The topic of trail and test is the important part of Islam. When it comes to this topic, there are a lot of things we may discuss. However, this blog is concentrating on two fundamental following questions:

• Why does Allah test us?
• What should our attitude should be when having a test from Allah?

Why does Allah test us?

Allah clearly says in Quran that life is a test:

“It is He who created death and life to test which of you are best in deeds, for He is the Almighty, the Forgiving.” (Qur’an 67:2)

Several religions preach that God always send trails and testing as a form of punishment. They claim that experiencing adversity like, as illness or financial loss, is a sign that somehow you have disrespected God.

But in Islam this is not the case. There is no correlation between our present situation and the attitude of Allah towards us. For example if a person loses his job it doesn’t mean that Allah is angry with him. On the other hand if a person gets promotion it doesn’t mean that Allah is happy with him. Instead, Allah put us into these situations to see how we react to them.

In the above Quranic verse, it is said that test and trails are part of everyone’s life. Each and every one of us will be tested to a certain extent so that Allah can determine who has true faith in Him.

Hadith that shows two reasons a test may occur in someone’s life.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

“Nothing befalls a believer, a (prick of a) thorn or more than that, but Allah will raise him one degree in status thereby, or erase a bad deed” [Bukhari]

In the above Hadith there are two reasons of tests which can happen with someone. In the first reason Allah will test a person with something, so that he has the opportunity to successfully go through the test with the right attitude. And Allah will elevate his position in Paradise.

The second reason is that, if a person has done something wrong and didn’t ask for forgiveness, instead of getting punishment in the hereafter, Allah will put him through something in this life. The punishment in this life would be nothing as compared to the punishment in the hereafter. Actually, this trail is a form of Allah’s mercy.

What should be a person’s attitude when he faced test or trail?

Keep it in perspective:

“Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear” [Qur’an 2:286]

Allah will never put a person in hardship that he can’t handle. While we are going through a trail, we become so focused on the trail that we lose sight of everything else.

For example, if a person loses his job, he will start to focus on the things he does not have and forget the things that he has for example, health, family, or (if nothing else) their faith.

Rather than focusing on what we do not have, we should focus on what we have. This will allow us to stay positive about situations, and knowing that Allah will never gave a person more than he can handle this helps us keep everything in perspective.

No matter what it may be, we should never lose hope. Since, we already know we will get through it. As long as we keep the perspective in mind that Allah will never gave a person trail that’s bigger than what they can handle.

The rewards of the test are always greater than the test.

“Surely there is ease after hardship. Aye, surely there is ease after hardship.” [Qur’an 94:6-7]

In this verse, Allah is reminding us that if we face each trail with the right attitude it will lead to several rewards bigger than the trail itself.

Keeping this in mind, it is much easy to maintain steadfastness in the face of hardships knowing that Allah has promised us victory if we approach difficulties with the correct attitude.

A perfect example of this verse is shown in the life of the Prophet (S.A.W). After preaching Islam for thirteen years, there were only a small number of Muslims in the city of Mecca when the migration to Madinah took place. Ten years later the entire Arabian Peninsula had embraced Islam, and Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was joined by tens of thousands of Muslims during his final pilgrimage to Mecca.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

“Wondrous is the affair of the believer for there is good for him in every matter and this is not the case with anyone except the believer. If he is happy, then he thanks Allah and thus there is good for him. If he is harmed, then he shows patience and thus there is good for him.” [Muslim]

We should always keep this Hadith in the forefront of our minds. In our lives there are rarely any times where things are simply neutral. Mostly things seem to be progressing or it seems that everything has turned against us.

This Hadith shows us the strength of our attitude because our attitude shows Allah that we have faith in him. We can change a negative situation into positive situation and a positive situation into negative situation with the help of our attitude.

Moreover, if the situations are not going right but we remain steadfast and patient Allah will bring some good from the situation, and things will eventually get better. This Hadith give us hope that Allah is with us no matter what the situation is. All we have to do is to keep a right attitude towards the situation and good faith towards him.