Challenges

Assalamualaikum w.b.t

It has been 4 months that I don't update this blog. Suddenly, I miss my blog and I want to write something here. Hello everyone. Hopefully, I'm not that late to wish you HAPPY NEW YEAR. How was this first two weeks? Was it nice?

I'm sure that there are a lot of stories happened in this two weeks.

Okay, talking about New Year, I think there are plenty of people who don't really have their new year's resolutions. Same goes to me. However, for this year, I set a resolution, only ONE resolution that I want to change within myself.

I think, by having a resolution, it will be more helpful since we know what are we going to achieve by the end of this year. Actually, I was thinking to have a resolution because this year, I'm getting older. Ya, I'm 20 years old this year T_T So, I think I have had enough of having fun, I need to be more focus because I want to be somebody someday. Insha Allah.

Talking about new year and new resolutions, I'm sure that they come with new challenges that we need to encounter throughout this year in order to achieve our aim. So, I would like to remind myself and you that all these challenges are not going to be beyond our capabilities as stated in Al-Quran. Allah says:

 Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."

(Surah Al-Baqarah : 286)

My friend share this ayah during our liqa'. She explained what Allah says in this verse. 

First, Allah start with "Allah does not charge a soul except (with that within) its capacity."

This means that Allah assures us that HE will never put us in a situation that we can't handle. NEVER. It is His promises. This ayah also give the strength and spirit to us especially when facing trouble because we know that Allah knows better when He decided to put us in that particular situation.  Reflecting to this, I learnt that we can never compare our challenges with others. Others' challenges might seem insignificant to us but only Allah knows how they feel. We, as a human, can never underestimate the other people's challenges because Allah has prepared different challenges for different people within our capability. 

Next, Allah says, "It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned."

This means that our challenges can make us stronger or weaker. The choice is in our hand. Allah will reward us with unlimited blessings if we choose to be stronger and encounter the challenges with an open heart. However, if we choose to blame the fate (indirectly we blame Allah for our shortcomings), then we have failed the test and we get what we give. In fact, when we face Allah someday, we are going to be asked about our own deeds. We are responsible in everything that we did in this life. We have our own kitab amalan and our abdomens will give their witnesses. 

Then, Allah teaches us a supplication that we must practice in our daily life since we will not escape from being tested everyday, "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred."

Allah teaches us this supplication, so that, when we can get the courage from Allah since the test is from Allah either to test our faith and prove our imaan. Allah teaches us to pray that He won't impose blame on us if we have forgotten or erred because Allah knows humans always forget and make mistakes due to the ignorance and forgetfulness. This also states that a mukmin will not purposely commit sins when he/she is conscious about the sinful act.  

"Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us." Allah also teaches us to pray that He does not burden us like which He laid upon those before us. It means that as a weak servant, we need His love and blessings to get through our difficulties. It also shows the ultimate worship to Allah in which we do not want to be at the bad state like our old ancestors which do shirk to Allah. We, as a  servant can never rely on other creatures, instead, we can only rely on Him. 

Next,  "And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us". This shows the guarantee to pass the test. We, as a human have a limited capability eventhough we have put the maximum efforts on it. One of Allah's blessings is that he forgives us and have mercy upon us. That is the greatest blessing ever.

Last but not least, "You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people." This is the summary of this surah, aqeedah, and tasawwur's view, perception, and thought of the mukmin and it portrays the mukmin's condition in which they're always with God, The Almighty

Alhamdulillah, 

To sum up my entry today is that, as a human, challenges are inevitable in our daily life. However, the challenges are the things that makes us now and in the future. Imagine a life without challenges, it would be dull and boring. It's like we're watching a movie that the main character doesn't encounter any challenges in order to achieve his goal. It is going to be boring and it definitely doesn't make him a hero anyway.

So, people. We are the main characters in our own films. We're the heroes. Let's face the challenges with an open heart. May Allah bless us always. Amiin :)

References:

1. Tafsir fi Zilal, Syed Qutb, Tafsir Surah Al-Baqarah : 286

2. Reflection from my friend