Saturday Reflection By Dr. Metwalli Amer April 4, 2020
إِنَّ مَعَ ٱلۡعُسۡرِ يُسۡرٗا
Surely, with hardship, comes ease; (Qur’an 94:6)
يسرا ولا تعسرا، وبشرا ولا تنفرا
Make things easy, not difficult And bring in good news, not bad ones (Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari & Muslim)
Yes, Allah promised His human creation ease after crisis. And the Prophet (Pbuh) instructed us to make things easy and bring good news to the Ummah( followers). Allah loves His human creation and always proud of them and hopeful they will come back to His way. As God says in the Qur’an:
وَلَقَدۡ كَرَّمۡنَا بَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلۡنَٰهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡبَرِّ وَٱلۡبَحۡرِ وَرَزَقۡنَٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَفَضَّلۡنَٰهُمۡ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٖ مِّمَّنۡ خَلَقۡنَا تَفۡضِيلٗا “
And We have honored the children of Adam and carried them on land and sea and provided them with good things and have preferred them over many of those We created.” (17:70)
As human beings, we are fearful of the corona-virus. We are confused. We look at each other with suspicion because of the contagious nature of the virus. We listen to the conflicting messages from the officials and get more confused. We feel helpless!
But as believers, we should know better than that. We should feel confident because of the presence of God in our lives. Our faith should be stronger to give us trust in God and in ourselves that whatever happens to us is ordained by our creator who is most loving, most merciful.
Instead of feeling miserable, let us remember the favors of God upon us. Even with this awful virus, many good things have been happening to us without any planning! Our lives have been moving slowly. Our families are getting closer. We are connecting with our relatives, friends, and loved ones.
We have noticed the grass greener. The beautiful earth is regaining its exquisiteness. The sky is bluer. The air is cleaner. The flowers smell is fresher. The traffic is lighter. The gas is cheaper.
We start moving at a slow pace and reflecting on whatever is happening. We begin caring for each other. We found ourselves extending our hands to others to help. I believe indeed this is a divine intervention to force us to slow down and reflect on the style of life we have created for ourselves.
Sometimes things happen to us that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first. But in reflection, we find that without overcoming those obstacles we would have never realized our potential, strength, and resolve. Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of our soul. Without these tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, with no purpose!
God sent us this virus to show our weakness and awake us up from our being consumed by this fast-moving life that took us away from the straight path. It is time for us to make a sharp U-turn to get back on the road to success in this life and in the hereafter. We must be thankful to God for giving us this opportunity to sit down and reflect, re-examine our relationship with Him, and remember His favor upon us. As He says:
لَئِن شَكَرۡتُمۡ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمۡۖ
“If you are thankful, I shall give you more” (14:7)