{Allah Well-Pleased with them, and they with Him.} (98:8)
Imam Junaid said:
“Being well-pleased (with Allah) is knowledge itself”.
When you know Allah’s Wisdom, Mercy and Justice you will be pleased with Him.
Also, when your pleasure is based on the deep belief that whatever happens is due to Allah’s Will, and whatever Allah wills absolutely happens, because it does not befit Allah’s Lordship to have something happened in His Kingdom without His Will.
His Will means that He allows it to happen; He may allow something but not order it to happen, and He may allow something to happen, but He is not pleased with it.
Whatever happens, Allah wills it to happen, and whatever Allah wills must come to pass, and you should know that Allah’s Will manifests the absolute Wisdom which leads to the absolute goodness.Evil in Life is for the Benefit of the Absolute Goodness
You should keep in mind that there isn’t absolute evil in the universe, because it contradicts the Existence of Allah, so evil is partial.
When someone goes under the knife and is anesthetized in order to undergo an appendectomy, this is but partial evil, which is for the sake of his own safety and survival.
Hence, evil on earth is at the service of the absolute goodness, and this delicate concept is deduced from the following verse:
{As for man, when his Lord tries him by giving him honor and gifts, then he says (puffed up): “My Lord has honored me.”* But when He tries him, by straitening his means of life, he says: “My Lord has humiliated me!”}(89:15-6)
When Allah grants someone uncountable blessings, he mistakenly thinks that Allah honors him, and when Allah withdraws these blessings from him for profound Wisdom, he wrongly assumes that Allah humiliates him. The Divine Response (to such assumptions) goes as follows:
{Nay!} (89:17)
Is money a grace?
The answer is yes and no. It is considered a grace if it is gained in lawful ways and spent in Halal ways, but if it is gained from Haram sources and spent on sins, it is an affliction.
| whatever positive or negative thing you have is a Divine Test. |
Is good health a grace or an affliction?
If your good health helps you obey Allah, it is a grace, but if it is used in sinning and disobeying Allah, it is an affliction.
Is the wife a grace or an affliction?
If she helps you act upon Allah’s Order to gain the Hereafter, she is a grace, but if she puts pressure on you and makes you sin, she is an affliction.
The same goes for all fortunes in life, for they are trials and they are defined according to the way you use them.
Hence all your fortunes in life, both the ones you are granted, and the ones that are withdrawn from you, are crucial tests, whether you like it or not. You are tested through what you are granted and things that are withdrawn from you, you are tested through situations you are in and situations you are not in, you are tested through the money which is given to you and through the money you lose, you are tested through being healthy and through being sick and you are tested through being beautiful or through being ugly.
In fact, whatever positive or negative thing you have is a Divine Test. Thus, you should know beyond doubt that you are in an abode of trial (life).
Being well-pleased means that you should be pleased with Allah when you are granted from His Blessings and when you are deprived of them, when He makes you strong and when He makes you weak, when He makes you rich and when He impoverishes you, and when He grants you long life and when He grants you short one.
You will be considered well-pleased with Allah only when you deeply believe that the Almighty Allah withdraws a grace from you, due to profound Wisdom, whether this Wisdom is revealed to you or not. In fact, you won’t be considered as well-pleased with Allah unless owning graces will be to you on equal footing with being deprived of them. One of the most beautiful Prophetic supplications is the following:
“O Allah, whatever you have provided me from what I love, then make it strength for me for that which you love. O Allah, whatever you have withheld from what I love, then make it a time for rest in that which you love.” (At-Tirmidhi)
When Does Man Remain Patient?
The believer is addressed in the verses in which the Prophet is addressed:
The following verse deeply touches man:
{So wait patiently (O Muhammad, peace be upon him) for the Decision of your Lord for verily, you are under Our Eyes} (52: 48)
I believe that every verse in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) is addressed, the believer is addressed in it too, depending on his faith and sincerity. Hence, when Allah says to the Prophet: “you are under Our Eyes” this means, “O sincere devoted believer, when things do not happen as you wish, you should know that you are under Our Eyes.” This is due to the Divine Wisdom.
{And glorify the Praises of your Lord when you get up from sleep. And in the night-time, also glorify His Praises, and at the setting of the stars.}(52:48-9)
| Feeling sad over the calamities which befall man never nullifies being well-pleased with Allah. |
It is narrated in some sacred hadiths:
“Son of Adam, do not be helpless in performing four rak’at for Me at the beginning of the day I will supply what you need till the end of it.” (At-Tirmidhi)
Believe me, and I am not exaggerating, whoever offers Fajr salah in masjid, leaving his cozy bed and walking all the way from his house to the masjid, will be under Allah’s Protection and Care till the evening:
“You are under Our Eyes” on the very day when you offer Fajr in the masjid; you are under Allah’s Protection, Prosperity and Care. How wonderful it is to be like that!
Feeling Sad over Adversities does not Contradict being Pleased with Allah
Feeling sad over the calamities which befall man never nullifies being well-pleased with Allah.
When man is in pain because of a disaster, this doesn’t mean that he is not well-pleased with Allah, and so there is no contradiction between pain and being well-pleased with the Almighty Allah.
Heroism lies in reacting properly to adversities, not in getting over them, for man never gets over adversities, because he is in an abode of trials (life).
Imam Ash-Shafi’i was asked:
“Should we ask Allah to test us or to make us firmly established in our religion?”
He answered: “You will never be firmly established unless you are tested”.
Thus, Allah decrees that we are tested, so heroism doesn’t lie in getting over adversities, but rather it lies in reacting to them properly.
Al-Husain (the son of Ali) was told that Abu Dhar used to say:
“Poverty is endeared to me more than richness, and sickness is endeared to me more than health”, to which Al-Husain said:
“May Allah have mercy on the soul of Abu Dhar, as for me I say, ‘He, who puts his trust in Allah’s choices, will never wish anything other than what Allah chooses for him’.”
Contentment with the Worst Qada’ is the Highest Rank of Certainty
| All goodness lies in being well-pleased with Allah… |
Allah the All-Knowing, the All-Wise and the Ever-Affluent wants you to draw closer to him by spending money (on the needy and the poor), so you thank Allah for being rich, and if Allah decrees that you are poor, He wants you to draw closer to Him by being patient when you are afflicted with poverty.
Therefore, if you are rich or poor, you should be satisfied, and the same goes for strength and power. Allah grants you power to use it in obeying Allah, and if you are weak, then you should keep well-pleased with His Decree.
Whatever happens to you and whatever you are granted- beauty, ugliness, good health and illness- should keep you well-pleased with Allah.
Some scholars said:
“Being well-pleased with the calamity that is about to befall you manifests your strong will to be well-pleased with the Almighty Allah, but being well-pleased after it befalls you, is the true satisfaction.” This means that being pleased with the adversities is the highest rank of certainty.
Hence, he who puts his trust in his money will go astray, he who puts his trust in his power will be humiliated, and he who puts his trust in Allah will neither get astray nor be humiliated.
Umar said:
“All goodness lies in being well-pleased with Allah, and if you couldn’t reach that level, then be patient”.
This means that man either remains patient or well-pleased (when calamities befall him), but being pleased is a higher level than patience:
“If Allah wants to do good to somebody, He afflicts him with trials.” (Al-Bukhari)
Some scholars said:
“Being well-pleased with Allah has three types, being pleased with the fortunes granted to you, and this is what common people do, being well-pleased with Qada’and Qadar, and this is what special people do, but being well-pleased with Allah Alone and never being pleased with anything or anyone else is what the most special people do.”
-onislam.net
