surely you are of the inmates of the fire. [Verse 8]

 

Despair

Allah SWT does not like those who despair from His mercy. He SWT says:

Surah Al Isra, Chapter 17

 

 

And when We bestow favor on man, he turns aside and behaves proudly, and when evil afflicts him, he is despairing. [Verse 83]

 

Surah Al Hijr, Chapter 15

 

He said: And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord but the erring ones? [Verse 56]

 

 

All of the above mentioned negative tendencies can be overcome with a strong Iman (faith and belief) in Allah SWT. The stronger the Iman gets and a person becomes closer to Allah, the weaker these qualities become and vice versa.

 

Allah SWT has promised us in the Qur’an that He has provided cure for all sicknesses and Qur’an is the cure for the illnesses of the soul. But this requires us to elevate Qur’an above the level of recitation and blessing, and start taking it seriously as a message from our Lord who knows the deepest & darkest secrets of our hearts.

 

Once we reach this level, then the door of receiving knowledge from Allah SWT will open and we will be able to develop qualities that bring the blessings and victory from Allah SWT, the qualities that the companions of the Prophet SAW had reached.