What Should We Do When Hardship Befalls Us?

Developing Commendable Character

Part Two

Good advice on this subject has been written, alhamdu lillah.

But today it occurred to me that one essential thing had been forgotten.

It seems no accident that this deed slipped the minds of most of those who gave counsel. For it is also the very thing most likely to be forgotten in a time of calamity.

It is istighfar — seeking forgiveness — and repentance.

The first thing a person struck by calamity should do is to ask Allah’s forgiveness and repent.

After all, untangling any difficulty — any knot — lies in the will of God alone.

The goal is not merely to solve the problem, but to come out of it with benefit.

Whatever calamity befalls you, if you can come out of it not just safe and sound but with a harvest of much good, that is a victory befitting a believer.

That is, when we speak of victory, we mean —

being cleansed of sins;

having your fortitude tested;

gaining patience and experience;

learning to tell good from bad;

above all, coming to know your own self by examining it;

finding wisdom

and emerging from the calamity even closer to your Lord.

The greatest good a person can earn in this world is humaneness; it is beautiful character.

These two fruits do not come easily.

They come not only by reading books and listening to advice, but through the calamities and pains that arrive by divine wisdom.

The very first condition for attaining them is istighfar and repentance.

After all, losing wealth and worldly goods does no harm to a person’s dignity, but losing humaneness and character shatters one’s honor.

Akrom MALIK