Life is a Fitnah!

[أم عبد الرحمن السلفية]

 

Life is a Fitnah!
(as Understood From Soorah Al-'Ankaboot)
Shaykh Saalih ibn 'Abdil-'Azeez Aalish-Shaykh

From a recorded lecture

[1] translated exclusively for bakkah.net

[ In the Name of Allaah, the All-Merciful, may His Salaah and Salaam be upon His final Messenger to all mankind, and upon his companions and family members, and all those who follow his path until the Day of Judgement, to proceed: ]




The central theme of Soorah Al-'Ankaboot, as some of the scholars have mentioned, is fitnah (trials and tribulations). Fitnah is mentioned right from the very beginning of the soorah where Allaah says [2]:

( Alif - Laam - Meem. Do people then think they will be left alone upon saying, "We believe in Allaah," and they will not be faced with fitnah? And verily we put those who came before them to trials, so that Allaah would make known those who have been truthful, and so that Allaah would make known the liars. )

So fitnah is mentioned specifically in the beginning of the soorah.




So what kind of fitnah are people tried with? A man may be put to trial due to his intellect, or by the dunyaa. He may be tried by his parents or by his family. He may be put to fitnah by way of a long lifespan. His fitnah may be that he faces no hardships at all in life! So the reality is that a man may be tested by a variety of trials, all of them are mentioned here in this soorah.




So in this soorah, Soorah Al-'Ankaboot, Allaah mentions the varieties of trials and the foundations that they are built upon. He also mentions how a man may be saved from these kinds of trials.




That is because this worldly life, in reality, is merely a test and a trial. The Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said, as 'Iyyaadh ibn Himaar narrated, and it has been collected by Imaam Muslim in his Saheeh:

"Allaah, Most High, has said, 'Yaa Muhammad! Verily I have only sent you to put you to trials and to put others to trial by way of you.'" [3]

So life, in reality, is just a fitnah. And this fitnah - is it by way of evil things or good things? It is by way of evil and good things alike! (Allaah says) [4]:

( And We shall test you with trials of evil and good, and to Us you will return )

Look to what Allaah mentions in the beginning of this soorah:

( Do people then think…)

Who is included in the word ( people )? It includes both the believer and the disbeliever. It includes both the old and young. It includes all categories of people as they interact with all other categories.

( Do people then think they will be left alone upon saying, "We believe in Allaah," and they will not be faced with fitnah? )

You say you are a believer, so when can your faith be considered true eemaan? That is when trials have been placed in front of you, and you have passed them successfully upon Allaah's Order.




You might even be tried by your own self! There are people who are put to fitnah because of their beauty and good qualities. A woman may be tested by her own possessions, and a man may also be tested by his own wealth. One may be tested by his parents as well. So you will find in this soorah mention of all these kinds of fitnah, their origins, and solutions to them.





The Fitnah of Disbelieving Parents




Take this example: In the first part of the soorah, Allaah says [5]:

( And we have commanded the people to be good to their parents. But if they strive to make you join partners with Me, those that you have no knowledge of, then do not obey them! To Me is your return. )

Note here that some parents cause fitnah and strive to make a servant commit shirk. Isn't this a fitnah? Indeed it is a tremendous fitnah!




The scholars of Tafseer have mentioned that this verse was revealed about the events involving Sa'd ibn Abee Waqqaas, when his mother tried to turn him back to disbelief. Even with this kind of situation, Allaah ordered him to bear the company of his parents with kindness, but no to obey them. He said [5]:

( But if they strive to make you join partners with Me, those that you have no knowledge of, then do not obey them! To Me is your return and I will inform you of what you used to do. )

And He said in the beginning of the verse:

( And we have commanded the people to be good to their parents )

This is a tremendous fitnah! So then what is the way out of it? The answer is, with the proper understanding of Allaah's Legislation, that you do not obey them when they command you with kufr, shirk, or disobedience to Allaah, however you still bear their company with kindness.




There are some people who are tried by this fitnah, and they accompany their parents, not in kindness, but with harshness, and have thus fallen into the prohibition to some degree. The one who can be patient with such a difficult affair, bearing their companionship with kindness and not obeying them (when they order him with disobedience to Allaah), is the one who is successful in dealing with fitnah in such a case.





The Fitnah of Being in the Minority




Another kind of fitnah is when a person sees a great number of people disbelieving in Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic. They do not believe, and so along comes a man and feels that he and the people of faith are very few, and that the disbelievers, the hypocrites, criminals, or disobedient ones are the majority. How can he keep straight himself, how? This is a kind of fitnah that attacks the heart.




Very few of the people in this kind of situation stay firm. Most of them look to the people - the majority are into evil, so they fall into it. In this soorah, there is mention of this issue, along with the solution! So read the soorah and contemplate over that. [6]





The Fitnah of Seeing the Enjoyment of the Disbelievers




Another kind of fitnah that is mentioned in this soorah is that a man sees the enemies of Allaah and His Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) living long, secure lives. He sees that they live long lives on earth, enjoying their strength and oppressing others, and they are the enemies of Allaah, polytheists!




This may lead him to start following the pleasures of the dunyaa, and join them in preventing others from the path of Allaah. (Allaah says) [7]:

( The life of this dunyaa is made beautiful to those who have disbelieved. They have mocked the people who believed, but the people who have taqwaa will be above them on the Day of Judgement )

That was from Soorah Al-Baqarah. In this soorah, Soorah Al-'Ankaboot, Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic mentions the story of Nooh ('alayhis-salaam) in only two verses. What is the relationship of this story to the them of the soorah, which is fitnah?




Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, says [8]:

( And verily we sent Nooh to his people, and stayed amongst them (calling them to Allaah) for all of 1000 years, save 50. Then the great flood overtook them while they were oppressive. So we saved him and those on his boat, and we made it a sign for all the creation. )

The story of Nooh is found here in only two verses? What is the reason for that? This entire time, 950 years, he was inviting them, while the believers were very few, as is understood from another soorah [9]:

( And no one believed along with him, except very few )

Some of the scholars explained that the number of believers had only reached 13 individuals. Others said that seventy-some men and women had believed.




He stayed amongst them a thousand years while shirk was the predominant practice, the worshipping of idols: Wadd, Suwaa', Yaghooth, Ya'ooq, and Nasr. [10] And he was advising them and inviting them day and night, secretly and openly, and no one responded except this small number. Wouldn't the hearts be facing a fitnah?




Indeed this was a fitnah. It was not just 10, 20, or 50 years, or even 100 years. 200 years went by, 300, 400, 500, to a complete 1000 years, save 50. Then finally came the way out from Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.




Therefore, a man may be put to trial by seeing the long lives of the enemies. So this soorah causes the true believer to take heed and realize that this is for a reason. (Allaah says) [11]:

( So that Allaah would make known those who have been truthful, and so that Allaah would make known the liars. )

When will this be made known? When the fitnah is encountered, and it is dealt with successfully. So the theme of the soorah, as we are noting, is fitnah, even with the story of the Prophet (Nooh). The lesson here is fitnah, and what will save you from the fitnah that lasts for a long time.




Some people mistakenly think that Allaah's affair will reach him however they want. No, rather the wisdom of Allaah is all-encompassing. He will test people, as He tested Nooh ('alayhis-salaam) and his people, as they lived amongst their people (calling them to Allaah) for 950 years, and after that only a small group of people responded.




So one way to succeed in the face of trials is mentioned here in the soorah, and that is by way of patience. (Allaah says) [12]:

( So we saved him and those on his boat, and we made it a sign for all the creation )