Insoluble problems, and the cure

Why do we suffer from almost insoluble problems, and what is the cure?

This is in the light of my experiences and something of the deen that I remember.

· What happens is almost always due to one’s own mistakes. E.g. we say something that becomes a wish for hard times, or at least expresses our readiness to brave such times. I give here an example from my life. I was not given a directorship, and I said I don’t care, I don’t need or want it. Result: I never got it at my place of work. Similarly I was denied promotion many times, in the initial stages, when I was bypassed for promotion, I said haughtily: “So what, I do not care. I have fifteen years before I retire, I can wait.” Result: I got my promotion just before retirement. I was reminded of this statement of mine when I retired, and I had never given a thought to what I had said.

So it was for health, for housing, for anything that I suffered from, or was not able to get, I expressed disdain. Result: I either did not get it, or got is very late in life. And this is true of matters pertaining to the deen, too. When I came back to Pakistan, I said I would Islamise my life gradually. It has been very, very slow. Result: Despite my age, I have a very long way to go compared to others.

A friend’s wife had a stroke of partial paralysis, and was hospitalized. Whe we visited her, she confided that she had been praying that whatever punishment she was likely to get in the Hereafter, she wished to get it in this world. I told her this was precisely what a Shahabi had wished, and became severely ill. The Prophet :swas: visited him and told him something like: Subhanallah, you do not have the strength to endure such hardship. Why didn’t you ask Allah for forgiveness.”

Moral & suggestion: Do not express disdain. Keep thanking Allah for His fanours, and keep asking Him for more of them. None of us can do without.

And make Istaghfaar - lots of it.