With Allah there is always hope
With Allah There Is Always Hope
OnIslam, 17 July 2012
Faith and hope are closely related; a true believer is the most hopeful and the most optimistic person among people, and the farthest one from pessimism, complaining, and dissatisfaction. This is because true faith indicates the belief in the power of Allah (God) that controls this universe. Faith also indicates the belief in the infinite might, the boundless mercy, and the unlimited bounty. Allah is Mighty and Merciful. He responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him, and removes evil. It is Allah Who gives with generosity, pardons sins, accepts repentance from His servants, and forgives misdeeds. He is more merciful to His servants than a mother is to her child. He is even kinder to His creatures than they are to themselves.
Allah stretches out His hand during the night so that one may repent of the misdeeds one has committed during the day, and He stretches out His hand during the day so that one may repent of the misdeeds one has committed during the night. Moreover, Allah’s pleasure at the repentance of His slave is much more than that of the lost person when he finds the way; more than that of the absent at returning home; and more than that of the thirsty when he quenches his thirst. Allah rewards for a good deed with ten times or up to seven hundred times its value, or even more; while the misdeed is regarded by Him as only one, and He even may forgive it. Allah calls the one straying from His path and receives the one coming to Him. He Almighty says in a hadith qudsi,
“I am just as My servant thinks I am [i.e., I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him] and I am with him if he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I, too, will remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I will remember him in a group that is better than them; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I will go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I will go to him running”(Al-Bukhari).
Allah Almighty alters the fortunes of days: He bestows peace after fear, grants strength after weakness, and shows ease after any adversity, deliverance from any distress, and relief with any hardship.
A true believer leads a hopeful, happy, and optimistic life. He trusts and seeks refuge with his Lord, Allah, the Beneficent and the Most Merciful, the Exalted in Might and the Wise, the Oft-Forgiving and the Ever-Affectionate, the Owner of the Throne and the Glorious, Who does what He wills. The believer, therefore, looks at life cheerfully, and faces its challenges smiling, not frowning or with a gloomy face.
Thus, when the true believer fights, he is confident of victory, for he adheres to Allah’s commands and thus Allah would always be with him. And since he is devoted to Allah, Allah always supports him, as stated in the verse {And verily Our word went forth of old unto Our bondmen sent (to warn). They verily would be helped, And that Our host, they verily would be the victors} (As-Saffat 37: 172-173).
When he falls ill, he never ceases hope in recovery. Rather, he recalls the words of Prophet Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) about Allah, {Who created me, and He doth guide me, And Who feedeth me and watereth me. And when I sicken, then He healeth me} (Ash-Shu`araa’ 26: 78-80).
Furthermore, when he commits a sin, he never gives up asking for forgiveness, no matter how great his sin is, for Allah’s pardon is much greater. Allah Almighty says, {Say: My servants who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful} (Az-Zumar 39: 53)
If he falls in hardship, he keeps hoping for relief, for Allah states, {But lo! with hardship goeth ease. Lo! with hardship goeth ease} (Al-Inshirah 94: 5-6). This verse plants the seeds of hope and confidence, and emphasizes that after the rain comes the sunshine. Ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “If hardship enters a hole, relief would surely follow it.”
Moreover, when the believer is afflicted with calamity, he expects with great hope that Allah will reward him for such affliction and will further give him what is better than the affliction he has suffered. Allah Almighty says, {Who say, when a misfortune striketh them: Lo! we are Allah’s and Lo! unto Him we are returning. Such are they on whom are blessings from their Lord, and mercy. Such are the rightly guided} (Al-Baqarah 2: 156-157).
Even in his disagreements or quarrels, the true believer keeps closer to reconciliation and peace, hoping for rapport to return, and assured that Allah may change feelings to the best. {It may be that Allah will ordain love between you and those of them with whom ye are at enmity. Allah is Mighty, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful} (Al-Mumtahanah 60: 7).
When falsehood rises and truth diminishes, the believer’s confidence can never be shaken. He is certain that falsehood is destined to be defeated, and truth will soon prevail and triumph. {Nay, but We hurl the true against the false, and it doth break its head and lo! it vanisheth.} (Al-Anbiyaa’ 21: 18) {as for the foam, it passeth away as scum upon the banks, while, as for that which is of use to mankind, it remaineth in the earth} (Al-Ra`d 13: 17).
And finally, when the true believer grows old, and gray hair spreads on his head, he keeps hoping for a life of eternal youthfulness without any senility, a life without death, and happiness without any interrupting misery. He looks forward to the {Gardens of Eden, which the Beneficent hath promised to His servants in the Unseen. Lo! His promise is ever sure of fulfillment. They hear therein no idle talk, but only Peace; and therein they have food for morn and evening} (Maryam 19: 61-62).
Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is the President of The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and the Head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR). He has been active in the field of da`wah and the Islamic movement for more than half a century.